Queen Elizabeth Sails Cunard’s Last Scheduled Alaska Season

Cunard's Queen Elizabeth is sailing the brand's last scheduled Alaska summer season after arriving in the region in May. The 2,092-passenger ship is operating roundtrip from the Port of Seattle through late September. The program includes seven- to 11-night voyages to Alaska ports, Victoria, British Columbia, and glacier-viewing areas including Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

Cunard had been sailing Alaska regularly since 2019 after a decades-long gap, but the line's published deployment lists no Alaska program in 2027 and keeps its four ships sailing from European ports in 2028. Queen Elizabeth, a 2010 Fincantieri-built vessel of about 90,900 GT, is scheduled to reposition to PortMiami in September for Caribbean cruises.

Seattle sailings run through late September

The current Cunard voyages call at Victoria, Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, with additional itineraries including Sitka, Haines and Wrangell. The deployment also includes scenic cruising at Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay.

Queen Elizabeth's season is part of a larger Seattle Alaska calendar that is expected to reach 330 cruise vessel calls and 2.1 million passengers in 2026, up from 298 calls and 1.9 million passengers in 2025. The Port of Seattle forecasts its largest cruise season in more than 20 years of hosting Alaska cruises. Sixteen cruise ships are homeporting this year.

The port said its 2025 cruise season generated an estimated $1.2 billion in regional economic benefit and supported more than 5,120 jobs. Seattle also expects 11 cruise ships to use shore power in port this season, with a requirement for all homeported cruise ships to connect at dock beginning in 2027.

Repositioning to Miami through the Panama Canal

Before returning to the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth is scheduled to sail a 21-night repositioning voyage from Seattle to PortMiami in late September. The itinerary includes a full transit of the Panama Canal and calls in California, Mexico, Guatemala and the southern Caribbean, including Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Quetzal, Panama City and Curaçao.

From Miami, the ship is due to operate nine- to 12-night Western, Southern and Eastern Caribbean cruises roundtrip through January 2027. The program lists more than 15 destinations, including Cozumel, Montego Bay, Bridgetown, Philipsburg and Kralendijk.

Alaska market adds ships under local limits

Alaska cruise passenger volume more than tripled between 1995 and 2025, after surpassing one million passengers annually a decade ago and reaching about 1.7 million in 2024.

Juneau, one of Queen Elizabeth's Alaska calls, is operating under a Cruise Lines International Association agreement that limits traffic to five large cruise ships per day. The 2026 limits also cap scheduled lower-berth capacity at 16,000 passengers on most days and 12,000 on Saturdays, after peak pre-cap days reached roughly 21,000 passengers.

MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection are placing ships in Alaska for the first time this season, with Explora Voyages scheduled to enter the market in 2027. Azamara and Windstar are also returning after absences, while Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line remain Alaska's largest cruise operators.

Queen Elizabeth is scheduled to return to Southampton and Europe in early 2027 after its Miami program. Cunard's next named Caribbean deployment for the ship is a short season in late 2028.

See current Queen Elizabeth fares and itineraries on Cruise Lookup.