If there’s one reason to take an Alaska cruise, it’s the ice. I’ve seen Alaska’s fjords and glaciers on more than one sailing now, three different ways: on foot, from a narrow fjord, and from the rail in front of a wall of blue ice. Every one of them was a 5-star day. Here’s what each is like and what to expect from the ship.
Updated November 2026. First written in 2024 and reworked so it’s easier to use.
Mendenhall Glacier: the one you can walk to
Mendenhall is in Juneau, and it’s the glacier you can get close to without a helicopter. Off the ship, a short bus ride, then a well-kept trail that brought us to the glacier’s edge. Most glaciers you watch from a distance; this one you stand next to. If Juneau is on your itinerary, build the port day around it. The rest of what we did in Juneau, good and bad, is in Juneau’s tale of two cruises.
Tracy Arm Fjord: the ship threads the needle
Later in the itinerary the ship turned into Tracy Arm Fjord, a narrow waterway walled in by cliffs with waterfalls pouring off them. The deeper we went, the more dramatic it got: steep valley walls, hidden coves, and the sound of rushing water everywhere. This is a day to stay on deck. Every bend showed something the last one didn’t.
Hubbard Glacier: 76 miles of ice
The highlight came on a different cruise, at Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard stretches 76 miles, and as the ship closed in, the scale stopped making sense. The ice is a blue you don’t see anywhere else, and the whole ship went quiet except for cameras. How close you get, and how well the day is run, depends on your cruise line; my glacier-day comparison across three lines is in Alaska cruise pros and cons.
Why the glaciers are the reason to go
Alaska’s fjords and glaciers aren’t scenery you drive past. They’re alive, moving, calving, and changing, and a cruise ship is the only hotel that floats you up to them. If you need one reason to book an Alaska cruise, this is it. Then pick the line that gets you closest to the ice.
Keep reading: Alaska cruise pros and cons · Royal Caribbean vs Carnival to Alaska · How we found a $125 Alaska balcony
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Your turn: which glacier did your ship visit, and how close did you get? Tell me in the comments.
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