10 Best Alaska Cruises to Take This Summer

Table Of Content

• Best Inside Passage Alaska Cruise: Hurtigruten Expeditions, MS Roald Amundsen
• Alaska Cruise With The Most Adventurous Excursions: UnCruise Adventures
• Coolest Things to Do In Alaska on Radiance of the Seas
• The Best Alaska Cruises
• Oceania Regatta Defines Premium Alaska Cruising With 7- to 12-Night Sailings

Celebrity typically attracts sophisticated young adults and middle-aged couples, though you'll notice more families during the summer holiday. When cruise lines send a fleet of ships to Alaska for the summer, the older, smaller ships tend to offer more reduced prices than you'll find on the lines' larger and newer ships. The ship offers nine- to 14-night cruise tours that head into the Canadian Yukon, following the route of the Klondike Gold Rush from Alaska to northwestern Canada. Holland America Line has offered Alaska cruises for 75 years and is clearly a market leader. The line tops the list in terms of cruises, as well as cruise tours, which combine time sailing with overnight stays on land. The company operates its own lodges, rail cars and motorcoaches for exploration of Alaska's interior and beyond.

Best Inside Passage Alaska Cruise: Hurtigruten Expeditions, MS Roald Amundsen

Princess Cruises Ends 2023 with Top Awards from Prestigious Travel Industry Organizations Around the World - PR Newswire

Princess Cruises Ends 2023 with Top Awards from Prestigious Travel Industry Organizations Around the World.

Posted: Thu, 28 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

As on all Disney Cruise Line sailings around the world, its Alaska cruises feature spacious cabins with split bathrooms; kids clubs for ages three to 17; all meals, including snacks and room service; Broadway-quality stage shows and more. Shore excursions range from adventures like zip lining, hiking and rafting to seaplane exploration, photo safaris and high teas. Adults can enjoy themselves on an Alaskan Disney Cruise, too, with adult-exclusive dining; an adult-only pool and hot tub; fitness center; and Senses Spa & Salon. Alaska cruises first made their debut in 1881, when the Pacific Coast Steamship Company began cruising the Inside Passage aboard its two ships, the Ancon and the Idaho. Today, with over 20 cruise lines and small ships sailing Alaska’s waterways, there are plenty of options for travelers to choose from during the Alaska cruise season, which runs every year from April through October.

Alaska Cruise With The Most Adventurous Excursions: UnCruise Adventures

As part of the American Queen Voyages expedition experience, the line has partnered with Dr. Michelle Fournet, an acclaimed acoustic ecologist and leading expert in the communication of North Pacific humpback whales. As such, hydrophones are used onboard Zodiacs to listen to the voices of Alaska’s whales in real-time. Guests will also learn about and participate in whale tracking through fluke identification by uploading their own photos from the vessel to a scientific database following their seasonal movements. Because of their small, yacht-like size, Windstar Cruises ships grant unparalleled access to Alaska’s glaciers and fjords; other ships can’t squeeze into some of these special places.

Coolest Things to Do In Alaska on Radiance of the Seas

Speaking of the latter, wellness-seeking duos can reserve an AquaClass stateroom, which includes perks like complimentary dining at the exclusive Blu restaurant, their very own spa concierge, and unlimited access to the adults-only Sea Thermal Suite. A Carnival Miracle cruise to Alaska is perfect for families or for those who want to balance the amazing experience of the destination with a fun-packed sailing. You’ll be able to enjoy a host of live music and comedy, kids will love the Camp Ocean clubs, and adults can escape to the Serenity Retreat when they need a little bit of peace. Of the best midsize cruise ships to Alaska, Celebrity Summit comes out on top (no pun intended). Viking’s luxury sailings are expensive enough to price out a lot of cruise passengers, but cruises are all-inclusive with a free excursion in every port too, so you have to weigh up the value against cruises where you’ll pay for a lot of extras.

Norwegian Encore operates seven-night round-trip itineraries from Seattle that include time in Glacier Bay National Park with a park ranger onboard the ship. If you envision sipping Champagne as you watch a glacier thunderously calve into the sea, consider booking an all-inclusive luxury cruise on a Seabourn ship. Alaska has become a hot spot for multigenerational family travel, with grandparents taking their kids and grandkids of all ages on a memory-making holiday. Princess Cruises is a line that offers something for everyone, and its Alaska-based Discovery Princess is our top choice for family reunion groups. King's Blues Club, play a game of pickleball on the outer deck or enjoy fine dining at numerous restaurants serving sushi and Asian cuisine, steak, seafood, Italian fare and Dutch treats. There's nothing like an amazing adventure during an Alaskan vacation, and if you're looking for things to do then dog sledding is a bucket-list experience.

Sleeping on Discovery Princess

While onboard, Princess immerses its guests into the sites, sounds, tastes and history of the 49th state through its award-winning North to Alaska programming. Life onboard is made easy, too, with the cruise line’s revolutionary Medallion technology that not only keeps people traveling together connected, but makes buying gifts in ports a snap by charging purchases back to your cabin. The cruise line’s Voyage of the Glaciers itinerary offers two glacier viewing experiences, as well as a voyage across the Gulf of Alaska to see Prince William Sound, known for its abundance of marine and coastal life.

It’s no good paying for an ultra-luxury ship when you can’t afford it and you hate dressing up formally, just because it’s placed higher on the list. Kids won’t enjoy Regatta as much as they might one of the mainstream ships, but the Alaska Explorer Youth Program is enriching and fun – so you can still enjoy a grander ship when travelling with your children. Oceania is another cruise line to offer a range of flexible tour options, so if you want to extend your trip with a hotel stay or a land program before or after you sail, it’s easy to find some fantastic options. Grand Princess has the most but not by much – so you have plenty of other options available too, if you’d prefer. The excursions offered on Carnival Miracle aren’t going to be as unique as those on a more luxurious ship, but you’ll still have plenty of exciting options for exploring the towns and seeing the glaciers up-close.

Price is obviously something you’ll take into consideration when choosing a ship for your Alaska cruise, but what else should you look at? At Cruise Critic, we believe you need facts about dining, staterooms and onboard activities along with where the ship will stop to make the best decision. The Koningsdam boasts 912 balconied accommodations, which means 69% of the ship has rooms with a private veranda view. You’ll also find massage showerheads, magnifying mirrors, terry bathrobes, Egyptian cotton towels, Elemis luxury bath products, and fresh fruit (upon request) in your stateroom. Anglers will enjoy the cruise line’s Savor My Catch program, which brings ocean-to-table dining to a whole new level. Plus, guests can catch their own fish during shore excursions and have it prepared and served on board.

Best Alaska Cruise For Couples: Princess Cruises, Royal Princess

Interior staterooms are budget-friendly options with plenty of space and thoughtful touches, or you can upgrade to ocean view, balcony, or suite categories for some extra perks (like marble bathrooms with a tub and two sinks). And there’s no better spot for taking in Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier than the North Star observation deck. Book a spa treatment or work out in the Aquamar Spa + Vitality Center, play nine holes of golf on the putting greens, shop the three boutiques, and unwind, help yourself to afternoon tea with all the accouterments at 4 p.m. Built in 1998 but fully refurbished in 2019, Oceania Cruises’ Regatta dazzles guests with bejeweled chandeliers in the Grand Dining Room, fresh color palettes, and new furnishings in the public spaces, plus new everything in the suites and staterooms. Between the gentle rocking of the ship and the Ultra Tranquility Bed, you’re sure to sleep like a baby. The Celebrity Millennium, launched in 2000, has recently undergone complete modernization, which includes luxury staterooms, enhanced technology, and renovated restaurants and lounges.

Finally, in addition to classic ports like Juneau and Ketchikan, Viking Ocean Cruises’ Alaska itinerary also calls on Valdez, which is chock-full of natural beauty and outdoor adventure. Oceania’s cruise ships offer a five-star experience – not quite as decadent as some of the ultra-luxury ships sailing in the Alaska region, but a clear step above mainstream cruise lines in terms of service, decor, dining options and more. Disney Cruise Line set sail in 1998 with its first three- and four-night trips to the Bahamas and made its way to Alaska in the spring of 2011. The cruise line, which is celebrating its Silver Anniversary at Sea, offers 23 five-, seven-, eight- and 9-night round-trip Alaskan itineraries aboard the Disney Wonder, all of which depart from Vancouver.

The Queen Elizabeth captures the spirit of ocean liners of a bygone era, making it a special treat in Alaska waters. The ship is elegant and provides a premium and uncrowded experience for just over 2,000 guests. Unlike the mainstream lines, the QE sails a short season in Alaska, but on longer nine- and ten-night cruises that allow for more in-depth exploration. Several Norwegian Cruise Line ships feature cozy studio cabins designed and priced for one person, and the 4,004-passenger Norwegian Bliss offers 82 solo rooms on its round-trip Seattle cruises to Alaska.

Guests can extend their Alaska cruise with three- to 10-day day pre- and post-cruise tours. Those craving a luxury Alaska cruise need not look further than Silversea, says Goldring. The line’s Door-to-Door All-Inclusive fares cover private airport transfers, economy flights, business-class upgrades or air credits, and shore excursions. We evaluated over a dozen Alaskan cruises before selecting the best in each category. We considered various elements like the cruise line’s reputation and quality of service, ship design and architecture, and notable ship amenities (e.g., swimming pools, entertainment, technology, access to nature experts, etc.). We also reviewed each ship’s cruise itinerary, dining and wellness options, and the types of experiences and excursions available to guests.

The storied Cunard cruise line, with more than 180 years of seafaring history, returned to Alaska after nearly 30 years when it arrived back in the Great Land in 2019. In addition to more than 140 shore experiences that immerse guests into this magical destination, Cunard invites explorers, travel writers and locals onboard to share their passions and knowledge. The cruise line takes inspiration from Alaska with special local dishes served in its onboard restaurants, and the return of the Ice White Ball, a formal gala affair with a glacial twist. Among the most popular cruise ships in Alaska, you’ll find a wide range of choices, from mainstream lines to luxury.

The best Alaska cruises range from off-the-beaten-path voyages on vessels carrying fewer than 100 passengers to weeklong jaunts through the Inside Passage aboard megaships that hold thousands. While the kids enjoy Discovery Princess' spacious children's and teens' clubs, the adults might linger over a craft cocktail or enjoy a massage in the onboard spa. The family can come together for meals in a variety of casual and fine dining restaurants, and enjoy original production shows as the ship sails between ports. A day aboard the 86-passenger Wilderness Legacy might start out with a hike to a glacial lake followed by an early-evening kayak adventure in Thomas Bay.