Alaska cruises from Los Angeles: a short list of long trips

The list is short and the trips are long. This schedule has 7 Alaska cruises from Los Angeles, lasting 10 to 18 nights, and they leave only in late April, May and September.

If you have a week, Los Angeles is the wrong place to start. Princess's 7-day Alaska sailings leave from Seattle and Vancouver. From here, the shortest trip is a 10-night one-way that ends in Vancouver, and the round trips take 16 nights. On 2 November 2026 the lowest fare was $1,524 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed with taxes and port fees included.

Why are there so few Alaska cruises from Los Angeles?

Alaska is far from Los Angeles, and the weekly trips start much further north. NOAA's table of U.S. port distances gives Los Angeles to Ketchikan as 1,493 nautical miles, against 659 from Seattle. That is more than twice as far, one way.

Princess's release for its 2027 Alaska season shows how that plays out. It lists Seattle, Vancouver, Whittier, San Francisco and Los Angeles as homeports. Star Princess sails weekly 7-day round trips from Seattle, Emerald Princess has a full season of 7-day sailings from Vancouver, and Los Angeles gets two 16-day round trips.

The one-way trips fit that pattern. Emerald Princess's sailing of 13 May 2027 ends in Vancouver, where Princess says the ship spends the season.

Which Alaska cruises leave from Los Angeles?

Princess has most of them, on Emerald Princess and Discovery Princess, and Explora and Celebrity have the rest. All of them leave from the San Pedro side, not Long Beach.

Ship	Leaves	Nights	Type	Ends	Terminal
Emerald Princess	27 April 2027	16	Round trip	San Pedro	World Cruise Center, Berth 93
Discovery Princess	1 May 2027	14	One way	Vancouver	See below
Explora III	3 May 2027	18	One way	Vancouver	Outer Harbor, Berth 46
Emerald Princess	13 May 2027	12	One way	Vancouver	World Cruise Center, Berth 93
Emerald Princess	18 September 2027	16	Round trip	San Pedro	World Cruise Center, Berth 92
Celebrity Equinox	25 April 2028	10	One way	Vancouver	Not published yet
Emerald Princess	17 September 2028	16	Round trip	San Pedro	Not published yet

The Discovery Princess sailing needs a direct check. Cruisebound sells it, but Ports America's official schedule did not show the ship on 1 May 2027 when we read it on 1 November 2026. Confirm the date and the terminal with Princess before you book.

Ports America's schedule runs to 31 December 2027, so the 2028 terminals are not known yet. The berth can change between sailings of the same ship, as Emerald Princess shows here. Our terminal guide explains how to confirm yours, and the World Cruise Center and Outer Harbor pages cover each one.

For other cruises from California to Alaska, Princess's 2027 release lists a 10-day trip on Ruby Princess from San Francisco. This schedule covers only Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Are Alaska cruises from Los Angeles round trip or one way?

Most are one way. Of the 7 sailings, 4 end in Vancouver, and the 3 round trips are all 16 nights on Emerald Princess.

	Round trip	One way
Length	16 nights	10 to 18 nights
Ends	San Pedro	Vancouver
Days at sea	8	2 to 5
Flight home	No	Yes, from Canada
Lowest fare on 2 November 2026	$1,524	$1,548

The round trip needs no flight, which suits anyone living near the port. It also spends 8 days getting there and back. The one-way trips give that time to ports, and you pay for it with a flight home.

How long is an Alaska cruise from Los Angeles?

The round trip takes 16 nights and gives you six days in Alaska. The fastest one-way takes 10 nights and gives you five port days and two days in the Inside Passage. These day numbers come from the itineraries on sale.

• Emerald Princess, 16 nights. Days 2 to 5 at sea. Juneau on day 6, Skagway on day 7, Glacier Bay on day 8, Icy Strait on day 9, Sitka on day 10 and Ketchikan on day 11. Then a day at sea, Victoria on day 13, 3 more days at sea, and San Pedro on day 17.
• Celebrity Equinox, 10 nights. Days 2 and 3 at sea, the Inside Passage on day 4, then Icy Strait, Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan on days 5 to 9. Inside Passage again on day 10 and Vancouver on day 11.
• Emerald Princess, 12 nights. San Francisco on day 3, Victoria on day 5 and Vancouver on day 6. Then Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan on days 8 to 11, and Vancouver on day 13.
• Discovery Princess, 14 nights. Astoria, Victoria and Vancouver on days 4 to 6. Then Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan on days 9 to 13, and Vancouver on day 15.
• Explora III, 18 nights. San Diego, San Francisco, Victoria and Vancouver by day 8. Then Wrangell, Juneau, Endicott Arm and Tracy Arm, Lynn Canal, Sitka, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, then Victoria and Vancouver on day 19.

The Princess and Explora one-ways call at Vancouver partway. Their first legs are also sold as short coast trips and sit on our Pacific Coast page, so you may see the same departure twice at very different fares.

Which Alaska cruises from Los Angeles go to Glacier Bay?

Every Princess sailing here goes to Glacier Bay, and the Explora and Celebrity trips do not list it. The National Park Service says cruise ships do not dock in the park, that rangers board to narrate the visit, and that ships typically spend a full day of 9 to 10 hours in the bay. The Princess itineraries on sale show about 9 hours.

Discovery Princess also lists Hubbard Glacier, for 5 hours on day 9. Explora III lists Endicott Arm and Tracy Arm instead.

When do Alaska cruises leave Los Angeles?

They leave from late April to mid-May, and again in mid-September. No Alaska cruise on this schedule leaves in June, July or August.

The National Park Service says April, May and June are usually the driest months at Glacier Bay, and that September and October tend to be the wettest. It gives summer highs between 50 and 60°F. So a spring sailing has the better odds on rain, and the September round trips run into the wetter part of the year.

The list for 2028 is shorter than the list for 2027 so far, and the table at the end of this guide shows what is on sale today. Our season guide shows what else leaves in those months.

Why do Alaska round trips from Los Angeles stop in Victoria?

Emerald Princess's round trips call at Victoria, British Columbia, on day 13, and the Passenger Vessel Services Act is the likely reason. Celebrity says most foreign-flagged cruise ships cannot carry guests solely between U.S. ports, and it names Victoria, Canada, as a foreign call on Alaska itineraries.

Under 19 CFR 4.80a, a voyage to U.S. ports and a nearby foreign port is a violation only if you get off at a U.S. port other than the one where you boarded. Foreign ports in North America count as nearby. So you must finish in San Pedro on a round trip. Our Hawaii guide covers the same rule at Ensenada.

How do you get home from a one-way Alaska cruise?

You fly from Vancouver, and you need a passport book for that flight. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says U.S. citizens need a passport to enter the United States by air from Canada, and that passport cards are not accepted for international air travel. Our documents guide has the rest.

Princess's flight guidelines say to book no earlier than 4 hours 30 minutes after the ship arrives in Vancouver. Emerald Princess's 12-night is due in at 7:30am, which makes that about noon by our arithmetic. Other lines set their own advice.

A one-way also changes how you reach San Pedro. You will not come back to the terminal, so leaving a car in cruise parking makes no sense. Plan on a drop-off, or a night at one of the hotels near the San Pedro cruise port if you arrive from elsewhere.

How much is an Alaska cruise from Los Angeles?

On 2 November 2026 the lowest fare was $1,524 per person, and the fares by length were these. They are the lowest that day for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included.

Length	Lowest fare on 2 November 2026
10 nights, one way	$1,548
12 nights, one way	$1,837
14 nights, one way	$8,122
16 nights, round trip	$1,524 to $2,375
18 nights, one way	$12,075

The gap looks odd partly because the cabins differ. On 2 November 2026 the cheapest fare listed for the Discovery Princess and Explora III sailings was a suite, and the Emerald Princess 12-night started with an ocean view cabin. The one-way fares also leave out your flight home.