Dumb question re: Inside Passage

[rnr4thatsme]

I wonder if I'm the only one getting confused... What exactly is the inside passage and how do I know if a ship passes through it?  I've read the bigger ships from Seattle don't, however, Discovery Princess June 22, 2025 and Royal Princess June 28, 2025, both depart from Seattle, are larger ships, and have the Inside Passage on the itinerary.  Norwegian Encore June 22, 2025 and Carnival Luminosa July 31, 2025, do not go through the Inside Passage, correct?  Carnival is far down on my list, but one of our party asked they be included on the vote, lol... HAL has been voted out due to their lack of nightlife.

[CruiserBruce]

The Inside Passage, as a general statement, is sailing within the islands around Southwest Alaska and Canada.

 

More specifically, what is sometimes referred to as the "true" Inside Passage is sailing east of Vancouver Island, where some of the most scenic sailing areas are. Almost all cruises going east of Vancouver Island start or end at Vancouver.

[martincath]

^What Bruce said. There's a massive length of 'inside passage', from well south of Seattle, but the crux for 95%+ of cruisers is whether or not your ship sails east of Vancouver Island.

 

Depending on the time of sunset you may not see the most spectacular parts in daylight, especially northbound, but virtually all cruises out of Seattle except the teeny-tiny US flagged ships (and any Royal class Princess ship even out of Vancouver, as BC Pilots refuse point-blank to take them Inside as their manoeuverability sucks) go outside with zero views and somewhat higher chance of rough water.

 

Visiting any of the southern Alaskan ports though you cannot avoid sailing parts of the Inside Passage - but out of Seattle on a mainstream or even luxury ship with more than a couple of hundred pax you are going to have at least one sea day with nothing to see whatsoever.

 

Of course, if your party are the kind of folks who will be in the bars, casino etc. rather than looking out at the scenery it won't matter!

[Paula_MacFan]

This Princess map shows the route taken by their larger Royal class ships vs the other smaller ones. Due to size they sail west of Vancouver Island vs east. See the map key and black dotted line. If you want to sail east of VI then look into the smaller ships doing one way itineraries to/from Vancouver vs round trip from Seattle.

[SoloAlaska]

Simplest answer of what’s traditionally referred to the Inside Passage is sailing between Vancouver Island and BC mainland. It is absolutely beautiful on both sides and can be quite about of sealife spotting. Saw whales, dolphins, seals, etc is part of why people sail to Alaska for. Sitting with a cocktail and watching the mountains go by is what makes these cruises so special and some of this best relax time is in the Inside Passage.

[Heidi13]

On 1/22/2024 at 9:12 AM, rnr4thatsme said:

I wonder if I'm the only one getting confused... What exactly is the inside passage and how do I know if a ship passes through it?  I've read the bigger ships from Seattle don't, however, Discovery Princess June 22, 2025 and Royal Princess June 28, 2025, both depart from Seattle, are larger ships, and have the Inside Passage on the itinerary.  Norwegian Encore June 22, 2025 and Carnival Luminosa July 31, 2025, do not go through the Inside Passage, correct?  Carnival is far down on my list, but one of our party asked they be included on the vote, lol... HAL has been voted out due to their lack of nightlife.

 

The "Inside Passage" runs from Olympia to Skagway along the WA, BC and Alaska coastline. Most of it is sheltered waters, but a few sections are open to the Pacific:

 - top end of Vancouver Island, until inside at Calvert Island

 - Seaforth Channel, until inside at Swindle Island

 - Dixon Entrance, which is the Canada/US Border

 

Unfortunately, sailing from Vancouver these days, most ships only transit Johnston Strait, which is the narrow channel between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. Once clear of Vancouver Island, they head up Hecate Strait, which is open waters. Most pax now believe Johnston Strait is the Inside Passage, as that is what the cruise lines are promoting.

 

When I worked Alaska Cruise seasons, we sailed the entire Inside Passage from Vancouver to Skagway, which has amazing scenery. Sadly, the only way to see these waters these days is to take a BC and Alaska State Ferry.

 

Ships based in Seattle sail West of Vancouver Island, up the Pacific Ocean, so see even less of the Inside Passage. However, northbound cruises from Vancouver, while they transit Johnston Strait, very few pax actually see the scenery, as it is dark. Even in late June, it is dark before Campbell River and not daylight until entering Queen Charlotte Sound.

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

Agree with my CC friends - your round trip Seattle based cruise ship will not travel thru the beautiful narrow passage between the eastside of Vancouver Island, and the Canadian mainland.

 

I have experienced sailing between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland during daylight hours once, and it was so beautiful.  Ironically, it was on a ship sailing from Seattle.  It was late Sept 2021, the first season after the pandemic.  It was Celebrity Millennium.   There was a very strong storm off the coast of Washington and Vancouver, BC, and our ship Captain asked for, and received permission to sail thru the Inside Passage.  Our friends & neighbors were sailing that same day on the much larger RCI Ovation OTS and had to sail on their normal route on the west side of Vancouver Island and into some very rough seas.  On our cruise, we woke up while sailing thru the Inside Passage and I remember how amazing narrow passage was, and how beautiful it was.  

 

This past May '23 we were on a Celebrity ship out of Vancouver, and I was so looking forward to sailing the Inside Passage, but sadly the ship sailed thru it during the pre-dawn hours, so couldn't experience the beauty of it.

[daisydawg]

My mother-in-law wants to cruise the Inside Passage. It really limited our options. We settled on a round trip from Vancouver on Princess. As the previous posters stated, make sure you are NOT on a Royal class ship.  We’re supposed to go through the Inside Passage on our way back, and I suspect we’ll sleep through at least part, if not all of it. Lol. I kind of wish I had pushed back a little on the Inside Passage thing (it would have been much easier and cheaper to fly to Seattle than Vancouver for us), but we wanted to make her happy.

 

There is a benefit of sailing from Vancouver aside from the Inside passage thing. Generally, the Vancouver itineraries have more time in the various ports than the Seattle itineraries.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, daisydawg said:

My mother-in-law wants to cruise the Inside Passage. It really limited our options. We settled on a round trip from Vancouver on Princess. As the previous posters stated, make sure you are NOT on a Royal class ship.  We’re supposed to go through the Inside Passage on our way back, and I suspect we’ll sleep through at least part, if not all of it. Lol. I kind of wish I had pushed back a little on the Inside Passage thing (it would have been much easier and cheaper to fly to Seattle than Vancouver for us), but we wanted to make her happy.

 

There is a benefit of sailing from Vancouver aside from the Inside passage thing. Generally, the Vancouver itineraries have more time in the various ports than the Seattle itineraries.

 

Seattle is about 100 miles further from Alaska than Vancouver, and the Seattle ships also have to stop at a Canadian port. They have 2 options for making up the time - Increasing speed significantly increases fuel costs, so the cruise lines reduce the time in port.

[libtrek]

Bless your MIL. I would do the Vancouver route any day to get the longer times in port and less open ocean time. My favorite picture is in the inside passage with the tug boat pulling the chain of houses. With what I’m pretty sure was an outhouse on the last float. Wish I could find my picture. ML

[daisydawg]

1 hour ago, libtrek said:

Bless your MIL. I would do the Vancouver route any day to get the longer times in port and less open ocean time. My favorite picture is in the inside passage with the tug boat pulling the chain of houses. With what I’m pretty sure was an outhouse on the last float. Wish I could find my picture. ML

Hopefully my MIL will get the views she wants! It’s a bucket list trip for her.

 

I know there are advantages to leaving from Vancouver. We have to plan around my teenagers’ busy sports schedules and my husband’s job. It was more difficult for us to make it work, and we had to give up Glacier Bay for Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier. I’m sure it will be a great trip, and it’s a special opportunity for my children to travel with my husband’s parents.