Alaska cruises from Vancouver

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Vancouver is the only city that sends ships up the Inside Passage in sheltered water from the first hour to the last, and the only one with one-way northbound sailings that finish next to Denali. That is the whole case for boarding here rather than Seattle. The season runs from late April to early October and nothing sails outside it.

Alaska sailings on the board right now

7 nights

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Jade

Vancouver → Whittier (Anchorage)

USA Today — Best Ocean Cruise

Vancouver → Inside Passage (cruising) → Ketchikan (Ward Cove) → Juneau → Skagway → Icy Strait Point → Hubbard Glacier (cruising) → Whittier

Two glacier days on one seven-night ticket: Hubbard, where the ship holds position in front of a six-mile ice wall, and the Inside Passage run in daylight. It also hits Icy Strait Point, which most seven-night itineraries skip. At US$57 a night it is the cheapest way to see Alaska from Vancouver on this listing.

Worth knowing: One-way. You fly home from Anchorage, which is a 90-minute coach ride from the Whittier pier through the Whittier tunnel — book the transfer with the cruise or a train seat, not a same-day flight. And Ward Cove is not downtown Ketchikan: the berth is about 11 km north of Creek Street and you take the shuttle in.

★★★★★ 5.0 from 56 CruiseDirect traveller reviews

DealAll taxes and fees included in the fare

fromUS$399$57 a night

per person, taxes and port fees included

Check dates & book →

7 nights

Princess Cruises

Crown Princess

Alaska, departing Vancouver

Condé Nast award — Best Large Ship

Vancouver, Canada → Ketchikan, Alaska → Juneau, Alaska → Skagway, Alaska → Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska

A 3,080-guest Crown-class ship with Skywalkers, the nightclub perched aft above the funnel — glass on three sides, which on an Alaska sailing means you can watch the wake and the mountains at eleven at night. Princess has been running this coast since the 1960s and its naturalists narrate the glacier days over the outside decks.

Worth knowing: The listing shows several departure dates and the itinerary differs between them — some are round trips out of Vancouver, others run one-way to Whittier. Open the date you want and read the port list before you assume you come back to Canada Place.

★★★★☆ 4.0 from 14 CruiseDirect traveller reviews

DealPrincess runs the Alaska season from Canada Place

fromUS$532$76 a night

per person, taxes and port fees included

Check dates & book →

Ship photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Norwegian Jade — Ivan T., CC BY-SA 3.0; Crown Princess — Emphyrio, CC0.

More Alaska departures from Canada Place

Straight from the CruiseDirect Alaska board, filtered to ships that leave Vancouver. Different weeks, different lines, same terminal — prices are per person with taxes and port fees already in.

Every Alaska departure and date →

Ship photographs via Wikimedia Commons: crown princess — Emphyrio, CC0; Celebrity Solstice — Donaldytong, CC BY-SA 3.0; island princess — Jean-Philippe Boulet, CC BY 3.0; Celebrity Summit — Brian Stansberry, CC BY 4.0.

The ports, and what a day in each one is actually like

Every Alaska itinerary is built from the same handful of stops. What changes is how long you get and whether the ship anchors or ties up. These are the ones on the sailings above, plus the two that show up on longer itineraries.

Port photographs via Wikimedia Commons: ketchikan creek street — LASHLEY, CC BY-SA 4.0; juneau waterfront — gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0; skagway white pass — © Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0; icy strait point — Enrico Blasutto, CC BY-SA 4.0; hubbard glacier — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0; glacier bay margerie — Barek, Public domain; sitka — Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cruises that start in Alaska, not in Vancouver

Half of the Alaska board never touches Canada Place. Southbound one-ways run the same Inside Passage in the other direction, starting at Seward or Whittier — the two ports that serve Anchorage — and small expedition ships work out of Juneau all summer. You fly north and sail home, which is the better half of the deal if you want Denali or the Kenai Fjords first: the land part is easier to do before a cruise than after one, when your flight is already booked. Prices below are per person with taxes and port fees in, read off the CruiseDirect boards for those ports on 3 August 2026.

Leaving from Seward

Seward is the prettiest way to start. The Alaska Railroad runs from Anchorage down the Kenai Peninsula in about four hours through Turnagain Arm and the Chugach mountains, and the ships berth a five-minute walk from the station. Most of these are southbound one-ways that finish in Vancouver, so you fly into Anchorage and out of YVR.

Every Seward (Anchorage) departure and date →

Ship photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Anthem Of The Seas — slgckgc, CC BY 2.0; ovation of the seas — kees torn, CC BY-SA 2.0; Celebrity Solstice — Donaldytong, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Leaving from Whittier

Whittier is the other Anchorage-side port: a 90-minute coach ride through the Anton Anderson tunnel, one lane shared with the railway on a timed schedule. The town itself is essentially one building, so there is nothing to arrive early for — but the sailings out of it pick up College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier on day one, which the Vancouver round trips do not.

Every Whittier (Anchorage) departure and date →

Ship photographs via Wikimedia Commons: crown princess — Emphyrio, CC0; Discovery Princess — Russell Keller, CC BY-SA 4.0; island princess — Jean-Philippe Boulet, CC BY 3.0; Grand Princess — Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0.

Leaving from Juneau

Juneau departures are small-ship territory — expedition operators with a hundred-odd passengers, kayaks off the stern and no casino. Fares per night are a different order of magnitude from the big lines, and they sell out early; the itineraries reach coves that a 3,000-guest hull cannot enter.

Every Juneau departure and date →

Ship photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Seabourn Encore — No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What the fare covers — and what it does not

The number on the card buys the cabin and the food. Everything below the line is where an Alaska week gets expensive, and excursions are the big one: a train ticket in Skagway, a whale boat in Juneau and a zip line at Icy Strait Point together cost more than some of the fares above.

A working figure: budget US$150-250 per person per port day if you want the headline excursions, or close to nothing if you walk. Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan are all walkable towns with free things worth doing — the Klondike park rangers' talk, the Nugget Falls trail, Creek Street.

What actually happens on board

Cruise brochures describe every ship the same way, so here is the part that differs. The evening runs on two tracks: a main theatre with a production show and a guest act at two set times, and a string of lounges where the same drink costs the same everywhere but the room changes completely. On Crown Princess the room worth finding is Skywalkers, the nightclub built aft above the funnel with glass on three sides — at eleven at night in June the sky over the wake is still blue. Norwegian's Jewel-class ships put their equivalent forward: the Spinnaker Lounge sits above the bridge with the same window wall, quiet in the afternoon and a dance floor after ten.

During the day the ship divides by age without anyone announcing it. Kids' clubs run from about three years old and stay open in port, which is the single most useful thing to know if you are travelling with children — you can take a morning excursion in Skagway and leave them somewhere they would rather be. Teen rooms are separate and staffed. Adults drift to the thermal suite, the trivia in the atrium, and on Alaska sailings to the naturalist's talks, which on Holland America and Princess are given by people who actually work on this coast.

Dining is the other split. Fixed-seating lines give you a table and the same waiters all week; Norwegian's Freestyle model means you turn up when you want and queue at busy times. Both work. The speciality restaurants — Holland America's Pinnacle Grill, Princess's Crown Grill, Norwegian's Cagney's — cost extra and are worth one night, not seven. On glacier days the buffet empties: everyone is outside on deck with a hot chocolate, which the crew hands out precisely because they know it.

Which ships sail this coast from Vancouver

Norwegian Jade is a 93,500-tonne Jewel-class ship built at Meyer Werft and christened in 2006 — mid-sized by today's standards, which on this route is an advantage: smaller ships get the narrower channels and the less crowded berths. Crown Princess is bigger, 3,080 guests, and carries the Princess naturalist programme plus Skywalkers, the aft nightclub. Holland America and Princess between them hold most of the Glacier Bay permits. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity favour Icy Strait Point.

Ship	Line	Guests	Known for
Norwegian Jade	Norwegian	~2,400	Freestyle dining, Spinnaker Lounge, Ward Cove berth in Ketchikan
Crown Princess	Princess	3,080	Skywalkers night club, naturalists, Movies Under the Stars
Eurodam	Holland America	2,104	Glacier Bay permits, Pinnacle Grill, quieter crowd
Ovation of the Seas	Royal Caribbean	~4,900	North Star viewing pod, biggest ship on the coast

Guest numbers are the lines' published double-occupancy capacities. Which ship runs which week changes by season — the listing shows what is actually selling for your dates.

Getting to the ship, and getting home from the other end

Canada Place sits on top of Waterfront SkyTrain station. The Canada Line from YVR takes about 26 minutes and costs roughly C$9 with the airport add-fare; a taxi is C$40-50 and 25-30 minutes. Fly in the day before — Vancouver weather closes in and ships do not wait. Full airport-to-terminal breakdown →

If your sailing ends in Whittier, the coach to Anchorage airport takes about 90 minutes and goes through the Anton Anderson tunnel, a single lane shared with the railway that runs on a timed schedule. Book the transfer with the cruise or take the Alaska Railroad; do not plan a morning flight out of Anchorage on disembarkation day.

Questions people ask before booking Alaska

How much is an Alaska cruise from Vancouver?

On 3 August 2026 the cheapest seven-night Alaska sailing from Canada Place was US$399 per person, taxes and port fees included — about US$57 a night. Seven-night Alaska runs on the wider listing sat between US$64 and US$88 a night depending on the line, with Disney roughly triple that. Fares are double occupancy and move daily.

Is it better to sail from Vancouver or Seattle?

Vancouver, if you can choose. Ships leaving Canada Place sail the Inside Passage in protected water almost the whole way, and one-way northbound itineraries to Whittier are only offered from Vancouver. Seattle round trips have to cross open ocean off the Washington coast and, because of US cabotage rules, must call at a Canadian port — usually Victoria for a few evening hours, which is a wasted day.

When is the Alaska cruise season?

Late April to early October. Peak is July and August: warmest, busiest, dearest. May and September are the value months — fewer people, lower fares, and in September a real chance of northern lights over the Inside Passage. Outside the season there are no Alaska departures at all, because the ships reposition south.

One-way to Whittier or a round trip from Vancouver?

One-way northbound sailings see more: they add Hubbard Glacier or College Fjord and drop you next to Denali if you want to keep going. The catch is the logistics — Whittier is a 90-minute coach ride from Anchorage through a one-lane road-and-rail tunnel, and you fly home from Anchorage. Round trips from Vancouver cost less overall because you fly in and out of the same city.

What should I pack for Alaska in summer?

Layers and a waterproof shell. Daytime highs in the ports run about 13-18°C in July, colder on deck when the ship is in front of ice, and Ketchikan gets close to four metres of rain a year. Bring waterproof shoes you can walk a trail in, a warm hat for glacier mornings, and binoculars — whales are usually further away than people expect.

Will I see whales and bears?

Humpbacks, yes, with very high odds: they feed all summer around Icy Strait and Auke Bay, and most whale-watching operators out of Juneau and Hoonah offer a sighting guarantee. Orcas are luck. Brown bears are a real possibility on the Spasski River trip from Icy Strait Point and at Pack Creek or Anan on longer excursions, but nobody honest guarantees them.

Keep reading

FanVancouver is an independent Vancouver guide. We are not a travel agency and we do not sell cruises — booking links go to CruiseDirect and we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, star ratings and review counts are CruiseDirect's own, recorded on 3 August 2026, and are not our rating of these ships. Confirm the fare, the dates and what is included on the operator's site before paying.