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Alaska Small Ship Cruises
with AdventureSmith
Small ship cruise Alaska with AdventureSmith Explorations. Our team of Alaska cruise specialists have lived, worked and explored the region in depth. Let us help you create a rare and unique adventure, through firsthand experience and insight. Need more reasons to book your small ship Alaska cruise with us?
Personalized Planning
Work one-on-one with an Alaska cruise specialist to research, purchase & prepare for your trip.
Largest Cruise Selection
We offer an unmatched selection aboard more than 25 small Alaska expedition ships.
Pioneers in Alaska
Our founder is a former naturalist guide who helped pioneer Alaska adventure cruises.
Added Value & Deals
Take advantage of deals & other Alaska cruise perks. Our buying power means you save.
How Small Is an Alaska Small Ship?
On average, about 45 guests is what you’ll find with our curated Alaska small ship cruise vessels. But look for options up to 100 and as few as 8 passengers. There are many reasons to choose an Alaska small ship vs big ship, but at the top is that small ships to Alaska focus on immersive, off-ship activities in wilderness areas. Large ships just cruise (fast) past it all.
Wave goodbye to busy ports to instead view bears, hike, paddle by glaciers and forge local connections in small towns. Enjoy a flexible schedule, capitalizing on wildlife encounters and the collective whims of the group. Fellow travelers become friends. The atmosphere is casual and all inclusive in cost, encouraging everyone on board to participate. Sound like your style of cruising? Let’s go.
Finding the Small Ship Alaska Cruise That’s Right for You
We send hundreds of passengers on small ship cruises to Alaska each year; thus, we answer a lot of questions about Alaska cruising.
Where do small Alaska cruise itineraries embark? What are the best cruises for adults? For kids? Which regions offer the most glaciers? Should you choose an Alaska Inside Passage cruise, go to Glacier Bay, Prince William Sound or Katmai?
Use our how to choose your Alaska cruise tips below or read our updated recap of the best small Alaska cruises and cruise lines. Better yet, simply contact us for a personalized Alaska small ship cruise recommendation now.
What It’s Like? Our Experts Have Been
How to Choose Your Small Alaska Cruise
We’ve put together this list of considerations to guide you in finding the top small ship Alaska cruises for your needs.
1. Plan ahead
2. Choose when to go
3. Decide how much time to spend
4. Choose where to cruise
5. Consider your special interests & available offers
6. Pick your small Alaska ship
7. Talk to an Alaska expert or past traveler
Plan Ahead!
The number one step is to start early. Small ship Alaska cruise departures are limited, the season is short, vessels are small and spaces fill up fast. The most popular small boat Alaska cruise itineraries are often sold out 6-9 months in advance.
Planning ahead not only allows you to read, research and best prepare, it also equates to savings due to early-booking and flight deals: see our Alaska small ship cruise deals for tips.
Choose When to Go
When should you go? This deciding factor can sometimes dictate what region is best to cruise. The Alaska adventure cruise season generally begins in April and runs through September, but the majority of small ship Alaska cruises are found in the heart of the summer months. This time offers the best combination of long days, good weather, abundant wildlife and option to also visit Denali National Park.
Look to the spring for statistically drier albeit colder weather, more solitude and the best prices of the year on Alaska small ship cruises. For even more detail, view our best time to visit Alaska guide or find climate charts on our Alaska travel climate page.
Decide How Much Time to Spend
The length of your travel window can also help you figure out how to choose your small ship Alaska cruise. Most travelers will take only one Alaska cruise in their lifetime and of course want to make the most of it. Like any wilderness-oriented trip, the longer you stay in the backcountry, the better chance you have of seeing animals.
< 7 Day Alaska Cruise
While most small Alaska cruise itineraries are one week, there are some shorter options. Look for shorter cruise packages from Anchorage that are perfect to combine with a trip extension to Denali. And there are an increasing amount of 5- and 6-day options.
7 to 12 Day Alaska Cruise
The bulk of small ship Alaska cruises fall within this range, so if you will have the most choices if you have right around a week’s time, with some flexibility reaching into a second week. About 50% of our set itineraries fall at the sweet spot of 8 days, which allows for 6 full days of sailing and exploring.
Two Weeks+ Alaska Cruise
Travelers who have two weeks can really do it right. You can combine itineraries, take longer small ship cruises to Alaska from Seattle or consider a Alaska land tour extension into Alaska’s interior or other national parks.
A Note about Your Travel Days
Take note when making your itinerary comparison that there are a variety of ports where small Alaskan cruises begin and end. These include Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka and Anchorage. Some require more time or logistics to arrive and depart.
Flights to Juneau and Anchorage are common, while the smaller ports used by many Southeast Alaska small ship cruises may require a bit more padding on your travel days. A pre-cruise overnight is always recommended in case of delays. Travelers east of the Rockies will certainly require one in order to safely embark their Alaska small ship cruise on time.
Choose Where to Cruise in Alaska
Another key step in deciding how to pick a small Alaskan cruise is where you would like to cruise. Coming to our specialists with a good idea of which region you’d like to visit allows us to determine which small ship Alaska cruises are best for you. Then you can hone in on which itineraries and ships offer the level of activity, comfort and amenities that fit your travel style. Here’s a primer on some key cruise regions to consider when choosing an Alaska small ship cruise:
Southeast Alaska – Inside Passage & Glacier Bay
Southeast Alaska is by far the most popular cruise destination in Alaska. It’s the closest region for North American travelers since it’s located on the arm of land that hugs the shoreline of northern British Columbia.
Southeast Alaska hosts the majority of cruises in the state, so there are numerous options here. The coastal mountain ranges, glaciers and islands make for excellent wildlife viewing (bald eagles, bears, whales & otters). Plus, there are opportunities for outstanding boating, fishing, kayaking, hiking and cultural visits.
Learn more about the vast region: Inside Passage cruise small ship itineraries number more than 20 in this iconic location, and Glacier Bay cruises & tours tally more than 15.
Southcentral Alaska – Prince William Sound & Katmai
Like the Southeast, Southcentral Alaska offers remote wilderness, but it is better linked via roads. The numerous communities here serve as base camps for Alaska land tours. Numerous options to explore beyond your cruise include world-class fishing on the Kenai Peninsula or further exploration inland to Denali National Park.
In fact, this region is home to over half of Alaska’s population, so small Alaska cruises here embark from unique road-accessed port towns like Whittier and Homer, with the city of Anchorage being the hub for your travel.
Southcentral Alaska’s terrain ranges from volcanic landscapes in Katmai National Park, home to an impressive population of brown bears, to the windswept Aleutian Islands that make a 1,000-mile sweep toward Asia. In between lies a massive bay of blue ice, which can be experienced on a Prince William Sound glacier cruise reaching farther to Valdez and Cordova. This is the region for the adventurous!
Alaska Small Ship Cruises to/from Seattle
Looking to embark or disembark in Seattle? Look to find small Alaska cruise ships positioning to and from Seattle primarily in the spring and fall.
These “positioning” cruises offer a longer expedition (typically 13-15 days) covering the entire Inside Passage as well as British Columbia and often the San Juan Islands. And they are often a significant value.
Alaska & Beyond
For a more epic route, consider a Northwest Passage cruise or an Aleutian Island cruise. These expeditions are longer and provide rich culture, unique and abundant wildlife, and dramatic coastline.
Consider Your Special Interests
Even if you’ve narrowed down where you want to cruise, it can still be overwhelming. We advise next considering your special interests and needs: group size, ages of travelers, your activity/wildlife interests, desire to include Denali and so on.
Look for things like Alaska family cruises if you have multi generations going, Alaska yacht charters if you’re seeking the ultimate customization and small cruise ships to Alaska with larger cabins, balconies and gourmet cuisine. With our adventure-oriented Alaska luxury cruises, you can have it all.
Or perhaps your interests and needs are even more niche. Our experts are here to help you consider it all, from itineraries that offer the best chance to spot the northern lights or brown bears to concerns around seasickness on cruises.
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Choose Your Small Cruise Ship to Alaska
There are numerous considerations for choosing a small Alaska cruise ship. Size is certainly one of them, and style is another. Private balconies, onboard programming, crew-to-guest ratio, adventure equipment and so on all come into play.
We have cruised aboard or personally inspected every Alaska small ship listed on our website. We’ll make sure you know what you’re getting aboard. View all our Alaska ships for detailed information, reviews, photo galleries and deck plans.
Ask an Expert or Past Traveler
This is the final step we recommend, but it could also easily be your first! To truly find honest answers, talk with a trusted resource.
On our Alaska cruise reviews page, learn why contacting small ship Alaska cruise lines directly & scouring review websites don’t always answer critical questions about how much activity there is, what the cabins are like compared to other ships and so on.
Thus, we recommend speaking with an experienced Alaska expert who can factor in all these considerations with ship availability and what’s new in 2025 and 2026 for Alaska small ship cruises. We can also link you to past travelers if you want to chat more. A company like AdventureSmith Explorations with experience aboard all the ships can make all the difference.
