Seasons
The 2026 Alaska Cruise Season Opens: First-Week Tracker Recap
Three ships, three stories. Noordam first into Ketchikan, Volendam off-script at Kodiak, Coral Princess opening Whittier. Week one of the 2026 Alaska cruise season.
The 2026 Alaska cruise season opened on April 22, 2026 when Norwegian's MS Noordam called at Ketchikan — the first cruise ship of the year. Three ships were active by April 28: Noordam at Ketchikan, Volendam with an off-script Kodiak call on April 24, and Coral Princess at Whittier on April 28. Two of the three (Volendam, Coral Princess) arrived at the end of long world voyages. The third (Noordam) came up the West Coast from a Pacific repositioning. Same season opener, three different routings.
Week one timeline
| Date (2026) | Ship | Port | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22 | MS Noordam | Ketchikan | First ship of the 2026 season |
| Apr 24 | MS Volendam | Kodiak | First in 2026 to call at off-script Kodiak |
| Apr 26 | MS Volendam | Sitka | Volendam's second Alaska port |
| Apr 27 | MS Volendam | Ketchikan | Third Alaska port; Volendam exits Alaska after this call |
| Apr 28 | Coral Princess | Whittier | First ship at Whittier this season |
| Apr 29 | Coral Princess | Hubbard Glacier (scenic) | First Hubbard scenic of the season |
(Dates and times verified against CruiseMigration's live AIS feed and CruiseMapper schedules.)
What the three ships have in common
All three are mid-sized older ships, each sailing on a longer-than-typical voyage:
| Noordam | Volendam | Coral Princess | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line | Holland America | Holland America | Princess |
| Built | 2006 | 1999 | 2003 |
| Length | 935 ft | 778 ft | 964 ft |
| Passengers | 1,924 | 1,432 | ~2,000 |
| Voyage | Pacific repositioning (one-way) | 133-day Grand World Voyage | 131-day world cruise |
This is not a coincidence. Late-April Alaska openers are almost always the world-cruise / repositioning ships — the lines reposition older mid-sized vessels onto Alaska summer schedules using one-way voyages that double as paid passenger experiences. The big new flagships (Norwegian Bliss, Royal Caribbean's Ovation/Quantum-class Alaska deployments, Disney) typically join later in May.
What's coming next
Through the rest of April and into early May, expect:
- MS Westerdam (Holland America) — Vancouver homeport start, late April
- Norwegian Bliss — Seattle homeport start, early May
- Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas — Seattle, early May
- Disney Wonder — Vancouver, early May
- Princess Crown / Royal / Discovery rotation — late April through early May, all the major Princess Alaska-class hulls coming online
By mid-May 2026, expect 25+ large ships actively sailing Alaska. By peak summer (late June through August), 35+ ships in rotation, with 7–8 ships in Juneau on a typical Saturday and 6+ in Ketchikan. Glacier Bay's two-ship daily cap will fill almost every day from mid-May through early September.
How we're tracking it
CruiseMigration ingests AIS data on a continuous basis, plus scheduled-call data from public cruise-line and port-authority sources. The numbers here come from those feeds plus a manual cross-check against CruiseMapper for individual ships. Live status:
We'll publish a monthly recap article at the start of June with the May numbers — total port calls, passenger volume, and any notable schedule shifts.
Sources
- CruiseMigration AIS feed and itinerary database (live)
- Cruise Industry News — 2026 Alaska season coverage
- CruiseMapper individual ship pages (Noordam, Volendam, Coral Princess)
- Cruise Lines Agencies of Alaska — 2026 schedules
Frequently asked questions
- When did the 2026 Alaska cruise season start?
- April 22, 2026, when Norwegian's MS Noordam called at Ketchikan as the first cruise ship of the season. Volendam followed at Kodiak on April 24, and Coral Princess opened Whittier on April 28.
- How many cruise ships are in Alaska in late April 2026?
- Three large ships were active in Alaskan waters during the season's first week (April 22–28): Norwegian Noordam, Holland America Volendam, and Princess Coral Princess. Norwegian Bliss was the next to enter the season the following week.
- Which is the first port a cruise ship calls in Alaska each season?
- It varies by year, but in 2026 it was Ketchikan (Noordam, April 22). Ketchikan is the southernmost Alaska cruise port and the natural first stop for ships coming north from Vancouver or Seattle.
- When does the 2026 Alaska cruise season end?
- The last large-ship calls of 2026 are scheduled for late September. Final dates vary by line; Princess and Holland America typically close their seasons in mid-to-late September with one-way Whittier→Vancouver repositioning sailings.
- How many cruise ships will visit Alaska in 2026 total?
- Around 35–40 unique cruise ships are scheduled for the 2026 Alaska season across all major lines, with 1.5+ million total passenger visits projected. Final numbers depend on weather, mechanical reliability, and route adjustments through the season.