There is no greater time to start planning your 2024 Alaska cruise vacation than right now! Whether you want a family-friendly Disney Cruise, more upscale experience on a Celebrity Cruises' Edge Class ship, or land based addition with a cruise line sponsored cruisetour, there's no shortage of ships and itineraries to choose from.
Do you have a passport? If so, you will be able to take an open-jaw sailing that begins and ends in two different ports to see more of Alaska than you would if you were on a roundtrip voyage! Regardless, the majority of cruises begin in one of four cities: Seattle, Seward, Vancouver, and Whittier.
Seattle and Vancouver are the most accessible of the four ports, with both airports no further than thirty-minutes from the cruise port. Plus, you can find roundtrip cruises to make planning airfare logistics a little bit easier. Cruises from Seward and Whittier are often one-way voyages that allow you to sail past more glaciers. To access the port, however, you will have to travel up to 2.5 hours from Anchorage, Alaska.
Here's everything you need to know about 2024 cruises to Alaska.
Read more: Alaska cruise guide: Planning tips and best cruise itineraries
How long is the 2024 Alaska cruise season?
Norwegian Cruise Line has some of the earliest sailings to Alaska. Norwegian Bliss departs from Seattle on April 6, 2024 on a 7-night roundtrip cruise, while Norwegian Sun departs the following day from Seattle, too. Most mainstream cruise lines, however, do not deploy their ships to Alaska until late April and May.
Likewise, Norwegian is in the region for the longest, with sailings departing as late as October 19, 2024. The majority of cruise lines will make their final trip in Alaska around the end of September before moving them back to the Caribbean or elsewhere.
Despite Norwegian's extended deployment, October is not necessarily the most ideal time to cruise to Alaska, as many activities are seasonal and will no longer be available due to the colder temperatures, animal hibernation schedule, and rougher waters.
Why should you take a cruise to Alaska?
If visiting the 49th state is on your bucket list, one of the best ways to do so is via cruise ship! Many popular ports (i.e., Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Skagway, and Haines) are located within the Inside Passage, meaning that they are difficult to access by road.
While onboard, you will be surrounded by the beautiful Alaskan scenery including glaciers and mountains. Many itineraries will even include an up-close viewing of a famous glacier!
Additionally, Alaska is home to an abundance of wildlife, and you will find that most ports of call have excursions that focus on animals, such as whale watching and bear viewing tours. These excursions are unique to the region and are unlike the snorkeling and beach days you will find in the Caribbean. In fact, Alaska has many once-in-a-lifetime tours for cruise ship passengers.
Read more: Why you should book an Alaska cruise now
What is the cheapest month to take a cruise to Alaska in 2024?
The cheapest months are always going to found during the shoulder season, or beginning and end, for any given region. For Alaska, this means April, May, September, and October. If you elect to cruise during June, July, or August, you will see higher prices for the same itineraries.
On this particular cruise onboard Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, the cheapest date to book a balcony cabin is May 3, 2024 in which pricing begins around $800 per person. A little over two months later, the pricing increases to $1,660 per person for the same cabin, which is double the cost of the same cruise in May.
There are other factors to consider when booking a cruise to Alaska, such as airfare, pre-cruise accommodations, and shore excursions. If you are worried about the cost, you may want to book an interior cabin. While you will not be able to wake up and look outside at the passing scenery, you will be able to enjoy all of the other amenities on the ship and have access to the same tours as everyone else onboard.
Read more: What is the cheapest month to go on a cruise?
Cruises out of Seattle
There are over 200 different sailings to Alaska departing out of Seattle during the 2024 season! Most of them are closed loop sailings, or those that begin and end in the same U.S. port. This is great for those who are worried about the cost of flights, as it is usually cheaper to book a roundtrip fare, rather than two one way tickets. Note, though, that some are one-way from Seattle to Vancouver.
Seattle is the primary cruise port on the continental United States for sailings to Alaska. Sometimes, you may find an occasional sailing from San Francisco or elsewhere; however, it is a longer itinerary or a repositioning cruise.
Plus, the cruise terminal is conveniently located about thirty-minutes from the airport and less than fifteen-minutes from many popular attractions, including Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. Due to all the attractions in Seattle, it is a great city for a pre- or post-cruise stay!
In total, there will be thirteen ships from seven cruise lines based out of Seattle:
- Carnival Cruise Line: Carnival Luminosa and Spirit
- Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Edge
- Holland America Line: Eurodam and Westerdam
- Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian Bliss, Encore, and Sun (Note that Norwegian Sun will only be available for booking through the end of June due to a full ship charter. Voyages scheduled for July 3 through September 18, 2024 have been cancelled)
- Oceania Cruises: Regatta
- Princess Cruises: Discovery and Majestic Princess
- Royal Caribbean: Ovation and Quantum of the Seas
Cruises out of Seward
Seward, Alaska is located about 2.5 hours from Anchorage, meaning that more planning will have to go into pre-cruise logistics. These are one-way sailings, too, so you will begin in Seward and end in Vancouver, Canada. The town itself is not very large; however, there are some quaint bed and breakfasts and boutique hotels within walking distance of some local restaurants.
Since these cruises often depart later in the evening, it is possible to travel from Anchorage the same day, so long as your flight into Alaska arrives the night before! You do not want to risk a delayed flight on top of a 2.5 hour drive.
In 2024, only five cruise lines are deploying ships out of Seward. Additionally, they tend to be smaller than the ships based out of Seattle:
- Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Summit
- Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian Jewel and Spirit
- Royal Caribbean: Radiance of the Seas
- Regent: Seven Seas Explorer
- SilverSea: Silver Nova and Silver Muse
Cruises out of Vancouver
Vancouver is one of the most popular cruise terminals for sailings to Alaska. During the 2024 season, 23 ships will depart from here at least once. Not all the itineraries are one-way, either. Over one-third of the ships that depart from Vancouver do so on roundtrip voyages. Note that if your cruise begins or ends in Vancouver, you will need a passport to fly internationally to/from the United States.
Those that are one-way may either end up in Seward, Seattle, or even Whittier, so it is important to pay attend to the disembarkation port before booking!
The airport is located about thirty-minutes away from the cruise terminal in the heart of downtown. There are plenty of luxury accommodations within a five-minute drive of the port, Pan Pacific Vancouver, Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver, and the Shangri-La Vancouver.
Here are the ships you can find sailing out of Vancouver in 2024:
- Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Edge, Solstice*, and Summit
- Cunard: Queen Elizabeth*
- Disney Cruise Line: Disney Wonder*
- Holland America Line: Koningsdam*, Nieuw Amsterdam*, Noordam*, and Zaandam*
- Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian Jewel and Spirit
- Oceania Cruises: Regatta
- Princess Cruises: Grand*, Royal, Ruby*, and Sapphire Princess
- Regent: Seven Seas Explorer
- Royal Caribbean: Brilliance*, Radiance, Quantum, and Ovation of the Seas
- Seabourn: Odyssey
- SilverSea: Silver Nova and Silver Muse
Note that if the ship has has an asterisk (*) beside of it, it is scheduled to make at least one roundtrip cruise
Read more: Do I need a passport for an Alaskan cruise?
Cruises of out Whittier
Whittier is a little bit closer to Anchorage than Seward, as it can be reached in about an hour and a half. That being said, the town is smaller than Seward, and you will find few accommodation and dining options.
Unlike other ports in Alaska, cruises do not start sailing out of Whittier until mid-May, with the earliest being a voyage on Royal Princess that departs May 11, 2024, and if you cruise out of Whittier, it will be on a one-way sailing that ends in Vancouver.
Only Holland America Line and Princess Cruises have sailings out of Whittier in 2024:
- Holland America Line: Nieuw Amsterdam and Noordam
- Princess Cruises: Grand, Royal, and Sapphire Princess
What ports will I visit on an Alaskan cruise?
On almost any Alaska cruise you look at, you will visit Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. It does not matter where you depart from.
Select itineraries will include stops at Icy Strait Point; Sitka; and Victoria, British Columbia. Any roundtrip cruise from Seattle must stop in Victoria to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which is also known as the Jones Act, since all stops in Alaska are technically in the United States. Otherwise, it would not be deemed a closed-loop cruise, as the ship would not have docked in a foreign port.
Read more: Why Do Cruise Ships Have to Call on Foreign Ports?
If you are sailing northbound from Vancouver or southbound from Seward or Whittier, there is a good chance that you will sail through the Hubbard Glacier. At 76 miles long, over 6 miles wide, and with 350 feet of exposed glacier, Hubbard Glacier is one of the largest glaciers seen on Alaskan cruises.
2024 Alaska cruisetours
If seeing the Last Frontier via cruise ship is not enough to satisfy you, cruise lines also offer land-based tours to accompany their sailings as either a pre- or post-cruise addition. It is common for cruisetours to be offered on sailings that depart from Alaska or Canada, as it is convenient to transport guests between destinations.
On Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, for instance, you can add a cruisetour either before or after your cruise on Brilliance or Radiance of the Seas or Celebrity Summit that depart on a roundtrip cruise from Seward or one-way Vancouver.
Some premium lines offer more variety when it comes to their cruisetour options. With Princess Cruises, you can select one of four different tours for the 2024 season that range from a 10-day "On Your Own" experience to a 17-day "Connoisseur Escorted" tour that visits six different land destinations.
When it comes to cost, these packages are more expensive than if you were to only book the cruise; however, you get to see more of Alaska than you otherwise would!
Princess Cruises' 12-Day Off The Beaten Path, for instance, starts at $1,999 per person for an interior cabin. In you opt to go during the peak Alaska cruise season, you can expect to pay a minimum of $2,400.
Read more: What is the best cruise line for Alaskan sailings?
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
