Alaska Cruise 2026

Vancouver's cruise terminal at Canada Place is one of the world's largest, serving ships headed to Alaska all summer long. The city is nicknamed "Hollywood North" — more movies and TV shows film here than almost anywhere else in North America. Stanley Park, near your hotel, spans more than 1,000 acres — bigger than Central Park in New York City.

The Disney Wonder was the second ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, entering service on August 15, 1999 — making it nearly 27 years old during this sailing. It was built in Italy and christened at Port Canaveral, with Tinker Bell as the official godmother — the first animated character ever used in that role. The ship is about 964 feet long (more than three football fields), weighs 84,000 gross tons, carries over 2,700 guests across 11 decks, and features Tiana's Place, Animator's Palate, Frozen: A Musical Spectacular, and Andy's Room from Toy Story.

The Inside Passage stretches more than 1,000 miles from Washington through British Columbia toward Southeast Alaska, winding between forested islands, fjords, and mountain scenery. Alaska's portion alone is about 500 miles. July is prime time to spot humpback whales from the deck — they sometimes "bubble-net feed," working together to trap fish with a rising circle of bubbles before surfacing with their mouths open.

Today the ship sails near the Stikine Icecap, a massive icefield straddling the Alaska–British Columbia border. It feeds glaciers and rivers across the region and sits partly within the Tongass National Forest — one of the world's largest temperate rainforests. Sunlight reflects powerfully off glacier ice, so sunscreen and sunglasses are a smart call even on cloudy days. Watch for floating ice, waterfalls, and wildlife along the fjord walls.

Skagway was the main jumping-off point for the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s, when thousands of prospectors arrived by ship before heading inland toward the Yukon gold fields. The White Pass & Yukon Route Railway began construction in 1898 and climbs from sea level to nearly 3,000 feet in about 20 miles. Today Skagway has just over 1,100 year-round residents but becomes one of Southeast Alaska's busiest cruise ports each summer, with wooden boardwalks and restored Gold Rush-era buildings lining Broadway Street.

Juneau is Alaska's capital city — and one of the only state capitals in the U.S. you cannot reach by road. It's accessible only by air or sea. Mendenhall Glacier sits about 12 miles from downtown and flows from the Juneau Icefield, a remnant of the last ice age covering about 1,500 square miles. The city is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the U.S., home to eagles, salmon, and — on a good day — humpback whales.

Ketchikan is known as Alaska's "First City" — it's often the first Alaskan port travelers reach when cruising north through the Inside Passage. It also claims the title of "Salmon Capital of the World." The surrounding Tongass National Forest covers 17 million acres of temperate rainforest filled with cedar, Sitka spruce, waterfalls, and wildlife. The area has one of the highest concentrations of totem poles in the world, carved by Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian artists.

Today the ship sails south through Southeast Alaska — one of the best stretches of coastline in the world for spotting wildlife. Humpback whales are commonly seen bubble-net feeding: a group blows a rising circle of bubbles to trap fish, then surfaces together through the middle with mouths open. Alaska has more bald eagles than any other state — look for them perched in tall trees near the shoreline or diving for fish. Keep binoculars handy.

Welcome back to Vancouver — one of the most scenic cruise ports in North America. The city is bordered by ocean and mountains on three sides, so even the trip into port can feel like part of the adventure. Vancouver's Seawall is the world's longest uninterrupted waterfront path, stretching about 28 kilometers from the Convention Centre to Spanish Banks Park — a perfect farewell view after a week of glaciers, fjords, and Alaska wildlife.