Most Alaska cruises follow the Inside Passage, a chain of channels and fjords through the islands of Southeast Alaska. Along the way, ships call at towns such as Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, and Skagway, and spend scenic days in Glacier Bay and near Hubbard Glacier. Some cruises continue across the Gulf of Alaska to Seward.
Where you stop depends on the size of your ship. Large cruise ships stick to the ports with big docks.
Alaska small-ship cruises, which usually carry fewer than 200 passengers, can also reach quieter towns such as Petersburg, Wrangell, Thorne Bay, and Metlakatla. Small ships can also anchor in remote coves for kayak and skiff outings. Adventure Life offers 47 small-ship Alaska cruises, and the ports below appear on many of them. They’re listed roughly in the order you’d reach them sailing north.
Ketchikan
Ketchikan is often the first Alaska port on a northbound cruise. It’s known for totem poles, fishing, and a rainy climate. The Totem Heritage Center preserves poles from Tlingit and Haida villages, and floatplanes leave town for Misty Fjords National Monument, where cliffs and waterfalls drop straight into narrow fjords. Some small-ship itineraries sail into the Misty Fjords themselves, through Rudyerd Bay and Walker Cove. To learn more about the region’s Native cultures, see our
Alaska cultural tours.
Metlakatla
Metlakatla, on Annette Island south of Ketchikan, is home to the Metlakatla Indian Community. It is Alaska’s only federal Indian reservation. The town was founded in 1887 by Tsimshian people who moved from British Columbia with the missionary William Duncan. Visits typically center on the longhouse, where Tsimshian dancers perform in regalia, along with local totem poles and art. Few cruises call here, and those that do are small expedition ships.
Thorne Bay
Thorne Bay, on the east side of Prince of Wales Island, began in 1960 as a floating camp for the Ketchikan Pulp Company. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the largest logging camp in North America. Today it’s a small, quiet town surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, a stop for hiking and time in the forest rather than shopping. It appears only on small-ship itineraries.
Wrangell
Wrangell, near the mouth of the Stikine River, is one of Alaska’s oldest towns. It has been governed by four nations: the Tlingit, Russia, Britain, and the United States. At Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park, just north of town, you can see dozens of rock carvings at low tide, believed to be thousands of years old, possibly as many as 8,000. Chief Shakes Tribal House, surrounded by totems, and the Wrangell Museum in the Nolan Center fill in the town’s Tlingit and gold-rush history. Wrangell is a regular stop on small-ship itineraries, some of which pair it with LeConte Bay.
Petersburg
Petersburg sits on the north end of Mitkof Island at the head of the Wrangell Narrows, a winding channel that small ships navigate on the way in. Norwegian settler Peter Buschmann founded the town in 1897, and its Norwegian roots still show in the painted homes and in a working harbor busy with fishing boats. It’s one of the quieter towns on the route, a chance to see a working Alaska fishing community. Nearby Frederick Sound is known for feeding humpback whales, and Petersburg is also a starting point for visits to LeConte Glacier.
Juneau
Alaska’s capital,
Juneau, can’t be reached by road, only by sea or air. It’s a common starting and ending point for small-ship cruises. Mendenhall Glacier lies within the city limits, and the Mount Roberts Tramway climbs from the waterfront to views over downtown, Douglas Island, and Gastineau Channel. In town, the Alaska State Museum and the historic downtown streets tell the story of the 1880 gold strike that founded the city. For more, see our
facts about Juneau.
Sitka
Sitka was once the capital of Russian America, and both its Tlingit and Russian histories are visible today. At Sitka National Historical Park, a forest trail passes totem poles collected from Haida and Tlingit villages in the early 1900s. Most of the poles outdoors are carefully made re-carvings, with the remaining originals protected indoors. The Fortress of the Bear, a rescue center for orphaned brown bear cubs, is a short drive from town. Some small-ship cruises begin or end in Sitka.
Icy Strait Point and Hoonah
Icy Strait Point is a cruise port built around a restored 1912 salmon cannery, owned and operated by the Huna Totem Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation. It sits next to Hoonah, the largest Tlingit village in Alaska. Activities range from Tlingit dance performances and cultural tours to whale watching in Icy Strait and bear viewing. The Huna Tlingit consider nearby Glacier Bay their ancestral homeland.
Glacier Bay National Park
Glacier Bay isn’t a port. Ships don’t dock there, but a day of scenic cruising through the bay is a highlight of many Alaska cruises. The National Park Service limits the number of vessels allowed in each day, including cruise ships, and park rangers usually board to provide narration. As ships slow near tidewater glaciers, you may see ice calving into the water. Brown and black bears, mountain goats, and humpback whales are often spotted along the way.
The park includes 62 named glaciers, seven of them active tidewater glaciers. President Calvin Coolidge first protected Glacier Bay as a national monument in 1925; it was expanded in 1939, and in 1980 it became
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Learn more about the animals you may see in our guide to
wildlife in Alaska, and about a day in the park in our guide to
things to do in Glacier Bay on a small ship cruise.
Haines
Haines sits near the northern end of Lynn Canal, one of the longest fjords in North America, with mountains rising on all sides. In 1879, John Muir and missionary S. Hall Young helped choose the site for the Presbyterian mission that became the town. Haines is best known for the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. Several hundred eagles live there year-round, and thousands gather in late fall, after the cruise season ends, to feed on a late salmon run. Small-ship visitors can explore Haines by raft, bike, or on foot, or visit historic Fort William H. Seward.
Skagway
Skagway, at the very top of Lynn Canal, was the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s, and its restored boardwalk-era downtown is part of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Many visitors ride the historic White Pass & Yukon Route railroad into the mountains above town. Skagway is visited by both large and small ships.
Hubbard Glacier
Like Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier is a scenic cruising stop rather than a port. Off the coast near Yakutat, it is one of the largest tidewater glaciers in North America, with a face more than six miles wide. Ships approach as close as ice conditions allow, and the sound of calving ice carries across the water. It’s most often included on one-way cruises across the Gulf of Alaska.
Seward
Seward sits on Resurrection Bay, bordered by Kenai Fjords National Park and the Chugach National Forest. Founded in 1903 as the ocean terminus of the Alaska Railroad, it’s a common start or end point for one-way cruises across the Gulf of Alaska. Many travelers spend extra days here to take a Kenai Fjords day cruise or continue north by train toward Anchorage and Denali.
Choosing Your Ports
The ports you’ll remember most may be the ones the large ships can’t reach: a Norwegian fishing town like Petersburg, the petroglyphs at Wrangell, or a Tsimshian dance performance in Metlakatla. Small ships add time in places with no port at all, such as quiet coves for kayaking, skiff rides near whales, and long, slow approaches to tidewater glaciers. Compare routes, ships, and activity levels across our
Alaska small-ship cruises.
