Nieuw Amsterdam: 11-Night Alaska

Vancouver cruise port is the main gateway to Alaska, and nearly every Alaska cruise that runs the full Inside Passage route starts or ends here. The terminal is at Canada Place, a distinctive sail-shaped building right on the downtown waterfront.

Juneau cruise port is the capital of Alaska and one of the main stops on Inside Passage itineraries. The town sits on a thin strip of coast at the foot of Mount Roberts and Mount Juneau, backed by the 1,500-square-mile Juneau Icefield and surrounded by the Tongass National Forest.

Glacier Bay is not a traditional cruise port. There is no dock, no town, and no getting off the ship for most passengers.

Icy Strait Point is a privately developed cruise destination adjacent to Hoonah, a Tlingit village of about 800 people on the northern shore of Chichagof Island. Unlike most Alaska ports, this is a purpose-built cruise facility operated by Huna Totem Corporation, the local Tlingit Alaska Native corporation, meaning tourism revenue stays in the indigenous community.

Sitka sits on the outer coast of Baranof Island, facing the open Pacific rather than the protected Inside Passage. This gives it a different character from other Alaska cruise ports: more exposed, more wild, with ocean swells and offshore islands visible from town.

Ketchikan cruise port is the first major stop on most Alaska Inside Passage itineraries coming up from Seattle or Vancouver. The town sits on Revillagigedo Island in Alaska's southernmost panhandle, wedged between the ocean and steep forested mountains.

Victoria is British Columbia's capital city, situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It serves as a regular port of call on Alaska cruise itineraries departing from Seattle, typically as the first or last stop before or after the Inside Passage.