I'll be taking an Alaskan cruise with my family in mid-August. I'll want to travel as light as possible but don't want to leave anything behind and if there's any recommended equipment I don't have, I want to make sure I have enough time to save and purchase.
I have an Olympus E-520 and am planning on bringing:
70-300mm for capturing wildlife from a distance
9-18mm for landscapes
14-45mm for family shots
I also have the 50mm macro and 40-150 but was thinking of leaving these at home, although the 50mm is technically probably my best glass.
I also have a tripod, monopod, and gorrillapod. I wasn't planning on bringing the tripod but was considering the other two, particularly the monopod. There should be quite a few photo ops from the deck of the boat, especially when we get close to glaciers in Glacier Bay and the monopod might be useful. The tripod probably would be too but I'm thinking it's just too bulky and I really don't want to deal with too much equipment.
The other thing I was considering was a polarizing filter. I already have one that will fit the 14-45 and the 70-300 but the 9-18mm is bigger, so was thinking I would get a filter for that. However, will that be a problem at 9mm? Will it interfere with the image? Do I need the slim profile filter to avoid any vignetting?
Finally, I was also considering purchasing a used 14-54, which is a faster, higher quality lens than the 14-45. I avoided buying it previously because of the cost, but there is now a MKII version and the old version can be found on eBay for around $200. I'm a little concerned about buying any new Olympus glass however, as I'm not sure where the whole 4/3 thing is going.
Any advice, suggestions, experiences are appreciated.