Alaska cruises with no stops in Canada

[Emigrator]

Which lines offer Alaska cruises that visit U.S. ports only? Passengers will be leaving from the U.S.

Edited March 5 by Emigrator
Clarify the question

[d9704011]

You can take a cruise from Japan that ends in Alaska without visiting a Canadian port.  Although there will be some Japan port stops.  I'm sure you won't get any good suggestions to your question.

Edited March 5 by d9704011

[CruiserBruce]

If you are sailing roundtrip from a US port, you MUST stop in a foreign port. So there has to be a stop in Canada.

 

The only exception would be a US flagged ship, which there are very few. In Alaska, I think there are just a couple 100-200 pax ships that MIGHT meet your needs.

[njhorseman]

17 minutes ago, Emigrator said:

Which lines offer Alaska cruises that visit U.S. ports only? Passengers will be leaving from the U.S.

Only small US-flagged ships such as those of American Cruise Lines and UnCruise Adventures.

The major cruise lines' ships are foreign flagged and therefore must make a port call in a foreign country.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Emigrator said:

Which lines offer Alaska cruises that visit U.S. ports only? Passengers will be leaving from the U.S.

 

Alaska State Ferries and any other ship flying the US Flag at the stern (small expedition type ships)

[1025cruise]

You can try American Cruise Lines. Otherwise all the main lines must stop in Canada per the PVSA.

[Emigrator]

Thanks for referencing the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). I was simply unaware and found a good article explaining the restrictions since its 1886 creation! As usual, I'm behind...

[BlueRiband]

The Alaska Marine Highway system operates US-flagged ships.  Its only port in the "lower 48" is in Bellingham, Washington.  Some ships have basic overnight cabins and some are "day boats".  They provide a vital transportation link among smaller Alaska communities.  If you are more adventurous you might want to check it out.  But be aware this is intended as A-B transportation and it does not offer cruise ship style dining or entertainment. 

[clo]

3 hours ago, BlueRiband said:

The Alaska Marine Highway system operates US-flagged ships.  Its only port in the "lower 48" is in Bellingham, Washington.  Some ships have basic overnight cabins and some are "day boats".  They provide a vital transportation link among smaller Alaska communities.  If you are more adventurous you might want to check it out.  But be aware this is intended as A-B transportation and it does not offer cruise ship style dining or entertainment. 

I read about it some years ago after being disappointed in our first and only Alaska. All tourist. That ferry sounded. Maybe I would have slept on the deck!

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, clo said:

I read about it some years ago after being disappointed in our first and only Alaska. All tourist. That ferry sounded. Maybe I would have slept on the deck!

 

On the BC Ferries, which is our equivalent to Alaska's ferries, they used to pitch tents in the lounges at night. So yes, sleeping on the deck does happen.

[clo]

10 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

On the BC Ferries, which is our equivalent to Alaska's ferries, they used to pitch tents in the lounges at night. So yes, sleeping on the deck does happen.

Love it!

[Aquahound]

Not sure I would choose this over a nice, comfy suite but to each their own.  I can definitely see the draw to this though.

[Gunner 66]

Cruise ships must stop in a foreign port. If only US ports.....then they must pay US Taxes and the crew must be US citizens. The only Mass market ship I know that does this is the NCL ship Pride of America in Hawaii. Which has an exemption. The ships also must be built in the US and US flagged. 

 

Foreign flagged cruise ships sailing from US ports must stop in a foreign port because of the Passenger Services Vessel Act.

 

This was suspended for Alaskan cruises in 2021 because of the Covid Pandemic when Canada would not allow ships to dock in Canada.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Aquahound said:

Not sure I would choose this over a nice, comfy suite but to each their own.  I can definitely see the draw to this though.

 

Haha!! on the ferries, those were the suites.😁

 

[Gunner 66]

So basically if you are planning on going to Alaska from a US port.....you must stop in Canada. That means Victoria Island or Vancouver.

[Aquahound]

1 minute ago, Gunner 66 said:

So basically if you are planning on going to Alaska from a US port.....you must stop in Canada. That means Victoria Island or Vancouver.

 

Other options were provided.  American Cruise Line and Uncruise are 2 US flagged cruise lines that do not need to make foreign port.  They're pricey and small but still options, nonetheless.  
The few people I know who have cruised them speak very highly of their experience.  

 

Just FYI, Victoria isn't an island.  It's on Vancouver Island.  

[Heidi13]

3 minutes ago, Gunner 66 said:

So basically if you are planning on going to Alaska from a US port.....you must stop in Canada. That means Victoria Island or Vancouver.

 

If you are sailing R/T from a US port, you can stop in any foreign port. However, if you are sailing to Alaska from a US Port, unless it is a R/T cruise, you must visit a distant foreign port.

 

BTW - worked this coast for almost 35 years and Victoria Island is a new port for me. The City of Victoria is a port often visited by cruise ships. It is located on Vancouver Island.

[Gunner 66]

OK.....got it a little wrong. I haven't been there. But I have been from San Fran to Hawaii and back. Had to make a quick stop in Ensenada, Mexico on the way back to meet the requirement. Wasn't even worth getting off the ship.

[CruiserBruce]

8 hours ago, Gunner 66 said:

Cruise ships must stop in a foreign port. If only US ports.....then they must pay US Taxes and the crew must be US citizens. The only Mass market ship I know that does this is the NCL ship Pride of America in Hawaii. Which has an exemption. The ships also must be built in the US and US flagged. 

 

Foreign flagged cruise ships sailing from US ports must stop in a foreign port because of the Passenger Services Vessel Act.

 

This was suspended for Alaskan cruises in 2021 because of the Covid Pandemic when Canada would not allow ships to dock in Canada.

As has been discussed above in this thread, there are more allowed ships, exemptions and exceptions than just the Pride of America.

[CarolynFH]

You might like a very small ship like the Admiralty Dream https://www.liveaboard.com/cruise/alaska/admiralty-dream or one of her sister ships. We enjoyed a fantastic voyage aboard her some years ago, watching humpbacks bubblenet feeding and a brown bear teaching her triplet cubs to catch salmon, among other adventures. 

[lenquixote66]

On 3/4/2024 at 8:39 PM, CruiserBruce said:

If you are sailing roundtrip from a US port, you MUST stop in a foreign port. So there has to be a stop in Canada.

 

The only exception would be a US flagged ship, which there are very few. In Alaska, I think there are just a couple 100-200 pax ships that MIGHT meet your needs.

Do you define a disembarkment as a stop ?We boarded a cruise in Alaska and disembarked in Canada.

[TheOldBear]

2 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Do you define a disembarkment as a stop ?We boarded a cruise in Alaska and disembarked in Canada.

Then you did not do a 'closed loop' round trip

[lenquixote66]

6 minutes ago, TheOldBear said:

Then you did not do a 'closed loop' round trip

We flew from JFK to Minneapolis then flew to Fairbanks.We then did a 7 day land trip followed by a cruise leaving from a port in Alaska and we disembarked in Canada.

[CruiserBruce]

11 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Do you define a disembarkment as a stop ?We boarded a cruise in Alaska and disembarked in Canada.

What was the itinerary of the cruise?

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

We flew from JFK to Minneapolis then flew to Fairbanks.We then did a 7 day land trip followed by a cruise leaving from a port in Alaska and we disembarked in Canada.

That ended in a Canadian port, so PVSA doesn't apply. Its not a roundtrip out of a US port, which has been the point of this thread.