Free Cruise Schedule Tool Helps Alaska Locals Navigate Record-Breaking 2026 Season
For Immediate Release — March 31, 2026
New Free Tool Helps Alaska Cruisers and Locals Visualize Record-Breaking 2026 Season
After falling in love with Alaska on his first cruise, independent developer Brian spent months building a better way for travelers and Southeast Alaska residents to make sense of the busiest cruise season on record — and he’s giving it away for free.
The 2026 Alaska cruise season is shaping up to be the biggest on record. Ketchikan alone expects over 1.4 million passengers across 718 ship visits. Juneau is close behind with 709 visits and nearly 1.37 million passengers. For travelers trying to plan the best days to visit and for the roughly 8,000 residents who call Ketchikan home, making sense of that volume is no small task.
The official schedule data is thorough, but it’s spread across multiple sources and formatted primarily for port operations — not for a cruiser deciding when to book or a local business owner planning their week.
“I was planning my second trip to Alaska and wanted to figure out which days would be the most crowded,” says Brian, founder of AlaskaCruiseShirts.com. “The information is all out there, but I thought there had to be an easier way to see it all in one place — for both visitors like me and the communities that welcome us.”
Brian spent the off-season compiling and organizing the data into a free, interactive tool. The Alaska Cruise Schedule 2026 covers every major Southeast Alaska port and shows:
- Daily ship counts and estimated passenger volume — see how busy any given day will be at a glance
- Port-by-port busyness indicators — quickly spot which days are packed vs. quiet
- Daily highlights and fast facts — curated info for every date of the season
- Individual ship schedules and itineraries — track any ship across all its Alaska port calls
- Countdown feature — track exactly how long until a specific port day
By the Numbers
| Port | Ship Visits | Unique Ships | Est. Passengers | Busiest Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ketchikan | 718 | 53 | 1,441,589 | May 21 (7 ships) |
| Juneau | 709 | 50 | 1,366,914 | Jun 14 (7 ships) |
| Skagway | 523 | 41 | 1,066,091 | May 14 (4 ships) |
| Sitka | 326 | 42 | 420,740 | Aug 3 (5 ships) |
| Haines | 134 | 21 | 63,130 | Jun 26 (3 ships) |
| Wrangell | 89 | 20 | 64,226 | Aug 11 (3 ships) |
| Petersburg | 56 | 8 | 7,556 | May 18 (2 ships) |
“Whether you’re a cruiser trying to pick the best day to visit Ketchikan, a shop owner figuring out when to bring in extra staff, or a resident looking for a quiet afternoon downtown — this puts all that information in one place where it’s easy to use,” says Brian.
The resource is free to the public with no registration required.
View the Alaska Cruise Schedule 2026 →
Media Contact
Brian
Founder, AlaskaCruiseShirts.com
info@alaskacruiseshirts.com