Hello - We are trying to plan a 'budget' trip to Alaska this summer. Figure a cruise is the way to go. Is a smaller ship best? Would this be Holland America? Or are there other ship suggestions you may have? Probably can't afford a balcony, so what would your ship choice be? Vancouver round-trip best? Recommendations for shore excursions not to be missed? We're really trying for the best itinerary with the focus, of course, being site-seeing! Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Princess unveiled two new ships this summer sailing to Alaska. Diamind and Sapphire Princess. Because we did want a "new ship" experience we chose Princess over HA. We'll be sailing the Diamond this May. From what I've read (thanks to BudgetQueen on this board) the route can be quite rocky which is also why we chose a large ship. I have noticed prices have gone up quite a bit just in the last 2 monts so you'd better act fast. I got the lowest rate at cruisequick.com, you may also want to try bestpricecruises.com. We are sailing RT from Seattle as we didn't want to do the customs thing sailing out of Vancouver.

We went on the SUn Princess. It was one way, soyou have to fly back. It would be cheaper to do the round trip, except you don't go up to Princ WIlliam Sound.

I wouldn't worry about not having a balcony/ We had an outside cabin with 'obstructed view'. I wouldn't have minded having an interior cabin, but to get 4 into a cabin, we had to have the class of cabin we die.

We started from Vancouver and liked that because we spnet a couple of days there before the cruise. THey didn't have curises starting from Seattle at that time.

Look over the itineraries and select which one you like. We enjoyed Ketchican and Skagway the best. In Ketchican we wnet to the totem pole village - very interesting. In Skagway we did the train ride - excellent

We went budget on HAL from Seattle and had inside rooms. I would NEVER do that again. It was somewhat dark inside the room and you never knew what the weather was or even the time of day (not that the sun was a big indication of time of day in Alaska). Plus you are seeing a lot from the ship when you go to Alaska. At the least, I'd go for an outside cabin. There is a lot to see.

I spend all my sailing time out on deck- so a cheap inside is fine for me. A quick call to the purser will give you the weather. My preference is clearly Vancouver sailings as the Seattle departures have too much outside passage sailing for my preferences- also usually a too short Victoria stop as well. HAL is superior for deck viewing space. Be flexable on ships and see what bargains you can get?? List your week on www.cruisecompete.com www.cruisemates.com etc.

ANY sailing will be a compromise- but consider- routes, ports, time in ports, glacier, price. Look over a shore excursion list and narrow down your interests. There are way too many excellent tours to take.

We sailed Royal Caribbean from Vancouver and loved it. The shore excursions are expensive, but worth it. My favorite was a "flight and float" excursion. We flew on a 19 passenger plane actually through Glacier Park. It was all choreographed to music ans was one of the most spectacular experiences I've ever had. We were all so overwhelmed by the beauty that we could barely speak as we deplaned. We were then bussed to the river and rafted back to the ship. It was an awesome day!!