Alaska is huge: covering 365 million acres, it’s more than twice the size of Texas. There are only 17,000 miles of public roads in Alaska, and most areas are remote and can only be reached by boat or plane.
Cruises are one of the best and easiest ways to visit this great land. However, if you want to explore more of the state’s extraordinary beauty, including rugged wilderness areas like Denali National Park and Preserve and the city of Fairbanks, known as the “Golden Heart of Alaska,” consider taking a boat tour. Cruise tourism is a vacation that combines sea and land.
Advantages of a Pure Cruise Itinerary
Most Alaska cruises are shorter than cruises, usually lasting seven nights. If you stay an extra night in town before heading out (as a buffer if your travel plans go wrong), you can complete your trip in just over a week. Additionally, many ships operate from major cities like Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia, so flights and transfers should be easier (and cheaper) to book since you’ll be arriving and departing from the same place.
Another advantage is that if you’re only taking a cruise, you only have to pack and unpack once (except for your pre-cruise hotel stay). You don’t need to lug your luggage between your hotel and other modes of transportation, such as buses, trains and planes.
One-week Alaska cruise
If you decide a cruise-only vacation is right for you, you can choose from several popular seven-night Alaska cruise itineraries to explore Southcentral Alaska.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Glacier Bay, Juneau & Ketchikan” round-trip itineraries from Seattle include scenic cruises in the Alaskan coastal towns of Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan (Ward’s Bay) and Victoria, British Columbia, as well as the amazing Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Many other lines also offer sailings from Seattle, including Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard Cruises, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Virgin Voyages (starting in 2026).
Celebrity Cruises’ seven-night round-trip “Alaska’s Taos Glacier” cruise from Vancouver travels through the scenic Inner Passage and Endicott Bay, home to the Taos Glacier. It calls at the Alaskan ports of Ice Strait Point, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. Several other cruise lines offer round-trip itineraries from Vancouver, including Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Disney Cruise Line.
You can also book a week-long one-way sailing, heading south or north along the coast. Several larger and smaller lines offer such trips. If you prefer a larger ship, Royal Caribbean offers sailings from Seward, Alaska or Vancouver, including a two-day scenic cruise on Hubbard Glacier and the Inner Passage, as well as port visits in Juneau, Skagway, Ice Channel Point and Ketchikan.
For smaller luxury cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers one-way sailings from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver (or vice versa). These voyages cruise Hubbard Glacier, the Tracy Amford Terror Wilderness Area, and the Pacific Ocean; they stop at Ice Strait Point (Huna) and Ketchikan, Alaska, as well as Vancouver.
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Longer cruise-only cruises with some lesser-known ports
Now that you’ve made the trek to Alaska, you may want to book a longer cruise to see more of this great state. Extended itineraries, especially on smaller and expedition-style vessels, often call at remote and inaccessible destinations.
Silversea Cruises’ 14-night round-trip itineraries from Vancouver include some of the more familiar Alaskan port towns like Ketchikan, Ice Point, Skagway, Seward (Anchorage) and Juneau, as well as the less frequented Valdez, Haines and Klawok. You’ll also find several routes that stop at Wrangell on the Intracoastal Waterway and Homer on the Kenai Peninsula.
If you’re interested in a more immersive Alaska experience and would like to sail on a much smaller cruise ship (approximately 40 to 86 guests), consider booking your bucket list trip with Alaska Dream Cruises or UnCruise Adventures. These companies offer unique itineraries in wilderness areas that include wildlife viewing and active exploration by boat and kayak directly from the boat. Both routes offer seven-night and longer cruises.
National Geographic — Lindblad Expeditions also offers offline itineraries into the Alaskan wilderness aboard small expedition-style vessels, including destinations along the Inner Passage. The company’s eight-night Explore Southeast Alaska ABC Islands round-trip cruise (aboard a 62-passenger ship) departs from Juneau and includes a Zodiac cruise through Alaska’s Inia Islands; you’ll spend six days exploring Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof Islands in search of wildlife such as orcas, humpback whales, sea otters, sea lions, and brown (or grizzly) bears.
Cruisetours — Explore Alaska by sea and shore
For the ultimate Alaska vacation, consider taking a cruise. A land and sea vacation combines two experiences: sailing along Alaska’s picturesque coastline and exploring the endless wilderness of the interior.
Cruises are offered by many major cruise lines, including Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean, as well as smaller cruise lines like Azamara and American Cruise Lines. Other companies, such as Oceania Cruises and Silversea Cruises, offer cruise extensions that offer fully escorted pre- or post-cruise land tours. These add-on extensions include a visit to Mount Denali or a rail trip through the Canadian Rockies aboard the Rocky Mountaineer. However, they are not complete packages like cruises.
What does a cruise include?
Depending on the itinerary, your cruise may occur at the beginning or end of your trip, with the rest of the time spent ashore. There are many variables and options when it comes to cruising. Most of them start or end with a seven-night cruise, followed by a few days, a week or more of travel between hotels and destinations, with various tours and sightseeing options along the way.
Some parts of the land require an escort, while other parts can be done on your own. These trips can last up to 19 days and often include transportation in luxury coaches and Alaska Railroad glass-domed train cars. Some land tours may also include flights. Travel between the hotel and the destination is usually included in the price. However, meals and some specialty land excursions (such as Arctic Air Adventure or Northern Lights viewing tours from Fairbanks) will incur additional charges.
For example, Princess Cruises offers a 13-day “Denali Explorer” cruise from Vancouver to Fairbanks. After the cruise, you disembark in Whittier, spend a night in Anchorage, then board a trolley for direct wilderness service and spend two nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, followed by two nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Both properties are located just outside the entrance to Denali.
While there, you can visit the park and look for Denali’s “Big Five”: brown (or grizzly) bears, moose, wolves, Dall sheep, and caribou. Other optional excursions include a dog sledding experience, a scenic flight or helicopter tour, fly fishing for Arctic grayling, and an evening covered wagon ride with an Alaskan feast.
The final stop on your Alaska adventure is in Fairbanks, where you’ll cruise the Chena River on a sternwheeler steamer, then pan for gold and enjoy a hearty miner’s lunch at Gold Dredge 8.
Norwegian Air offers a “12-Day Denali Alaska Southbound Cruise,” which includes a 5-day land portion before the 7-night cruise. The tour begins in Anchorage and includes a ride on the Alaska Railroad Dome Train to Denali, then a coach ride to Girdwood, home to the beautiful Alaskan resort nestled at the foot of the Chugach Mountains. After spending the night in Girdwood, you’ll head to Whittier to begin your cruise.
You can also find Princess cruises that include an overnight stay at the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. The lodge provides access to remote Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (the largest national park in the United States) and Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge (the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park adventures).
Ultimate Alaska Cruise
If you want to head north to Nome, Alaska, then cross the Arctic Circle to visit Kodiak Island, home to the world’s second-largest bear (after the polar bear), and do it all on a ship (minus the land portion), book a 28-day Legendary Alaskan Arctic Solstice cruise with Holland America Line. This bucket list tour departs round trip from Seattle and includes a multi-day scenic cruise, 12 ports of call, and the small towns of Valdez, Haines, Wrangell, and Dutch Harbor in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
