[Lisanp@aol.com]

Two comments on this. The first is that I highly recommend an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay. The National Park Service limits the number of ships per day/per season that obtain a permit to enter Glacier Bay. It is a very worth while day on an Alaska cruise. As others have commented, on a one-way cruise to or from Alaska you see a lot more than RT Seattle and RT Seattle always includes Victoria BC so a non-Alaska port plus a sea day to consider vs the days actually in Alaska ports.
Second, pay very close attention to the itinerary port times and if you will be docked or tendered. You want as many hours in each port as possible, especially in August when the days start to get shorter. On our sailing, the Princess ships were docked at the pier and the NCL ships were anchored and tendering in several of our ports. Tendering adds a lot of time and frustration to your port day. Princess has Alaska “locked up”. They own the busses, rail cars, hotels etc. Other companies are outsourcing and in August the college labor has left for the season.
Just some things to consider.