Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Cunard Line — among the biggest names in Alaska summer cruises — have added Wrangell to some of their longer itineraries.
The traditional seven-day Southeast Alaska cruises from Seattle or Vancouver, B.C., don’t leave time for adding new ports after the companies book stops among the popular destinations of Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau and Skagway, and cruising through Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm/Endicott Arm south of Juneau.
Longer cruises, however, allow the addition of new ports of call.
The companies’ 2024-2025 plans include the largest cruise ship to ever call on the community. The 3,080-passenger Ruby Princess will stop here June 10, 2025, while on a 22-day round-trip cruise out of San Francisco, according to the company’s website.
Holland America is selling cruises for 2024 that offer one stop each by the 2,106-passenger Nieuw Amsterdam (May 16, during a 14-day cruise) and one visit by the 1,964-passenger Westerdam (July 4).
The Westerman’s cruise is planned for 28 days round-trip out of Seattle to a dozen ports of call in Alaska, extending as far north and west as Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands and Nome. Rates start at more than $10,000 per person.
Wrangell is on the schedule for the Nieuw Amsterdam again in 2025, with a visit in May during another 14-day Alaska cruise.
Cunard is planning one visit to Wrangell in 2024 for the 2,081-passenger Queen Elizabeth. The ship is on the calendar for July 29, during an 11-day cruise. Cunard’s website describes Wrangell as a “lesser-visited port … one of Alaska’s oldest towns.”
Princess is marketing two stops in town for its 2025 cruises: One visit each by Ruby Princess and the 2,600-passenger Grand Princess.
“It’s certainly an opportunity,” Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director, said last week of the cruise lines’ interest in Wrangell.
She acknowledged that some residents favor seeing more cruise passengers in town, while others not so much. “The concern always will be maintaining local control,” Thomas said, ensuring that the larger ships and additional visitors don’t change the character of the community.
One challenge is “finding that threshold for Wrangell … so we don’t overrun our tour operators,” she added.
It’s also a matter of planning, such as when the Westerdam arrives July 4 next year. It will not be able to tie up at the City Dock due to the Fourth of July activities and will need to lighter its passengers to shore.
While the addition of several thousand visitors could help the economy, the community needs to be realistic as to how many ships and people it can handle, Thomas said. “Wrangell has a lot of infrastructure needs related to our ports and harbors,” limiting their capacity.
The early draft schedule for next year lists cruise ship visits with capacity for almost 30,000 passengers stopping in Wrangell May through September, the same number as this summer’s maximum passenger count.
The biggest of the lineup of ships planning stops here the next two summers is the Ruby Princess in 2025. The 951-foot-long, 19-deck ship was refurbished in 2018 and carries a crew of up to 1,200. Next in passenger count is the Grand Princess, which is scheduled to stop here May 20, 2025, on a 17-day round-trip cruise from Seattle, with nine port calls in Alaska.
"We are thrilled to be sailing to Wrangell,” Lisa Syme, Princess Cruises vice president said in an emailed statement on Monday, Sept. 18.
Holland America, Princess and Cunard are all owned by Carnival Corp., which also operates Carnival Cruise Line and Seabourn cruises to Alaska.
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