North America Alaska Cruise

Alaska’s Eastern Passages

Over 8 days the Alaska’s Eastern Passages cruise offers a diverse experience of Southeast Alaska aboard the intimate 11-guest Catalyst yacht. See everything from fishing towns to wilderness solitude and islands to glacial fjords. This small ship’s goal is to provide the most remote wilderness experience possible, with up-close wildlife encounters while enjoying the amenities of this ship. Navigate through ice-filled fjords, visit a tidewater glacier, search the shores for brown bears and enjoy the peaceful silence as the Catalyst stops her engines to watch and listen to humpback whales. Kayak up a narrow inlet that John Muir called “an ocean-filled Yosemite” and follow bear trails through rich estuarial meadows.

Ship-based bear viewing at the famous Pack Creek Zoological Reserve is a goal on every departure, with select high-season 2025 dates offering land-based viewing. Listen for wolves, wind through icebergs, paddle beside 5,000-foot granite faces, go in search of moose, hike a glacial moraine and more. Alaska’s glacial wilderness supports a diversity of wildlife as varied as the landscape. On water, there is the probability of sighting humpback whales, orcas, porpoises and Stellar sea lions as well as numerous seabirds. On terra firma, look for black bears, brown bears and mountain goats. These amazing nature and wildlife opportunities qualify this itinerary for our handpicked selection of Alaska family cruises.  

Alaska’s Eastern Passages itinerary cruises between Juneau and Petersburg, Alaska; offering a main southbound route and a reverse northern route. As with all small ship Alaska cruises, while there is a general planned itinerary, each trip differs depending upon the time of the tidal currents, the weather conditions, wildlife viewing opportunities and the wishes of the guests on board. The Catalyst averages three to four hours of travel per day, allowing plenty of opportunity for exploring by foot and by kayak. The routes and anchorages are chosen to provide the best available opportunities to experience the rich and diverse environment of this temperate rainforest.

This trip was featured in National Geographic Magazine’s Top 50 Tours of a Lifetime. If you want to experience remote Alaska with an intimate crew, or experience it with your own group via our private Alaska yacht charters, then Alaska’s Eastern Passages is your small ship cruise!

Read on for details about this trip, or learn more about AdventureSmith’s Alaska trips, small ship Alaska cruise options and Inside Passage cruise itineraries.