Cruises from Vancouver 2026: Alaska Routes & Lines

The ships that sail this coast, and what they are like inside

Six hulls do most of the work out of Canada Place. They are not interchangeable: one is built for teenagers and bumper cars, one for chamber music and a quiet bar, and the difference matters more over seven nights than the fare gap between them.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Jade

Jewel class · 2006 · about 2,400 guests · 93,500 GT

The smallest of the big ships on this run, and on the Inside Passage that is a feature: narrower channels, less time queuing for a tender. Dining is Freestyle — no fixed sitting, no assigned table, turn up when you are hungry. The Spinnaker Lounge is the forward observation bar with floor-to-ceiling glass by day and a dance floor at night, which is where most people end up after the show. Norwegian uses the Ward Cove berth in Ketchikan, about 11 km from town with a shuttle laid on.

Princess Cruises

Crown Princess

Grand class · 2006 · 3,080 guests · 113,500 GT

The classic Alaska workhorse. Skywalkers Nightclub sits aft above deck 17 and is reached by a glass tunnel — the late bar and disco on this ship, and quiet enough in the afternoon to read in. Princess runs a North to Alaska programme with naturalists narrating the glacier days over the outside speakers, plus Movies Under the Stars on a poolside LED screen where blankets and popcorn come out at dusk.

Royal Caribbean

Ovation of the Seas

Quantum class · 2016 · about 4,900 guests · 168,600 GT

The biggest hull that regularly sails this coast and the most to do on a sea day: North Star lifts a glass capsule 90 m above the water on a crane arm, RipCord is a vertical wind tunnel for indoor skydiving, and SeaPlex is a full indoor sports hall with bumper cars and roller skating. Two70 turns its whole back wall into a screen for the evening show. If you are travelling with teenagers, this is the ship they will forgive you for.

Holland America Line

Eurodam

Signature class · 2008 · 2,104 guests · 86,300 GT

The quiet-crowd option, and the line with the most Glacier Bay permits. Music Walk is the reason to book it: Rolling Stone Rock Room, Billboard Onboard with duelling pianos and Lincoln Center Stage for chamber music, all live, all included, all within thirty metres of each other. Pinnacle Grill is the steakhouse and costs extra. Older average age than Royal Caribbean by a wide margin — which for some people is the whole point.

Princess Cruises

Island Princess

Coral class · 2003 · about 2,200 guests · 92,800 GT

Built narrow enough for the original Panama Canal locks, which makes her one of the more graceful ships in Glacier Bay. The Sanctuary is an adults-only sun deck with proper loungers and table service — worth the day rate on a glacier morning when every rail on the open decks is three deep. Also the ship you will most often see on the four-night coastal hops out of Canada Place.

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Solstice

Solstice class · 2008 · about 2,850 guests · 121,800 GT

Half an acre of real lawn on the top deck, kept alive at sea — glass blowing demonstrations used to run beside it, and the grass is still where people watch the coast go past with a glass of something. Murano is the fine-dining room. Celebrity's crowd skews a little older and a lot quieter than the big Royal Caribbean hulls, and the ship works both the Vancouver round trips and the one-ways to Seward.

Ship photographs via Wikimedia Commons: norwegian jade — Ivan T., CC BY-SA 3.0; crown princess — Emphyrio, CC0; ovation of the seas — kees torn, CC BY-SA 2.0; eurodam — Frans Berkelaar, CC BY 2.0; island princess — Jean-Philippe Boulet, CC BY 3.0; Celebrity Solstice — Donaldytong, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What the day actually looks like

Sea days on an Alaska sailing are not filler — they are the glacier days. The ship spends the morning in front of ice with the outside decks open and a naturalist on the PA, and the practical advice is the same on every line: dress as if you are going up a mountain, get outside early, and take the deck below the crowded one. Port days start early because most excursions do, and the ship's own tours are the only ones that will wait for you if they run late.

Eating: what is in the fare and what is not

The main dining room, the buffet, the poolside grill, room service on most lines and the sit-down breakfast are all in the price. The steakhouses, Italian rooms and sushi counters are not — reckon on US$25-60 a head, and book them on embarkation day because the good nights go first. Coffee from the buffet is included; the espresso bar is not. Water, iced tea and basic juice are included; anything with a brand name is a drinks package conversation, and on a four-night coastal run the package rarely pays for itself.

Evenings, bars and the disco question

Every ship here has a theatre with a production show, a comedian or a guest act, and it is included. After it finishes the ship splits: a piano bar or a live band in the atrium for one crowd, a proper nightclub for another — Skywalkers on Crown Princess, the Spinnaker Lounge on Norwegian Jade, Music Walk on Eurodam if you would rather have a rock band than a DJ. Silent discos have become standard on the Royal Caribbean and Norwegian ships, and they run late without waking the cabins below. The casino opens once the ship is in international water and closes in port, which is a licensing rule, not a scheduling accident.

Children, teenagers and the adults-only bits

Kids' clubs are included and staffed by age band: Splash Academy on Norwegian, Adventure Ocean on Royal Caribbean, Camp Discovery on Princess, Club HAL on Holland America, Camp at Sea on Celebrity. Most run from about 9am to 10pm with a paid late-night option, and teenagers get their own room with a games console and a sound system nobody over 25 wants to be near. The other direction is equally organised: the Sanctuary on Princess, the Solarium on Royal Caribbean and the thermal suites on Celebrity and Holland America are adults-only, and on a rainy Alaska sea day they are the best twenty dollars you will spend on board.

The things that catch first-timers out

Gratuities are added automatically — roughly US$16-20 per person per day — so a couple on a seven-night sailing is looking at about US$250 before a single drink. Wi-fi is a paid package on every line here and Alaska coverage is satellite-only in the fjords, so it drops. Laundry is either a self-service room with coins or a bag rate, and the mid-cruise special is usually worth it. Ship time can differ from shore time in Alaska ports: Vancouver and Alaska are both on Pacific time in summer, but the ship sometimes stays on its own clock — the daily programme is the authority, not your phone.

Venues change with refits and itineraries change by season: treat the specifics above as the shape of the thing and confirm the ship you are booking on the line's own deck plans.

Alaska sailings with today's prices →  ·  Short coastal runs south →