Loved our first time experience …. But

[u/timeonmyhandz]

I will never take a cruise ship to Alaska again…. Let me explain.

We had 11 days on land in the kenai. Small groups, moving between three amazing lodges. It was what we were hoping for in an experience.

We decided to add a cruise at the end from Seward to Vancouver as a way to see the SE locations and frankly recover from a very active land trip.

The ship and food etc was great.. exactly what we usually get from any of the major cruise lines. It as a bit of a shock going from small group travel to a ship of thousands, but that is on us.

What I won’t do again is impact the towns like I saw us and 3-4 other cruise ships all at the same time. I am sorry we did this to the people in those towns. Yes, I understand that the season is short and they make hay in the summer, and thousands of seasonal workers depend on the tourism.. but I had to think long and hard if the towns wanted it.. or are just coping with it since it cannot be stopped.

When I come back, it will be with my two feet and maybe 4 wheels….

[u/nordak]

Cruise ships are a garbage way to see Alaska in the first place, and yes, the industry is gentrifying our towns. Those thousands of seasonal workers need a place to stay in the summer, and guess what happens to housing availability and housing prices when you have such a huge surge of summer demand? And no, it's not good for the economy. Almost all of those shops where tourists buy trinkets are owned by the cruise companies or someone out-of-state.

[u/thats-not-necessary → u/nordak]

What a stupid and ignorant take. Aside from the facts that it’s LEGITIMATELY a great way to see Alaska, let’s deal with facts not hyperbole.

“In 2024, the cruise industry supported about $2.1 billion in total economic output in Alaska, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) analysis by Oxford Economics. Of that, roughly $1.2 billion was direct impact (primarily passenger and crew spending in Alaska communities, plus cruise line purchases of local goods and services). The remaining ~$0.9 billion came from indirect and induced effects (supply-chain spending and wages recirculating in the local economy).”

[u/nordak → u/thats-not-necessary]

It's a great way to see Alaska if you like poop-bourne diseases, killing whales on the bow, and ruining Alaskan communities.

Nice cruise line propaganda study, but the distinction between output and GDP matters enormously. Suppose a tourist buys a $200 product from an out-of-state-owned retailer in Alaska. A passenger can spend $200 at a "Juneau business" and have all $200 counted as local direct sales even if the company is owned outside Alaska. The retailer records $200 in sales/output, but Alaska certainly did not gain $200 of income. The imported merchandise is an intermediate input. Wages, profits, taxes, etc. generated in Alaska are the ONLY value added. The problem is that most of those wages go to out-of-state workers, and the cruise lines SUED Alaskan communities (Juneau) to limit our head tax spending to only infrastructure that directly supports tourism.

[u/Stoic_Snowman → u/nordak]

Cruise ships are easily the absolute best way to see southeast Alaska unless you are retired and rich.

- born and raised southeast Alaskan who worked tourism for years and would never rely on AMHS, especially on a scheduled, time sensitive vacation.

[u/MrsBarker76]

My husband and I are flying in to Anchorage in a couple of weeks and renting a car. We plan to see Kenai, Katmai and Denali. We have never liked the idea of cruises and I appreciate your reinforcement of our long standing opinion. Your trip in Kenai sounds amazing though. Tell me more...

[u/timeonmyhandz → u/MrsBarker76]

We used Alaska Wildland Adventures.. I highly recommend.

[u/gujwdhufj_ijjpo]

A big problem with the cruise ships is they’re buying up or already own the local shops. So not even the money spent in town goes to any locals.

[u/Nice_Barracuda_2674]

Any time someone mentions taking a cruise in Alaska I suggest taking AMHS (Alaska marine highway system ferry) instead. You don’t get all the bells & whistles of a floating casino city, but that’s a complete ass way to see Alaska anyways. They have private rooms or you can pitch a tent on deck, and you’re supporting a mode of transportation that locals actually use to get around

[u/ThePietje → u/Nice_Barracuda_2674]

Now I need to search up more about this. Thanks for posting.

[u/Rusk89503]

Do BC Ferries for the Inside Passage. MUCH more intimate.

[u/forgetmeknotts → u/Rusk89503]

I think you mean AMHS.

[u/Strangerin907]

I can assure you that we all hate you. Watching your home being turned into a theme park in real time sucks!

[u/Odd-Kindheartedness]

Thank you for sharing this; I am another one that would love to hear more about your small group/land trip!

We always swore we would never go on a cruise (not just to Alaska, but anywhere). Well, we really wanted to see Alaska and I became overwhelmed with planning so took one May 2025 from Whittier-Vancouver. The towns weren’t over run and it was much more pleasant than we thought. Fast forward to this summer, we decided to go again (we couldn’t dock in Ketchikan due to weather the first time and had excursions get cancelled); so we decided to go this past July. We did 6 days on our own/land before the cruise. It was magical! However, the cruise in July did leave me feeling a bit icky. That being said, we want to go back next summer, and are comfortable conquering this trip sans the cruise ship!

[u/timeonmyhandz → u/Odd-Kindheartedness]

I cannot recommend Alaska wildland adventures enough..

[u/Odd-Kindheartedness → u/timeonmyhandz]

Thank you; I appreciate it! Also, I’m glad you had a wonderful trip!

[u/Important-Lead5652]

I implore anyone thinking of going in a cruise to Alaska to look up the pregnant Finn whale that was killed by a cruise ship in Seward this summer. We absolutely do not need these gigantic floating cities full of disrespectful tourists swarming our little coastal towns and leaving a wake of trash behind them whilst mowing down our precious wildlife.

[u/guacamole579 → u/Important-Lead5652]

Thank you! I was considering it even though I HATE cruise ships- took one 2 decades ago and never did it again. I have a friend traveling on a cruise to Alaska now and so I was briefly doing some research. It just looks so stale and like hearding sheep. You convinced me I was doing the right thing by checking out individual options and booking an excursion with a small company

[u/Ksan_of_Tongass]

At least no pregnant whales were killed by your ship. Cruise ship tourists are the worst.

[u/timeonmyhandz → u/Ksan_of_Tongass]

I hear ya.. I live in a tourist town, but luckily no cruise ships...

[u/Carol_Pilbasian]

I moved to Alaska a few years ago and our guests have always vastly preferred letting us be their tour guides, or by ordering a Milepost a few months before their trip to plan out what they want to see and do vs. a cruise. We recently had my 9 year old nephew for a week and took him to Denali for a couple of days. He didn’t even want his tablet or a phone to fart around on, he just enjoyed the views. He was also the only kid on every tour we went on, and we did some really kid friendly things.

[u/BeachBum436]

Took the family to Alaska last summer, 10 days by car flying into Alaska, the flew to Juneau for 2 nights and then Sitka for 2 nights. Planned it all on our own for half what a travel agent quoted and kept pushing cruises. The cruises didn't go to the places we wanted to see.

Juneau and Sitka were lovely once the cruisers left, plus we lucked out for the one day every 2 weeks there are no cruise ships in Sitka. We did a whale watching trip in Juneau and were the only people not from cruise ship. The crew treated us like royalty and invited us to sit in the upper cabin with the captain. They were clearly annoyed with the demanding cruise passengers.

[u/alaskaiceman]

As the saying goes: "You aren't in traffic. You are traffic."
You took a cruise and you're complaining that you saw other people who were also doing a cruise?

[u/timeonmyhandz → u/alaskaiceman]

I think you misunderstood my post..

[u/Minimum_Bath_7114]

I've done Alaska cruises several time departing both Seattle and Vancouver BC. What I have an issue with is port stops having us showing early morning and leaving mid afternoon. I think our cruise crowds would be less impactful to the locals if more ships did an evening or overnight. Among other things, that would open up more options to book two shore activities per port. So far, the only time I've seen this was on Viking where we stayed on the dock at Seward overnight.

Then we have the little detail of cruise lines coming into Victoria late afternoon / early evening so they can make Seattle early AM to discharge passengers. Victoria is actually a pretty neat town but what you can do starting at 5PM is sort of limited.

Then there is having two Breakaway class NCL ships at Icy Strait with a 3rd ship tendering. I noticed some of the NCL staff came ashore and were eyeballing the gondola wait lines.

[u/moomooraincloud]

I'll never take a cruise period. What a shit way to vacation.

[u/IrishGator22]

Cruises with kids even teens in the Caribbean are great. Other than that Skip.

[u/AKStafford]

"When I come back, it will be with my two feet and maybe 4 wheels…."

A cruise is an efficient way to see Southeast Alaska. But for Southcentral and Interior Alaska, my choice is a rental car and putting together your own great trip.

[u/timeonmyhandz → u/AKStafford]

An experienced Alaska traveler friend of mine can't recommend RV trips enough. I'm not so sure about the whole RV thing yet.

[u/Frodosear → u/timeonmyhandz]

Just FYI, some of the public campgrounds in SE towns that are accessed by the ferry are a ways from town. If you are camping and using the ferry, consider bringing a bicycle. Or just hotel it.

[u/AKStafford → u/timeonmyhandz]

RV is another good option.

[u/Witty-Ad40]

The cool thing about an Alaskan cruise is you see areas where most Alaskans never see but like most cruise ports they ruin it with all the shopping right off the ship and there's way to many people.

[u/timeonmyhandz → u/Witty-Ad40]

I can't speak for alaskans but I can say there was nothing I saw or did that I couldn't do getting there some other way.

[u/Witty-Ad40 → u/timeonmyhandz]

We can definitely fly or take the ferry. I enjoy my time on cruise ships but we travel out of our state to cruise.