Cruise companies to Alaska are avoiding a popular excursion to Tracy Arm after a massive landslide
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A popular part of many for years cruises in southeast Alaska sailing into Tracy Arm, a long, narrow fjord marked by steep mountains, sparkling waterfalls and calving glaciers.
However, this season major cruise companies are skipping this. Last summer’s massive landslide caused parts of the glacier to crash into the water, creating a tsunami and pushing a wave up the opposite mountain wall. Many companies opting out have cited safety concerns about the still-dangerous slopes.
“Tracy Arm is the majestic princess, you know she’s the queen of the fjords,” said travel agent Nate Vallier.
He said Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier, the alternative destination chosen by cruise and tour companies, “are still beautiful anyway, but it’s not the same.”
Tracy Arm, southeast of JuneauIt is a nearly 30-mile (50-kilometer) fjord with two tidewater glaciers (North and South Sawyer) and wildlife including seals and bears.
Early on August 10, 2025, a landslide on a slope above the headland of South Sawyer, near the head of the fjord, caused water to flow more than a quarter-mile (more than half a kilometer) into the mountain wall opposite the slide and out of Tracy Arm.
Officials said no ships were in the fjord and no deaths or injuries were reported. But most of the gear of the canoeists camped on an island near where the tributaries of the Tracy and Endicott meet was swept away by the fast-flowing water.
Southeast Alaska, largely surrounded by temperate rainforest no stranger to landslides. Gabriel Wolken, manager of the state’s climate and ice hazards program, said the failing slope was not identified as an active hazard before last summer’s collapse, although the fjord network in the Tracy Arm region has long been known to be susceptible.
He said scientists are working to understand not only what caused the hillside to collapse, but also what other dangers might exist in the fjord.
U.S. Geological Survey spokesman Steven Sobieszczyk said the region remains unstable. Steep landslide areas continue to change over the years, even after the initial slide, he said in an emailed statement.
“Rockfall and small-scale sliding from the exposed landslide scar are expected to continue and could impact water, potentially causing a local tsunami in the future,” he said.
Major cruise lines, including Holland America, Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, said in response to questions from The Associated Press that they would replace the visit to Tracy Arm with Endicott Arm. MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages and regional tour company Allen Marine are also planning Endicott and Dawes Glacier instead. Norwegian Cruise Line said it does not sail with Tracy Arm.
Endicott had previously been a stopover for some ships and an alternative when extremely icy conditions at Tracy Arm were unsafe.
Vallier, owner of the Alaska Travel Desk, said he wants cruise companies to give passengers advance notice of changes to their itineraries.
After leaving Seattle, the first cruises of the season will be in Ketchikan on April 21 and in Juneau the following week.
Seeing a glacier, especially a dynamic, calving glacier, is on the bucket list for many tourists, he said, and that’s what makes Tracy Arm so popular. While Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier is a major attraction for the capital city and cruise port, many visitors view it from across a large lake, and visibility from some hiking overlooks is reduced or receded entirely.
Kimberly Lebeda of Wichita, Kansas, was excited when she booked tickets to a trip to Tracy Arm for her family last year. Lebeda, who researched the areas he visited, said that he was amazed by the view.
But the night before the stop, they were told they would be going up Endicott instead due to ice at Tracy Arm. His family and others who had booked the trip disembarked and boarded a smaller boat with glass windows, plenty of seating and snacks. He said they saw seals on the ice floes, waterfalls and a “wall of ice” calves from the Dawes Glacier.
He called it “an incredible thing to witness.”
“Was it worth it? Yes, because I don’t know if I’ll ever make that trip again,” he said. “Again, I’ve never been to Tracy Arm so I can’t compare. But in my opinion, was it worth it and was it exciting? Absolutely.”
