Cruise West will be sailing with five ships in Alaska this summer, three fewer than originally planned, Cruise Industry News has learned, cutting the line’s passenger capacity by nearly 35 percent over 2008.

The Spirit will be redeployed on the Columbia and Snake River, and the Spirits of Alaska and Glacier Bay will both the laid up, said a spokesperson from the line. (The Spirits of Columbia, Discovery, Endeavor, Oceanus, and Yorktown will still be Alaska-bound.)

Cruise West is responding to booking trends and demand by modifying Alaska deployments in 2009,” the spokesperson said, adding that while 2010’s Alaska deployment is still pending, they should know more in about two months.

This announcement follows Royal Caribbean International’s recent pullout of the Serenade of the Seas in the Alaska market for 2010.