Alaska in 2026 - advice
 

I'm starting to plan for an Alaska cruise in the summer of 2026 to celebrate two family milestones. I'm targeting the end of July. We're going to be a family of 5, with two kids who'll be 11 and 16 by then, an adult "kid" and two adults. Mrs. sxpsxpsxp and I have cruised a few times in the Caribbean, but that was a very long time ago. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on Celebrity and also liked Royal Caribbean, but not as much.

We're not party people -- this trip is about the sightseeing opportunities, and I'm also considering tacking on some time before or after the cruise to do something additional.

I am thinking we'd like a larger room of some sort, and my instinct is probably leaning towards full suite categories, rather than jr/mini-suites which are just rooms with a little bit of a sitting area. If not ridiculously expensive, I'd like to avoid having someone sleep on the sofa in the living room, which likely means either looking for some sort of connecting room situation or having rooms next to each other or across the hall. Since not many cruise lines have published their summer 2026 schedules yet, I've done some initial research on cabins on Princess, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean on the ships they typically have sailing the area and have a general sense of what those look like.

I'm hoping people here can make some recommends as far as:

Timing - The timing is driving by the milestones we're looking to celebrate, but we could be a little bit flexible in the summer. Is earlier in July or June better? Or August? Am I planning too early?

Itinerary - most cruises seem to be in the 7-day range, but 10 days would also be acceptable. With options from Whittier, Vancouver and Seattle, both round-trip and one-way, it's hard to choose. I'm struggling with silly questions like: "Is Hubbard Glacier much more impressive than Dawes Glacier?"

Cruise line - Given that we'll have kids, a few cruise lines are obviously off the table. Disney is not at all a requirement. :)

Weather and swimming - The kids are fish, so pools are important. Considering this is Alaska, and most ships seem to have all outdoor pools, how does this work?

Side of ship - I saw some suggestions to try to figure out direction of travel (if one-way) and book the land side. Is this really a factor?

Anything else I'm not thinking of?

Thank you!

Can't answer most of your questions, but might be able to provide a little view based on my experience.

The wife and I did an Alaska cruise for our 30th Anniversary just before Covid hit. We were on Holland, though doubt it would be the best choice with kids. Of note though is we stayed in an aft facing Neptune suite. It was wonderful as it had a wrap-around balcony. And being at the back, we usually didn't have the wind cutting through us. We even had breakfast served to us out on the balcony one morning. That balcony was great for seeing everything from there. Our cruise was late May, early June, but the weather turned out pretty good for us. So no complaints there.

We broke our trip into to parts. First, 7 days of cruising from Vancouver to Seward. I liked the 1 way cruise as it seemed like we could see more of the Alaska coast. Plus it allowed us to then take a bus to Anchorage and rent an RV and spent a week driving around Alaska. The benefit of the RV was we weren't as dependent on the weather. My wife originally wanted to drive to Valdez and sightsee there, but it turned out the weather was going to be 40s F for highs and rainy. So instead we drove up to Denali where it was sunny and 70F and did some sightseeing there. Then we drove down to the Kenai peninsula, did some fishing and hiked out to see the salmon jumping. First time we have ever rented an RV. It was a lot easier than I was expecting (and worried about). We had no issues finding RV parks for hookups.

I've been looking at some aft-facing rooms, but hadn't considered the wind element. Great tip. Thank you.

Renting an RV is definitely out of the question (Mrs. sxpsxpsxp won't go near one :p), but I appreciate the tips on touring around. Part of me was thinking of starting in Alaska and going south, because I think it will be easier to get home from Vancouver or Seattle than from Alaska, and after a long trip like this everyone will be tired and would appreciate a shorter/simpler trip home.

One other thing we did that might be of interest. We actually flew into Seattle, spent the night there and took the train to Vancouver. I really enjoyed that train ride. I saw more eagles than I have over the rest of my life combined. We did then spend a night in Vancouver. I would guess you could take the train from Vancouver to Seattle if you are going ending in Vancouver.

I'm biased because I'm a HAL loyalist, but it totally depends on the kids. My two have had some truly wonderful experiences with the kids' clubs on HAL ships, meeting like-minded kids who are into arts & crafts, board games, video games, and conversation.

In addition, HAL is arguably the premium cruise line with the best reputation for Alaska cruises and cruise tours. They've been sailing there for a long time and have locked in some long-term contracts that allow them, for instance, to dock in port when other ships have to tender in.

It all depends on what the traveling group is looking for, but HAL shouldn't be off the table just because there are kids in the party.

Remember, 70f is considered hot for alaska.
I went this year on the 2nd southbound of the year for Radiance of the Seas for the season(May 10-17)so it actually snowed on us a few times and never got above 50f until we got to Vancouver, It also rained almost the entire time. We flew to Anchorage and flew home from Vancouver. Remember Seward and Whittier are somewhat far from Anchorage so plan for transport to the port.

If you want nicer weather i would do July/August.

Following responses as my family and I were supposed to go on an Alaska cruise in July 2020 for my parent's 50th anniversary... then rescheduled to 2021.. then 2022 but eventually abandoned due to a health issue. Last year got back to planning for this summer but our plan is to start in Fairbanks and take the train to Denali, then after that down to Anchorage for a couple days before catching the cruise from Seward/Whittier depending on the line - and end in Vancouver (or vice versa direction). As of now, however, there is a major road closure in Denali so we want to go after that is resolved. Which now looks like 2026. Can share my thoughts so far.

Our original 2020 booking was Celebrity based on my mother's preference. And I think that would have been a nice experience. But with all my research (looking at reviews, the cruise site forums, etc) I have been convinced that Glacier bay is something we want even if it means one less port stop. Glacier Bay as a requirement steers one towards Princess or HAL. And Princess seems to be the better choice for kids. Challenge is we want connecting rooms - and the Princess ships sailing the one-way routes do not have many connecting options. A couple of the ships have 2 room connecting family suites but those go quickly.

If we were going to do a round-trip, it would probably be Norwegian out of Seattle. They have 9/10 day itineraries that do not go to Glacier Bay but the rest of the stops would make it a great trip and their ships on the Seattle round-trip seems to offer more for the kids.

Timing - definitely the later in summer the better.

If doing a one-way, might as well get the side that will mostly face land if you can/book early enough. It was a requirement for my mother (based on her friend's recommendations) but I think she planned to spend more time on the balcony in her room.

Pools - first, there are some ships that have indoor or partially covered pools (i.e. Solarium). If not, then all my reading says it will be very weather dependent. It could be very possible - but not guaranteed.

My ideal would be an itinerary like the Alaska cruise I went on 30+ years ago with my grandmother -- Sitmar (long acquired by Princess) -- it had all the glaciers and stopped in both Vancouver and Victoria. Seems like the US departing cruises only make a short stop in Victoria these days.

I did not know about the train from Vancouver to Seattle - might have to add it to our itinerary.

You want a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay NP. Not many have the rights to. I believe Princess and HAL have senior rights so the most cruises that do such,

Choices
 

You want Glacier Bay which you will sail for most of a day. This means Princess, HAL, NCL, Cunard, Viking, Seabourn (although these can change from year to year). Some smaller ships too, but with the kids I would recommend Princess. HAL and Cunard are great but they are likely to be more boring for the kids. Celebrity does not sail GB.

For Glacier Bay a ranger comes on board to speak and answer questions as you sail the bay..

I would definitely suggest Princess. They have a strong children's program, especially in the summer. They have been doing Alaska longer than anyone. Do not do a round trip out of Seattle as you will see less. Do a one way northbound or southbound. Get a balcony cabin on the land-facing side. Book soon as these sell out quickly.

Outdoor pools weather? It depends. You might have a glorious warm days or it might be cold and wet. It's Alaska in the summer.

As to months to go, June, July and August are all peak, with July being most peak. Least expensive are May and September.

If you book early you can find (or a TA can find for you) two connecting rooms. You will need to assign one adult to each, but you can get your medallions or keys assigned to open either door and no one cares where you actually sleep. Easily arranged if you book soon. Another option is a balcony cabin and an inside cabin directly across the hall. Your TA can see exactly what cabins are available and how the beds are configured.

With over 1300 sailings each summer, Alaska cruising can be quite confusing and complicated so you might want to consider working with a TA who specializes in Alaska cruises.

I can't emphasize enough how quickly these are filling. Make a decision soon. I am already seeing limited cabin availabilty on popular dates.

Also, with most of these if you book now with a refundable deposit, if a better sale comes along, you can usually get it re-priced, as long as you are before final payment date.

On the note above, the sailings that go from Seattle (limited to round trip) go on the ocean side of Vancouver Island (not much to see after ~7-8p day of departure) while the R/Ts from Vancouver or Vancouver-Alaska one-ways take the inside passage. Waters likely to be calmer and more scenic if not obscured by smoke. Seattle round trips also have a ofttentimes cursory but mandatory stop in Victoria.

Thank you for all the responses. Very helpful information here.

HAL and Cunard do not seem to have published their 2026 Alaska sailing schedule yet. At least I can't see it on their website, unless I'm missing something. Any ideas when they might publish it?

NCL's 2026 schedule includes only one or two cruises that include Glacier Bay, and I'm not particularly fond of those itineraries, so I think they're out.

So at the moment I'm focusing on Princess. My instinct is a one-way southbound, and they have a number of itineraries that match on a variety of ships. My research suggests that the Island Princess and Coral Princess have indoor pools. That, combined with them being "smaller" ships, makes me interested in those, despite them being older. The cabin setup on the Coral Princess seems to be more appealing based on what I'm looking for. Does anyone have any specific recent feedback on the Coral Princess in Alaska?

IIRC, these ships have 2 large pools in the middle. The aft of the two has a retractable cover while the forward one (might have it mixed up) is open all the time and also hosts MUTS (movie screen, and sound to boot which may not be to taste for some). Rear pool (small, dipping) may be reserved for spa or something. I found the pool area when enclosed to be too warm and overwhelmingly unbearable due to chlorine (worse than my local indoor swimming pools).

My parents adore HAL and have cruised twice to Alaska and are going back again next year. As another mentioned, they stay in the Neptune suites as my mom loves spending time on the balcony.

Not to muddy the waters but we did a cruise on Alaska Dream Cruises https://www.alaskandreamcruises.com/...xoChK8QAvD_BwE in 2018. Our son was 12 at the time and it was an amazing experience. The daily excursions were so interesting. One stop was an island of 250 people. Our one guide grew up on the island and we saw it thru a local's eye. We are foodies and thought the meals were very good.

We had the pleasure of cruising Alaska on Pacific Princess - so cute! (one of the old R class vessels - we had 2 or 3 cruises on her). We were the last cruise of the season (after we departed, it was traveling to Japan) and the captain wanted to see one glacier he hadn't made it to yet - so he drove that ship like an Italian sports car! I swear I felt the thing heel ;-) We also sailed Seabourn in 2018 in Alaska, which was OMG so wonderful. I won't go on ships over 1000 passengers these days (that's too many - I'd prefer <500 - but we did Oceania Marina which is 1250. It was ok; I might be able to do it again if the perfect itinerary arose). [my first Alaska cruise was on HAL, back in 1986, with my parents ;-)]