The Best Alaska Cruises to Book in 2026, From New Luxury Yachts to Nature-Focused Expeditions

With more than 2,500 islands, mountainsides that tickle coastal waterways, a robust seasonal whale population (as well as the opportunity to spot moose, bears, and eagles, among other wildlife), and rich cultural traditions in truly remote communities, some only accessible by water, Alaska attracts around 1.7 million cruise passengers each year, according to the Cruise Line International Association Alaska.

Every summer, a fresh flock of ships sail Alaska’s coastal waterways, ranging from 12-person expedition-style sailings to megaships with passenger numbers into the thousands. Some stick to a manageable six-day itinerary within the popular and more easily accessible southeast region, while others head out on epic three-week sailings that cross multiple time zones. Some are as rugged as the 49th state; others are pure opulence.

And in 2026, the lineup is broader than ever. Newcomers are piling into Alaska—including European line MSC Cruises, adults-only Virgin Voyages, and the luxe Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, which are all bringing ships to the Great Land for the first time.

Longtime expedition stalwarts such as National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions and HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions) are also rolling out new itineraries and ship upgrades, while mainstream giants like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Princess are adding capacity and refreshed ships. The result is a spectrum of sailings that spans adventure-driven small ships, design-forward luxury yachts, family-friendly megaships, and everything in between.

In short: There’s probably an Alaska sailing to match your travel style and budget. Here are 12 of the best Alaska cruises to consider.

Photo by Eric Hooper/Unsplash

Crystal Cruises’ “Vancouver, Vancouver”

Sailing through Alaska’s Inside Passage with Crystal Cruises, now part of the Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group, is a journey that blends rugged wilderness with high-end luxury.

This round-trip cruise from Vancouver sails along the mist-cloaked fjords, glacier-carved inlets, and dense evergreen forests of southeast Alaska. Stops along the way reveal the region’s rich culture and history: Ketchikan greets visitors with its colorful stilted houses and intricate totem poles; Sitka, once the capital of Russian America, blends Tlingit heritage with onion-domed cathedrals; and Wrangell, one of the oldest towns in Alaska, feels wonderfully off-the-beaten-path with petroglyph-covered beaches.

Sailings take place on the Crystal Symphony, a 606-guest ship fresh from an extensive refurbishment in 2023. The ship offers an intimate, all-inclusive atmosphere while still delivering big-ship amenities, including a full-service spa, live entertainment, a putting green, a library with more than 2,000 books, a pool, and spaces for children and teens.

Courtesy of Cunard

Cunard’s “Alaska, 12 Nights”

Cunard’s 11-night Alaska voyage aboard the Queen Elizabeth is a luxurious deep dive into the wild beauty of the 49th state. Sailing round trip from Seattle on select dates between June and September 2025, this itinerary brings guests face to face with some of Alaska’s most breathtaking landscapes and cultural highlights. Stops include Ketchikan, where towering totem poles and Tlingit heritage take center stage, and Skagway, a living remnant of the gold rush era, with historic wooden buildings and the scenic White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. In Juneau, travelers can marvel at the Mendenhall Glacier or embark on a whale-watching excursion, while Sitka offers a unique blend of Tlingit and Russian history against a scenic coastal backdrop. The voyage also includes a sailing through Glacier Bay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site with wildlife and massive calving glaciers.

The sailing is on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, a 2,081-passenger ship known for its art deco design, opulent chandeliers, and sweeping staircases. Between ports, guests can visit the Queens Room for afternoon tea service with white-gloved waiters and live classical music or catch a show in the Royal Court Theatre, one of the largest performance spaces at sea. The ship also boasts a clutch of upscale restaurants, an outdoor pool, a gym, a spa, a tennis court, and a two-story library.

Photo by FloridaStock/Shutterstock

Holland America Line’s “14-Day Great Alaska Explorer”

If we were to pick one larger cruise ship operator for sailing Alaska, it would be Holland America Line—the company has been operating in Alaska the longest, with continuous service dating back to 1947, before Alaska was even a state. If your idea of a good time includes loads of amenities (like over-the-top spas, nightly theater productions, and a sprawling pool), this is the sailing for you. It’s also one of the more family-friendly lines sailing in Alaska, with kids clubs and programming specifically geared at youngsters.

Over seven days, this sailing on the 2,106-passenger MS Nieuw Amsterdam visits seven ports, including mainstays like Ketchikan and Juneau, as well as others not often visited on sailings small or large. One of those is Anchorage—Alaska’s largest city sits on a shallow inlet and often cruise lines forgo it for deeper harbors, but guests on this sailing spend two days here, allowing for time to take the Alaska Railroad to Talkeetna or go on a flightseeing tour of Denali. Other lesser-visited ports on the itinerary are Kodiak, a remote island city off Alaska’s Gulf Coast, famed for its brown bears, and Wrangell, a small southeast Alaska town, known for its fishing heritage.

All in all, the sailing is affordable, and travelers can customize the land part of their itineraries to fulfill their Alaska wish list (at an added cost), by opting for excursions that include kayaking to the face of a glacier, going on a flightseeing tour to see brown bears feast on salmon, meeting sled dogs, shopping for Indigenous handicrafts, marveling at totem poles, and visiting local breweries and distilleries.

Courtesy of Dan Palen/Unsplash

HX’s “Inside Passage, Bears, and Aleutian Islands”

Now that it has a couple of seasons in Alaska under its belt, HX is not holding back. In 2026, the company is offering an 18-day sailing that starts in Seattle before flying guests to Nome, on the Bering Sea, a city best known for being the finishing point for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. From there, the ship will cross (and recross) the International Dateline, sailing through the Bering Strait (it’s between the Pacific and Arctic oceans and separates the Russian Far East from Alaska), before visiting the uninhabited St. Paul and St. Matthew islands.

Then it’s onward to the little-visited Aleutian Islands (a chain of islands, 14 of which are volcanic, in southwestern Alaska), for stops in Dutch Harbor, the United States’ biggest fishing port, and Unga Village, a ghost town. The trip continues to Kodiak, an island community known for humongous brown bears and prolific crab fishing. Although it’s the second-largest island in the United States, cruise ships rarely visit, mainly because it lacks the infrastructure for big ships. From there, the ship takes a hard right and chugs past the fjords, glacier-filled straits, and Indigenous villages of the Inside Passage before ending in Vancouver.

Perhaps as interesting as the itinerary is the battery-hybrid power system of the 528-passenger MS Roald Amundsen. In addition to being a model for cruising sustainably, the MS Roald Amundsen features an observation deck, a science center, three Nordic-style restaurants, an infinity pool, and hot tubs. In other words, you wouldn’t mind spending 18 days on this vessel.

And because the sailing runs in September, chances are better that you’ll catch the northern lights during your voyage, especially in the farther north areas in the Bering Sea.

Courtesy of Simon Ager/Maple Leaf Adventures

Maple Leaf Adventures’ “Alaska Adventure”

The Inside Passage is popular for a reason. Here you’ll find remote islands dappled with stately spruce trees, dreamy fields of pink fireweed, and long stretches of undisturbed, rocky beaches. But if you motor a bit further, there’s a good chance you’ll be greeted by electric-blue icebergs, dizzying fjords, and dramatic, millennia-old glaciers. And, sooner or later, you’ll also meet communities of hardy locals. What’s appealing about this Maple Leaf Adventures itinerary is that it’s a good mix of Alaska’s natural landscapes and coastal cityscapes. Visits to bustling port towns like Sitka are balanced with days spent entirely in the wilderness of Endicott Arm and Misty fjords.

Holding just 12 guests, the ship is one of the smallest to sail commercially in Alaska, so it can tuck into areas the megaships can’t. And it offers a unique way to spend 10 days: The Swell is a converted tugboat.

Courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions

National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions’ “Alaska’s Inside Passage”

Many of the sailings to Alaska center on the state’s major ports of call, like Juneau and Sitka. There’s nothing wrong with those itineraries, but they do tend to focus more on touristy downtowns and less on the great outdoors.

This National Geographic-Lindblad sailing does start and end in those cities (since most Alaska cruise passengers fly to the state to begin their sailing journey, it’s most convenient to embark in a large port near a major airport before heading to more remote destinations), but the days in-between are adventure packed. Multiple times a day, guests are invited to disembark for a closer look at the true wilds of Alaska. That could entail going kayaking among bobbing bits of glacial ice in Tracy Arm–Fords Terror Wilderness, or going for a Zodiac ride in Frederick Sound to view whales up close. Another option includes trekking on lesser-known forest trails and getting an explainer on tide pools along smaller islands.

While Lindblad has a general idea of where the vessel will stop each day, itineraries are not set in stone and the crew is not afraid to mix it up if it means having a locale to themselves or if there’s a stellar animal encounter to enjoy—this is an expedition ship, after all. Because Lindblad Expeditions partners with National Geographic, there’s always a professional photographer aboard to help travelers best capture their trip, as well as naturalists and expert guides to put what passengers see on the voyage into a more informative context. Both the National Geographic Quest and National Geographic Venture make the sailing. The sister ships were purpose-built to sail the North American coast and feature 50 rooms each, all with windows or portholes, private bathrooms, climate controls, and a TV, plus Wi-Fi connection.

Because Lindblad has U.S.-flagged ships (meaning they are registered in the United States and operate under U.S. maritime laws), it’s one of the few companies that doesn’t have to stop in Canada (a requirement of the Passenger Vessel Services Act, a U.S. law that restricts foreign-flagged ships from sailing solely between U.S. ports). This means there’s more time spent exploring Alaska and less time spent touring a Canadian port.

Photo by Edgardo Contreras/Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s “Vancouver/Whittier”

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection makes its Alaska debut in 2026 with a series of ultra-luxe itineraries aboard Luminara, its newest super-yacht, and this Vancouver-to-Whittier sailing is one of the highlights. Over 11 nights, the yacht calls at both classic ports like Ketchikan and Sitka and smaller, less-visited stops, combining marquee Inside Passage landscapes with quieter, under-the-radar stops, such as Klawock, a community known for its rainforest scenery and totem-carving traditions, and Valdez, a town that sits at the end of a dramatic, glacier-fed fjord, hemmed in by the Chugach Mountains and some of the most glacier-dense scenery in Alaska.

Luminara is designed to feel more like a floating Ritz-Carlton hotel than a traditional cruise ship. The all-suite vessel carries a maximum of 452 guests, with private terraces in every suite, multiple restaurants and bars, a spa and fitness center, and yacht-style spaces like an aft marina platform for water sports.

Because this sailing ends in Whittier, it’s also an easy jumping-off point for a land-based Alaska trip. Whittier is about a two-hour transfer from Anchorage via car or rail, making it simple to add a few days in Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, or Denali National Park after disembarking

Photo by Yuval Zukerman/Unsplash

Seabourn’s “Alaska Glaciers, Fjords, & Inside Passage”

Another itinerary that focuses on lesser-visited ports is Seabourn’s 14-day trip starting in Vancouver. As the boat pulls out of the harbor, guests are invited to bring their binoculars to the deck to check the landscape for whales, which come to the food-rich waterways each summer to bulk up for their winter calving season. The first full day on the water is spent sailing around Queen Charlotte Sound, where sheltered coves and wooded slopes are abundant.

The first port stop is in Ketchikan, a community once dubbed the “Canned Salmon Capital of the World.” Then after a daysof scenic cruising, it’s onto Sitka, a former Russian colony that now has one of the world’s largest totem-pole collections. The next day is spent at Hubbard Glacier, where guests are likely to see electric blue glaciers calving. From there it’s on to the little-visited Inian Islands, where guests can ride Zodiacs and kayak around the rocky shores and potentially see sea lions feasting on salmon; Haines, a coastal community known for having the largest concentration of bald eagles on earth; Wrangell, where black and brown bears are commonly spotted in Tongass National Rainforest; and Juneau, Alaska’s island capital. After a few more days of scenic cruising, the journey ends in Vancouver.

These sailings take place on the 600-passenger Seabourn Encore, a high-end expedition-style ship that boasts six restaurants, two pools, a theater, and a sun terrace.

Photo by Josh McCausland/Unsplash

Silversea’s “Vancouver to Seward”

What Silversea does well is create an shipboard experience that is luxurious and one of a kind but doesn’t distract from the real star of the show: Alaska.

By day, the Silver Moon visits buzzing, historical port towns including Ketchikan and Skagway, where guests are invited to disembark and participate in an activity of their choosing, like leisurely bopping around the downtown area or getting spine-tinglingly close to brown bears on a flightseeing tour. Back on the vessel, after a gourmet meal and drinks, evening entertainment is viewing the deep fjords, glaciers, and abundant whales that make Alaska so magical. Spacious suites accommodate 596 guests. There’s also complimentary Pilates and yoga, a gym, a jogging track, a spa, an observation library, and a slew of bars and restaurants.

What’s particularly convenient about this sailing is that it ends in Seward, making it easy to continue your Alaska vacation (a visit to Denali National Park and Preserve, anyone?) by road or rail.

Courtesy of UnCruise Adventures

Uncruise Adventures’ “Wild, Woolly and Wow with Glacier Bay”

Cruise vacations often have the reputation of being not very active. However, this UnCruise Adventures sailing is aimed at those who want a more heart-pumping immersion into some little-visited areas of the 49th state, like South Baranof Island Wilderness Area and Chichagof Island. One day might involve kayaking in Patterson Bay followed by a brisk snorkeling session. Another could see guests hiking to a glacial lake or going for a skiff tour among icebergs. Yet another could offer biking in an area known for its healthy population of brown bears (if you dare).

These sailings take place on the intimate 86-passenger Wilderness Legacy, with cozy but comfortable cabins and unlimited activities and beverages.

Uncruise also operates a 10-night sailing from Seward to Dutch Harbor, Alaska (or the reverse), in the Aleutian Islands, a windswept arc of volcanic islands extending toward Russia, where expedition cruises deliver travelers to foggy fishing villages, seabird colonies, and stark World War II relics. However,
2026 is sold out (and the itinerary tends to book up a year in advance, so if you’re interested, now would be the time to make your deposit for 2027).

Courtesy of Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages’ “Alaska Awe From Vancouver to Seattle”

Virgin Voyages brings its adults-only cruise concept to Alaska in 2026 with this sailing aboard its newly launched Brilliant Lady ship. This itinerary hits several of Alaska’s most popular Inside Passage ports, including Ketchikan, Juneau, and Sitka, with scenic cruising through glacier-carved fjords and alongside Hubbard Glacier (a colossal tidewater glacier known for its towering blue ice face and frequent, thunderous calving events). It’s a classic Alaska sampler, including colorful fishing towns, rainforest hikes, wildlife excursions, and time on deck for whale watching.

Brilliant Lady carries a maximum of 2,860 “sailors” (what Virgin calls passengers)—smaller than the newest megaships but still packed with amenities, including multiple restaurants and bars, a spa and fitness complex, and nightlife-focused entertainment spaces. The ship also has a more inclusive pricing model, with dining, gratuities, Wi-Fi, and basic drinks included in the fare, which can simplify budgeting compared to more à la carte cruise lines. The vibe aboard Virgin’s sailings also leans more social, with later port departures, DJ-led parties, and wellness programming that may appeal more to younger travelers, couples, and groups of friends.

Photo by Shutterstock

The best time to cruise in Alaska

The best time to cruise in Alaska is generally between May and September.

The Alaska cruise season, like the 49th state’s summer, is all too brief. The vast majority of sailings, particularly those along the Inside Passage (the island-filled coastal waterway in the southeast portion of the state), occur somewhere between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But there are some shoulder-season departures in April, May, September, and October.

The best time to visit also depends on your tolerance for the cold and for other travelers. Shoulder-season trips are chilly (there’s a good chance you’ll see snow in places and will need to bundle up), but there are significantly fewer tourists to battle with during shore excursions. However, the peak season (July and August) is divine. The sun hardly sets, the landscapes (save for the glaciers) are verdant, and the waterways are choked with playful whales getting their fill before winter.

A note about seeing the aurora borealis on an Alaska cruise: While the northern lights are happening all the time (and are expected to be extra riotous this year and next, because of solar maximum), it’s only possible to see them when it’s dark out. Considering the few hours of night in Alaska in the middle of summer, you’re unlikely to see the solar show. However, shoulder-season cruises, especially those in September, around the fall equinox, have a decent chance.

This story was originally published in January 2023 and was updated on January 28, 2026, to include current information.