2026 Alaska Cruises: What to See and Enjoy

Depending on your itinerary, you may visit any of five ports of call in Alaska. Each destination, an unforgettable experience with rich culture and wildlife to explore.

From adventure hikes to kayaking through the wilderness, there's no shortage of options when it comes to Skagway and the surrounding Tongass Rainforest. You can tour a replica mining town, follow a mountain trail from the 1897-1898 Klondike Gold Rush, and board an antique car on the White Pass Summit train.

Try your own hand at gold panning or visit a musher's camp and cuddle sled dog puppies. In this gold rush town at the northernmost point of the Inside Passage, time flies and stands still all at once. Expect the buildings to look much as they did 100 years ago.

Overlooking the 1.5-mile Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau is considered the most scenic capital in the United States.

Here, you can drive your own dog sled, kayak amid humpback whales, ride a zipline through the rainforest or tour the alpine lakes by helicopter. Go ahead, choose your adventure.

In Ketchikan (Ward Cove), you can experience the wild of Alaska on foot, by boat or via ATV. Cruise the Tongass Narrows looking for whales and porpoise, or watch for bears as you hike the rainforest.

Want a taste of Alaska? Snack on reindeer sausage, spend the day on a working crab boat, fish for halibut, and sample craft beers on various shore excursions.

Get ready to spot bald eagles, sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals, brown bears, black bears, black-tailed deer and whales. Discover the totem poles of the indigenous Tlingits at the Sitka National Historical Park and Tongass National Forest.

Or go full 2026 and explore the art galleries and shops of the modern Sitka cultural district.

Home to the largest native Tlingit village in Alaska, Icy Straight Point is defined by culture and hospitality. Sky Peak Gondola, one of the area's top attractions, offers a scenic ride to the top of Honnah Mountain in a gondola with windows on all sides. Once you get to the top, go ziplining, take stunning photos or simply settle in for s'mores.

From Icy Straight Point, you can also embark on whale watching tours, backcountry Jeep adventures or ATV expeditions. Out here, wildlife won’t disappoint. Humpback whales, grizzly bears, bald eagles, sea lions, seals and porpoises call this area home.

Norwegian has five ships traveling to Alaska in 2026. Your itinerary will determine which will become your ocean-going home-away-from-home on this adventure.

Wander a quarter mile down The Waterfront and explore all its shopping and dining options. Or find yourself in the Observation Lounge, with 180-degree views of the Alaskan frontier recalibrating your sense of urgency (out here, your inbox will suddenly feel utterly inconsequential).

When energy calls, it’s answered with a two-level go-cart racetrack, a five-course mini golf course, a waterpark or the casino. When it doesn’t, the Mandara Spa takes it from there with steam rooms, saunas, and thalassotherapy pools. Aboard Norwegian Bliss, you can do everything. Do nothing. Or do one, then the other.

Seven complimentary dining destinations — including a '50s-themed American diner and a pub-style bar & grill — plus eight specialty dining options — including Cagney's Steakhouse, Q Texas Smokehouse, Le Bistro, and Palomar — mean that whatever the day made you crave, it’s already been planned for.

Norwegian Encore lives in the moment between why not and what’s next. Race the horizon at The Speedway. Step into another reality inside the Galaxy Pavillion’s VR escape rooms and simulator rides. Follow the day at Spice H2O: laid-back by day, electric by moonlight.

With seven complimentary dining spots and ten specialty restaurants — from elegant Italian to something sweet just because — Norwegian Encore doesn’t make you choose between ease and thrill. It lets both show up.

Aboard Norwegian Joy, play doesn’t wait its turn. With a thrilling go-kart speedway, a nine-hole mini golf course and an interactive kids water park, the day is always in motion. The Aqua Park, with its double-loop waterslide and speeding Aqua Racer, dares you to go again. And again. And again (but who’s counting?).

Adults have thrills all their own. From the casino to bars and lounges or adults-only escapes like Spice H2O and the Vibe Beach Club.

When hunger hits, Ocean Blue, La Cucina, and Teppanyaki lead the lineup of seven complimentary and eight specialty dining options that make sure nobody has to settle. Not even once.

Start your day aboard Norwegian Jade lounging by the pool. Afternoons are for friendly competition on the basketball, volleyball, or tennis courts — or for a stop at the arcade or card room.

Dining follows the course. Topsiders Bar & Grill, The Pit Stop, or the Great Outdoors for open air, ocean views and no rush. Grand Pacific when the evening calls for something more elevated, or O’Sheehan’s when the mood is comfortably familiar. Specialty dining, from Brazilian steakhouse to sushi, rounds out a ship that’s not about chasing the next big thing. It’s about offering the right thing, exactly when you want it.

With fewer people and a more intimate flow, Norwegian Spirit moves at a gentler pace. Days might begin at the fitness center, drift toward the hot tubs and slow all the way down in the spa thermal suite, where rain showers, aromatic steam and heated loungers reset everything above the shoulders (by making everything below them feel oh-so-good).

Social moments feel easy. Spice H2O stays adults-only and unhurried. The Bier Garten keeps things light. The pool bar catches you mid-afternoon. And when the evening leans quieter, there’s always the cigar lounge.

Dining follows the same rhythm (one your own). Six complimentary restaurants keep things flexible, and seven specialty dining venues step it up when the night wants something more. Norwegian Spirit isn’t about filling every moment. It’s about giving every moment its own space.

Regardless of which Norwegian ship you sail or which Alaska itinerary you choose, you can count on an unforgettable journey. The formidable glaciers, the imposing peaks, the wildlife that feels impossibly close — none of it comes with a checklist you have to manage or a schedule you have to wrestle. It’s all been thoughtfully handled, carefully curated, so you can choose what calls to you and skip what doesn’t. Step off the ship into a guided adventure or stay right where you are and watch the world glide by. Linger longer. Change your mind. Let the day lead. Because in Alaska, when everything else is taken care of, you’re free to do the rarest thing of all: experience it your way. It’s different out here.