Cunard Line Returns to Alaskan Ports

Carnival's Cunard brand has announced its first cruise to Alaska ports in twenty years, with four round-trip sailings aboard the Queen Elizabeth departing Vancouver in May/June 2019.

The itineraries are scheduled to give guests more time in port, according to Josh Leibowitz, Senior VP of Cunard North America. The route will take passengers through the Inside Passage to Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka, with opportunities to visit Tracy Arm Fjord and Hubbard Glacier. 

For those with a longer voyage in mind, the Queen Elizabeth will begin her stint in Alaska with a trans-Pacific cruise, departing Tokyo on May 9, 2019 and calling Kodiak, Skagway, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria and Vancouver. 

After Queen Elizabeth's four 10-day voyages to Alaska end, she will head south to San Francisco and Los Angeles, where guests will get to spend the Fourth of July. Her route then takes her through the Panama Canal to Ft. Lauderdale, Reykjavik, Dublin, Glasgow and London – a trip of up to 49 nights on board for the full trans-Atlantic voyage. 

Some sailings include optional shoreside packages on Canada's Rocky Mountaineer passenger train, a privately owned sightseeing rail line. The Mountaineer offers service to Vancouver, Whistler, Jasper, Kamloops and Banff, among other destinations.

The 2010-built Elizabeth is the newest of Cunard's three ships, a title she is due to turn over to another vessel in 2022. Carnival has ordered a fourth hull for the brand from Fincantieri, marking the first time that Cunard will have four ships in simultaneous operation since 1998. In recent years, Carnival has also invested hundreds of millions in overhauling the ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and the cruise ship Queen Victoria.