photoman43

I have done this trip--from Juneau to Seattle. It is an amazing trip.

But if photography is one of your goals, you will need to pick a cruise with small boats--those that hold 30-90-- as they can go to many more places and get much closer than the big ships. Check out UnCruise and National Geographic.

The inside passage trips are usually around the beginning and end of the seasons. Other itineraries might even be better as there is less time spent covering uninteresting areas. Look carefully at a planned itinerary for any trip you plan to take so you know exactly where the boat will be.

Camera stuff. I took two nikon bodies. One has a 70-200mm on it. The other had a longer lens. You will need at least a 300mm lens. The 500mm f5.6 pf would be a huge plus. Or it you shoot with a Z body, the new 100-400mm S lens.

On a small boat, I used a tripod nd a monopod. If you do not ant to take a tripod, take a monopod.

Lenses needed:24-70mm; 70-200; teleconverter, long tele lens. And rain protection for all of your cameras and lenses as shooting conditions might not be "blue sky" all the time.

https://uncruise.com/pages/alaskan-adventures

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

I took an Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago from Seattle on Holland America (Oosterdam) at the end of July and loved it. Only downside was rain in Juneau and Ketchikan. In fact it rained so hard in Ketchikan that our float plane excursion was canceled. We’re going this year again the first week in June on Princess out of San Francisco.
I watch a YouTube video channel called Tips for Travelers, with Gary Bembridge. He says the best time to cruise Alaska is May/June, as these months have the least amount of rain. A couple degrees cooler than the summer, but usually better weather.
Enjoy your cruise!

lightyear

After 5 Alaska trips: agree with most of the above comments, except: two early June cruises had no mosquitoes and saw many seals with babies on ice floes in Glacier Bay; some 'bear watching' tours have no bears in the wild. If you can get a cruise that takes in 1. Glacier Bay 2.Skagway 3. Sitka 4.plus the usual Juneau, Ketchikan
you will see the most. We preferred Holland America because their itinerary provided more time in port, and we could eat breakfast and get ashore earlier. Take rain gear for self and camera.

JBRIII

The worst seas we've ever experience were on an inside strait cruise when they exited the straits, literally bounced off the walls in the hallway. Told even crew got sick. Can't imagine a small boat. We enjoyed it no end, no sickness.

James May

I’ve been on 3 cruises up to Alaska . Love the country . I’d go in late August more if a change of photographing Bears . I love Norwegian Cruise lines . There is no limit in drinks where princess and the others have limit if 15 which includes water and sodas . I will always take Norwegian Cruise lines. You got to do the whale watching trips on the side trips . Well worth it.looks like you got all the right lenses.

RolandDieter

Definitely go on a small ship ... you want to get into places the large ships can't. I take a third camera/lens setup, but on shore excursions I keep it down to the one or two I know I will use on that particular excursion. The third setup could be for shooting whales, etc. from the ship. I took a 500mm for that.

V2volk Loc: St. Louis area

Alway!

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

The inner passage has very few rollers. The roughest part of any cruise there would be Frederick sound, and its still very smooth cruising.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Remember that old saying “You get what you pay for”

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

I work for a company in Juneau that does tours off the large cruise ships and have friends that work some of the smaller ships. (Un-cruise and National Geo) The small ships are great if you and the other people you are traveling with are all into the more adventurous stuff and want to climb in and out of zodiacs and bush wack on remote beaches rain or shine. If you are not into this there is not a lot to do on the small ships. Make sure all in your group are of the same mind before you book these ships.
Look at the itinerary very carefully when shopping for a big ship. The biggest complaint I get from the tourists is not enough port time. NCL is the worst. They are in and out of ports leaving barely enough time for their guests to take a tour (My visit the glacier, try to find a bear and go whale watching tour is five hours dock to dock) This does not leave some guests enough time to see the town. Other cruise lines are in all day.
Make sure the ship you book is going to the places you want to see. They don't all go to the same places.
Keep your gear simple but don't skimp too much. You won't be happy on a whale watch with a 120mm lens if you know you have 400mm of fire power back on the ship or at home. I tell my guests two lenses. One for the trail, short to medium, and one for the boat, medium to long. Don't bring three. Don't bring four. Don't bring a tripod or a monopod. People that are over geared often miss the shots while they wrestle with decisions.
Shore tours go rain or shine so be prepared for that. For those in your group who might not want to do what you do the bigger ships offer lots of other things, from a variety of shore outings to just staying on the ship.
While watching the NFL I have seen some cruising Commercials and some cruise lines don't even talk about where they go. It is all about what you can do on their ship. If you're into photography you don't want to get stuck with that.
...Cam

Robg

Having taken cruises with Vantage, Viking, A&K and National Geographic to many different locations, National Geographic comes in first by a humongous margin. Rate them a 10. I've taken three cruises with them and they always have a professional photographer (at least one, and once 3), professional naturalists, etc., on board and they interact with you every day. A&K doesn't do a bad job, but by comparison to National Geographic, I would rate them a 6. Viking earns a 4, they really fell down on the organization of ashore activities and on-board health management. Vantage gets a zero because they completely screwed up our land arrangements, and refused to do anything about it after the fact other than a $200 credit for a future booking.

At present, I have two more trips booked with National Geographic. One to Swalbard and Norway and the other to New Zealand. Hope they don't get cancelled! My booking to Alaska with National Geographic got cancelled due to Covid and I will rebook that at some time.

hh677

Definitely look into a smaller ship. I've taken 2 Alaska cruises with UnCruise, and highly recommend them.

photoman43

If you take a small boat trip, I still recommend a monopod and maybe a tripod. I used both while taking pictures from the boat. I did not use either on land trips on in the city. And I would not use them on a zodiac.

On a small boat the captain will often shut off the engines to eliminate vibrations and even noise. Under certain conditions, using a monopod with a lens like a 100-400mm or even a 70-200 might save you three stops as it could allow for shorter shutter speeds. The monopod offers an additional benefit in reducing the strain on your shoulders and neck. You might be outside on the deck for over an hour or longer taking pictures. Having that weight on the pod is better than on your arms and neck. Given that light intensity may be reduced by fog, clouds and weather, gaining those extra exposure stops may be important.

Make sure you have a big lens cloth with you to wipe off the water from the lens front element or its filter. You will need to do this a lot. I would recommend clear filters to help protect the front lens element.

RightOnPhotography Loc: Quebec,QC

My wife and I went on a 7-days Alaska cruise back in 2007. We chose Princess, from Anchorage back to Vancouver, our hometown. This allowed us to visit more places as we sailed for 7 days in one direction, instead of back and force.
We visited the usual places - Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay National Park. We didn't see much of the wildlife, except dolphins. I suggest taking a side trip from Anchorage to Denali park, that is really worthwhile. I hope to go there one day. I had with me my very first DSLR, Pentax *istD (DX, 6Mp) and two DX lenses - 16-50 and 70-300. These lenses were just perfect for this trip. You can visualize this cruise by going through the shots I took on this trip. Here is the link to my Alaska gallery: https://www.memoriesoftravels.com/Travel/Alaska-Cruise/.

BTW, the Princess Cruises became our favorite, we always travel with them, no complaints at all.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I can only give you my cruise experience.
First - bring an extra battery and a charger. I didn't bring a tripod or monopod.
I brought 2 cameras, 1 APS-C DSLR with 18-300mm zoom and flash (on a bracket with cable) and a pocketable 1" sensor 25-250mm (equiv) camera. I was quite pleased with the results.