One of Alaska’s most popular cruise destinations is off-limits for the 2026 season, and the list of affected sailings keeps growing.
Tracy Arm Fjord, a narrow 30-mile passage in southeast Alaska known for its glaciers, waterfalls and wildlife, has been closed to cruise ship navigation following a massive landslide on August 10, 2025.
The slide originated above the South Sawyer Glacier near the head of the fjord, sending water surging more than a quarter mile up the opposite mountain wall. No ships were in the fjord at the time and no injuries were reported, though kayakers camped nearby lost gear to the rushing water.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the slide displaced as much as 100 million cubic meters of debris into the fjord and has warned that the area remains unstable.
Continued rockfall and smaller-scale slides from the exposed landslide scar are expected, with the potential to trigger future localized tsunamis.
163 Tracy Arm calls cancelled across five cruise lines
Here is where the cancellations stack up at the time of reporting. With MSC Cruises confirming this week that the MSC Poesia will skip all 20 of its planned Tracy Arm calls during its inaugural Alaska season, the total number of cancelled fjord visits for 2026 has reached at least 163 across five cruise lines and 11 ships.
Carnival Cruise Line has the highest number of cancellations with 53 calls cancelled across three ships: Carnival Spirit and Carnival Miracle, both sailing round-trip from Seattle with 21 calls each, and Carnival Luminosa operating from San Francisco with 11 calls.
Holland America Line follows with 46 cancelled calls across four ships. The Koningsdam, sailing round-trip from Vancouver, accounts for 24 of those, including two sailings that had Tracy Arm listed twice on the same itinerary. The Zaandam adds 19 Vancouver-based calls, while the Eurodam and Westerdam account for two and one call respectively.
Royal Caribbean has cancelled 31 confirmed calls, with the Serenade of the Seas dropping 16 calls from its Vancouver schedule and the Voyager of the Seas dropping 15 from Seattle.
Notably, the Royal Caribbean announcement covering those two ships did not address the Anthem of the Seas, which has 12 Tracy Arm calls on its Seattle schedule. Whether those sailings will also be affected has not been confirmed.
Virgin Voyages rounds out the list with 13 cancelled calls on the Brilliant Lady, sailing round-trip from Seattle.
Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier are the alternative
All cruise lines redirecting away from Tracy Arm are substituting scenic cruising at Endicott Arm, located roughly 20 miles south, with views of the actively calving Dawes Glacier.
Endicott Arm has served as an occasional backup to Tracy Arm in past seasons when ice conditions made the fjord unsafe.
The 2026 Alaska cruise season is set to begin April 21 in Ketchikan, with ships arriving in Juneau the following week.
Scientists are continuing to study the causes of the landslide and monitoring for additional hazards in the broader Tracy Arm fjord network. Whether ships will be able to return in 2027 remains an open question.
