We have received an email from American Safari Cruises stating that American Safari Cruises and the sister brand InnerSea Discoveries have purchased the website and database of Cruise West plus some other assets, but they have not purchased the boats or the company. The faith of the unsold ships is not quite clear at the moment. The rumours are that a new company, based in Sitka, Alaska - Alaskan Dream Cruises has now two of the ships. At the moment the vessels undergo an extensive refit and will be ready for sailing for the next season. Cruise West (formerly Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West), a Seattle-based firm, was established in 1973 by Charles (Chuck) West and his son, Richard (Dick) West. During the 70s and early 80s, the firm was primarily an operator of motorcoach tours and sightseeing on Alaska-Yukon highways and in major Alaska cities. The company also operated dayboat cruises on Alaska’s Prince William Sound and Inside Passage. In 1989 Cruise West acquired a small cruise ship, the 52-guest Spirit of Glacier Bay. The next year, they began offering a new series of overnight cruises in Glacier Bay which departed from Juneau. This itinerary was later extended to include Sitka and Admiralty Island. Since then, the company has acquired new cruise ships at a rate of almost a ship a year. Cruise West now owns and operates a fleet of seven small cruise ships and one motoryacht, with capacities ranging from 78 to 114 guests. The company has grown to become the largest small-ship cruise line in North America. A new flagship, the Spirit of Oceanus, began service in 2001. The company offers seven different Alaska cruise itineraries between April and September. Itineraries range from three-night cruises on Prince William Sound to ten-night voyages between Seattle and the northern limits of the Inside Passage-Glacier Bay, Skagway and Juneau. Besides Alaska, Cruise West’s destinations include British Columbia and the Islands of the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia & Snake Rivers (the two largest rivers in Western America), the California Wine Country from San Francisco, and Baja Mexico’s Sea of Cortés. Cruise West takes a destination-focused, "less is more" approach to adventure cruising, although you certainly won't be lacking for comfort or quality of amenities. Cruise West's small ships are able to enter waterways that larger cruise ships cannot, providing an up-close experience made even more meaningful by lectures and programs from onboard naturalist guides. Cruise West is owned by the West family of Seattle. Its ships were built in America. Chuck West is now Chairman Emeritus and Dick West is Chairman and CEO. In 2010 Cruise West is starting river cruises in Europe aboard the luxurious Amadeus Diamond river vessel.