10/31/2024
This Royal Caribbean ship will be the largest ever to combine a cruise with a Denali land tour
Ashley KosciolekRoyal Caribbean is about to take more than 4,000 passengers even farther northwest into Alaska. Starting in spring 2026, Ovation of the Seas will become the line's largest-ever ship to sail one-way voyages to The Last Frontier, offering both cruises and cruisetours — something that wasn't available to Royal Caribbean passengers before on a big ship.
The Quantum Class ship, which is part of the line's third-largest class of vessels, will replace Radiance of the Seas on weeklong one-way voyages between Seward, Alaska, and Vancouver, British Columbia. The ship will call on the ports of Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point and Sitka, Alaska. Ovation will also traverse the top part of the Gulf of Alaska between Hubbard Glacier and Seward during its sailings, opening up access to Anchorage and Alaska's interior.
For that, passengers have the option to tack on up to six additional nights for land-based exploration, featuring Alaskan destinations like Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali, Talkeetna and Alyeska. Tundra trekking and glass-dome train rides are among the excursion selections.
What's notable about Ovation of the Seas' cruisetours is that the ship dwarfs the other vessels offering one-way sailings with cruisetour add-ons. That's because most cruise lines put their biggest Alaska ships on round-trip Seattle cruises and save older, smaller ships for the one-way runs. When Ovation begins these itineraries in 2026, megaship fans who want to spend time in Alaska's interior before or after their cruise won't have to choose between their preferred ship size and their desired itinerary.
Although one-way itineraries provide travelers with a way to explore places ships can't reach, travel to and from a one-way Alaska cruise is often more expensive. That's because you'll need to book two one-way flights, including one from an Alaskan city, which can be pricier than round-trip Seattle or Vancouver flights. This can affect your bottom line if you're on a budget.
For the 2026 season, Ovation of the Seas, a regular on the Alaska cruise scene, will join 4,180-passenger classmate Anthem of the Seas and 3,602-passenger Voyager Class fleetmate Voyager of the Seas in the region. (This season will be Voyager's first sailing Alaska.) The latter two ships are set to operate weeklong sailings round-trip from Seattle. Ports of call include a mix of Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and Icy Strait Point with scenic sailing offered for Alaska's Endicott Arm Fjord and Dawes Glacier.
A fourth ship, 2,143-passenger Serenade of the Seas — a member of the Radiance Class of vessels — is scheduled to sail seven-night cruises round-trip from Vancouver during the 2026 Alaska season. Ports include Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan in Alaska and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, plus scenic sailing through the Inside Passage and to Alaska's Tracy Arm Fjord.
