Hi Karin,We took the Star NCL ship,it was great despite lots of bad reviews on NCL mostly to Hawaii! The ship was spotless,the food great,age range late 40s to 90! Most I would say in the 60 year old range. But I know even though I have never been on, that Royal Carribbean is great as well! We did both booked excursions on board and thru web.I highly recommend Captain Larrys whale watch in Juneau,not a ship activity,book online,he started all the whale watching tours for cruise ships out of Juneau.Its called Orca Enterprises in downtown Juneau,three blow up orca whales in front,cant miss it across the street from the tram(do this also)its expensive a little over 100 dollars each but worth every penny,only 18 people go on his speed boat,versus 100 or more on cruise ship tours,he knows where to go to find whales,other ships radio in to him to find out where they are,he looks like a good ole grizzly bear sort of like Quint in Jaws with long hair,quite a character!!! Also take an inside passage cruise,you get to see more scerney that way and if you get sick at sea you are not out to sea as often,you will get a day where you cruise thry Glacier Bay,truly high point of trip,in Skagway take the Train Ride,unbelievable beauty!!!! We went in late August this year,60 degree weather or warmer every day except the Glacier Bay day but you are on ship then! It was good for us because all the shops are getting ready to close and everything was 50to 75 per cent off or more!!! Boy did I shop! Hope this answers some of your questions,I know Howie is great on Alaskan questions,maybe address a post to him. Korina
