We chose this cruise because it was going to Alaska and several members of my family wanted to tour that area. The cruise ship was immaterial as we were looking at the criteria that matched our dates and ports of call interests. We got extremely lucky when we chose this cruise! On our 1st stop at Kitchcan, we had not booked an excursion. We decided to take a sea plane at the last minute and were fortunate enough to get one scheduled directly from the Internet. It was a great decision. After that we walked around the town for a while and enjoy the day. We were lucky and had excellent weather throughout our whole cruise! We got off the ship at the Tacy Arms Fjorge and took the catamaran tour to Juneau. Highly recommend that excursion! At Juneau we ate the obligatory king crab legs and enjoyed the afternoon walking around the town. At Skagway, we took the white pass trail train and were lucky enough to see a black bear. Our last port was Victoria, British Columbia where we toured the Bushart Gardens. It was our least favorite day, but it was still a great excursion. Captain Tasos personally made this the best cruise I have ever had, and I've been on many. Loved the cruise ship, loved the staff and had a great time!