Thank you for that tidbit of info. Didn't know that. :-)

Some ships are starting to stop at Prince Rupert instead. It's right at the Alaska border and not that far from Ketchikan.

That old marine law that Percy quoted has been around for 200 years. That's why everyone (except NCL) is heading to Hawaii from Vancouver or make a stop at Mexico before heading back to LA. I thik the rules applies to all ships that depart from a US port and returns to a US port.

NCL did the Hawaii thing without stopping anywhere else by using an "All American" crew, and follows all applicable federal adn state laws, effectively running the ship as a local ferry.

With the new border crossing rules and all, allow extra time for border crossing (custom and immigration). Like it or not, they will have to check all passports and with 44 passengers on a bus, it will take a bit of time, and tehre will be line ups.

The shuttle has always been available but for a slightly higher fare (okay, maybe a bit more than slightly because of all those airport taxes and levies), flying into Vancouver is relatively painless.

Wallace, just my one experience on the Star Princess to Alaska shows me you'll be fine. We met several single parents of teens who may as well been on their own plus we met one single late-30's woman who had friends or family in Juneau and somehow worked it where she would be exiting the ship "mid-cruise" in Juneau so she was solo for about 4 days.
One tidbit that may help: My wife and I ended up going to the afternoon tea parties Princess had. I imagine Carnival does the same. We attended a couple of these and it was a great way to meet others and simply talk. It was much more relaxed and "party like" than dinner so I'd say give it a whirl if you think you need the conversation.