knessr

Hi Suzanne. Having taken this cruise 4 times, I recommend taking your 18-250 EF, Tokina and your Canon EF 100-400 Pro. You will use your Tokina the most, but it is nice to have the extra reach of your Canon 100-400 for wildlife shots. As far as where to shoot, if it is real cold you might want to shoot from your balcony so you can pop back into your room and warm up periodically. On Princess, once at the glaciers in Glacier Bay the Captain spins the ship around 360 degrees so everyone gets to see everything right from their balcony. Besides my Columbia Omni Jacket (wind and rain-proof), I also wear a stocking cap and fingerless gloves when outside shooting.

But if the weather permits and as others have suggested, get out and about for more flexibility in shooting. I like to get up on the top open deck, that way I can move from side-to-side to get the shots I want. You don't need a tripod as it will transmit vibrations from the ship up to your camera. By handholding, your body absorbs those vibrations. If you need more shutter speed, increase your ISO. Princess spends most of the day cruising Glacier Bay so you will have plenty of time to shoot.

You are going to have a great time and shoot hundreds of photos! Let us know how it went when you get back.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

I responded before, but didn’t tell you take a monopod. You’ll use it on a boat,balcony etc.

Gampa

Agree on the wet bag!

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I tend to agree with this take. The 11-16 could be needed for glacier shots, depending on how close the ship gets. On a trip took last year, I needed my 10-18 to get the whole glacier in a single shot. However, if you are comfortable with stitching and want to get a higher resolution final product, you can do that using the 18-250. On the other hand the 11-16 is a pretty sharp lens and you could do the same at the 18mm end.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

If only two lenses, my vote would be for the 11-16 and 18-250. The only other combination I would consider would be the 18-250 and 100-400. Your 18-250 will be your prime lens for about 95% of your shots, possibly even more. You just need to think about the 5% of the shots and the weight of the extra lens. I personally believe that vistas will be better than going for those extra millimeters and all the extra weight.

ichou

I just got back from our September Alaska Cruise. I would take your wide angle (11-16) and the 100-400. If the skies are clear and you have an active sun, you may be able to get some Aurora Borealis sightings. You may have to wait until around 3:30 am for them to get really going, though. Also you will need a tripod. When we were in Glacier Bay, the Captain rotated the ship 360 degrees. So we just stayed on our balcony and watched the glaciers. You can watch them on one side on the way in to the bay and the others on the way out, also. If you get to Icy Point Strait, you may want to consider a Whale Watching tour. That port seems to be a good spot for whales to bubble net feed.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

We have done Alaska twice. Both times on The Un-Cruise a line that uses ships that carry 80-150 people. We got a LOT closer to the glaciers in Glacier Bay that you will on a large cruise ship. We noticed the large ones drive slow around the bay, don't stop and don't get very close to the actual glaciers. The 100-400 telephoto will be good there. The chopper ride in Juneau up to the Mendenhall Glacier surface is a great experience and a wide angle is appropriate there. It is a great experience. I would find a way to take all three lenses. The 100-400 is too long for a lot of scenes and the 11-16 is way too wide for a lot of the more normal scenes. If you abosolutely cannot take all 3, I would take the Sigma Zoom and the 100-400. You'll be seeing bald eagles, sea mammals of all kinds and many other members of the wildlife community. Have fun!

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

I took the inside passage 2 years ago, I am a Nikon shooter, I had 24mm to 600mm length with me, my go to lens 90% of the time was a 24-70mm. I used my 70-200mm a few times on an FX frame, not once did I have an decent opportunity to use 150-600mm { which I thought I would use that one the most!} next time I go I will get a decent point and shoot. would be WAY more convenient. have fun it is beautiful

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Your photos are beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.
Suzanne

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Thanks everyone for all your help. I am going to take the 18-250 and the 100-400 for sure, if space allows I will also take the 11-16 ultra wide. I am going to be on deck 8, the navigation deck at the front of the ship. I do plan to roam all over the ship to get photos.

Suzanne

joefishusa Loc: Atco, NJ

Hi Susan,

I just returned from a Princess Land/cruise in Alaska. We started in Fairbanks, went to Denali and then picked up the Island Princess Cruise ship in Whittier and proceeded to Glacier bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and ended up in Vancouver. We then struck out on our own for another two weeks through Seattle, Portland, Oregon coast, Redwoods in Northern California, Napa Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia National Forest and San Diego. A Once in a lifetime trip! I too anguished over what equipment to take given the length of the trip and limited space. Figuring I would be backpacking my daily photo equipment I elected to take my D850, a 16-35, and a 28-300. At the last minute a friend offered me a 24-70 which i reluctantly took. As it turned out i took 80% of my 5000 photos with that borrowed lens. I only used the 16-35 a few times to compare it to the 24-70 and the 28-300 for the same reason. I wound up purchasing the lens when I got home. With a 45 megapixel RAW file i did my cropping in post processing. I was not disappointed with my choice. I also carried a small tripod but really did not use it much either. Enjoy your trip! I want to go back already!

Yosemite - Valley View

ichou

Small world. That was the ship we got off of going South to North. Although our first stop was Icy Point Strait. We got off in Whittier, took the train to the Mt Mckinley Princess Lodge, then Denali Princess Lodge and ended in Fairbanks. You got on as we were getting off. I used my 24-70 most of the time. Used the 70-300 only for the Eagles. I had a 15mm I used to take the Aurora with.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Those are your own lenses, you know exactly what you get out of each one, so how can someone else make that decision for you?

kb6kgx Loc: Simi Valley, CA

Our Alaska Cruise was last year. I brought my 70-300 along for whales and eagles. The 70-300, though an excellent lens was just not enough for what we saw. 400 at the long end would’ve made a huge difference. At 300mm I had to do a lot of cropping.

bbrowner Loc: Chapel Hill, NC

You gotta use what you have.

I just made that or similar cruise in mid-August.

I used (part of) what I had.

I left my prime 35mm home and took my 16 -300 Tamron with my D7100. Very convenient. No changing or being bogged down with a lot of stuff to juggle.

Got a bunch of beautiful shots... because that lens gave me everything I needed. (I was shooting for myself and not National Geographic!)

I'd venture to say that few would buy new lenses just for that 7 days. Most of us get the best with what we have.

Great trip. Hope you enjoy it and get beautiful shots. I'm sure you will.

Barry