An Alaska Cruise will leave you in awe at the beauty of the magnificent wilderness
Alaska, a land of breathtaking glaciers, majestic wildlife, and untouched wilderness, dazzles with its untamed beauty. An Alaska cruise unlocks the awe-inspiring wilderness, offering an unforgettable journey that blends scenic exploration, wildlife encounters, and outdoor adventures where rich indigenous cultures and rustic charm converge.
Witness the raw power and ethereal beauty of Alaska’s glaciers. Cruise alongside towering walls of ice that glisten in the Alaskan sun, calving into the turquoise waters with thunderous booms. Sail through Glacier Bay and marvel at the immensity of the Sawyer and Margerie Glaciers. Witness the dramatic calving of tidewater glaciers in Tracy Arm Fjord, a sight that will leave you breathless. An Alaska cruise isn’t just about sightseeing; it’s about embracing adventure. Go kayaking through serene fjords, experience the thrill of dog sledding across glaciers, hike through lush rainforests teeming with life or take to the water for a thrilling white-water rafting trip. An Alaska cruise caters to all preferences. Nature lovers will find endless opportunities to explore the state’s unparalleled beauty. Wildlife enthusiasts will be dazzled by the abundance of creatures. Adventure seekers can embark on heart-pounding excursions.
Set sail for Alaska and discover a landscape that will leave you spellbound as you cruise through towering glaciers, encounter awe-inspiring wildlife, and delve into the rich culture of this extraordinary state.
Alaska is a haven for wildlife viewing. Keep your eyes peeled for humpback whales breaching in the distance, playful sea otters bobbing in the kelp beds, and majestic bald eagles soaring overhead. Spot brown bears foraging along the shoreline or witness a pod of orcas slicing through the water. With its diverse ecosystems, Alaska offers a wildlife encounter unlike any other.
Immerse yourself in the rich culture of Alaska’s indigenous communities. Visit historic villages and learn about traditional ways of life. Witness captivating totem poles and intricate artworks that tell stories of the Tlingit, Haida, and other indigenous peoples. Sample delicious fresh seafood, a staple of the Alaskan diet, and savour regional delicacies infused with indigenous flavours.
Despite its adventurous spirit, an Alaska cruise also offers opportunities for relaxation. Breathe in the crisp Alaskan air from the deck, enjoying the ever-changing scenery. Soak in the hot tubs onboard, unwinding after a day of exploration. In the summer, experience the wonder of the midnight sun, where daylight stretches into the night, creating a truly unique Alaskan ambience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best month to go on a cruise to Alaska?
The best time to cruise Alaska for good weather is summer (mid-June through August). An Alaska cruise in summer might be the perfect choice if you prefer warmer temperatures, and longer days with up to 22 hours of sunlight.
Where do Alaska cruises leave from?
Most Alaska cruises depart from Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Anchorage, Alaska, which includes departures from Seward and Whittier.
How many days is best for an Alaskan cruise?
9 to 12 nights should be enough time to combine a cruise with a land tour and experience both sides of Alaska, but you can opt for a longer cruise, which offers more time for exploration.
Ports you might visit
Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Located on the now-dormant Alert Bay volcanic belt, Cormorant Island is host to Vancouver Island's oldest northern community, the small town of Alert Bay. It is located in the traditional territory of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation and today is a blend of both aboriginal and pioneer culture.
Anchorage, USA, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska is a place of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities where you may even see the Northern Lights. Take a half day helicopter tour over snow-capped mountains, icy valleys and lakes. Drive the National Scenic Byway watching for wildlife like brown bears, birds and caribou. The locals love fishing from Ship Creek, the old Tanaina Indian camp where King, Coho and Pink salmon spawn in summer. In this large snowy wonderland you can enjoy all kinds of winter activities including dog sledding, snowmobiling and ice skating.
Cruising Behm Canal
The 108-mile Behm Canal runs from the Clarence Strait through the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska, and into the channel separating Revillagigedo Island from the mainland. It forms part Inside Passage on the route between Ketchikan and the Misty Fjords National Monument.
Cruising Stephens Passage
One of the straightest stretches of the Inside Passage is the Stephens Passage just south of Juneau, a 105-mile channel between 5,000-foot peaks that cuts through the Alexander Archipelago between Admiralty Island on the west and the mainland and Douglas Island on the east. It is a good place to be on deck, because Admiralty boasts more bears than people, and the spruce and hemlock forests come right down to the water.
Cruising Stikine Strait
Stikine Strait is a picturesque channel in the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska between Zarembo Island and Woronkofski and Etolin Islands near the mouth of the Stikine River south of Wrangell. It first appears on an 1848 Russian chart as Stakhin Strait and has been spelled variously on many charts since that time.
Cruising the Queen Charlotte Sound
The Queen Charlotte Sound lies between the Queen Charlotte Strait, which winds between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland in the south, and Hecate Strait, which is northward, adjacent to the Haida Gwaii Islands off the Pacific coast of British Columbia.
Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Dutch Harbor is a well-protected natural harbor on Amaknak Island in the Fox Islands group, located about halfway along the volcanic arc of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea. Being ice-free, it is a vital port for the Bering Sea fishing industry.
Endicott Arm, AK
Sparkling still waters. Majestic mountains. Soaring eagles. All these and more are sights that await at Endicott Arm. Enjoy scenes of extraordinary natural beauty as your Cunard Queen sails along this 30-mile stretch of glasslike water, at the end of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness.
Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay is the crowning jewel of Alaska's Inside Passage. Part of a 25-million-acre World Heritage Site, it's home to an array of wildlife and some of the world's most amazing tidewater glaciers.
Haines
Soaring peaks and temperate rainforest add to this city’s infinite charm. From historic forts and sculpture gardens to native art and Tlingit history, Haines is a celebration of Alaska’s culture and heritage.
Located at the top of one of the world’s longest fjords, Haines occupies an area of natural beauty so picturesque you’ll be reaching for your camera at every opportunity. Soaring peaks, sweeping forests and expansive lakes add to the city’s infinite charm, while local distilleries, Tlingit culture and wildlife encounters offer just a taste of what you’ll discover in port.
Top landmarks and sights in Haines -
As Alaska port calls go, Haines unlocks scenery quite unique to this part of the world and you’ll find no shortage of ways to take it in. From guided mountain climbing and nature walks to glacier trekking, sea kayaking and flightseeing, the possibilities for outdoor adventures in Haines are far reaching.
Hubbard Glacier
Hubbard Glacier – all 76 awe-inspiring miles of it – is located 200 miles northwest of Juneau. Backed by looming mountains, this is the largest tidewater glacier on the North American continent, and here you may witness icebergs carving with an earth-rumbling crunch before crashing to the mirrored waters. Chunks of ice the size of 10-storey buildings are not uncommon.
Icy Strait Point, AK, USA
Icy Strait Point is an idea brought to life, a specially created hub of unparalleled Alaskan action and adventure. Watch for whales in the picturesque wilderness or enjoy warm hospitality and hearty food ashore. Built around a restored 1912 salmon cannery, the shops are 100% Alaskan-owned and there are restaurants, nature trails, a museum and even a beach. Bear watching is a big attraction on Chichagof Island which is home to more bears than humans.
Inian Islands, Alaska, US
As the gatekeepers to the northern entrance of the fabled Inside Passage, the remote Inian Islands stand between Cross Sound and Icy Strait, exposed to the high energy seas of the Pacific Ocean. Tidal currents surging through the narrow channels separating the islands can be severe. Nicknames like ‘The Laundry Chute’ justify their notorious reputations.
Inside Passage
The Inside Passage consists of over 1,000 islands, bays and fjords. With boundless, ever-changing scenery, it's one of the most spectacular maritime journeys in the world.
Juneau
Beneath an ice field that never melts, on a waterway that never freezes, Juneau is the most unusual and stunning of capitals. Home to 280 species of birds, brown and black bears, nature lovers can also watch out for orca and humpback whales here. Ashore, there’s an excellent theatre and range of clubs, bars restaurants to suit all tastes.
The town that kick-started Alaska’s gold rush is rich with treasures of all varieties, from native Tlingit history and excellent seafood to an abundance of outdoor pursuits. It’s little wonder that most of Juneau’s residents arrived for a short stay and decided never to leave.
If you’re feeling fit try exploring Alaskan-style amongst the glaciers by kayak or trekking with crampons and an ice axe. By far, one of the most popular excursions from Juneau is to Mendenhall Glacier. At half a mile wide, the glacier is one of the most accessible in Alaska and a visit here is high on many Juneau visitor’s wish lists.
Ketchikan
Tiny Ketchikan is just 3 miles long and 3 blocks wide, but here you’ll find Alaska’s busiest waterfront, buzzing with float planes, fishing boats and pleasure craft. Once colonised by Tlingit and Haida tribes, Ketchikan is a thriving fishing town with colourful stilted houses, a rich Alaskan culture and a throng of trawlers hauling in fresh crab and salmon. You’ll witness local life with hardy fishermen working on crab trawlers catching local delicacies like King Crab, octopus, shark, prawns and Rock fish. It is not only known as Alaska’s First City due to geographically being the first place travellers stopped when heading north, it is also a figurehead of the outstanding natural beauty of Alaska.
Many visitors to Ketchikan use the city as a base from which to visit Misty Fjords National Monument, just 22 miles east of the city. Part of the Tongass National Forest, Misty Fjords is one of Southern Alaska’s most beautiful natural wonders, combining sheer sea cliffs, towering rock faces and expansive fjords. Seaplane offers one of the best ways to take in this magnificent scene, and is sure to provide a memorable highlight of your Alaska holiday.
Klawock, Alaska, USA
The Tlingit village of Klawock sits midway along the western coast of Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, otherwise known as the state’s “panhandle.” Prince of Wales — call it “P.O.W.” — is the fourth largest island in the United States, a vast, wildlife-rich wilderness of more than 2,500 square miles; yet fewer than 6,000 people live there, around 800 of whom reside in Klawock.
Kodiak
Known as the Emerald Isle, Kodiak is a heaven for all kinds of wildlife. Kodiak’s mountains more or less glint with the same luminous green as the stone they resemble, while the water that laps the island’s shores is positively sapphire in its blueness. The island is two thirds national park and is dedicated to the protection of its native brown bears, 250 species of birds and six kinds of Pacific salmon.
Explore the good choice of bars and restaurants or join an entertaining tour of the island’s microbrewery. Discover the native heritage museums and explore breathtaking historical trails either by organised excursion or at your own pace.
Misty Fjord, AK, USA
Misty Fjords can only be described as a true haven of calm. As you sail the glasslike waters, gaze out at looming mountains, rolling green hills, sparkling waterfalls, and of course, acres and acres of forest. Part of the Tongass National Forest, Misty Fjords National Monument is a protected area of wilderness. As well as remarkable scenery, it’s home to an abundance of wildlife from orcas and seals in the water, to brown bears and wolves on land.
Nome, Alaska
As the locals like to say, “There’s no place like Nome.” Set at the southern tip of the Seward Peninsula and only accessible by air or the Bering Sea, this Arctic Alaska town offers a rich mix of gold rush history, Inupiat Eskimo culture, rugged adventure, and abundant wildlife. (Nome has around 3,500 residents today.) Gold mining remained a vital industry well into the 20th century, and the region’s retreating sea ice has brought a new generation of treasure hunters who dredge in converted fishing boats just offshore. You can learn more at the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum, and snap a selfie next to the “World’s Largest Gold Pan.”
Rudyerd Bay (Misty Fjords)
Its vertical granite cliffs, which reach 3,000’ (900 m) above sea level, descend another 1,000’ (300 m) below the water’s surface. Carved by glaciers and covered in a green carpet of mosses and lichens, Misty Fjords receives more than 150” (381 cm) of rain per year. Western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and western red cedar dominate the prolific vegetation along its shore
Scenic cruising Grenville Channel
Grenville Channel is a long, well-protected channel along the northern British Columbia coast between the large Pitt Island and the mainland. It is an important shipping lane, and you are likely to see ships of many different types and sizes as you pass through. The shores are mountainous on both sides, with two notable peaks about halfway through, Mt. Batchellor on the east side and Mt. Saunders on Pitt Island to the west. There are a number of Indian Reserves and Marine Parks in the mountains and narrow waterways off the channel.
Scenic cruising Johnstone Strait
Johnstone Strait is a well-protected shipping route passing 68 miles/110 km along the northeast shore of Vancouver Island between the island and the mainland of British Columbia. The strait is between 1 ½ miles and 3 miles wide, and leads from the broad Georgia Strait through a narrow channel called Discovery Passage. T
Scenic Cruising Princess Royal Channel
The Princess Royal Channel separates the largest island along British Columbia’s coast from the mainland. It is located roughly halfway between Bella Bella in the south and Prince Rupert in the north, in one of the province’s most remote areas. Princess Royal island was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, in honor of his ship, the Princess Royal.
Scenic cruising Princess Royal Channel
The Princess Royal Channel separates the largest island along British Columbia’s coast from the mainland. It is located roughly halfway between Bella Bella in the south and Prince Rupert in the north, in one of the province’s most remote areas. Princess Royal island was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, in honor of his ship, the Princess Royal.
Scenic cruising Whale Channel
Whale Channel is a picturesque waterway separating Gil Island from Princess Royal Island in British Columbia’s Inside Passage. Surrounded by snow-capped mountain ranges and teeming with marine life, It is a diversion from the main shipping lane, located roughly halfway between Prince Rupert and the First Nations village of Klemtu.
Seattle
Seattle sits on the slip of land between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, with the Olympic and Cascade Mountains serving as a dramatic backdrop for this oh-so cosmopolitan city. Soar up the futuristic Space Needle and experience the views atop this stunning landmark created for the 1962 World's Fair.
Seattle’s proximity to Alaska makes it an ideal starting point for your Alaska cruise holiday and that means you’ll spend less time sailing and more time exploring Alaska's charming towns and wilderness.
Seward
Nestled on an inlet in the Kenai Peninsula, against a landscape of forested mountains and sapphire sea, the Southern Alaskan city of Seward is an outdoor adventurers’ playground.
Sitka
Sitka is a hidden beauty located on the east coast of Baranof Island in south east Alaska. Towered over by snowy mountains in the distance, it was previously known as the Indian River Park and Totem Park. Sitka enjoys a blended history as diverse as its scenery. Russian, Tlingit and American settlers have all imprinted on the city. Art and culture thrive as richly as Pacific salmon here, and while small compared to other Alaskan communities, Sitka boasts countless treasures for visitors to admire.
Visit Sitka’s Whale Park for one of the best opportunities for whale spotting in Alaska or the Sitka National Historical Park, the oldest national park in Alaska, a must-see destination.
High-quality seafood sets the bar for Sitka’s restaurants. The surrounding waters offer some of the best fishing in Alaska, and every year visitors descend on Sitka for a chance to hook king salmon or an infamously weighty halibut. The warm welcome and natural wonders of Sitka simply cannot be missed.
Skagway
Gateway to the Klondike, the gold rush town of Skagway, Alaska was once a lawless Wild West outpost. Skagway is Alaska’s gateway to the Klondike where in the late 1890s more than 100,000 prospectors arrived in search of gold. Even today, frontier-style saloon-style buildings still line the town’s streets, an enduring reminder of this key period in Alaska’s gold rush history.
While feeling as though you’ve somehow fallen through time and into the Wild West is undoubtedly part of Skagway’s appeal, there’s so much more to admire, discover and experience on a port call to this southerly part of the Great Land.
Now a national historic park, the preserved boardwalk, shops and streets provide the perfect setting for actors to bring the town’s story to life on entertaining tours through its colourful past.
Skagway’s surroundings are nothing short of magnificent. The piercing waters hugging its shores outdone only by the frosted peaks painted on the horizon. It’s a vista best savoured from a vintage passenger car on the area’s famous White Pass and Yukon Route railway.
St Pauls, Alaska
St. Paul is the largest island in the Probilof chain, located about 300 miles off the Alaska mainland and a world away from the lumberjack towns of the Inside Passage. The Unangan (Aleut) People settled St. Paul in the 18th century, displaced from their traditional Aleutian homeland by Russian traders. Around 400 people live here today, the vast majority of whom are of Native Alaskan descent.
Tracy Arm Fjord
Located in the southeastern strip of Alaska bordering British Columbia.
Transit Decision Passage
Decision Passage is the western end of the Sumner Strait, which runs through the Alexander Archipelago into the Pacific Ocean in Southeastern Alaska, bounded on the north by Kuiu Island and Cape Decision, the location of a 1932 lighthouse. This is the route your ship takes when coming from or going to the colorful historic community of Sitka on the west coast of Baranof Island, which was originally the Russian fortress town of New Archangel.
Transit Snow Pass
In the passage between Sumner Strait and Clarence Strait in Southeast Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago, midway between Price of Wales Island on the west and Zarembo Island on the east, is a small cluster of islands with a picturesque passageway between them called Snow Pass.
Transit The Seymour Narrows
The Seymour Narrows is a 3-mile/5 km stretch of the Discovery Channel north of Vancouver Island, British Columbia that is notorious for the strength of the tidal currents flowing through it. The average width of the narrows is just 750 meters. During extreme tides, the current through the narrows is subject to severe Venturi effect, resulting in an increased velocity that can reach 15 knots.
United States
Seattle sits on the slip of land between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, with the Olympic and Cascade Mountains serving as a dramatic backdrop for this oh-so cosmopolitan city. Soar up the futuristic Space Needle and experience the views atop this stunning landmark created for the 1962 World's Fair.
Vancouver
Vancouver provides stunning scenery to discover in endless outdoor fashion all year-round. Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge are just two of the top highlights. British Columbia’s marine parks offer remote fjords and vast lakes perfect for whale-watching and hiking, or swimming and kayaking from May to September. Vancouver’s Gulf Islands are teaming with wildlife, keep your cameras close and binoculars at the ready for spotting pods of dolphins, seals, eagles, whales, otters and sea lions.
Victoria
Victoria is a unique blend of historic charm and contemporary charisma, offering an exquisite variety of sights, drawing visitors from around the world. Notable landmarks such as Craigdarroch Castle and the elegant Empress Hotel contrast with bohemian shops and restaurants ashore. You can also do a spot of whale watching and wildlife viewing on and around the water of this sophisticated seaside city.
Wrangell, AK
There are many facts and features that make Wrangell unique. Not least because over the years, this town has been ruled by four different nations – the indigenous Tlingit people, Russia, England, and the U.S. Evidence of Tlingit culture can be seen all over Wrangell, from the traditional, tribal Shakes Community House to the many totem poles scattered throughout the town.
