The state of Alaska is huge: It encompasses 365 million acres and is greater than twice the scale of Texas. With simply 17,000 miles of public roads, a lot of Alaska is distant and reachable solely by ship or aircraft.
A cruise is without doubt one of the greatest and best methods to go to the Nice Land. Nonetheless, if you wish to discover extra of the state’s extraordinary magnificence, together with its rugged wilderness areas — corresponding to Denali Nationwide Park & Protect and Fairbanks, town often called the “Golden Coronary heart of Alaska” — contemplate a cruisetour. A cruisetour is a mixed sea-and-land trip.
The benefits of cruise-only itineraries
Most Alaska cruises are shorter than cruisetours, sometimes lasting seven nights. With one extra evening on the town earlier than the cruise (as a buffer ought to journey plans go awry), you can also make the journey in just a bit greater than every week. Moreover, many ships sail round-trip from main cities like Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia, so airfare and transfers needs to be simpler (and cheaper) to e-book since you may be arriving and departing from the identical place.
One other plus is that you will solely must pack and unpack as soon as (aside from a precruise lodge keep) for those who’re solely taking a cruise. You will not must haul your baggage between inns and different modes of transportation, corresponding to buses, trains and planes.
Weeklong Alaska cruises
When you’re pondering a cruise-only trip is best for you, there are a couple of standard seven-night Alaska cruise routes that you would be able to take to go to the south-central area of Alaska.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Glacier Bay, Juneau & Ketchikan” round-trip voyage from Seattle contains stops within the coastal cities of Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan (Ward Cove) in Alaska and Victoria, British Columbia, and scenic cruising in magical Glacier Bay Nationwide Park & Protect. Plenty of different traces additionally supply Seattle departures, together with Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard Line, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean Worldwide and Virgin Voyages (starting in 2026).
A seven-night, round-trip “Alaska Dawes Glacier” voyage with Movie star Cruises from Vancouver traverses the scenic Inside Passage and the Endicott Arm fjord (dwelling to Dawes Glacier). It calls on the ports of Icy Strait Level, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan in Alaska. A number of different traces supply round-trip itineraries from Vancouver, together with Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Disney Cruise Line.
It’s also possible to e-book a weeklong, one-way voyage, both heading southbound or northbound alongside the coast. A number of bigger and smaller traces supply such itineraries. When you want a bigger ship, Royal Caribbean gives sailings from both Seward, Alaska, or Vancouver that embody two days of scenic cruising in Hubbard Glacier and the Inside Passage, in addition to visits to the ports of Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Level and Ketchikan.
For a smaller luxurious ship, Regent Seven Seas Cruises gives one-way sailings from Whittier, Alaska, to Vancouver (or the reverse itinerary). These voyages cruise the Hubbard Glacier, the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness space and the Pacific Ocean; they name on Icy Strait Level (Hoonah) and Ketchikan in Alaska, in addition to Vancouver.
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Longer cruise-only voyages, some with lesser-known ports
Since you’ve got traveled thus far to go to Alaska, you may need to e-book an extended voyage to see extra of this nice state. Prolonged itineraries, particularly on smaller and expedition-style ships, typically name on distant and lesser-visited locations.
Silversea’s 14-night, round-trip crusing from Vancouver contains stops in a few of the extra acquainted Alaska port cities, corresponding to Ketchikan, Icy Strait Level, Skagway, Seward (Anchorage) and Juneau, in addition to much less frequented Valdez, Haines and Klawock. You will additionally discover voyages with a couple of traces that cease within the small cities of Wrangell on the Inside Passage and Homer on the Kenai Peninsula.
When you’re eager about a extra immersive Alaska expertise — and a crusing on a a lot smaller ship (roughly 40 to 86 friends) — contemplate reserving your bucket-list journey with Alaskan Dream Cruises or UnCruise Adventures. These corporations supply distinctive itineraries in wilderness areas, that includes wildlife viewing and energetic exploration in skiffs and kayaks proper from the ship. Each traces supply seven-night and longer voyages.
Nationwide Geographic — Lindblad Expeditions additionally options off-the-grid itineraries into Alaska’s wilderness on small expedition-style ships, together with locations alongside the Inside Passage. The road’s eight-night “Exploring Southeast Alaska’s ABC Islands” round-trip cruise from Juneau (on a 62-guest ship) features a Zodiac cruise by means of Alaska’s Inian Islands; you may spend six days exploring Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof islands and trying to find wildlife like orca, humpback whales, sea otters, sea lions and brown (or grizzly) bears.
Cruisetours — exploring Alaska by sea and ashore
For the final word trip to Alaska, contemplate a cruisetour. A mixed sea-and-land trip gives one of the best of each experiences: crusing alongside Alaska’s picturesque shoreline and exploring its boundless wilderness within the inside.
Many massive cruise traces supply cruisetours, together with Holland America, Princess, Norwegian, Movie star and Royal Caribbean, in addition to smaller traces like Azamara Cruises and American Cruise Strains. Others, corresponding to Oceania Cruises and Silversea, supply cruise extensions with totally escorted precruise or postcruise land excursions. These add-on extensions embody a go to to Denali or a rail journey by means of the Canadian Rockies aboard the Rocky Mountaineer. Nonetheless, they are not full bundle applications just like the cruisetours.
What’s included with a cruisetour?
Relying on the itinerary, your cruise could also be at first or finish of the journey, with the remainder of the time spent ashore. There are various variables and choices with cruisetours. Most of them start or finish with a seven-night cruise, adopted by a number of days or every week or longer touring between inns and locations, with numerous excursions and sightseeing choices alongside the way in which.
Among the land parts are escorted, whereas others will be achieved by yourself. These journeys can final so long as 19 days, they usually sometimes embody transportation by deluxe motorcoach and a glass-domed railroad automobile with the Alaska Railroad. Some land excursions can also embody flights. Motels and journey between locations are often included within the worth. Nonetheless, meals and a few featured land excursions — corresponding to an Arctic air journey or northern lights viewing tour from Fairbanks — can be a further value.
For instance, Princess gives a 13-day “Denali Explorer” cruisetour from Vancouver to Fairbanks. After the cruise, you disembark in Whittier and spend a night in Anchorage earlier than boarding the railcar for the Direct-to-the-Wilderness service for a two-night keep on the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, adopted by two nights on the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Each properties are simply outdoors the doorway to Denali.
Whereas there, you’ll be able to go to the park with a tour searching for Denali’s “Huge 5”: brown (or grizzly) bears, moose, wolves, Dall sheep and caribou. Different elective excursions embody a sled canine expertise, a flightseeing or helicopter tour, fly-fishing for Arctic grayling and a night coated wagon experience full with an Alaskan feast.
The final cease in your Alaska journey is Fairbanks, the place you may have an included tour on the Chena River aboard a sternwheeler steamboat, then pan for gold and revel in a hearty miner’s lunch at Gold Dredge 8.
Norwegian gives a “12-day Denali Alyeska — Southbound Cruise Tour,” which includes a five-day land portion earlier than the seven-night cruise. This journey begins in Anchorage and contains the Alaska Railroad domed railcar to Denali and a motorcoach experience to Girdwood, dwelling to the attractive Alyeska Resort, nestled on the foot of the Chugach Mountains. After an in a single day in Girdwood, you may head to Whittier to start your cruise.
You will additionally discover cruisetours with Princess that embody in a single day stays at their Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. This lodge gives entry to distant Wrangell—St. Elias Nationwide Park & Protect (the most important nationwide park within the U.S.) and the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge, the gateway to adventures in Kenai Fjords Nationwide Park.
The final word Alaska cruise
And if you wish to head as far north as Nome, Alaska, then cross the Arctic Circle and go to Kodiak Island — dwelling to the world’s second-largest bears (subsequent to polar bears) — and do all of it whereas on a ship (no land portion included), e-book the “28-day Legendary Alaska Arctic Circle Solstice” cruise with Holland America. This bucket-list journey units sail round-trip from Seattle and contains many days of scenic cruising, 12 ports of name and the smaller cities of Valdez, Haines, Wrangell and Dutch Harbor in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
