Something about the concepts of cruising and communing with nature don't seem completely in-sync. Big, commercial cruise ships with thousands of passengers just don't seem in line with quiet and the great outdoors. They don't seem…well, natural. When booking a cruise in Alaska's Inside Passage, I was skeptical I'd find a way to cruise and still enjoy the natural surroundings - even on one of the smaller ships. That is, until someone suggested the Cruise West line.

The founder of Cruise West, Chuck West, was a bush pilot in Alaska in 1946 and wanted to share the wonders of Alaska with the rest of the world. One way was to develop a small-ship cruise line, with routes that covered much of Alaska's coastline. None of the ships in the fleet carry more than 114 passengers, and all of the ships are small enough to navigate narrow waterways.

My trip aboard the Spirit of '98 began in Juneau, Alaska's capital city and home to 30,000 residents. If that number seems a bit small, consider that there are only 600,000 people in the entire state. Juneau is the third-largest city in the state, after Anchorage and Fairbanks. It's accessible only by air and water and is surrounded by mountains. Ships of all sizes dock here daily. The mega-liners dwarfed Cruise West's Spirit of '98, which is just 192 feet long and 40 feet wide.

Though the ship was built in 1984 and purchased by Cruise West in 1993, its name harkens back to the Gold Rush and its design to the early 20th-century coastal steamers. The public space has several outdoor viewing areas including a covered deck, dining room with an adjacent bar and the Grand Salon, complete with a player piano and full bar and decorated with dark wood and floral upholstery. The Spirit of '98 gives passengers a hint of discovery and adventure, the pioneering spirit that people had when first arriving in Alaska.

Due to the size of the ship, cabins are small with the exception of the Owner's Suite and deluxe cabins. Two twin beds, a small closet, an equally small desk and chair and a cramped bathroom are all there is room for. However, picture windows help brighten up the room, enticing passengers to move to the decks to the views outside. (CONTINUE...)