IzzyKap Loc: Rockville, MD

I took the same trip last year and had my Sony A7Rii with Sony 24-240mm lens. Few times, a longer lens would have been useful. I didn't bring a tripod and there would have been limited time that it could have been used. As a photographer, I would have preferred a more leisurely pace allowing me to stop and do my thing but this was a tour, not a photo workshop. So I would like to come back to Alaska with emphasis on photography. I don't recall what side of the ship.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I took this same cruise/land tour in 2005. I took my Canon f/2.8 24 - 70 and f/2.8 70 - 200. I don't think I missed many important shots.
Mark

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I NEVER travel with a tripod. It always gets in the way and effects those around me. If your going to Denali your going to go on first a train and then a bus. Your tripod WILL get in the way. Some of my best shots were taken from between the train cars, YES, outside on a moving train. On the bus, if they see wildlife, they will stop and let you look, when will you have time to set up your tripod ?, they will not let you outside. So, you can set it up inside the bus? They do let you off time to time but your moving most of the time. We took many side trips on the way back, helicopter to glacier, Zodiac ride, old train ride and zip line. All these extra rides exclude tripods.
I took my two pocket Sony cameras and had a fabulous time, and held my wife's hand most of the time. When I saw a shot I wanted, I took out the Sony from my belt pouch, got the shot, and kept on going. DO NOT RUIN A GREAT TRIP OVERTHINKING EQUIPMENT. YOU ARE TAKING TOO MUCH. Rethink it or you may be disappointed.

johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

Haha, looks like I might have some fellow camera friends on the Princess cruise. I go on it June 29, starting with the land tour that originates in Fairbanks and heading south.
I do not plan on bringing a tripod or monopod. Having been on many cruises, and going on and off tenders, or with day trips, you are on and off small busses, boats, or other transport vehicles for your excursions. Hauling around a tripod would be difficult. In fact, I cannot recall ever seeing a person with a tripod on a cruise. Must be a reason for that.
For general landscape you shouldn't need a tripod anyway. And this time of year, you are going to have up to 16 hours of daylight, so you should have plenty of light out there to be able to go to a higher shutter speed, thus reducing camera shake issues.
I bought a new 5dmk4 for the trip, would have considered the D850, but have waited for a long time for them to be available. Plus I have a basket full of Canon lenses.

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

I have taken this trip twice. The 2nd time we booked a balcony room and loved it. Pictures were taken were a Sigma 28-300 and turned out beautiful
In Vancouver take a side trip to China Town, Queen Elizabeth gardens, And Stanley Park
On embarkation if from Vancouver take a pic as you pass the bridge in Stanley park heading out to sea as well as the sunsets
In Anchorage take in Mendenhall Glacier and a whale watch your. Did not regret it
In Ketchikan Totem Pole Village was interesting
In Skagway the train trip afforded many photo opportunities
The trip through the glacier area and watching the calving process afforded many shots
The train ride ide is excellent but take the shots at the end of the car you are in.... better shots. Some good chances for getting the train rounding a few bends also Poor shots in the domed cars The best memories I have are the shots when leaving Denali .... need to be ready for about the first 1/2 hour? or you may miss some good ones. Some good chances also on the school bus in Denali.... hope for clear days to shoot the mountain.
I only used the single lens and did not regret taking others.
I hope this gives you some things to think about as it it a trip of a lifetime
First and foremost.... enjoy yourself

Watbo

I just returned from that exact cruise 2 weeks ago. Our stateroom was on the starboard side. Unbelievable views from our balcony. Glacier Bay was breathtaking. Be prepared to run from side to side so you won't miss anything. This time of year it stays light all day. I took beautiful handheld mountain shots at ISO 100 at 2:00am. Denali State Park is beautiful. We had too many clouds to see Mt Denali (McKinley), but they said on a clear day you can see it. I would have liked to have seen more wildlife, but that's just a matter of luck. Some people saw a lot of wildlife. I used two lenses. 24-70 F2.8 and 70-200 F4. Everything I did was handheld. On excursions I believe I personally would not have been able to keep up if I was messing with a tripod, although a monopod would have been useful. The tram ride up the mountain in Juneau is very cheep and the views are breathtaking. I loved it. I loved the riverboat ride in Fairbanks. So many photo opportunities and very educational. The entertainment is great with terrific stage lighting. It's a lot of fun and challenging taking pictures of that. Everything about this trip was superb. You will love it. Have a great time!

fmalquist

We took a similar trip a couple of years ago. The only time a tripod would be of value was on a land portion of the trip. I took one with a professional to help me learn and used his tripod for one picture. Otherwise it was not useful. I have a bridge camera with a 50x zoom. I really liked it for shooting wildlife, especially on the bus tour of Denali. I was able to get some close up shots of a grizzly that would need major cropping to achieve the same effect with a shorter zoom. I found the train to be a poor opportunity for photos, just enjoy the ride. It does stop once or twice, but they were still not great photo ops. I also hired a private guide in Skagway and she gave us some great photo ops. A tripod might have been handy there, but I didn't miss it. On the ship I was on the starboard side and it was perfect for getting some good glacier shots. I was also able to get one good video of calving. This was again done with the zoom because the ship couldn't get very close to the glacier. If you have warm weather there will be more calving. Mt Denali is frequently shrouded in clouds, we took a small plane trip to ensure a better view of the mountain. If we hadn't done that, we would have missed some good shots. Have a great trip, it is one we would like to repeat.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Photographers sure are different, aren't they? Took the trip a couple years back. Big country for me equals wide angle lens for the "Grand Scenic" shots and long teles for the wildlife (although the bears I saw were less than 100 feet away). Where Billnikon "never takes a tripod", I always take and use a tripod. If the auroras are out, you'll probably wish you did, too. Yes, I'd recommend taking the 28-300mm. Lot of shots from that one lens. On the boat, I mostly hung-out at the bow for glacier shots, but you've got legs. Use them. The boat ain't all THAT big. Mostly enjoy yourself. Remember, Alaskan weather "ain't no picnic." Unless you are Blacks2, you'll see less sun than clouds.

Katcas Loc: Rhode Island

Terrific information thank you all! I will be online today booking side excursions. Very appreciative. One thing I know. Spontaneous photography is great but being prepared is better. Thanks again.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Was the camera a gift? I would think that if you can afford a $3000+ camera body you would have a good idea of which lens in which situation would work, and to anticipate your own needs when going into a new environment. But that's just me. Not trying to be snarky, just observant.

Don W-37 Loc: Bangkok, Thailand

I would take a Nikkor 28 - 300. You'll need more reach than the 200, especially if you want get photos of birds and animals. And it gives a lot of flexibilty so you don't have change lens so often. Remember: you can't get the captain to stop the ship while you change lens! Have a great trip!

wishaw

It is a wonderful place for photography. A couple of points. If you do the bus between different towns you will spend 90% of the trip looking at the trees beside the road. Also on the train there are lots of trees apart from the part on the coast and that is spectular. On the train the doors at the end of the carriage have the windows open so that you can lean out and not have to worry about shooting thru glass. Hope you enjoy it like everyone who has posted. Also the ship is positioned side on at thr glaciers. They spin it 180 regularly so that you can stay on your balcony and see everything

Erkibler

Took that trip, in reverse, a few years ago. On the ship, engine vibration makes a tripod useless. At the time, I had a D-80 and D-40 so I can’t help much with lens selection. If you have two bodies, I ‘d take them both with a wide angle on one and a long lens on the other for the ship, especially if you’ll have a balcony. If you stop in Skagway, don’t miss the White Pass R. R. trip. Great scenery! I’d sit on the left side leaving Skagway. If I remember correctly, they change the seat backs so you will have the same view on the return trip.
On the ship, our room was on the port side, that’s the left side, correct? It seemed to me that we were a little closer to that shoreline headed south. It might be different headed north. We were on the inside passage so there was land on both sides. The bridge did a good job of announcing where wildlife was spotted along the voyage. Have fun, you’ll enjoy it.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

Not all Princess ships have unobstructed forward looking access for passengers. The new Royal Class Princess ships do not provide unobstructed forward looking access to passengers. In addition, some of the ships that do offer access have blue Plexiglass panels that you must photograph through. Before you book your cruise, make sure you look at the ship deck plan, especially the promenaded deck, to verify access. If the ship does have forward access, you should do research to see if it has blue Plexiglass or not.

Fkaufman3 Loc: Florida, LA ie lower Alabama

I took that same type of trip, but when staying at Denali there was a excursion for photography, with a pro who took us out to his favorite places, tripods used careful exposure and time to learn. Great excursion