Inside Passage Small Ship Recommendation

My concern with only 20 people on a small ship... will everyone get along. We lucked out on a barge trip in France that all 22 of us got along. The captain admitted that he'd had people leave after several days because they could not stand some of the other passengers. Expensive to do that in France, next to impossible to get off in AK. It was obvious at the hotel back in Paris that some of the other barge groups had not gotten along very well. Good Luck

Veebyes wrote:
Never been on a cruise on any sized ship, did a trip on a freighter once, but a small ship cruise would be the way to go.

When you've never been on one of the big ships, you're just guessing what they're like. I sail the big ships (13 times) because I can afford them, and I know how to get what I want from them. The small ships offer a VERY different experience that isn't for everyone - either everyone's taste or their budget. While the small ships match my taste for some trips, not for others (ie our last one from Vancouver to Hawaii), and they never match my budget, unfortunately (though my wife was on an amazing one up the coast of BC before we met).

Never been on a cruise on any sized ship, did a trip on a freighter once, but a small ship cruise would be the way to go.

The big ships are more about keeping you onboard or doing THEIR shore excursioins, which they typically get 35-40% of gross price on, than getting you out & really seeing stuff.

The small ships are out there. They may take some doing to find. They don't have the promotion budgets of the big ship lines. The per day costs will be much higher but the quality of the trip will be much higher too. You won't spend your days pigging out on food or being herded around like cattle.

Never been on a cruise on any sized ship, did a trip on a freighter once, but a small ship cruise would be the way to go.

The big ships are more about keeping you onboard or doing THEIR shore excursioins, which they typically get 35-40% of gross price on, than getting you out & really seeing stuff.

The small ships are out there. They may take some doing to find. They don't have the promotion budgets of the big ship lines. The per day costs will be much higher but the quality of the trip will be much higher too. You won't spend your days pigging out on food or being herded around like cattle.

The top operator in Alaska's small ship category (meaning under 100 passengers) is Uncruise, formerly American Safari - http://www.un-cruise.com/, though there are dozens of companies with a single boat. Un-cruise boats aren't quite as small as you're asking about, the smallest being 22 passengers. Note that because they do in-depth looks at the coast, they don't cover the miles that the big ships do - that is, you're not doing a 7-day trip to Alaska and back out of Vancouver.

On my Alaska cruise Web site I used to maintain a list of all the small-ship/boat operators, but they changed so often I gave up.