Vancouver, Seattle Expect Record Alaska Cruise Traffic in 2026
Vancouver's Canada Place is scheduled for its first five-ship day since 2019 on July 25, and September 19 is expected to bring twenty thousand passengers.
Alaska’s 2026 cruise season is opening with record expectations at two major gateway homeports and the first season of daily passenger caps in Juneau. Vancouver is projecting about 1.4 million cruise passengers and nearly 360 ship calls, while Seattle expects 2.1 million passengers and 330 calls as new and returning brands add capacity to the market.
The growth follows a three-decade expansion in Alaska cruise tourism, with state officials saying passenger volume has more than tripled between 1995 and 2025.
Vancouver and Seattle prepare for heavier Alaska traffic
Vancouver, which has hosted Alaska cruises for more than 40 years, expects to exceed its 2024 record of 1.32 million cruise passengers and 327 cruise calls. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority estimates cruising contributed more than C$1 billion to the regional economy in 2025, with each ship call generating about C$3 million in local business activity and cruise lines spending up to C$660 million annually on local goods and services.
The city’s cruise operations are centered at Canada Place, Vancouver’s only remaining cruise terminal, which has handled more than 30 million passengers since opening in April 1986. Port officials expect cruise ships nearly every day during peak season, including 40,000 to 50,000 passengers moving through the terminal between Friday and Monday in many summer weeks. July 25 is scheduled as Vancouver’s first five-ship day since 2019, and Sept. 19 is expected to bring 20,000 passengers, the third-busiest day in the port’s history.
Seattle’s Alaska season began April 17 and is scheduled to run with 16 homeporting ships, up to 330 vessel calls and 2.1 million passengers. That would surpass the 1.9 million passengers recorded in 2025 and produce the port’s largest season in more than two decades of Alaska cruise operations.
The Port of Seattle is also expanding the environmental side of its cruise program. Eleven cruise ships are expected to use shore power while in port this year, after 87 percent of shore-power-capable vessels connected while alongside last season. Work is underway to bring shore power to an additional pier.
Juneau tests daily caps after years of growth
Juneau, Alaska’s busiest cruise port, handled 1,700,842 cruise passengers in 2025, including 1,688,738 on large ships. That was down from 1.732 million passengers in 2024, and city officials expect the 2026 total to remain in the same range under a voluntary agreement with Cruise Lines International Association.
The agreement keeps Juneau’s five-cruise-ship-per-day limit and adds daily passenger caps of 16,000 on most days and 12,000 on Saturdays. The limits are intended to avoid peak days that previously brought 20,000 to 21,000 passengers into a city of about 31,200 residents. A recent resident survey found 60 percent support for the five-ship daily limit.
“I think we’ve had pretty steady visitor numbers for the last few years and will continue to have steady visitor numbers this year because of our caps,” Alexandra Pierce, visitor industry director for the City and Borough of Juneau, said.
The 2026 Juneau season began April 27 with Holland America Line’s Eurodam. Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska lists at least one ship per day in Juneau from May 3 through the end of September, with the season continuing into early October.
Juneau’s caps build on a local tourism management system that predates the daily limits. The Tourism Best Management Practices program, launched in the late 1990s, remains voluntary and uses annual operating guidelines and a resident feedback hotline to address traffic, noise, trail use, wildlife viewing and neighborhood concerns. Other Alaska ports, including Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka, Valdez, Whittier and Skagway, have developed versions of the model.
New ships broaden the Alaska roster
The 2026 season is also bringing a wider mix of ships into Alaska. MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection are sailing in the market for the first time, while Cunard is back with Queen Elizabeth after its first Alaska season in 2025. 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 the largest operators in the region.
MSC Poesia arrived in Seattle on May 11 for MSC Cruises’ first Alaska season and the line’s first operation from the port. The 92,627-gross-ton, 2,550-guest ship recently returned from dry dock with additions including MSC Yacht Club and new specialty dining venues, and is sailing seven-night Alaska itineraries from Seattle through September.
Virgin Voyages began its Alaska program with Brilliant Lady, which made an inaugural Vancouver call on May 11 before operating from Seattle. The 110,000-gross-ton ship carries up to 2,770 passengers and is using Alaska-specific onboard programming, including wildlife talks, Alaska Native cultural workshops and regional food and beverage features. “The sheer scale of its landscapes, the richness of its culture, the biodiversity — it’s humbling,” Michelle Bentubo, chief operating officer of Virgin Voyages, said. “We felt a real responsibility to honor that.”
Princess Cruises added Star Princess to Seattle’s Alaska lineup from Pier 91. The 177,800-gross-ton ship, with capacity for 4,300 guests, is scheduled for 20 weekly roundtrip voyages through Sept. 13 and is expected to carry about 90,000 passengers through Alaska’s Inside Passage during the season. Princess is deploying eight ships in Alaska in 2026, with 180 departures and 19 destinations.
Travel sellers are also reporting stronger Alaska demand. Albuquerque-based Pavlus Travel & Cruise said its Alaska vacation revenue and booking count are tracking ahead of the same period last year. Craig Pavlus, founder and chief executive officer, said “some clients are interestingly booking much closer in” for Alaska departures within the next three months.
More capacity is already scheduled beyond this season. Explora Voyages is due to enter Alaska in 2027, and Seattle’s next emissions deadline comes the same year, when all homeported cruise ships will be required to connect to shore power at dock.
