A group of 6 couples are planning on an Alaskan cruise this August. We are open to all suggestions. Cruise ship, side excursions? We need all the help we can get!
Thank you, the Dirty Dozen

You are sure to get responses at a cruise bb: http://www.cruise2.com/bulletins/newquestions.html

I love Celebrity Cruise Lines on any itenerary......and being an agent we have cruised many...they do a great Alaska cruise as do others

Went on a Princess cruise from Vancouver to Seward two years ago. We are not much into cruising but figured this was the only way to see the Inside Passage. Scenery spectacular, ship was nice (they upgraded us to a room with a balcony which was wonderful). Excursions that we took, and loved:
float trip thru eagle preserve, and float plane trip which took us to a bear viewing place. On the float trip we saw so many bald eagles we lost count! Also saw black bears fishing for salmon. Definitely take some excursions that let you see the wildlife!

Fran,
There are so many flight trips from Juneau. Which one did you take where you saw black bears fishing for salmon
and what month where you there to see that?
We are planning on an Inside Passage the end of July.
Thanks, Lydia

I've sailed on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in Alaska and loved both. You can't go wrong with this itinerary! I prefer the Anchorage-Vancouver route as opposed to the Vancouver roundtrip.

Lydia, Our cruise was in early september. The float plane we took was out of Ketchikan. I don't know the name of the company; it was an excursion we booked thru Princess.

cruisecritic.com

The leaders for Alaska from my reading are Holland America and Princess Cruises. They also have land tour options. If you want a smaller ship excursion try Cruise West where you can see more wildlife. Native Alaskans also offer their own cruises.
www.gosmartravel.com

You can find a ton of information on the cruisecritic.com bulletin boards. Look for Alaska, under Ports.

You could probably get some good information in the cruise section of this forum.

We did a 9-day CRUISE WEST tour and it was wonderful. Only 80 people! While the people on those mammoth mega-boats (2000+ people) were looking at the wildlife and the glaciers through their binoculars, we were right up close and had no need for binoculars! (The small boats can get REALLY close.) The food was just as good as on the giant "barges" and we really got to know the other people on board. (Australians are a hoot!!!) It was more costly, but definitely the way to go, especially if you're going through the Inside Passage. I'm not a fan of cruises, but I'd do Cruise West again in a heartbeat.

How come nobody talks about the miserable weather they get in the inside passage. Mostly rain, mist, dark skies and cold weather, day, after day, after day, after day......... Makes Seattle look like Palm Springs.

We sailed on Princess last summer and had a fantastic time. We did the Seward - Vancouver route. It was our only cruising experience, so we weren't sure what to expect, but really enjoyed it. We went with another couple, which was also fun.

We are all fairly active, so I was worried about sitting around too much, but we ended up getting quite a lot of exercise, both on and off the ship. Weather was a mixture of full sun to rain in a couple of ports. Sea days were all perfect. Have fun!