If you're planning your first big trip to Alaska, you may already have heard of an Alaska cruisetour — an organized trip that combines a cruise with overland touring.
In Alaska, unlike in most destinations, cruisetours are a very common thing.
Of the 3 million or so vacationers who go to Alaska every year, roughly two-thirds go by cruise ship. And, of those, a significant percentage sign up for an extended trip that includes both cruising and land touring.
Those are much higher percentages than those who take cruises and cruisetour-type trips in almost any other part of the world.
This is not by accident.
For reasons I will explain in more detail below, a cruise — and particularly a cruisetour — is the best way to see a broad cross-section of Alaska's most famous attractions in a single, easy-to-arrange trip.
Even if you're not the sort of person who normally signs up for a cruise or a land tour when visiting most destinations, you just might want to make a cruisetour the way you see Alaska. At least for your first visit.
This guide will explain why a cruisetour of Alaska makes sense for many Alaska-bound vacationers and everything you need to know to plan and book one.
What is an Alaska cruisetour?
First, let's start with the basics. A cruisetour to Alaska is a trip that combines a cruise along the coast of Alaska with a multiday overland tour into the state's rugged interior. It is both a cruise and a land tour of Alaska — hence the name.
Typically, these are trips that combine a seven-night cruise along the southeastern coast of the state (often called Gulf of Alaska sailings) with three to 10 nights of overland touring.
The resulting cruisetours thus range in length from 10 to 17 nights.
A cruisetour isn't the only way to do a cruise-related vacation to Alaska. You also can sign up for a cruise-only trip to the state, and many cruise-loving vacationers interested in seeing Alaska do just that. All the major cruise lines that operate in Alaska offer cruise-only options, and as I've experienced firsthand over many years of writing about Alaska cruises, they are wonderful trips.
Related: The ultimate guide to cruising to Alaska
Still, for reasons I will explain below, a cruisetour is arguably the best way to get a broad Alaska experience in a single trip.
Why choose an Alaska cruisetour?
Alaska is a big place with relatively few people, limited infrastructure and lots of hard-to-reach wilderness — all factors that make it difficult to visit as an independent traveler. At least if you want to see a broad cross-section of its most famous sights in a single trip.
For instance, one of the most famous places to visit in the state, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, isn't reachable by car. You can't drive there. For most people, the only practical way to get deep into Glacier Bay (and see its stunning tidewater glaciers) is on a cruise vessel.
Another top destination in Alaska, the mountain-backed city of Juneau — a hub for whale-watching, glacier flights and other bucket-list Alaska experiences — is also inaccessible by car. You can fly there, but for most people, a cruise is the best way to reach it.
Other major Alaska destinations are reachable by car, but are so far-flung that arranging a road trip to see several of them in a single trip is impractical. For example, the driving distance between Denali National Park and Preserve, and the popular tourist town of Ketchikan is more than 1,100 miles. You'd need at least 40 hours to make the journey.
It is only through a cruisetour that combines travel by ship, rail cars and motorcoaches that seeing all of the above and more in a single trip becomes possible for most people. And it's not just possible — it's easy. On a cruisetour, somebody else has figured out all of the very complicated logistics of getting you around the vastness of Alaska. All you have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
Related: Best free things to do on an Alaska cruise
As mentioned above, even if you're the sort of person who generally stays away from group travel, a cruisetour is still your best bet if you want to see a lot of Alaska.
It'll get you both to the popular destinations in the southeastern part of the state that are easily accessible by ship — such as Juneau, Ketchikan, the historic mining town Skagway and Glacier Bay — as well as to the iconic destinations in the interior of the state that are best seen via overland touring — such as Denali National Park, Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Which companies offer Alaska cruisetours?
Five large cruise lines account for nearly all cruisetours in Alaska, with regular departures throughout the Alaska tourist season:
Additionally, two small cruise lines known for small-ship sailings — Windstar Cruises and Azamara Cruises — offer cruisetours to Alaska on a more sporadic basis. One other small-ship specialist, American Cruise Lines, very occasionally operates Alaska cruisetours.
Of these, by far the biggest Alaska cruisetour operators are Princess Cruises and Holland America. The two brands (which are sister companies owned by cruise giant Carnival Corporation) were the pioneers in offering tours to Alaska that combined cruise travel and overland travel. They continue to dominate the market for such trips.
Princess, notably, offers a whopping 28 Alaska cruisetour itineraries, each a little different. The next biggest Alaska cruisetour operator, Holland America, offers 18 different cruisetour itineraries.
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian are smaller players in the Alaska cruisetour market, with a smaller range of cruisetour itineraries. But they still each have 12, 11 and 9 different cruisetour itineraries, respectively.
This is all to say that you have a lot of different Alaska cruisetours from which to choose.
Finding the best one for you
The good news is that the huge amount of choice means you'll likely find a tour that aligns perfectly with your interests. There are trips that focus on land tourism and revolve almost solely around visiting Denali National Park, but then there are others that add lots of stops at other outdoorsy areas, including lesser-known Wrangell-St. Elias National Park — the biggest national park in the U.S.
Some cruisetours will bring you to such off-the-beaten-path towns as Homer, Alaska, known as the world capital of halibut fishing. Others bring you to Fairbanks or Anchorage. Some of Holland America's cruisetours will even take you across the border into Canada to the wild and sparsely populated Yukon Territory and its capital, Whitehorse.
Booking can be hard
The bad news is that, because of all these choices, the process of booking an Alaska cruisetour can be confusing for first-timers.
Depending on which itinerary you pick, the overall length of the trip, the places you'll visit and the things you'll see can vary greatly.
You'll also get a different experience depending on which cruisetour company you pick.
Princess, which is by far the leader in cruisetours to Alaska, has built up an array of exclusive company-owned infrastructure in the state that you will only experience by booking a Princess trip. These include:
- Two custom-built Princess wilderness lodges at Denali National Park that are among the best places to stay in the area
- Three more custom-built Princess lodges in other parts of Alaska
- A fleet of luxury glass-domed Princess rail cars that provide direct-to-the-wilderness service
- A fleet of luxury Princess Tours motorcoaches
Holland America also owns a wilderness lodge in Alaska — just one, at Denali National Park — as well as several hotels in other parts of Alaska and the Yukon Territory. It also owns its railcars and motorcoaches.
Through their parent company Carnival Corporation, Princess and Holland America even own part of the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad in Skagway — one of the biggest tourist attractions in the state — as well as part of Skagway's historic port and retail operations.
Additionally, both Princess and Holland America will help you book day tours out of their Alaska lodges to explore the Alaska wilderness. These excursions include everything from flightseeing tours and whitewater rafting outings to guided hikes, fishing trips and a visit to a copper mine.
By contrast, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian do not own their own lodging in Alaska. Instead, they contract with local hotels to arrange lodging for their cruisetour customers.
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian also don't own railcars or motorcoaches in Alaska; they contract out that portion of their cruisetours to local operators.
What's included in an Alaska cruisetour?
When you sign up for a cruisetour to Alaska, you're signing up for a vacation where your cruise line will arrange almost every aspect of your trip, both on land and at sea.
For starters, there is the cruise portion of the trip. As noted above, every cruisetour in Alaska includes a cruise that is typically a one-way, seven-night sailing along the southeastern coast of Alaska. These trips typically include day stops at popular southeastern Alaska towns such as Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, along with one or more visits to a glacier area for glacier viewing.
Cruisetours also include nightly lodging during the land portion of the trip and overland transportation around the state, either on motorcoaches or rail cars.
Your cruise line can also usually arrange your flights to and from the trip (for an extra charge) and airport transfers.
Related: The 10 best Alaska cruises for every type of traveler
If you're traveling to or from Denali National Park by train as part of a cruisetour, the cost of the tour usually includes transfers to and from the rail depot near Denali and lodging.
In the case of cruisetours operated by Princess, the specific lodging included in the tour is often in one of the five custom-built Princess lodges mentioned above; these lodges play a big role in the land portion of most Princess cruisetours. Notably, they serve not just as lodging for the night but as a base for exploring some of the state's best-known attractions.
Meals during the land portion of the trip are not included with many cruisetours. That said, some higher-end cruisetours do include them.
Excursions while visiting ports on the cruise portion of the trip are typically not included in cruisetour fares. Excursions during the land portion of the trips, including while staying at cruise line-owned lodges, are included in some cruisetours but not all. (More on that below.)
Where do Alaska cruisetours begin?
Nearly all cruisetours begin in one of three places: Anchorage, Alaska; Fairbanks, Alaska; or Vancouver, British Columbia.
You'll also occasionally find cruisetours that start in Seattle — all of which are operated by Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruisetours that begin in Anchorage or Fairbanks start with the overland touring portion of the trip first, followed by the cruise portion of the trip. Cruisetours that begin in Vancouver or Seattle start with the cruise portion first, followed by the overland touring.
In both cases, the cruise portion will typically be a one-way, seven-night sailing between either Whittier or Seward in Alaska and either Vancouver or Seattle.
That means that when you book flights for your cruisetour, you'll be booking an "open jaw" ticket that brings you into Alaska at the start of the trip and home from Vancouver or Seattle — or vice versa.
Note that you can book your own air for these trips (many TPG readers like to use points and miles) or let the cruise lines book flights for you through their add-on air programs.
If booking on your own, just be sure that you are booking through the right airport in Alaska. Trips that start in Fairbanks, for instance, are best reached with a flight to Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) versus a flight to Anchorage International Airport (ANC), even though Anchorage is a far bigger airport. This is because transfers between Anchorage and Fairbanks can be time-consuming and expensive.
Related: 15 Alaska cruise mistakes you never want to make
What are the itinerary choices for Alaska cruisetours?
As noted above, Princess is the biggest Alaska cruisetour operator, and it offers 28 different cruisetour itineraries. The next four biggest Alaska cruisetour operators offer another 50 itineraries between them.
That's a lot of different cruisetour options to sift through when you are planning a trip.
Choosing the perfect Alaska cruisetour for you doesn't have to be quite as difficult as it might seem.
Depending on how long you want to stay in Alaska and what sort of experience you are seeking, you can narrow down the choices pretty quickly.
For starters, ask yourself if your main goal for the land portion of the trip is to see Denali National Park, Alaska's most famous attraction. For many people, seeing Denali is the main reason to add a few days of land touring to an Alaska cruise. Or, would you rather see a broader cross-section of the state, including places like Fairbanks or lesser-visited natural attractions like Wrangell-St. Elias National Park?
You'll also want to ask yourself whether you want a full-service, guided experience when on the land tour portion of the trip, with lots of inclusions (like meals) and excursions. Or would you prefer to do more of the exploring on your own?
Depending on your answers to these questions, you can narrow down the list of available cruisetours significantly.
Princess Alaska cruisetours
Princess, for instance, makes choosing from its array of 28 Alaska cruisetour easy by breaking them down into four broad categories that each appeal to a different type of traveler:
- Denali Explorer trips (10-13 nights)
- Off the Beaten Path trips (13-15 nights)
- Connoisseur trips (12-17 nights)
- On Your Own trips (10-11 nights)
In addition to a seven-night cruise, the Denali Explorer trips offer a visit to Denali as the core element of the land portion of the experience; some also add extra days to see Fairbanks and Anchorage.
If you're looking to see even more of the state's most famous sights, and you have a bit more time, the Off the Beaten Path trips are similar to the Denali Explorer trips but add a visit to the Kenai Peninsula or Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (or both).
Because of these additions, these trips typically last two to three days longer than Denali Explorer trips. Instead of three to six nights, you'll spend six to eight nights on the land portion of the trip.
The Connoisseur trips are similar to the Off the Beaten Path trips but with a much more full-service design.
On the land portion of the Off the Beaten Path tours (and Denali Explorer tours), you are on your own for meals and don't have a full-time tour director accompanying you from place to place as your guide. On the land portion of the Connosseur trips, by contrast, most meals are included, and you'll be escorted by a tour director.
If you're the type of traveler who likes full-service tours where every little detail of your trip, including where you eat, is arranged by the tour company and there is an always-present tour leader, the Connoisseurs trips are going to be the right choice for you.
Related: The 6 best Alaska shore excursions
For travelers on the opposite side of the spectrum — those who like to be more on their own when vacationing — the On Your Own itineraries are the trips specifically designed for you.
The land portion of On Your Own trips includes all the basic arrangements — lodging and transportation between places — but no pre-scheduled tours, meals or tour director services.
Like the Denali Explorer trips, the On Your Own trips are among the shorter Alaska cruisetours that Princess offers and have a particular focus on Denali National Park for their land portions.
The other major companies with Alaska cruisetours often offer a similar array of trips, though not as broad a range as Princess. Each of these companies does things a little differently.
Holland America Alaska cruisetours
Holland America, in particular, offers something that no other Alaska cruisetour company does: the chance to cross the border into Canada to see the Yukon Territory.
Holland America breaks its Alaska cruisetours down into two groups:
- Alaska and Denali cruisetours
- Alaska, Denali and Yukon cruisetours
The land portion of the Alaska and Denali cruisetours involves two to seven nights of overland touring, including one to three nights at Holland America's lodge at Denali National Park.
The land portion of the Alaska, Denali and Yukon cruisetours involves six to eleven days of overland travel, with two to three nights at Holland America's Denali lodge and two to three nights in the Yukon Territory.
If seeing the Yukon Territory is of interest to you, the latter tours are the way to go.
Royal Caribbean Alaska cruisetours
Royal Caribbean doesn't offer as broad a range of Alaska cruisetours as Princess and Holland America. But like both of those brands, its 12 Alaska cruisetour itineraries include shorter (10-night) trips where the land portion is mostly focused on seeing Denali National Park, as well as some longer trips (up to 13 nights) that add on more sightseeing.
The land portion of Royal Caribbean cruisetours ranges from three to six nights, and all but one include a stay at Denali National Park.
Some of the trips include a stay in Anchorage, while six of the 12 itineraries add on a visit to Fairbanks.
Quite a few of the trips include a stay in Talkeetna, which is several hours south of Denali National Park and a base for adventure-type outings such as float trips and jet boat rides.
Royal Caribbean also includes a stay at one of Alaska's finest resorts, the Alyeska Resort, with a handful of its cruisetours. Located south of Anchorage in the Chugach Mountains, Alyeska is a high-end retreat with a spa, fine dining, wooded paths and trails that start on the property's grounds; there's even an aerial tram that will take you up 2,300 feet to the summit of Mount Alyeska.
Celebrity Cruises Alaska cruisetours
Celebrity's 11 cruisetour itineraries range from 9 to 13 nights, with all 11 including at least one night at Denali National Park.
As with the Alaska cruisetours that Royal Caribbean (a sister company) offers, most include a stay in Anchorage; some also add stays in Fairbanks, Talkeetna or at the Alyeska Resort.
Norwegian Cruise Line Alaska cruisetours
Norwegian's nine cruisetour itineraries range from nine to 13 nights, and all include at least one and sometimes two nights at Denali National Park.
Like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, Norwegian's tours usually include stays at one or more of the following places, too: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Talkeetna and the Alyeska Resort.
In an unusual twist, some Norwegian cruisetours also include a two-night stay in fishing hub Homer, known for its world-leading halibut catch, to give tourgoers a chance to sign on for an all-day (extra charge) fishing excursion. If you've always dreamed of experiencing halibut fishing, this might be the Alaska cruisetour for you.
Another unusual offering from Norwegian is a "Denali Valdez Explorer" cruisetour, which includes a motorcoach journey south along the Richardson Highway to Valdez, the terminus of the Alyeska Pipeline. This trip also includes a day cruise across the pristine waters of glacier-lined Prince William Sound.
When can I do an Alaska cruisetour?
The season for cruisetours in Alaska is a relatively short one, lasting from May to September.
For the 2026 season, the earliest cruisetours to Alaska begin May 7 and 8; the trips are operated by Windstar and Celebrity, respectively. The first Princess cruisetours start on May 9. Holland America and Norwegian kick off their cruisetour seasons on May 10 and May 12, respectively, with Royal Caribbean getting a late start on May 15.
The last cruisetours of the 2026 season begin almost exactly four months later on Sept. 11.
For the 2027 season, the start dates for the first and last cruisetours are May 10 and Sept. 8.
What do cruisetours cost?
The cost of a cruisetour to Alaska varies widely depending on the type of tour you choose and its length, as well as the type of cabin you want on the cruise portion.
For example, the least expensive cruisetour available on Princess for 2026 at the time of this guide's publishing was a 10-day On Your Own cruisetour. It started at $1,693 per person, or about $169 per day. This is for a trip that includes a seven-night cruise and three nights of overland touring focused on Denali National Park.
At the high end of the price range for 2026 Princess cruisetours was the 17-day Connoisseurs tours mentioned above; they started at $6,023 per person or about $354 per day.
Note that these starting rates get you the least expensive cabin type for the cruise portion of the trip, which is an "inside cabin" with no windows. The cruisetour cost can be significantly more in some cases if you want a bigger and more amenity-filled cabin on the cruise portion of the trip.
For the 10-day On Your Own Princess cruisetour mentioned above, for instance, the starting rates for the trip rose to $1,875 per person — or about $188 per day — if you chose a cabin with a window (known as an "ocean-view cabin") on the cruise portion of the trip. The starting rates jumped to $3,178 per person if you chose a cabin with a balcony and $3,724 if you wanted a suite.
Generally, cruisetours with fewer inclusions are priced lower than cruisetours with more inclusions. At Princess, for example, the On Your Own cruisetours cost less than the Denali Explorer tours, as they have fewer inclusions. While 10-day On Your Own tours for 2026 started at $1,693 per person at the time of this guide's publication, the 10-day Denali Explorer tours started at $1,803 per person.
Princess' least expensive Off the Beaten Path tour (a 13-day trip) started at $2,223 per person or about $171 per day.
Keep in mind that, as is typical for cruise-related trips, the pricing for all of these tours is "based on double occupancy." That is, you will only get the prices listed above if there are two people traveling together in the same room, each paying the stated fare.
Bottom line
Alaska can be a difficult place to tour, given its huge size and lack of infrastructure, including roads in some areas. But there's an easy way to arrange a trip to Alaska that will include stops at some of its most famous sights: an Alaska cruisetour. Combining a seven-night cruise along the southeast coast of the state with a land tour into the state's rugged interior, a cruisetour can get you to such iconic Alaska attractions as Denali National Park, Glacier Bay National Park and the Juneau Icefields all in one trip.
Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:
- The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship
- The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship
- A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
- 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly
- 15 ways cruisers waste money
- The best cruises for people who never want to grow up
- What to pack for a cruise
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
