I have cruised Alaska many times. There are oneway cruises that are generally 7 days long and go between Vancouver and Seward or Whittier depending on the cruise line or they will go the reverse between Whittier or Seward and Vancouver. The itinerary says it goes to Ankorage but the ships do NOT go to Ankorage that is where you would fly in or out of. There are land packages that can be added to these trips. If you add a land package to these trips I would do the land package first than cruise southbound. The land portion can get hectic and tiring than you could rest on the cruise afterwards. If you are just doing the one way cruise and not the land package go Vancouver to Seward or Whittier. The views get more spectacular as you go northbound.
There are also roundtrip cruises. These go from several ports such as Vancouver, Seattle or San Fransisco. These do NOT go all the way to Seward or Whittier and IMHO miss some of the best scenery that you can see from the ship on an Alaskan cruise. All the scenery is great but these will miss the best scenery. On these you may also go to Sitka which generally the 7 day one way cruises do not usually hit.
As far as finding the best price or best cruise line you should find the cruise line that caters to the style of cruising you like, however keep in mind cruising Alaska attracts a different crowd than cruising the Caribbean. Most any cruiseline can do a good job in Alaska. Princess and Holland America have been there the longest of the major cruise lines and they will have naturalists aboard providing lectures on the area and the wildlife. Prices are like anything else if the ship is filling up the price will go higher and Alaska is becoming popular.
Each month provides something different when cruising Alaska. May will be cooler but you will see spectacular waterfalls due to the snow melt. May is also considered one of the dryer months for an Alaskan cruise.
June is still considered one of the dryer months and more animals will have come out of hybernation and the salmon will start running towards the end of May.
July will start the rainy season as well as the bugs coming out. July will also come into the peak whale watching season.
August is still one of the wetter months and still good for whales.
Sept will start to cool off and the whales will start heading south. Of course sales are better in Sept to clear shelves for the winter months.
Keep in mind Ketchikan is one of the major rain forests so regardless of when you cruise you will probably run into rain here.
My personal favorite time to cruise Alaska is the end of May and first part of June. I have had the best luck with weather and still seen plenty of wildlife.
Must do's in Alaska. If you can afford it a helicopter flight and landing on a glacier. A whale watch. A trip into the Yukon.
Everytime I go to Alaska I find something new and different to do.
