The Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska runs from just north of Glacier Bay National Park to the Kenai Peninsula. In this region there is Prince William Sound, the Cook Inlet on the northern side of the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city.

The Gulf region also displays magnificent glaciers; College Fjord displays no less than 16 and in Yakutat Bay you’ll see gigantic Hubbard Glacier in Wrangell-St Elias Nationl Park, the largest national park in North America. Ice calving (massive chunks of ice shearing off the glacier) is truly a wonder to behold and is a regular occurence in the region.

Unlike an Alaska Inside Passage Cruise, a Gulf of Alaska cruise or Glacier Cruise as it’s often known does not repeat its route by returning to its original departure port but typically run north to south or south to north (i.e. one way) between Vancouver and Seward or Vancouver and Whittier allowing the cruise traveller to experience both the Gulf and the Inside Passage.

Cruising the Gulf of Alaska

Northbound Cruises begin in Vancouver and sail north, one-way through the Inside Passage and up to Seward or Whittier, where passengers disembark and then travel by coach up to Anchorage where they will either fly home or continue on the land sector into Alaska’s interior on their Cruisetour. Southbound Glacier Cruises are basically the same however in reverse order embarking in Seward or Whittier and then sailing south to Vancouver. Passengers opting for a Southbound Cruise usually arrive by either flying into Anchorage and then transferring to Seward pier to embark their ship or by having completed the land sector of a Cruisetour.

Along the way, passengers will not only visit the same ports and attractions they would on the Inside Passage Cruise, but may also visit Prince William Sound, College Fjord, Wrangell-St Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks. At College Fjord you are surrounded on three sides with flowing rivers of ice whilst in Wrangell-St Elias, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’ll come face to face with the incredible 5-mile wide Hubbard Glacier that stands 40 stories high. Advancing faster than any other glacier on the continent, you could witness an iceberg thundering into Yakutat Bay at any moment.

Special Offers