Small-ship cruising is focused on the up-close pleasures that no large vessel can offer. CruiseWest delivers the best casual and personal experience. Life onboard CruiseWest's alluring small ships is hard to understand until you experience it- and once you experience it it’s hard to imagine traveling any other way.                                     

Manoeuvrable and versatile, the 100-guest Pacific Explorer is the perfect way to travel in comfort throughout your Central American adventures. The intricate coastline, remote jungle-clad islands, and varied ports of call of Central America are perfectly suited for small-ship cruising. Enjoy Costa Rica, Panama and the Canal, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras up-close and casual.            

Built in the style of an early 20th century coastal cruiser, The Spirit of 98, explores Alaskas Inside Passage between Seattle and Juneau during the summer months, and cruises the entire navigable length of the Columbia and the Snake Rivers in Spring and in the Fall.                           

This intimate and casual small ships focuse on the true wilderness of Alaska's Inside Passage, on a 7-night voyage round trip from Juneau. Her shallow draft, spacious bow and comfortable cruising speed make for optimum wildlife viewing. Small ships are simply the best possible, and sometimes the only way to explore the natural wonders of Alaska up-close.                           

The Spirit of Columbia is a cosy vessel perfect for shared adventure in the wilderness waterways. With her shallow draft and stately pace of cruising, you wont miss a thing as she lingers among the back channels, bays, and wilderness islands.                          

The first thing guests notice when stepping into the Discovery Lounge aboard the 84-guest Spirit of Discovery is light, airy, and has wide picture windows, port and starboard, with a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows facing forward. Her primary cruise route explores Alaskas Inside Passage between Juneau and Ketchikan, including Glacier Bay National Park.                           

The Spirit of Endeavour is one of Cruise Wests fastest overnight vessels, allowing for maximum flexibility while on route. Spacious and elegant, with large view windows everywhere and ample outside deck space. The Spirit of Endeavour sails in Alaskas Inside Passage, the California Wine Country, and Baja Mexicos Sea of Corts.                           

Cruise Wests first oceangoing vessel is also our most spacious and luxurious. Equipped with stabilizers, the Spirit of Oceanus opens up whole new horizons for our style of up-close, casual small-ship cruising. In Alaska, that means the Gulf of Alaska and the remote vastness of the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea.                           

The Yorktown Clipper, soon to be renamed the Spirit of Yorktown is one of Cruise West's newest overnight vessels, with a year-round cruising schedule that takes her as far north as Alaska and south, through the Panama Canal to the Carribean.