What's smaller in your mind? We too Holland down the inside passage and found it a fabulous trip.

I have not been on the smaller ships in Alaska.

We just got off the Holland America Koningsdam Alaska cruise 2 weeks ago. Happy to answer any questions.

Koningsdam holds 2600 passengers. Holland America has smaller ships that do Alaska, but we prefer the Pinnacle class ships (Koningsdam, Rottermdam, Nieux Statendam) because of the additional amenities. Those 3 are HAL's largest ships, but way smaller than the mega ships of today which I will never go on.

What cruise lines were you looking at?

Much smaller, less than 100 passengers! Just started looking at Linblad (National Geographic) or Alaskan Dream. Worried they might be too rustic.

Not that small, but we took Regent which is around 700 total. They depart from either Seward or Vancouver. We were very happy with the amenities and service and the fact they can go into some of the smaller ports. We also had no problem planning our own ground arrangements after docking in Seward (rental car, hotel in Andhorage, train and lodging to Denali). Neither DH or I care to travel on one of the larger cruise ships.