Mondolinni Loc: Long Island, New York

I also did Holland America; Awesome service and FOOD! Smaller ship although I don’t know where they can get that larger ships cant. Ot of Vancouver Good Luck. My camera at that time was an Olympus when digital was an infant, so I can’t comment on equipment. Good Luck!

JBRIII

The small ships some are talking about hold a hundred people or maybe even less, allows off loading into rubber rafts, etc. Trips look very interesting, but much more expensive. Princess once did a trip up to Kodiak on what they called their small ship (600?) people, you met the same people more often, but particular advantages we saw. The boat we took in the Galapodos held maybe 15 max. I believe Holland now has a ship that goes there as does Nat. Geographic, both hold maybe a 100?, but their lit seems bent on the food and spa as much as the rest. I'd have been happy if I could have snorkeled six hours a day, forget the spa stuff.

DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

One other consideration with cruise ships, are the CROWDS! When we drove over to Mendenhall Glacier, and saw the multiple tour buses, we turned around, and came back after 5. The towns are deserted before the cruise ship unload, around 9 a.m. and after loading at 5 p.m. You have the town to yourselves!

Woodworm65 Loc: Lombard, IL

If you plan to travel lite then one camera, we are going in July and are using Holland America they have land and sea packages would highly recommend doing both if you can we are doing Denali and 7 days on cruise.

LXK0930 Loc: Souh Jersey

I went to Alaska many years ago on a different type of cruise. It was a small boat (not a ship).

There were no sleeping accommodations on board.. Every night, we pulled in to a different town, where we had dinner (prepared by the local PTA, church group, etc), entertainment by the high school band and/or dance group, and we slept in the local motel or sometimes people's homes (long before VRBO).

Naturally, our boat went places that the liners could not.

Note that you won't see much wildlife from the ship. We took the train/bus excursion to Danali and Fairbanks, where we did see wildlife. We also took several helicopter excursions, and attended a midnight baseball game (no lights) on June 21.

It was one of the best trips of my life. I believe the company was Cruise West. It may not exist any more, but there may be others now.

Note my wife went few years later on Princess with her elderly mother. She has been on Norwegian, and thinks that Princess is better.

Hope that this helps. Enjoy!

Gspeed Loc: Rhinebeck, NY

Definitely look into Oceania cruise line. I speak from experience that the ships are smaller (1,250) passengers, usually no kids, no dining rules, all restaurants included, no bad art auctions or photographers hounding you, the BEST cuisine, almost all-inclusive but not so inclusive you are paying for stuff you don’t need (beverage packages, ship-sponsored shore excursions). Also, extremely high standards for health and safety surrounding germs and food handling. Heads above Holland America, in my humble opinion.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I agree - we saw seabirds and a whale from the ship, but that was not noteworthy. Take every excursion you can. We took a 2-hour boat excursion in Sitka and saw whales, sea otters, eagles, and other wildlife up close. In Juneau, we took a seaplane flight over the glaciers that was fantastic. It's been my experience on cruises that the excursions are what you'll remember the most.

tgreenhaw

I recommend the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. You can take a bus from Anchrage on the way to Seward that stops there. You'll see plenty of wildlife up close including bears. https://www.alaskawildlife.org/ Definitely plan on doing as many excursions as you can.

We went on Princess the summer of 2019. We like it a lot and have no complaints.

Definitely bring a light jacket/windbreaker in the summer. It's cold on deck when looking at the glaciers, especially in the morning. In the winter... I have no idea, but I would bring my Eddie Bauer Parka personally.

I strongly recommend a good travel tripod if you want get some video - and I think you will.

You will want the widest angle lens you've got for the landscapes and the longest zoom you've got fot the wildlife. With the high end no compromise glass you own that leaves a gap in the middle though. I would consider getting something the Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm. I shoot Canon and have the 24-240 and while it may not be quite as good as the top end glass, it's perfect for travel photography where a lightweight do everything lens is perfect.

tgreenhaw

One other point. Be sure to read the fine print on refunds in case they decide to cancel and also consider travel cancellation insurance.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

We took several cruises with Princes over the years before my wife went on dialysis, which prevents us from traveling. We were always happy with Princess. You did not say which itinerary you wanted to take; i.e., Inside Passage round trip, one way to Anchorage, sea/land tour, etc. Each type of cruise offers different opportunities to photograph wildlife.

If you want to photograph big game, a sea/land tour would be your best bet. There are several sea/land tour package that take you by cruise ship from Seattle or Vancouver to Anchorage and from there by train and bus to Denali (Mt. McKinley) and well beyond if you have the time.

https://www.princess.com/search-cruise/results/

Another option is a round trip cruise from either Seattle or Vancouver through the Inside Passage to Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway and/or Glacier Bay. You are not likely to see big land game on these cruises, but you can photograph gobs of whales if you take the whale watching tour from Ketchikan. You will travel by boat to an area where several species of whale migrate for the summer. You can also take tours at Juneau and Skagway. At Skagway, I would definitely take the White Pass and Yukon Railroad tour that takes you through the mountains and on to British Columbia and Carcross in the Yukon. It was absolutely the top tour of our Inside Passage cruise and every other person I have talked to has agreed with that assessment.

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/?cid=bm_paidsearch_BKWS_google_brandcatchall_Trades-Alaska_princesscruisealaska_na_na&gclid=CjwKCAiA5t-OBhByEiwAhR-hmz3W0WU3zT0Pz1RZbPvksDpr0oC5OQwkvd5ZFi6YFP5RLOWMNqIkyRoCFpIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

As to equipment, you will find that, unless you are shooting game, whales and similar wildlife for which you will need a 200mm or longer telephoto, you will shoot most of your pictures with a wide angle lens due to the fact that you will always be surrounded by awesome landscapes. I took a 14mm (you will be surprised how often you will need a super wide), 24-70mm, and 70-200mm.

mikee

Did the Lindblad Galapagos photo "expedition" and loved it. Top shelf company, but you pay extra for it. Really great photo experience.
Small boat, 4 Nat Geo photographers available for advice, and wonderful wildlife. It's a must-do.
Did an Alaskan cruise with Viking, and enjoyed it too, but not a photo cruise per say, and not as much wildlife. Good luck on bears and moose. Did see one mountain goat with a kid.
You will see whales and a lot of eagles. Did a photo shore excursion which encompassed driving to a roadside rest in a van and photographing a pond! Big whoopie! Have fun.

mikee

I did one Uncruise to baja and it was so-so. Seemed more for a geriatric crowd. My wife and i (mid 50's) were running circles around everyone. Not again. I'm a one-and-done kinda guy.

mundy-F2 Loc: Chicago suburban area

Consider one medium fast wide angle prime such as a Z 35mm f/1.8 S Nikkor. This will cut down on the number of lenses and you can take night pictures and travel lite, without using a tripod.
Over 95% of my pictures from Alaska are with my 35mm Nikkor.
Mundy

DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

AzatVi Loc: AZ

Strongly recommend Oceania, no kids, great tours. Whales are almost a certainty, Bears and Moose are more iffy. We spent several hours with a guide looking for bears and finally gave up. On the way back in the bus on a bridge crossing a stream we saw one fishing just up from the bridge.