Alaska Cruisetour: Cruise, Rail, Denali Lodges and Who It Suits

Somewhere between the last glacier on the ship and the first morning in a lodge near Denali, many travelers realize that a cruise alone does not reach the mountain. A cruisetour answers that: it joins a week on the water with days on land, usually by rail, in the Alaska interior. It suits anyone who wants the coast and the Alaska Range in a single trip.

What is an Alaska cruisetour?

An Alaska cruisetour is a package that pairs a cruise through the glacier country of the coast with a stretch on land, with train travel and nights in lodges in the interior. Princess describes its version as a seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise combined with scenic rail travel and stays at Princess-owned wilderness lodges. Holland America runs its own cruisetours, with the same basic idea: sea first or last, then the land.

The cruise half of the Princess version travels between Anchorage (Whittier) and Vancouver, B.C., with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. It also includes Glacier Bay National Park, Hubbard Glacier and College Fjord. Holland America says its Alaska cruises offer privileged access to Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, with National Park Service Rangers and Wildlife Experts on board.

Princess cruisetours

Princess offers three Denali-focused versions, and they differ mainly in length and in what you do in the park. Each includes the seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise, an overnight in Denali and rail travel. The land nights are spent at Princess Wilderness Lodges in Fairbanks, on the Kenai Peninsula, at Copper River and in the Denali area, where there are two.

Round-trip Princess cruises leave from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Vancouver, while one-way sailings leave from the Whittier (Anchorage) cruise port. That matters when you choose a cruisetour, since the direction decides whether you finish at the coast or in the interior.

Holland America cruisetours

Holland America cruisetours run 9 to 17 days and depart from Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage or Fairbanks. Every one of them includes a stay at the privately owned Holland America Denali Lodge, from one to three nights, plus a complimentary tour of Denali National Park.

The cruise-only version of the line ranges from 7 to 28 days. If a Holland America Alaska cruise does not include a glacier visit, you receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 15% of your fare. New for 2028 is an 11-day California-to-Alaska itinerary from San Diego.

What do the land portions include?

The land portion adds nights in wilderness lodges, a ride on the Alaska Railroad and a guided look at Denali National Park. With Princess, an Alaska cruisetour includes three or more nights on land, spread across lodges in several corners of the state.

The lodges

Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge sits one mile from the entrance to Denali National Park, so the park is close at hand. Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is 40 miles from Mt. McKinley and two hours south of the park entrance.

Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge lies on the edge of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest national park in the United States. Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge was named one of the Top 12 Resorts in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest by Condé Nast Traveler readers. On the Holland America side, the Denali Lodge is privately owned by the line.

The train ride

The Denali Star Train runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks, covering 356 miles in 12 hours, with stops in Wasilla, Talkeetna and Denali National Park. The route serves the Denali depot from mid-May to mid-September.

Out the window, the train crosses the Knik River between Anchorage and Talkeetna with the Chugach Mountains behind. Just south of Talkeetna, Denali may rise above the Susitna River on a clear day. North of Talkeetna, the line crosses Hurricane Gulch on a 296-foot bridge and passes through the roadless Hurricane area. Near the park, Broad Pass offers views of the Alaska Range in all directions.

Inside Denali National Park

Denali, the highest peak in North America, stands 20,310 feet tall, and the park around it was established on February 26, 1917. Denali Park Road runs 92 miles from the George Parks Highway to Kantishna. Private vehicles may drive only the first 15 miles, to Savage River Bridge.

Beyond that point, the interior is reached only by shuttle or tour bus. This is why the park tours in the cruisetours matter: the Princess Denali Natural History Tour and Tundra Wilderness Tour, and the complimentary tour in the Holland America packages, take you past the point where your own car cannot go.

Who is it for?

A cruisetour is for travelers who want the glaciers and the interior in one trip, without arranging each leg separately. The cruise gives the coast: Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier and College Fjord on the Princess route. The land half gives the mountain, the rail line and the lodges.

If Denali is the reason you are going

Every Denali-focused option here puts you in or near the park for at least a night. The Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge is one mile from the entrance, and the Holland America Denali Lodge comes with a park tour. A clear day may show you Denali itself from the train, though the mountain does not always come out.

If you want to see the park interior, the tour bus is the way in beyond mile 15, and both lines include a park tour in their packages. The choice between them comes down to which cruise route and which lodges appeal to you.

If you want to choose your length and start point

The range is wide. Princess options run 10 to 17 nights, depending on the version, and Holland America runs 9 to 17 days. Holland America cruisetours can start in Anchorage or Fairbanks, not only at a coastal port, which suits people who would rather begin on land.

If your home airport is on the West Coast, Princess round-trip sailings from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Vancouver may fit. Those who prefer the one-way route will look at Whittier (Anchorage) departures with Princess, or the Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage and Fairbanks starts with Holland America.

If you like a lodge-based trip

Princess builds the land portion around its own lodges, from Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula to Copper River and Denali. Copper River borders Wrangell-St. Elias, the largest national park in the country, so the setting changes from one stop to the next. Holland America concentrates on its Denali Lodge, with a stay of one to three nights.

Good to know before you go

Rail service to the Denali depot runs from mid-May to mid-September, so a cruisetour that relies on the Denali Star Train fits that stretch of the calendar. Princess has been voted Best Cruise Line in Alaska 22 times by readers of Travel Weekly, a distinction worth knowing when you compare lines. Because a cruisetour crosses from the coast into the interior, look at the departure port, the direction and the length of each version before you compare packages.