Table Of Content
- Quantum Class: Royal Caribbean Big Ships Seemingly Designed for Alaska
- The Top Things to Do Onboard Brilliance of the Seas Royal Caribbean Cruises
- Night Pacific Coastal Cruise
- How many days is an Alaska cruise, and how many ports of call are there?
- Research the best time of year to visit Alaska before booking your cruise
- The Royal Caribbean Gold Standard in Alaska: Radiance-class Ships
- Cruising to Skagway, Alaska

Members of the Royal Caribbean Blog team travel to Alaska every summer, and we love sharing our best tips, tricks, and advice here on the blog. Every guest must complete the eMuster drill before your cruise ship can depart, and getting it done quickly on embarkation day is recommended. Booking your cruise in advance is always a good idea, but Alaska cruises are so popular that you really need to book early to get the prices. Ideally, if you can book your cruise at least 12 months in advance, you will likely get some of the best prices.
Quantum Class: Royal Caribbean Big Ships Seemingly Designed for Alaska
If traveling by air, you’ll want to book a flight to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), otherwise known as Sea-Tac. If you have an Alaska cruise booked on a Quantum Class ship next summer, here’s what you need to know about cruises from the Port of Seattle. Please note that port orders, dates, and itinerary details, including content, are subject to change. Verify specific details for your chosen sailing date on the Royal Caribbean website. Sail Alaska’s emerald fjords and glacier-dotted bays on seven-night adventures from Seattle on Quantum of the Seas ®. Discover the top tips for planning a cruise to Alaska and uncover the best times of the year to spot Alaskas wildlife, locate must-see attractions, find Alaskan cruise deals and more.
The Top Things to Do Onboard Brilliance of the Seas Royal Caribbean Cruises
A bit of research and preparation will get you far when deciding what to bring on an Alaska cruise. There is no “perfect” itinerary for an Alaska cruise, and one itinerary is not necessarily better than another. Deciding whether to start your cruise in Seattle, Vancouver, or Seward is one of the first decisions you make when planning an Alaska cruise. Downtown Sitka is a charming place to walk around, where you can view the city’s cultural influences on every street. Located on the Lynn Canal, panoramic vistas surround Skagway and the town is a gateway into Canada’s Yukon Territory. Many passengers choose to ride the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, taking visitors through a mountain pass once climbed by those hoping to strike it rich in the gold-rush era.
Night Pacific Coastal Cruise
Cruisers that sail to Alaska often will tell you the more remote ports offer a more authentic view of Alaska, with more dynamic scenery and varied wildlife. Many cruises from Vancouver can be open-jaw sailings, which means they begin in Vancouver and end in Anchorage. You could book the next sailing to return to Vancouver, but that would require two weeks. Nonetheless, you can occasionally come across a good deal by booking in advance or finding a last-minute deal offered by a hotel. If you really need a budget hotel, your best bet is to stay further from downtown or near the airport.
Royal Caribbean To Reroute 9-Month World Cruise Amid Red Sea Attacks - TravelPulse
Royal Caribbean To Reroute 9-Month World Cruise Amid Red Sea Attacks.
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Booking shore excursions early ensures you can pay the lowest price possible and reserve a spot on a tour on the chance it sells out. Royal Caribbean offers more budget-friendly excursions that still take you to some amazing destinations. As an example, a wildlife safari and bear viewing tour in Haines will run around $89 per adult, whereas a ride on the White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway is around $100 per person. Most ships Royal Caribbean sends to Alaska offer plenty of indoor features, meaning the ship can be enjoyed in all types of weather. From each ship’s enclosed, temperature-controlled Solariums to the indoor pools on Quantum Class ships, guests can enjoy their ship even in the chilliest of temperatures. Getting close to nature and wildlife is recommended while in Icy Strait Point, with whale watching and ziplining popular activities to book.
As smaller ships like Radiance of the Seas have far fewer balconies available, booking a balcony stateroom on a small ship can be much more expensive than other cabins. Both the most technologically advanced, large Quantum Class ships and the smaller, more traditional Radiance Class ships will offer a wonderful Alaska cruise experience. As days become shorter and temperatures cool down, cruise crowds and prices tend to be lower.

The Royal Caribbean Gold Standard in Alaska: Radiance-class Ships
During these visits, your cruise ship will sail into a fjord and stop within sight of one of Alaska’s magnificent glaciers, such as Hubbard Glacier or Dawes Glacier. The Alaska cruise season generally runs from April to October, and each month offers its own advantages and disadvantages. While there is no best time to cruise to Alaska, knowing what to expect in terms of weather, wildlife, and activities is helpful before booking your cruise or shore excursion.

This is to allow for pre and post-Cruisetours to Alaska or Canada, allowing guests to experience more inland destinations like Denali National Park and Preserve and Banff National Park. Still, you can get a variation on a luxury cruise experience on a voyage to Alaska from Seattle on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Encore. It’s common to book shore excursions on an Alaska cruise, and with high demand there’s always a chance that an excursion will sell out. Therefore, if there’s an excursion you really want to experience on a cruise to Alaska, be sure to book the tour far in advance. Quantum of the Seas departs the Port of Seattle each Monday whereas Ovation of the Seas offers cruises starting on Fridays. Both sail roundtrip 7-night cruises to Alaska each week, with destinations including Juneau, Sitka, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria.
Immerse yourself in the thrilling destinations that Alaska has to offer, each brimming with its own unique style and vibe. Discover the wonders of Alaska with the Best Cruise Line for 20 years running. Planes are plentiful in Alaska, where they're a common form of transportation across the state. Charter a helicopter or fixed-wing flightseeing tour at Juneau and get an unforgettable perspective of the mountains and glaciers of this vast landscape. There's nothing like seeing these behemoths hurl themselves out of the water, to splash back into the sea.
Denali National Park takes you out of the city altogether, into a wilderness full of spruce forests and snow-capped mountain peaks. While a balcony is not a requirement on an Alaska cruise, there’s no denying a balcony cabin is nicer than an interior cabin on such a scenic itinerary. If you booked an interior or oceanview cabin for your 2024 Alaska cruise, consider upgrading to a balcony before your sail date. In Seattle, for instance, you’ll want to research the best way to get from the airport to your hotel, and from your hotel to the cruise port. In most instances, a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft is the most convenient option.
Southbound itineraries travel from Seward to Vancouver, meaning you can spend time in Alaska’s interior before the cruise begins. The popular “train excursion” on an Alaska cruise is the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, and it’s located in Skagway, Alaska. If you’re wondering whether you really need to pack accessories like gloves and a hat, we’d recommend putting them into your suitcase. These items are small and you may be thankful to have them in your cabin during the sailing. Kids will still enjoy an Alaska cruise on a Radiance Class ship, but there is a far greater amount of kid-friendly activities on Quantum Class vessels. All Alaska cruises sail through the Inside Passage, but there is one difference between cruising from Seattle versus Vancouver.
Located on the way to Skagway along the Chilkoot Inlet, Haines is a small port accommodating just one large cruise ship at a time. Kayaking, hiking, hunting, and wildlife viewing are all popular activities in Haines. Flightseeing tours can be booked from Haines to visit sights like Glacier Bay, one of the most beautiful glaciers in Alaska. If you’re visiting smaller ports like Icy Strait Point and Haines, however, we advise researching and booking tours ahead of time. In addition to port stops—where guests disembark the ship—most itineraries include a scenic viewing day of a glacier.
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