I took the AMHS ferry Columbia (clean cabin, excellent dining room and the cafeteria was good) from Haines to Ketchikan and then a few days later from Ketchikan to St. Rupert, BC on Matanuska (clean cabin, good food in the cafeteria) in September 2019. I took all my photos (including a whale breaching, rising full moon and numerous gulls) hand held with my Nikon Z7. I did not have a monopod and a tripod would have been impractical for the whale photos due to the large crowd of passengers lining the railing. Typically I found it best to lean against a convenient support column and stabilize the camera with my elbows against my body or support my elbows on the top of the deck railing. All the long distance shots were taken with a mix of my 200-500 and 80-400 lenses. All round I found the ferry journeys were an inexpensive and excellent experience and FWIW I would not hesitate to travel that again in the future if I travel back to Alaska by vehicle.