In the event you’re planning your first large journey to Alaska, it’s possible you’ll have already got heard of an Alaska cruisetour — an organized journey that mixes a cruise with overland touring.
In Alaska, not like in most locations, cruisetours are a quite common factor.
Of the three million or so vacationers who go to Alaska yearly, roughly two-thirds go by cruise ship. And, of these, a big proportion join an prolonged journey that features each cruising and land touring.
These are a lot greater percentages than those that take cruises and cruisetour-type journeys in virtually another a part of the world.
This isn’t by chance.
For causes I’ll clarify in additional element under, a cruise — and significantly a cruisetour — is one of the simplest ways to see a broad cross-section of Alaska’s most well-known points of interest in a single, easy-to-arrange journey.
Even should you’re not the form of one who usually indicators up for a cruise or a land tour when visiting most locations, you simply would possibly wish to make a cruisetour the best way you see Alaska. At the least on your first go to.
This information will clarify why a cruisetour of Alaska is sensible for a lot of Alaska-bound vacationers and all the pieces you must know to plan and ebook one.
What’s an Alaska cruisetour?
First, let’s begin with the fundamentals. A cruisetour to Alaska is a visit that mixes a cruise alongside the coast of Alaska with a multiday overland tour into the state’s rugged inside. It’s each a cruise and a land tour of Alaska — therefore the identify.
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Usually, these are journeys that mix a seven-night cruise alongside the southeastern coast of the state (typically known as Gulf of Alaska sailings) with three to 10 nights of overland touring.
The ensuing cruisetours thus vary in size from 10 to 17 nights.
A cruisetour is not the one approach to do a cruise-related trip to Alaska. You can also join a cruise-only journey to the state, and plenty of cruise-loving vacationers serious about seeing Alaska just do that. All the key cruise strains that function in Alaska provide cruise-only choices, and as I’ve skilled firsthand over a few years of writing about Alaska cruises, they’re fantastic journeys.
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Nonetheless, for causes I’ll clarify under, a cruisetour is arguably one of the simplest ways to get a broad Alaska expertise in a single journey.
Why select an Alaska cruisetour?
Alaska is an enormous place with comparatively few folks, restricted infrastructure and many hard-to-reach wilderness — all components that make it troublesome to go to as an unbiased traveler. At the least if you wish to see a broad cross-section of its most well-known sights in a single journey.
For example, one of the crucial well-known locations to go to within the state, Glacier Bay Nationwide Park and Protect, is not reachable by automobile. You’ll be able to’t drive there. For most individuals, the one sensible approach to get deep into Glacier Bay (and see its beautiful tidewater glaciers) is on a cruise vessel.
One other prime vacation spot in Alaska, the mountain-backed metropolis of Juneau — a hub for whale-watching, glacier flights and different bucket-list Alaska experiences — can also be inaccessible by automobile. You’ll be able to fly there, however for most individuals, a cruise is one of the simplest ways to achieve it.
Different main Alaska locations are reachable by automobile, however are so far-flung that arranging a highway journey to see a number of of them in a single journey is impractical. For instance, the driving distance between Denali Nationwide Park and Protect, and the favored vacationer city of Ketchikan is greater than 1,100 miles. You’d want a minimum of 40 hours to make the journey.
It is just by a cruisetour that mixes journey by ship, rail automobiles and motorcoaches that seeing the entire above and extra in a single journey turns into attainable for most individuals. And it is not simply attainable — it is easy. On a cruisetour, anyone else has discovered the entire very sophisticated logistics of getting you across the vastness of Alaska. All it’s a must to do is sit again, calm down and benefit from the journey.
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As talked about above, even should you’re the form of one who usually stays away from group journey, a cruisetour remains to be your greatest guess if you wish to see lots of Alaska.
It will get you each to the favored locations within the southeastern a part of the state which might be simply accessible by ship — akin to Juneau, Ketchikan, the historic mining city Skagway and Glacier Bay — in addition to to the enduring locations within the inside of the state which might be greatest seen through overland touring — akin to Denali Nationwide Park, Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Which firms provide Alaska cruisetours?
5 giant cruise strains account for practically all cruisetours in Alaska, with common departures all through the Alaska vacationer season:
Moreover, two small cruise strains recognized for small-ship sailings — Windstar Cruises and Azamara Cruises — provide cruisetours to Alaska on a extra sporadic foundation. One different small-ship specialist, American Cruise Traces, very sometimes operates Alaska cruisetours.
Of those, by far the most important Alaska cruisetour operators are Princess Cruises and Holland America. The 2 manufacturers (that are sister firms owned by cruise big Carnival Company) have been the pioneers in providing excursions to Alaska that mixed cruise journey and overland journey. They proceed to dominate the marketplace for such journeys.
Princess, notably, gives a whopping 28 Alaska cruisetour itineraries, every somewhat totally different. The subsequent largest Alaska cruisetour operator, Holland America, gives 18 totally different cruisetour itineraries.
Royal Caribbean, Movie star and Norwegian are smaller gamers within the Alaska cruisetour market, with a smaller vary of cruisetour itineraries. However they nonetheless every have 12, 11 and 9 totally different cruisetour itineraries, respectively.
That is all to say that you’ve rather a lot of various Alaska cruisetours from which to decide on.
Discovering the very best one for you
The excellent news is that the massive quantity of alternative means you will possible discover a tour that aligns completely along with your pursuits. There are journeys that concentrate on land tourism and revolve virtually solely round visiting Denali Nationwide Park, however then there are others that add a lot of stops at different outdoorsy areas, together with lesser-known Wrangell-St. Elias Nationwide Park — the most important nationwide park within the U.S.
Some cruisetours will deliver you to such off-the-beaten-path cities as Homer, Alaska, referred to as the world capital of halibut fishing. Others deliver you to Fairbanks or Anchorage. A few of Holland America’s cruisetours will even take you throughout the border into Canada to the wild and sparsely populated Yukon Territory and its capital, Whitehorse.
Reserving may be onerous
The unhealthy information is that, due to all these decisions, the method of reserving an Alaska cruisetour may be complicated for first-timers.
Relying on which itinerary you choose, the general size of the journey, the locations you will go to and the belongings you’ll see can fluctuate significantly.
You will additionally get a special expertise relying on which cruisetour firm you choose.
Princess, which is by far the chief in cruisetours to Alaska, has constructed up an array of unique company-owned infrastructure within the state that you’ll solely expertise by reserving a Princess journey. These embrace:
- Two custom-built Princess wilderness lodges at Denali Nationwide Park which might be among the many greatest locations to remain within the space
- Three extra custom-built Princess lodges in different components of Alaska
- A fleet of luxurious glass-domed Princess rail automobiles that present direct-to-the-wilderness service
- A fleet of luxurious Princess Excursions motorcoaches
Holland America additionally owns a wilderness lodge in Alaska — only one, at Denali Nationwide Park — in addition to a number of motels in different components of Alaska and the Yukon Territory. It additionally owns its railcars and motorcoaches.
By way of their dad or mum firm Carnival Company, Princess and Holland America even personal a part of the White Go and Yukon Route railroad in Skagway — one of many largest vacationer points of interest within the state — in addition to a part of Skagway’s historic port and retail operations.
Moreover, each Princess and Holland America will allow you to ebook day excursions out of their Alaska lodges to discover the Alaska wilderness. These excursions embrace all the pieces from flightseeing excursions and whitewater rafting outings to guided hikes, fishing journeys and a go to to a copper mine.
In contrast, Royal Caribbean, Movie star and Norwegian don’t personal their very own lodging in Alaska. As a substitute, they contract with native motels to rearrange lodging for his or her cruisetour prospects.
Royal Caribbean, Movie star and Norwegian additionally do not personal railcars or motorcoaches in Alaska; they contract out that portion of their cruisetours to native operators.
What’s included in an Alaska cruisetour?
If you join a cruisetour to Alaska, you are signing up for a trip the place your cruise line will organize virtually each side of your journey, each on land and at sea.
For starters, there’s the cruise portion of the journey. As famous above, each cruisetour in Alaska features a cruise that’s sometimes a one-way, seven-night crusing alongside the southeastern coast of Alaska. These journeys sometimes embrace day stops at standard southeastern Alaska cities akin to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, together with a number of visits to a glacier space for glacier viewing.
Cruisetours additionally embrace nightly lodging through the land portion of the journey and overland transportation across the state, both on motorcoaches or rail automobiles.
Your cruise line may also normally organize your flights to and from the journey (for an additional cost) and airport transfers.
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In the event you’re touring to or from Denali Nationwide Park by prepare as a part of a cruisetour, the price of the tour normally consists of transfers to and from the rail depot close to Denali and lodging.
Within the case of cruisetours operated by Princess, the particular lodging included within the tour is commonly in one of many 5 custom-built Princess lodges talked about above; these lodges play an enormous function within the land portion of most Princess cruisetours. Notably, they serve not simply as lodging for the night time however as a base for exploring among the state’s best-known points of interest.
Meals through the land portion of the journey usually are not included with many cruisetours. That stated, some higher-end cruisetours do embrace them.
Excursions whereas visiting ports on the cruise portion of the journey are sometimes not included in cruisetour fares. Excursions through the land portion of the journeys, together with whereas staying at cruise line-owned lodges, are included in some cruisetours however not all. (Extra on that under.)
The place do Alaska cruisetours start?
Almost all cruisetours start in one in every of three locations: Anchorage, Alaska; Fairbanks, Alaska; or Vancouver, British Columbia.
You will additionally sometimes discover cruisetours that begin in Seattle — all of that are operated by Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruisetours that start in Anchorage or Fairbanks begin with the overland touring portion of the journey first, adopted by the cruise portion of the journey. Cruisetours that start in Vancouver or Seattle begin with the cruise portion first, adopted by the overland touring.
In each instances, the cruise portion will sometimes be a one-way, seven-night crusing between both Whittier or Seward in Alaska and both Vancouver or Seattle.
That signifies that once you ebook flights on your cruisetour, you will be reserving an “open jaw” ticket that brings you into Alaska at the beginning of the journey and residential from Vancouver or Seattle — or vice versa.
Notice you could ebook your personal air for these journeys (many TPG readers wish to use factors and miles) or let the cruise strains ebook flights for you thru their add-on air packages.
If reserving by yourself, simply ensure that you’re reserving by the proper airport in Alaska. Journeys that begin in Fairbanks, as an illustration, are greatest reached with a flight to Fairbanks Worldwide Airport (FAI) versus a flight to Anchorage Worldwide Airport (ANC), despite the fact that Anchorage is a far larger airport. It’s because transfers between Anchorage and Fairbanks may be time-consuming and costly.
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What are the itinerary decisions for Alaska cruisetours?
As famous above, Princess is the most important Alaska cruisetour operator, and it gives 28 totally different cruisetour itineraries. The subsequent 4 largest Alaska cruisetour operators provide one other 50 itineraries between them.
That is lots of totally different cruisetour choices to sift by if you find yourself planning a visit.
Selecting the proper Alaska cruisetour for you does not need to be fairly as troublesome because it might sound.
Relying on how lengthy you wish to keep in Alaska and what kind of expertise you’re looking for, you’ll be able to slender down the alternatives fairly rapidly.
For starters, ask your self in case your foremost aim for the land portion of the journey is to see Denali Nationwide Park, Alaska’s most well-known attraction. For many individuals, seeing Denali is the principle purpose so as to add a couple of days of land touring to an Alaska cruise. Or, would you slightly see a broader cross-section of the state, together with locations like Fairbanks or lesser-visited pure points of interest like Wrangell-St. Elias Nationwide Park?
You will additionally wish to ask your self whether or not you need a full-service, guided expertise when on the land tour portion of the journey, with a lot of inclusions (like meals) and excursions. Or would you favor to do extra of the exploring by yourself?
Relying in your solutions to those questions, you’ll be able to slender down the record of obtainable cruisetours considerably.
Princess Alaska cruisetours
Princess, as an illustration, makes selecting from its array of 28 Alaska cruisetour straightforward by breaking them down into 4 broad classes that every attraction to a special kind of traveler:
- Denali Explorer journeys (10-13 nights)
- Off the Crushed Path journeys (13-15 nights)
- Connoisseur journeys (12-17 nights)
- On Your Personal journeys (10-11 nights)
Along with a seven-night cruise, the Denali Explorer journeys provide a go to to Denali because the core component of the land portion of the expertise; some additionally add additional days to see Fairbanks and Anchorage.
In the event you’re trying to see much more of the state’s most well-known sights, and you’ve got a bit extra time, the Off the Crushed Path journeys are much like the Denali Explorer journeys however add a go to to the Kenai Peninsula or Wrangell-St. Elias Nationwide Park (or each).
Due to these additions, these journeys sometimes final two to 3 days longer than Denali Explorer journeys. As a substitute of three to 6 nights, you will spend six to eight nights on the land portion of the journey.
The Connoisseur journeys are much like the Off the Crushed Path journeys however with a way more full-service design.
On the land portion of the Off the Crushed Path excursions (and Denali Explorer excursions), you’re by yourself for meals and haven’t got a full-time tour director accompanying you from place to position as your information. On the land portion of the Connosseur journeys, against this, most meals are included, and you will be escorted by a tour director.
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes full-service excursions the place each little element of your journey, together with the place you eat, is organized by the tour firm and there’s an always-present tour chief, the Connoisseurs journeys are going to be the proper alternative for you.
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For vacationers on the alternative aspect of the spectrum — those that wish to be extra on their very own when vacationing — the On Your Personal itineraries are the journeys particularly designed for you.
The land portion of On Your Personal journeys consists of all the essential preparations — lodging and transportation between locations — however no pre-scheduled excursions, meals or tour director companies.
Just like the Denali Explorer journeys, the On Your Personal journeys are among the many shorter Alaska cruisetours that Princess gives and have a selected concentrate on Denali Nationwide Park for his or her land parts.
The opposite main firms with Alaska cruisetours typically provide an analogous array of journeys, although not as broad a spread as Princess. Every of those firms does issues somewhat in a different way.
Holland America Alaska cruisetours
Holland America, particularly, gives one thing that no different Alaska cruisetour firm does: the possibility to cross the border into Canada to see the Yukon Territory.
Holland America breaks its Alaska cruisetours down into two teams:
- Alaska and Denali cruisetours
- Alaska, Denali and Yukon cruisetours
The land portion of the Alaska and Denali cruisetours entails two to seven nights of overland touring, together with one to 3 nights at Holland America’s lodge at Denali Nationwide Park.
The land portion of the Alaska, Denali and Yukon cruisetours entails six to eleven days of overland journey, with two to 3 nights at Holland America’s Denali lodge and two to 3 nights within the Yukon Territory.
If seeing the Yukon Territory is of curiosity to you, the latter excursions are the best way to go.
Royal Caribbean Alaska cruisetours
Royal Caribbean does not provide as broad a spread of Alaska cruisetours as Princess and Holland America. However like each of these manufacturers, its 12 Alaska cruisetour itineraries embrace shorter (10-night) journeys the place the land portion is usually centered on seeing Denali Nationwide Park, in addition to some longer journeys (as much as 13 nights) that add on extra sightseeing.
The land portion of Royal Caribbean cruisetours ranges from three to 6 nights, and all however one embrace a keep at Denali Nationwide Park.
A few of the journeys embrace a keep in Anchorage, whereas six of the 12 itineraries add on a go to to Fairbanks.
Fairly a couple of of the journeys embrace a keep in Talkeetna, which is a number of hours south of Denali Nationwide Park and a base for adventure-type outings akin to float journeys and jet boat rides.
Royal Caribbean additionally features a keep at one in every of Alaska’s most interesting resorts, the Alyeska Resort, with a handful of its cruisetours. Situated south of Anchorage within the Chugach Mountains, Alyeska is a high-end retreat with a spa, tremendous eating, wooded paths and trails that begin on the property’s grounds; there’s even an aerial tram that can take you up 2,300 ft to the summit of Mount Alyeska.
Movie star Cruises Alaska cruisetours
Movie star’s 11 cruisetour itineraries vary from 9 to 13 nights, with all 11 together with a minimum of one night time at Denali Nationwide Park.
As with the Alaska cruisetours that Royal Caribbean (a sister firm) gives, most embrace a keep in Anchorage; some additionally add stays in Fairbanks, Talkeetna or on the Alyeska Resort.
Norwegian Cruise Line Alaska cruisetours
Norwegian’s 9 cruisetour itineraries vary from 9 to 13 nights, and all embrace a minimum of one and typically two nights at Denali Nationwide Park.
Like Royal Caribbean and Movie star, Norwegian’s excursions normally embrace stays at a number of of the next locations, too: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Talkeetna and the Alyeska Resort.
In an uncommon twist, some Norwegian cruisetours additionally embrace a two-night keep in fishing hub Homer, recognized for its world-leading halibut catch, to present tourgoers an opportunity to signal on for an all-day (additional cost) fishing tour. In the event you’ve at all times dreamed of experiencing halibut fishing, this is likely to be the Alaska cruisetour for you.
One other uncommon providing from Norwegian is a “Denali Valdez Explorer” cruisetour, which features a motorcoach journey south alongside the Richardson Freeway to Valdez, the terminus of the Alyeska Pipeline. This journey additionally features a day cruise throughout the pristine waters of glacier-lined Prince William Sound.
When can I do an Alaska cruisetour?
The season for cruisetours in Alaska is a comparatively brief one, lasting from Could to September.
For the 2026 season, the earliest cruisetours to Alaska start Could 7 and eight; the journeys are operated by Windstar and Movie star, respectively. The primary Princess cruisetours begin on Could 9. Holland America and Norwegian kick off their cruisetour seasons on Could 10 and Could 12, respectively, with Royal Caribbean getting a late begin on Could 15.
The final cruisetours of the 2026 season start virtually precisely 4 months afterward Sept. 11.
For the 2027 season, the beginning dates for the primary and final cruisetours are Could 10 and Sept. 8.
What do cruisetours value?
The price of a cruisetour to Alaska varies broadly relying on the kind of tour you select and its size, in addition to the kind of cabin you need on the cruise portion.
For instance, the least costly cruisetour out there on Princess for 2026 on the time of this information’s publishing was a 10-day On Your Personal cruisetour. It began at $1,693 per individual, or about $169 per day. That is for a visit that features a seven-night cruise and three nights of overland touring centered on Denali Nationwide Park.
On the excessive finish of the worth vary for 2026 Princess cruisetours was the 17-day Connoisseurs excursions talked about above; they began at $6,023 per individual or about $354 per day.
Notice that these beginning charges get you the least costly cabin kind for the cruise portion of the journey, which is an “inside cabin” with no home windows. The cruisetour value may be considerably extra in some instances in order for you a much bigger and extra amenity-filled cabin on the cruise portion of the journey.
For the 10-day On Your Personal Princess cruisetour talked about above, as an illustration, the beginning charges for the journey rose to $1,875 per individual — or about $188 per day — should you selected a cabin with a window (referred to as an “ocean-view cabin”) on the cruise portion of the journey. The beginning charges jumped to $3,178 per individual should you selected a cabin with a balcony and $3,724 should you needed a collection.
Usually, cruisetours with fewer inclusions are priced decrease than cruisetours with extra inclusions. At Princess, for instance, the On Your Personal cruisetours value lower than the Denali Explorer excursions, as they’ve fewer inclusions. Whereas 10-day On Your Personal excursions for 2026 began at $1,693 per individual on the time of this information’s publication, the 10-day Denali Explorer excursions began at $1,803 per individual.
Princess’ least costly Off the Crushed Path tour (a 13-day journey) began at $2,223 per individual or about $171 per day.
Remember that, as is typical for cruise-related journeys, the pricing for all of those excursions is “primarily based on double occupancy.” That’s, you’ll solely get the costs listed above if there are two folks touring collectively in the identical room, every paying the acknowledged fare.
Backside line
Alaska is usually a troublesome place to tour, given its enormous measurement and lack of infrastructure, together with roads in some areas. However there’s a straightforward approach to organize a visit to Alaska that can embrace stops at a few of its most well-known sights: an Alaska cruisetour. Combining a seven-night cruise alongside the southeast coast of the state with a land tour into the state’s rugged inside, a cruisetour can get you to such iconic Alaska points of interest as Denali Nationwide Park, Glacier Bay Nationwide Park and the Juneau Icefields multi function journey.
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