Alaska 2026

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Thanks!  We sailed with Princess once before so now that I logged in I am able to see the cruises with pricing.  This would be our first Alaskan cruise.  What should we look for?  We're thinking land and sea and I hear Princess does it best. I have to admit the first, and only time, we sailed with Princess we weren't impressed.  But that was a long time ago and on an older ship so we're willing to give them another try.  Which ports do we need to look for?  Any advice from you seasoned Alaska cruisers would be appreciated!!

[NCteacherlovescruising]

What about the 13-day Connoisseur Escorted Tour SB6?  Anchorage to Vancouver

Looking at June 21 on the Discovery.  Is that a good date?  I can't go earlier, but could go through late July.  Would an aft be best in Alaska?  If not, which side?

 

 

[peder]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

I would doubt it.  This would be a very popular cruise.  It's just strange that there aren't any cruises for the entire month and a Panama Canal segment would run half of that.  Basically I'm looking for the cruises that will happen during the gap indicated by the current scheduled arrival in Fort Lauderdale on March 28th and the first Alaska cruise from Seattle on May 3rd.

 

Well, I guess I'm wondering if the Star Princess is too large to fit thru the Panama locks, and they're going to bus it around South America without port stops (just technical port stops to refuel, resupply, etc.), because they don't have very many days to get that trip done.

 

And they might be doing crew hiring/turnover at the same time to get ready for the Alaska season.

Edited July 25 by peder

[nasa1974]

9 minutes ago, peder said:

 

Well, I guess I'm wondering if the Star Princess is too large to fit thru the Panama locks, and they're going to bus it around South America without port stops (just technical port stops to refuel, resupply, etc.), because they don't have very many days to get that trip done.

 

And they might be doing crew hiring/turnover at the same time to get ready for the Alaska season.

The Star Princess will fit in the new Panama Canal locks.

[azbirdmom]

9 minutes ago, peder said:

 

Well, I guess I'm wondering if the Star Princess is too large to fit thru the Panama locks, and they're going to bus it around South America without port stops (just technical port stops to refuel, resupply, etc.), because they don't have very many days to get that trip done.

 

And they might be doing crew hiring/turnover at the same time to get ready for the Alaska season.

Bigger ships have gotten through the new locks.  It's just a matter of what Princess plans to do and when they will announce it.

[icat2000]

On 7/24/2024 at 11:34 AM, LACruiser88 said:

We are with your wife, after 5 Alaska cruises/trips over the years we are done with Alaska.  Now, the Med we do almost every year!  😊

That how I feel about Australia, South Pacific and NZ cruises . So now I'm looking at Alaska.

[Coral]

Princess 2026 Alaska Program opens for Groups allocations July 25 and Loyalty guests levels Gold and above then opens to the Public on Aug 1, 2024

 

Princess Cruises is delighted to announce our most expansive Alaska program yet, which includes the maiden Alaska season for our newest ship, Star Princess. The program includes 8 ships on 180 departures with an array of voyages from 7- to 20—days including a portfolio of cruisetours to enable guests to experience mainland Alaska through our Cruises, Lodges and Direct to the Wilderness rail service. 

  

• NEW Ship Star Princess: (departs Sundays) and Royal Princess (departs Saturdays) sail 7-day voyages roundtrip from Seattle. 
• 8 ships: NEW! Star Princess, Coral Princess, Discovery Princess, Emerald Princess, Grand Princess, Island Princess, Royal Princess, and Ruby Princess
• Cruisetours: Combines a 7-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise, 3 to 10 nights on land at exclusive Princess wilderness lodges and our Direct to the Wilderness Rail. Most cruisetours include a visit to Alaska’s top two attractions, Glacier Bay National Park, and Denali National Park. 
• Glacier Bay: With 89 calls to Glacier Bay National Park, Princess Cruises takes more guests to UNESCO World Heritage Site than any other cruise line. 
• North to Alaska Programming: Princess enhances award-winning North to Alaska! Program, bringing local Alaskans, culture, and highlighting fresh Seafood onboard.

 

2026 product highlights:

• Voyage of the Glaciers: Voyage of the Glaciers voyages sail between Vancouver, B.C., and Anchorage (Whittier) featuring two glacier-viewing experiences with most including Glacier Bay National Park. Experience this itinerary on: Discovery Princess and Grand Princess on Saturdays, joined by Coral Princess and Island Princess on Wednesdays. Also available as a 14-day Voyage of the Glaciers Grand Adventure. 
• National Parks Cruisetour: 15-night National Parks cruisetour is perfect for those who want to seamlessly get their National Parks Passport stamped. Guests will adventure to five of Alaska’s most breathtaking parks including Glacier Bay, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias, Kenai Fjords National Parks, and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway.  

 

Longer adventures include:  

• 20-day Ultimate Alaska Solstice on Ruby Princess roundtrip from San Francisco which will explore the Great Land on the longest day of the year. Features four glacier-viewing experiences: Glacier Bay National Park, Hubbard Glacier, College Fjord, and Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier. Also includes Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau, and picturesque ports like Valdez and Prince Rupert.  
• 17-night Ultimate Princess Connoisseur cruisetour (Tour V) featuring two nights at each one of our five Princess Wilderness Lodges for the ultimate Alaska vacation. 
• 16-day Inside Passage with Glacier Bay National Park roundtrip from Los Angeles on Emerald Princess. 
• 11-day Inside Passage on Emerald Princess roundtrip from Vancouver, B.C. including Glacier Bay National Park & Hubbard Glacier. 

 

Scheduled to Open for Sale (Star, Royal, Emerald, Ruby, Discovery, Grand, Coral, and Island) 

Voyages will be open for sale on the following dates listed below (note that Loyalty guests levels Gold and above will have the opportunity to book the week prior to public launch and early group allocations will also be available on July 25, 2024). 

 

 

Market	Travel Agent Group Allocations	Loyalty Week	Public On Sale
North America (PDT)	Thu, July 25, 2024	Thu, July 25, 2024 (8:00 AM)	Thu, Aug 1, 2024 (8:00 AM)
North America (EDT)	Thu, July 25, 2024	Thu, July 25, 2024 (11:00 AM)	Thu, Aug 1, 2024 (11:00 AM)

Edited July 25 by Coral

[spencercoop]

1 hour ago, nasa1974 said:

The Star Princess will fit in the new Panama Canal locks.

 

I thought the Royal Class ships don't even fit in the new locks?

[peder]

8 minutes ago, spencercoop said:

 

I thought the Royal Class ships don't even fit in the new locks?

 

I'm just reading what wikipedia says about the Panama Canal, but apparently ships up to 180ft wide can fit through the new locks, and the Sun/Star Princess have a 155ft beam.

 

Why don't more cruise ships use the new locks then? Maybe it's cost prohibitive? Because it's apparently not a technical issue.

Edited July 25 by peder

[memoak]

1 minute ago, peder said:

 

I'm just reading what wikipedia says about the Panama Canal, but apparently ships up to 180ft wide can fit through the new locks, and the Sun/Star Princess have a 155ft beam.

 

Why don't more cruise ships use the new locks then? Maybe it's cost prohibitive? Because it's apparently not a technical issue.

I find it interest that of all the Panama Canal cruise available to book right now none of them are on Royal or Sphere ships

[peder]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

I find it interest that of all the Panama Canal cruise available to book right now none of them are on Royal or Sphere ships

 

That's why I'm assuming they prefer to use the old locks because the new locks must be very expensive. All the larger container ships would be using the new locks and I imagine there's endless demand for that set of locks.

[spencercoop]

6 minutes ago, peder said:

 

I'm just reading what wikipedia says about the Panama Canal, but apparently ships up to 180ft wide can fit through the new locks, and the Sun/Star Princess have a 155ft beam.

 

Why don't more cruise ships use the new locks then? Maybe it's cost prohibitive? Because it's apparently not a technical issue.

 

3 minutes ago, memoak said:

I find it interest that of all the Panama Canal cruise available to book right now none of them are on Royal or Sphere ships

 

So I think the issue is the Bridge of the Americas.  I don't think the Royal Class ships or the Sphere class ships will fit under the bridge.

[spencercoop]

The clearance of the Bridge of the Americas is 201 feet.

 

According to Princess, the Royal Class shops are 217 feet tall and the Sphere class ships are 200 feet tall.

[sunviking90]

We were told on a cruise this past year during the coffee chat with the Captain that the Majestic is taking the route down around South America to reposition as she can’t go through the Panama Canal. Now, I’m not sure if he meant the locks themselves or under the Bridge of the Americas.

[sunviking90]

20 minutes ago, peder said:

 

I'm just reading what wikipedia says about the Panama Canal, but apparently ships up to 180ft wide can fit through the new locks, and the Sun/Star Princess have a 155ft beam.

 

Why don't more cruise ships use the new locks then? Maybe it's cost prohibitive? Because it's apparently not a technical issue.

 Many cruise ships transiting are now are using the new locks. We used the new locks to transit on the Emerald Princess last year. The Island and Coral can still use the old locks, but the other ships have to use the new ones. 

[azbirdmom]

12 minutes ago, spencercoop said:

The clearance of the Bridge of the Americas is 201 feet.

 

According to Princess, the Royal Class shops are 217 feet tall and the Sphere class ships are 200 feet tall.

The 200 feet includes the area below the waterline.  I can't find just how much that is but a wild guess is that there's about 180 feet above the water line.

[memoak]

22 minutes ago, peder said:

 

That's why I'm assuming they prefer to use the old locks because the new locks must be very expensive. All the larger container ships would be using the new locks and I imagine there's endless demand for that set of locks.

The only Princess ships that can fit through the old locks are the Coral and Island the grand class ships like the Emerald go through the new locks. It is size not cost

[NCteacherlovescruising]

On 7/23/2024 at 9:34 PM, LACruiser88 said:

We are with your wife, after 5 Alaska cruises/trips over the years we are done with Alaska.  Now, the Med we do almost every year!  😊

We did the Med for this first time this year.  We absolutely loved it!!  We have another booked for next summer and just booked Alaska for 2026.

[Polarnorth04]

Hi,

 

Just would like to check whether anyone encountered the same issue as me.

 

I plan to book 7D Voyage of Glaciers Northbound on 20 June 2026 on Discovery and Princess website is showing the following prices and the standard, plus and premiere packages looks odd, there should not be benefits under standard. * (Prices show are in Singapore Dollars).

 

 

Edited July 26 by Polarnorth04

[dog]

5 hours ago, Polarnorth04 said:

Hi,

 

Just would like to check whether anyone encountered the same issue as me.

 

I plan to book 7D Voyage of Glaciers Northbound on 20 June 2026 on Discovery and Princess website is showing the following prices and the standard, plus and premiere packages looks odd, there should not be benefits under standard. * (Prices show are in Singapore Dollars).

 

 

No,

I see Standard & Plus only. And my screen is correct.

 

glitch for you

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We booked last night as gold members.  Our friends that are thinking of traveling with us have never sailed with Princess. Will they have to wait until August 1st to book or can our TA book them joined with us somehow?

[flviking]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We booked last night as gold members.  Our friends that are thinking of traveling with us have never sailed with Princess. Will they have to wait until August 1st to book or can our TA book them joined with us somehow?

Our TA wasn't able to do that.  Please report back if you have success.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 minutes ago, flviking said:

Our TA wasn't able to do that.  Please report back if you have success.

That’s disappointing. Will prices be the same August 1st?  Is there a chance the reserve collection mini suites could sell out before then?   If they do, we wouldn’t even be able to dine with them without giving up that perk. I don’t even know if they will want to do this. Normally we would all decide on a cruise before booking it but dh and I just jumped on this last night. 

[Sarahg0915]

I'm new to Princess (usually Carnival, but going with Princess for Alaska) and have been watching the website like a hawk. I see 2026 itineraries are finally online but no pricing or option to book. I've asked Princess via live chat, phone and PVP and no one can tell me when I'll be able to book. Does anyone know? Thanks. 

 

[peder]

If you're booking with a spouse and you're both gold members, you could probably book two cabins, one under each of you as the lead passenger, and add your friends on as the 2nd/3rd/4th passengers.