One-way Alaska cruises from Vancouver to Seward, Whittier and Anchorage

A one-way Alaska cruise from Vancouver starts at the Canada Place cruise terminal and ends in Alaska, so you need a way home from the far end. Almost all of them end at Whittier or Seward, two ports south of Anchorage that are linked to the city by road and by the Alaska Railroad. Neither is in Anchorage itself. A few trips end in Juneau or sail on to Seattle instead.

This site is independent. It is not the Port of Vancouver, Canada Place, a cruise line or the railroad, and it does not sell cruises or transfers.

Where the trip ends	One-way trips from Vancouver	Lines	Nights	Lowest fare on 4 November 2026
Whittier	144	Princess, Holland America, Norwegian, Regent, Azamara, Seabourn	7 to 11	$631
Seward	92	Silversea, Viking, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Explora Journeys	7 to 10	$698
Juneau	16	Seabourn	7	$6,498
Seattle	15	Several lines, Alaska and coastal trips	1 to 11	$109

Fares are starting fares per person in US dollars, for the cheapest cabin, with taxes and fees included, as we read them on 4 November 2026. They cover the cruise only, not the trip home.

Cruises from Vancouver to Anchorage: where Princess ships dock

Princess's northbound trips end at Whittier, not in Anchorage. Cruisebound, the cruise retailer our fares come from, lists them as ending in "Anchorage"; our schedule shows Whittier, because Princess's own pages name the port:

• Its 2027 Alaska announcement lists "7-day sailings between Vancouver, B.C. and Anchorage (Whittier)" on Coral Princess, Island Princess, Crown Princess and Discovery Princess.
• Its Whittier port page says those four ships "all operate from Whittier", and adds that the port location is subject to change.
• Its route page calls Whittier "the port for Anchorage".

So a cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage on Princess and a Vancouver to Whittier cruise are the same trip. Princess sells it as the Voyage of the Glaciers. On our schedule these trips call at Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, then Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier, and College Fjord before Whittier. The one-way trips to Whittier, Princess's and the other lines' together, leave from 8 May 2027 to 11 September 2028.

Vancouver to Whittier cruises: Holland America, Norwegian and Regent

Holland America calls its version the 7-day Glacier Discovery, sailing between Whittier and Vancouver. Its 2027 announcement puts Nieuw Amsterdam and Westerdam on the route, and its 2028 announcement Oosterdam and Eurodam, with Glacier Bay among the highlights and College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier too.

Norwegian says Norwegian Jade will sail seven-day "open-jaw" trips between Vancouver and Whittier from 10 May to 20 September 2027, each with Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay. Regent's page for Seven Seas Explorer's departure of 26 May 2027 is titled "Vancouver to Whittier". Our schedule has Regent's 7-night trips on Seven Seas Explorer in 2027 and Seven Seas Splendor in 2028.

Azamara Pursuit and Seabourn Encore also have longer trips that end at Whittier, of up to 11 nights. The cruise line pages list them.

Cruises from Vancouver to Seward

Seward is a port at the head of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula, at the southern end of the Alaska Railroad's main line. These lines end their one-way Alaska trips there:

• Royal Caribbean. Anthem of the Seas, 7 and 8 nights. Royal Caribbean gives its Seward pier as the Seward Passenger Ship Terminal at the Alaska Railroad Dock.
• Celebrity. Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox, 7 nights. Celebrity's FAQ gives the example of sailing from Vancouver to Seward and flying out of Anchorage after a land tour.
• Silversea. Silver Moon, Silver Muse and Silver Whisper, 7 and 9 nights.
• Viking. Viking Orion and Viking Venus, 10 nights. Viking's itinerary page has Valdez the day before Seward.
• Explora Journeys. Explora III, 7 nights.

Every Seward trip on our schedule visits Hubbard Glacier or Tracy Arm, and they leave from 7 May 2027 to 8 September 2028. The Hubbard Glacier route page lists most of them.

Getting from Whittier to Anchorage

Whittier is the closer of the two ports to Anchorage. Princess and Holland America both say Anchorage is about an hour and a half away. Princess puts it about 60 miles from Whittier, while the Alaska Department of Transportation's tunnel page says Whittier is 50 miles from Anchorage.

The road out of Whittier goes through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, which cars and trains take turns to use. Holland America describes it as a 2.5-mile, one-lane tunnel shared with trains. The state says the drive through takes about 6 minutes at 25 mph. Its posted summer schedule has the tunnel open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. between 1 May and 30 September, with each direction opening in turn, and it warns of occasional delays of 15 to 30 minutes when extra trains use the tunnel.

You have three ways to Anchorage:

• Your cruise line's transfer. Princess's Whittier page describes its transfers from Anchorage airport to the ship, by rail or motorcoach through the tunnel, and says they are available however you booked your flights. Ask Princess about the same transfer at the end of a northbound trip. Holland America says you can book an airport transfer once you have booked the cruise.
• The Alaska Railroad's Glacier Discovery train. In its 2027 schedule the train leaves Whittier at 6:45 p.m. and reaches Anchorage at 9:00 p.m., daily on the full route from 29 May to 12 September 2027, with fewer days in May. The one-way fare is $122 for an adult and $61 for a child aged 2 to 11, Adventure Class only, on the fare page we read on 4 November 2026. The railroad lists baggage service for this train in Anchorage only.
• The Grandview Cruise Train. The railroad also runs a chartered summer train for cruise company passengers from Whittier or Seward to Anchorage, timed with ship arrivals. It is chartered by the cruise companies, so you book it through your line.

Getting from Seward to Anchorage

Seward is farther out. The Alaska Department of Transportation calls the Seward Highway a 127-mile road, and Royal Caribbean's directions give about 130 miles from Anchorage's airport to the Seward pier.

• The Alaska Railroad's Coastal Classic train. It runs daily from 14 May to 12 September 2027, leaving Seward at 6:00 p.m., stopping at Girdwood, and reaching Anchorage at 10:15 p.m. On the fare page we read on 4 November 2026, the 2027 one-way fare from Seward to Anchorage was $133 for an adult and $67 for a child in Adventure Class, or $289 and $169 in GoldStar Service. The railroad lists baggage service at Anchorage and Seward.
• Royal Caribbean's Grandview train transfer. Royal Caribbean sells this train as an upgrade for guests ending their cruise in Seward and going on to Anchorage for flights, boarding at the pier. Northbound guests can buy it at the Guest Relations desk on the ship, or book ahead through Royal Caribbean Reservations.
• Celebrity's transfers. Celebrity's FAQ lists a bus from Anchorage airport to the Seward terminal on sailing day and rail service in Anchorage and Seward. It says transfer sales generally close five days before sailing. Ask Celebrity what it offers at the end of a northbound trip.
• Viking. Viking includes ground transfers when you buy your flights from Viking.

If you book the train yourself, the railroad's travel notes say each passenger may check two bags of up to 50 lbs and bring one carry-on, and that its depots have no luggage storage. They also say the railroad does not provide transfers, though Anchorage has taxis and many hotels run shuttles.

Whittier and Seward compared

	Whittier	Seward
Lines from Vancouver	Princess, Holland America, Norwegian, Regent	Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Silversea, Viking, Explora Journeys
Distance to Anchorage	50 miles (Alaska DOT) or about 60 (Princess)	127-mile Seward Highway (Alaska DOT)
Scheduled train	Glacier Discovery, 6:45 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.	Coastal Classic, 6:00 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.
2027 adult train fare	$122, Adventure Class only	$133 Adventure, $289 GoldStar
Cruise-line train	Grandview Cruise Train, through your line	Grandview Cruise Train, through your line

Train times and fares are the Alaska Railroad's for 2027, read 4 November 2026.

Alaska cruisetours from Vancouver: adding Denali

A cruisetour is a one-way cruise packaged with a land tour. From Vancouver you sail north first and do the land part after.

Princess. Princess combines its 7-day Voyage of the Glaciers with rail travel and says every Alaska cruisetour visits Denali National Park. It owns and runs five lodges, and every cruisetour includes the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, which Princess says is 1 mile from the park entrance. Its Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service runs in glass-domed railcars from the ship to a Denali-area lodge. Princess lists its Denali Explorer tours at 10 to 15 nights, Denali Escorted at 12 to 17 and Denali Essentials at 10 to 12, with three or more nights on land.

Holland America. Each cruisetour includes 1 to 3 nights at the Holland America Denali Lodge, and the line uses its own glass-domed McKinley Explorer railcars. The Alaska, Denali and Yukon tours add two nights in Dawson City in the Yukon. Its "cruise first" options start in Vancouver and end on land, in places such as Fairbanks or Anchorage. Holland America's 2028 announcement says 2028 cruisetour details will come later and that 2027 cruisetours are on sale.

Celebrity also sells cruisetours after a Seward arrival, as its FAQ describes.

Flying home after a one-way Alaska cruise from Vancouver

Anchorage's airport is Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC). Book your flights as two one-way tickets or one multi-city ticket: into Vancouver before the cruise, home from Anchorage after it. For a U.S. citizen flying to another U.S. city, the flight home from Anchorage is a domestic flight.

The border crossing happens at the start, not the end. The Port of Vancouver says passengers go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Canada Place before boarding, and that international visitors need an eTA or ESTA before arriving at the terminal. If you are not a U.S. citizen, your cruise ends in the United States, so check the cruise documents guide before you book.

Check your flight time against the trains. The scheduled trains reach Anchorage at 9:00 p.m. from Whittier and 10:15 p.m. from Seward, so a same-day flight after either means a late departure. A cruise-line transfer or the Grandview Cruise Train may fit better, or plan a night in Anchorage.

Comparing one-way and round-trip costs from Vancouver

A one-way fare covers a different trip, so compare totals, not headline fares. On 4 November 2026 the lowest one-way fare to Whittier was $631 and the lowest Glacier Bay round trip was $799. To the one-way fare add the train or transfer to Anchorage, a flight home from there, and maybe a hotel night in Anchorage. A round trip ends where it began, so one return flight to Vancouver covers it.

What you get for the difference is distance. Princess says its Voyage of the Glaciers route covers roughly 500 miles more than an Inside Passage cruise, with College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier as a second glacier day, though it also says the Inside Passage usually has calmer seas. Our main Alaska guide compares the round trips.

One-way cruises from Vancouver to Juneau and Seattle

Juneau. Seabourn Encore's 7-night trips end in Juneau, after calling at Ketchikan, Sitka and Haines. Our schedule has 16, from 14 May 2027 to 25 August 2028, starting at $6,498 on 4 November 2026. See our small-ship and luxury guide for Seabourn's other trips.

Seattle. 15 one-way trips end in Seattle. Some are Alaska cruises that finish there instead of Vancouver, including Celebrity Edge, Oceania Riviera, Star Princess, Norwegian Joy, Virgin's Brilliant Lady and Holland America's Westerdam. The rest are short coastal trips. The repositioning cruise guide covers those, and if you left a car in Vancouver, Seattle to Vancouver for a cruise covers the trip back north.

Seward to Vancouver cruises

The same routes run the other way. Princess sells its Voyage of the Glaciers from Whittier to Vancouver, Holland America's Glacier Discovery sails both northbound and southbound, and Viking offers its Alaska & the Inside Passage from Seward to Vancouver as well. Those trips start in Alaska, so they are not on this site, which lists only departures from Vancouver.

If you take one, you end at Canada Place. The Port of Vancouver says passengers getting off in Vancouver fill in a declaration card (E311) and clear Canadian customs with the Canada Border Services Agency after collecting their bags. For getting from the terminal to the airport, see YVR airport to Canada Place.