Inside Passage cruise

We would like to do a 7 day small ship cruise but it seems to be a very expensive choice! Please can anyone suggest a boat operator using a boat to hold approx. 12 passengers who can offer a good value 7 day cruise.

Inside Passage cruise

Operating a small boat is expensive and so cruises on any of them are far more expensive that the big liners. My wife has been on a small-boat cruise to Alaska, and together we%26#39;ve been on 4 large-ship Alaska cruises. She says that if you can come up with the money, the small ships offer better value - for those who want a very up-close look at the coast. There are dozens of options now - see www.youralaskacruise.com/cruise-alaska2.html

Murray

Inside Passage cruise

In 2006 I went on a small boat cruise with American Safari Cruises. It was an incredible experience and I would highly recommend it. It is more expensive than the larger cruise ships but it is a very different experience than the large cruise ships. We spent hours watching whales bubble-net feeding within feet of the boat (they came to us not the other way around) while we also saw cruise ship after cruise ship pass by probably without even knowing the whales were there (including Cruise West). The cruise does not visit any ports other than its starting and ending points of Juneau and Sitka (or vice versa). The only time we had to be at a specific place was when we picked up our Ranger for our time in Glacier Bay NP. It is also one of the few cruiselines allowed to overnight in Glacier Bay so one of my fondest memories is being in the hottub at midnight surrounded by the tranquil waters and views of Glacier Bay with no other boats visible.

In comparison I%26#39;m not sure how much more expensive it is than the higher end large cruiseships because everything is truly included. There are no fees for ';excursions'; which consist of short hikes, dinghy rides or kayaking. All food and drinks (including alcohol) is included. The only extra was the well-deserved tip to the crew at the end of the voyage (I think 5-10% of the cost was suggested).

They go out of their way to honor any request and have great flexibility. When we encountered the bubble-net feeding whales our plans for that afternoon were quickly cast aside by the consensus of the passengers and our evening anchorage changed so that we could enjoy the show. I will always remember riding in the dinghy and having the whales dive right under us. The only downside was having the blow of the whales (very fishy) hit you but it was a very small trade-off for the experience of perhaps a lifetime.

Another advantage of American Safari Cruises is that you are anchored and the engines shut down at night to sleep so that you do not miss any of the wonderful scenary of Alaska. So if it is within your budget, I would highly recommend American Safari Cruises.

%26gt;%26gt;In comparison I%26#39;m not sure how much more expensive it is than the higher end large cruiseships because everything is truly included.%26lt;%26lt;

We%26#39;ve done the apples-to-apples comparison in the hope that we could do another small-ship cruise, but they are simply MUCH more expensive regardless of how you break it down. If you book a suite and take high-end excursions on the big liners you could get close, but that%26#39;s not how we cruise - we take oceanview cabins with ca-$100-150 excursions. We%26#39;re looking at American Safari and Maple Leaf as our ';some day'; cruises, though.

A good value 7 day cruise?

amsafari.com/alaska-rates_juneau-roundtrip.h鈥?/a>

LOL - and compare that with 鈥ruisedirect.com/travel/鈥?/a> !!

Murray, that%26#39;s a great link. Thanks for posting

Ok, I said I didn%26#39;t know how it compared to the high-end larger lines (Btw I don%26#39;t believe Carnival is considered high-end). Regardless, I still believe that American Safari Cruises offers a fantastic, intimate experience that is worth the higher tariff if you can swing it.

%26gt;%26gt;...I don%26#39;t believe Carnival is considered high-end.%26lt;%26lt;

Carnival is mainstream, the equivalent of 98% of the other large ships that come up here (HAL, RCI, Princess, NCL, etc).