Even with a season that solely runs from April by means of October, Alaska attracts roughly 40 huge cruise ships and dozens of smaller cruise vessels annually, making it probably the most widespread cruise locations on the earth after the Caribbean and Europe. The very best Alaska cruises vary from off-the-beaten-path voyages on vessels carrying fewer than 100 passengers to weeklong jaunts by means of the Inside Passage aboard megaships that maintain hundreds.
It may be onerous to determine which cruise ship will ship your thought of a bucket-list expertise within the Final Frontier. Rather a lot comes all the way down to your journey type, preferences and funds.
Some vacationers demand luxurious Alaska cruises whereas others do not thoughts going much less fancy if it means shut encounters with bears and different creatures within the wilderness. Some search for romance, and others wish to introduce the children or grandkids to glaciers and eagles, gold panning and sled canine.
The excellent news is there is a ship in Alaska for you, irrespective of your style or type. Here is a inexperienced persons information to one of the best Alaska cruises that can assist you slim down your decisions.
Greatest for megaresort followers: Anthem of the Seas
Royal Caribbean is thought for its floating megaresorts that carry hundreds and are huge on facilities, glitz and a specific amount of glamour (suppose: flashy casinos, high-tech exhibits and lavish spas). Eating and ingesting venues quantity within the dozens, whereas amusement park options thrill the children and adrenaline-seekers.
The road all the time stations one or two Quantum Class ships in Alaska for the season. On 4,180-passenger Anthem of the Seas, you may order a drink from a robotic bartender, attempt simulated skydiving or browsing experiences, and take a experience in a glass capsule that travels excessive above your ship on a mechanical arm — a strange technique to see the Alaska surroundings. Adults can linger within the glass-walled Solarium, enjoyable within the indoor swimming pools and whirlpools, whereas their children zoom across the SeaPlex in bumper automobiles.
Anthem of the Seas sails round-trip from Seattle on seven-night cruises, however the actual itinerary varies by week. The ship cruises Endicott Arm for scenic views of Dawes Glacier and usually visits two Alaska ports and Victoria, British Columbia.
Associated: A inexperienced persons information to choosing a cruise line
Greatest for land and sea adventures: Nieuw Amsterdam
Holland America Line has provided Alaska cruises for 75 years and is clearly a market chief. The road tops the listing when it comes to cruises, in addition to cruisetours, which mix time crusing with in a single day stays on land. The corporate operates its personal lodges, railcars and motorcoaches for exploration of Alaska’s inside and past.
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Associated: Why a Holland America Alaska cruise ought to high your listing within the Final Frontier
The road will ship six ships to Alaska in 2026, with a variety of stand-alone cruises and cruisetours that mix a cruise with visits to such inside locations as Denali Nationwide Park & Protect, Fairbanks and Anchorage. But it surely’s 2,106-passenger Nieuw Amsterdam that provides a few of the most fascinating Alaska cruisetour itineraries in 2026.
The ship presents nine- to 14-night cruisetours that head into the Canadian Yukon, following the route of the Klondike gold rush from Alaska to northwestern Canada. You may sail from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Skagway, Alaska, with a cease in Tracy Arm or Glacier Bay Nationwide Park & Protect, then journey to Whitehorse and Dawson Metropolis within the Yukon earlier than persevering with on to Fairbanks (the gateway to Arctic Alaska), Denali Nationwide Park (dwelling to North America’s largest peak) and Anchorage.
On board, get pleasure from reside music at Billboard Onboard and B.B. King’s Blues Membership, play a recreation of pickleball on the outer deck or get pleasure from high quality eating at quite a few eating places serving sushi and Asian delicacies, steak, seafood, Italian fare and Dutch treats.
Greatest for households: Disney Marvel
In the event you’re touring with younger children in Alaska and need an activity- and entertainment-packed expertise, make a beeline for Disney Cruise Line and its Alaska-based Disney Marvel. The ship has an in depth youngsters’s program, high-quality leisure and actions equivalent to waterslides and play areas.
Cabins are designed with households in thoughts and embody cut up bogs (one with a rest room and a sink, the opposite with a shower-tub combo and a sink), in addition to pullout couch beds and bunks to sleep 4 in a cabin. Disney-themed eating places and attentive waitstaff take the stress out of household mealtimes.
Bonus: Everybody’s favourite Disney characters shall be on board for exhibits and meet-and-greets. Goofy may even make an look as you admire hovering eagles, blue icebergs and glaciers.
Associated: The very best cruise traces for households
The ship won’t have all of the wild sights of its Alaska counterpart Anthem of the Seas, but it surely nonetheless presents children golf equipment, outside films, an indoor adults-only solarium, a rock-climbing wall, themed events and a number of eating venues, making it a fantastic worth for the value.
Associated: The very best time to cruise Alaska
In the event you’re in search of different surefire methods to save lots of, inside and ocean-view cabins are sometimes less expensive than balcony cabins on Alaska cruises. These non-public verandas are extremely fascinating, with everybody in search of views of the wilderness, snowcapped peaks and glaciers. As these reserves get low, the costs are inclined to get increased.
Cut price seekers ought to both ebook early for these lodging or select inside, outdoors or assure cabins (the place you do not choose your room location) to save lots of extra.
Greatest for Alaskan journey: Wilderness Legacy
If journey is what you crave on an Alaska cruise, it is best to hunt down the small ships of UnCruise Adventures. All the road’s itineraries supply an lively part, however its “Wild, Woolly and Wow” itinerary claims to be “probably the most lively backcountry itinerary” of UnCruise’s 2026 Alaska cruises.
A day aboard 86-passenger Wilderness Legacy may begin out with a hike by means of a forest to see waterfalls, adopted by a late-day kayak journey in Thomas Bay. Or, you may get pleasure from a little bit of scenic cruising by LeConte Glacier (the place the massive ships do not go) by small boat and even stand-up paddleboard. Massive ships can solely supply deckside viewing of the marvels of Glacier Bay, however UnCruise Adventures sends its ships to the not often visited outback.
Mountain biking, whale watching and glacier mountaineering are all in your cruise agenda. Simply once you’re prepared for a relaxation, guided skiff excursions will take visitors searching for Alaskan wildlife in distant bays and secret coves.
The seven-night itinerary sails round-trip from Juneau, Alaska.
Greatest for multigenerational teams: Star Princess
Alaska has turn out to be a scorching spot for multigenerational household journey, with grandparents taking their children and grandkids of all ages on a memory-making vacation. Princess Cruises is a line that provides one thing for everybody, and its soon-to-be Alaska-based Star Princess is our best choice for household reunion teams.
The brand-new Star Princess, which simply debuted in October, will sail round-trip to Alaska from Seattle — a handy U.S. dwelling port for households to succeed in by airplane or automobile — all through the summer time of 2026. Its “North to Alaska” program will delight children with totem pole adorning, sled canine puppies within the ship’s Piazza and northern lights viewing in an on-ship planetarium. Dad and mom and grandparents will admire native seafood on restaurant menus and onboard cultural programming with Alaska residents.
Associated: Which Princess Alaska cruisetour is best for you? An entire information to all of your choices
Whereas the children get pleasure from Star Princess’ spacious youngsters’s and teenagers golf equipment, the adults may linger over a craft cocktail or get pleasure from a therapeutic massage within the onboard spa. The household can come collectively for meals in quite a lot of informal and high quality eating eating places and luxuriate in authentic manufacturing exhibits because the ship sails between ports.
With room for 4,300 passengers, Star Princess would be the largest Princess cruise ship ever to sail Alaska.
Greatest for luxurious lovers: Seabourn Encore
In the event you envision sipping Champagne as you watch a glacier thunderously calve into the ocean, think about reserving an all-inclusive luxurious cruise on a Seabourn ship.
Seabourn Encore, which may accommodate as much as 600 passengers, throws a touch of journey into its luxurious environment. Along with providing passengers complimentary Champagne and caviar and housing them in spacious suites, the ship has an onboard expedition staff and does a fancy model of expedition cruising in Alaska, utilizing inflatable Zodiac craft and kayaks.
Seabourn calls its program “Ventures by Seabourn.” Specialists on board these sailings embody naturalists, biologists and different scientists who’re members of the expedition staff. They lead the outside actions (together with hikes) and supply passengers with a deeper perception into Alaska. As soon as visitors end communing with nature, they’ll bask in gourmand delicacies in a number of eating places, get pleasure from a complimentary cocktail or chill out in an upscale spa.
Seabourn Encore sails each one-way, weeklong itineraries between Vancouver and Juneau and two-week, round-trip itineraries from Vancouver in 2026. It visits widespread Alaska ports like Ketchikan and Sitka, in addition to much less touristed locations like Wrangell, Alaska, and Prince Rupert and Alert Bay in British Columbia.
Associated: The very best luxurious cruise traces for class and exclusivity
Greatest for off-the-beaten-path journey: Nationwide Geographic Quest
In the event you’re seeking to get away from the megaship crowds, one of the best Alaska cruise for you could be with Nationwide Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions. Nationwide Geographic Quest, with area for as much as 100 passengers, frequents off-the-beaten-path locations in Alaska on weeklong itineraries between Juneau and Sitka in 2026.
Visitors can discover the small fishing city of Petersburg or seek for orca and humpback whales in Frederick Sound. Lindblad has particular permits to convey passengers into the wilderness of Glacier Bay Nationwide Park & Protect and the Tongass Nationwide Forest, past what the massive ships can supply. A hike on Chichagof Island is the proper alternative to identify bald eagles within the wild.
Someday is even devoted to serendipitous exploration. The ship’s captain has the pliability to hunt out one of the best distant islands and bays for beachcombing, tide pooling, mountaineering and kayaking adventures.
So long as you do not thoughts a mellower atmosphere the place lectures and impromptu guitar sing-alongs substitute casinos and present productions, you may be proper at dwelling as you deeply expertise coastal Alaska.
Greatest for solo vacationers: Norwegian Bliss
Solo vacationers do not all the time must pay double to cruise Alaska on their very own. A number of ships characteristic cabins designed and priced for one. A number of Norwegian Cruise Line ships characteristic cozy studio cabins designed and priced for one individual, and 4,004-passenger Norwegian Bliss presents 82 solo rooms on its round-trip Seattle cruises to Alaska.
These solo cabins get our vote as a result of they’re positioned in a posh the place a non-public lounge encourages mingling. Lone vacationers may also meet their shipmates whereas ready to hop right into a race automobile on the ship’s go-kart monitor, at a exhibiting of “Jersey Boys” or over a muddled drink on the Sugarcane Mojito Bar.
The ship sails seven-night cruises from Seattle, visiting Dawes Glacier, Sitka and Icy Strait Level, in addition to Juneau and Ketchikan in Alaska and Victoria, British Columbia.
Greatest for foodies: Riviera
You won’t have Alaska in your listing as a scorching spot for culinary journey, however Oceania Cruises sees each vacation spot as a possible foodie paradise. Its 1,250-passenger Riviera simply sailed its first Alaska cruises in 2025 and is returning to the state in 2026, giving visitors many alternatives for good eats on board and off.
Attempt a food-forward shore tour to see what culinary magic Alaska has hidden behind its glaciers and mountains. Take a culinary tour of Sitka and sip native beers, snack on Russian dumplings and pattern different treats like reindeer scorching canine. In Juneau, you may join a seafood tour across the metropolis’s favourite eating places. Or, attempt a chef-led Culinary Discovery Tour in Ketchikan, the place you go to an oyster farm and style its merchandise.
On board, visitors can join new regionally themed, hands-on cooking lessons and study to make treats from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
Plus, passengers can get pleasure from Riviera’s a number of eating places at no additional cost. A current refurbishment has given the ship a brand new outside pizzeria and Italian trattoria, or, if it is too chilly, head indoors for French delicacies (in partnership with famend chef Jacques Pépin), steakhouse favorites or spicy Asian fare.
Riviera will sail seven- to 12-night cruises from Seattle in 2026, and a few characteristic the up-and-coming cruise port of Klawock, Alaska.
Greatest for fun-loving adults: Sensible Girl
In 2026, Virgin Voyages is making its Alaska debut with its new cruise ship Sensible Girl. The irreverent and playful cruise line will convey its signature type from its bread-and-butter warm-weather locations within the Caribbean and the Mediterranean to chilly Alaska to warmth issues up.
Sensible Girl is an adults-only ship that may accommodate as much as 2,770 passengers, however that does not imply it is boring. On its northern sailings, the ship will nonetheless supply visitors the possibility to get a tattoo on board, benefit from the surroundings from a non-public balcony hammock, cut up their sides at a drag present, dance all night time on the Scarlet Evening occasion and immerse themselves in a few of the finest onboard leisure at sea. The ship eschews cavernous cruise ship eating places and buffets for a plethora of complimentary onboard eating places serving all the pieces from Korean barbecue to Mexican specialties and veggie-forward dishes.
Virgin Voyages cruisers love selection, so Sensible Girl will not sail one itinerary on repeat in summer time 2026. The ship will sail a mixture of seven- to 12-night Alaska cruises from Seattle, with scenic cruising in Tracy Arm or Hubbard Glacier.
Planning a cruise? Begin with these tales:
