It looks like 2024 will be the biggest cruise season yet, with new ships, itineraries, and things to do.
Alaska cruises have always been popular, but bigger ships and more attention is coming to this way to visit the state. Moreover, cruise lines are recognizing the tremendous demand cruising to Alaska has. The result is a busy few months if you're looking to sail.
Here's a preview of what's new and different in 2024 if you happen to be taking an Alaska cruise.
What's new for the 2024 season
There will be a few new face around Alaska in 2024. Celebrity Edge will the largest cruise ship Celebrity has ever deployed to Alaska, and she's the first Edge Class ship to make the jump there.
Celebrity Edge was the first in a new class that was launched in 2018, and it incorporates a number of design choices that make it notably different from older Celebrity ships.
Celebrity Edge stats:
- Capacity: 2,908 passengers
- Gross Tonnage: 129,500
- Length: 1004ft
- 1,467 Staterooms
- Including 918 Infinite Veranda Staterooms
- The First-Ever “Magic Carpet”: An outdoor deck that can move up the side of the ship.
Edge will be homeported in Seattle, and offer 7-night roundtrip cruises to Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Dawes Glacier, and Victoria, British Columbia.
Cruisers will be happy to hear this is the year that the Skagway pier is going to be ready to handle passengers.
The ongoing rockslide issues at the Railroad Dock caused big issues for ships being able to visit Skagway in 2022 and 2023. Short-term fixes were put into place to make the 2023 season work, but they were stop-gap measures.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a $19.9 million grant for rockslide mitigation. The goal of this work is to allow passengers to walk on foot up and down the pier without having to rely on shuttles.
What's new for small Alaska cruises in 2024
The 49-guest Baranof Dream is offering a new "Ice of the Inside Passage" itinerary for 2024 through the Inside Passage.
This route offers access to several of Alaska's majestic glaciers, including Margerie, Grand Pacific, Mendenhall, Sawyer, South Sawyer, Dawes, and LeConte, making it the most comprehensive glacier experience offered by the cruise line to date. Additionally, passengers might also see the Lamplugh, Reid, Herbert, Eagle, and Sumdum glaciers. The cruise includes a high-speed jet boat trip to the LeConte Glacier and a visit to the secluded Alaska Native village of Kasaan, all included in the fare.
List of cruise ships sailing to Alaska in 2024
If you want to narrow down your search of ships sailing to Alaska, here's what to expect:
Seattle homeport
- Carnival Luminosa
- Carnival Spirit
- Celebrity Edge
- Eurodam
- Westerdam
- Norwegian Bliss
- Norwegian Encore
- Norwegian Sun
- Oceania Regatta
- Discovery Princess
- Majestic Princess
- Ovation of the Seas
- Quantum of the Seas
Vancouver homeport
- Celebrity Edge
- Celebrity Solstice
- Celebrity Summit
- Queen Elizabeth
- Disney Wonder
- Koningsdam
- Nieuw Amsterdam
- Noordam
- Zaandam
- Norwegian Jewel
- Norwegian Spirit
- Oceania Regatta
- Grand Princess
- Royal Princess
- Ruby Princess
- Sapphire Princess
- Seven Seas Explorer
- Brilliance of the Seas
- Radiance of the Seas
- Quantum of the Seas
- Ovation of the Seas
- Seabourn Odyssey
- Silver Nova
- Silver Muse
Seward homeport
- Celebrity Summit
- Norwegian Jewel
- Norwegian Spirit
- Radiance of the Seas
- Seven Seas Explorer
- Silver Nova
- Silver Muse
Whittier homeport
- Nieuw Amsterdam
- Noordam
- Grand Princess
- Royal Princess
- Sapphire Princess
When is the 2024 Alaska cruise season?
Most Alaska cruises start in April and end in October.
The 2024 cruise will begin in late April when Norwegian Jewel visits. Jewel will be the last ship of the season as well, when she has a stop in Skagway on October 23.
2024 Alaska cruises range anywhere from 4 to 22 night itineraries. Most are around 7 nights in length.
Most ships will visit between the months of May and September. All ships in the region will be repositioning from elsewhere to make it over to Seattle or Vancouver to begin their season.
Read more: Where do Alaska cruises leave from & which should you choose?
By far, July 2024 is going to be the busiest month of the season. July is typically the most popular time for a cruise because kids are out of school. While July is more crowded, there is the most daylight and highest average temperatures. This means you have more opportunity to explore everything Alaska has to offer.
In contrast, September 2024 will be the least crowded time as school is back in session and the temperatures start to get cooler. While it's likely going to be colder in September, there are lots of wildlife viewing opportunities and it's the best time to cruise Alaska to see the Northern Lights.
