newish to big cruising- couple of simple questions

[diane.in.ny]

As long as you have a good pair of binoculars, you should be able to see whales and eagles.

 

With luck, you'll see a bear along the shore.

[Cruisin'Christine]

I would recommend Celebrity to you for Alaska. I took the Celebrity Solstice on a cruise that went from Seattle to Vancouver and it was amazing. The food was also really good. For food, I prefer Celebrity and Princess over Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Costa. It is a bit more upscale. For excursions, I would definitely recommend whale watching in Juneau. I can't remember the price of that, but it was nothing outrageous and it was fabulous (many whales breeching). I also took the White Pass train excursion and the deep sea fishing excursion from Icy Strait Point. In Victoria, don't miss going to Beauchart Gardens!! The excursions run from about $50 to $150 for the ones I did.