I agree about Radisson and Crystal as well as Seabourn and Silversea. (Been on the first two several times.)

Good food is a relative term. The top cruise lines have very good food, but it would probably be only about a 20-22 in Zagat. Not bad at all, but not the French Laundry either. The service and decor is closer to 30 on these lines.

We definitely prefer the smaller ships due to shorter lines, particularly for getting on and off the ship. The worst sitaution we had was on one of the 6 star lines, Costa Rica to LA, where we picked up a bunch of locals in Acapulco, and thus immigation in the US took forever. We barely caught our flight.

If you've never cruised, you might also be satisfied with a 5 star line like HAL (which offers several short cruises out of Seattle). It's kinda like flying, the first time I flew coach, it was OK, but once you get in F, you don't want to go back. Our first cruise was a 3 star, and that was fine, and we've gradually worked our way up to 6 stars, and won't be going back.

Check CruiseCritic.com, and get a room with a private balcony.