This year, Seven Seas Explorer® will carry a total of 750 guests for each of its 16 seven-day journeys between Vancouver, Canada, and Whittier, Alaska. “We’ve selected this itinerary because southeast Alaska’s top destinations are close together, allowing guests to see more without long sea days,” says Wesley D’Silva, President of Regent Seven Seas Cruises®. “A typical itinerary includes iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Strait Point, in addition to scenic cruising through the Inside Passage and past Hubbard Glacier."
Each port offers something distinct: wildlife, glaciers, Gold Rush history or an immersion into the culture of Alaska Native peoples. When Seven Seas Explorer docks at Icy Strait Point, for example, guests can walk directly into the nearby Tlingit village of Hoonah. An excursion called Seafood Feast and Tribal Connections begins with a traditional tribal performance, complete with storytelling about the tribe’s history and area wildlife, and ends with a meal of classic Alaskan dishes.
"Unlike cruise lines that charge extra for onshore activities, Regent includes unlimited complimentary shore excursions like a Tlingit village feast in every port, so guests can explore deeply without extra planning or cost," says D’Silva. Other Icy Strait excursions included in guests’ fares are a trip to the Spasski River Valley observation deck to watch for bears, land otters and mink, and a hands-on class preparing and grilling locally caught fish. Between meals, guests can ride the Sky Peak Gondola up and down Hoonah Mountain and sample a flight of beers at a mountaintop brewery.
Optional adventures, involving helicopters, pontoon planes, fishing boats or off-road vehicles, are also available at most ports for an additional charge. Adventurous guests may have to pay extra to ride the mile-long zip line over an Icy Strait mountain, but the videos they’ll shoot while flying over forests at 60 miles per hour will be priceless. Guests whose Alaska dreams include walking on a glacier high above the sea can hire a helicopter in Juneau to take them there. A similar tour available in Skagway even adds an ice-top encounter with sled dogs and their puppies.
Also in Skagway, guests can pay extra to ride the famous White Pass Railway, built to carry miners and their gold out of the mountains, but there is no charge to ride the zip lines in Klondike Adventure Park or for the Klondike Rock Climbing and Rappelling Adventure.
Guests can easily explore the fishing village of Ketchikan on their own, but if they have kids along or like whimsy, Regent offers a complimentary tour on an amphibious duck vehicle that drives along village streets and into the harbor. Nature lovers may choose a guided hike through Tongass National Forest, instead.
Despite the wealth of shore trips, Regent guests’ fondest memories of Alaska may occur on board Seven Seas Explorer, where gourmet meals and premium beverages are available in the ship’s main dining room, Compass Rose, and in specialty restaurants serving French, Asian, Italian or American steak-house style food. The same meals can be served in the ship’s suites, where guests can sip champagne on their balconies while watching sheets of ice cascade off the sides of Hubbard Glacier. Passengers who dare to get even closer may opt to board a heated expedition-style boat to cruise among the floating ice chunks.
If seven days is not enough, Seven Seas Explorer offers longer roundtrip cruises to and from Seattle or Vancouver in late August and early September.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises® has been taking guests to Alaska since the early 2000s, perfecting a week-long, ultra-luxurious, all-inclusive immersion in the state’s highlights. Those seeking a more unique journey can reserve a suite now for Seven Seas Splendor’s 2028 World Cruise, which includes stops at iconic Alaska ports on its return from Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
The 2028 World Cruise — Legends of the Pacific — departs San Francisco on January 5, 2028, and returns 133 nights later. Long cruises on Regent ships book early, so any-one who yearns to sail in luxury through the winter and early spring of 2028 may want to reserve a suite now (with fares starting at about $90,000 per person and reaching nearly $1 million per person). Stops include world-class ports and rarely visited villages throughout the Pacific Ocean, including trips into the famous fjords of New Zealand and to quaint towns in Japan before reaching Alaska’s Inner Passage on the way to British Columbia and back to California.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises has consistently delivered ultra-luxury travel experiences with the very best value for over thirty years. Aboard The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet®, enjoy unrivaled onboard space, unforgettable shoreside excursions, incomparable culinary experiences, and exceptional Heartfelt Hospitality™.
Our exceptional service begins long before you step aboard. Your Personal Consultant will help you or your Travel Advisor plan your next ultra-luxury cruise vacation.
