Another Alaska cruise misses glacier visit over issues
Scenic cruising to one of Alaska's awe-inspiring glaciers is a highlight of most every cruise to the Great Land. But glacier visits aren't happening the way some passengers expected in summer 2026.
Just weeks before the season kicked off, it was determined that unstable geological conditions resulting from a massive August 2025 landslide would prevent all cruise ships from sailing in Tracy Arm Fjord to the twin Sawyer Glaciers during the summer 2026 season. Several cruise lines were forced to cancel planned visits to Tracy Arm, but luckily, they were able to swap the destination with an equally impressive and safer alternative: Endicott Arm Fjord and Dawes Glacier.
Not every Alaska cruise was impacted by the Tracy Arm cancellations though since a limited number of itineraries get to visit sought-after Glacier Bay National Park instead, or sail to gigantic Hubbard Glacier. But as the Alaska cruise season sails ahead, unexpected issues have now caused more than one cruise to drop its glacier visit altogether.
First, Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas missed a visit to Hubbard Glacier in May after the cruise line was forced to change the ship's itinerary for operational reasons tied to a cruise terminal construction delay in Seward, Alaska.
Now in June, Holland America Line's Zaandam missed its visit to Glacier Bay, and other Alaska destinations, due to a problem with one of the ship's propulsion systems.
Doug Parker shared more details on how technical issues are impacting Alaska cruises on Zaandam, and more cruise news, on the June 10 edition of Cruise News Today.
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Alaska cruise on Holland America Zaandam cut short due to propulsion problem
Cruise News Today Transcript:
Cruise News Today with Doug Parker.
Good morning, here's your cruise news for Wednesday, June 10th.
A propulsion problem aboard a Holland America cruise ship forced the cruise ship to cancel the remainder of its cruise and head back to Vancouver early. Now, the ship developed a technical problem impacting its propulsion system and remained in Juneau for repairs before ultimately deciding to sail directly back to Vancouver.
As a result, passengers missed scheduled visits in Skagway and Ketchikan, along with scenic cruising in Glacier Bay. Holland America Line is offering guests a 50% refund of their cruise fare and a 50% future cruise credit.
Related: A wildlife lover's guide to seeing whales on an Alaska cruise
In a statement to Cruise News Today, the cruise line said, quote: "Zaandam experienced a technical issue with its port side propulsion system earlier this week."
The company added that the ship returned to Vancouver about 12 hours early to start repairs. The new cruise that starts today will remain in Vancouver for the first night as repairs continue.
SS United States ocean liner ready to become artificial reef
And the S.S. United States is moving closer to becoming the world's largest artificial reef. Okaloosa County has released new photos of the historic ocean liner, which is currently docked in Mobile, Alabama.
Now, officials say environmental cleanup and preparation work is completed and once approved, the ship will be towed about 22 miles off the coast of Florida and sunk.
It should be noted that parts of the vessel have been preserved for a future museum dedicated to the ship's history.
Port of Vancouver processes one millionth cruise passenger with facial biometric screening
And the Port of Vancouver has welcomed its one millionth cruise passenger through its facial biometric screening system less than two years after the technology was introduced.
Port officials say the system, which was launched in 2024 at the Canada Place cruise terminal, has reduced U.S. Customs processing times from several minutes per passenger to roughly 10 seconds each.
The technology uses facial recognitions to verify travelers boarding Alaska-bound ships and has helped trim embarkation down to around 30 minutes in total. The milestone comes as Vancouver expects a record-breaking cruise season with approximately 1.4 million passengers and 350 ship calls projected this year.
Related: 4 new ways to cruise to Alaska this summer
And cruise stocks were up Tuesday. Carnival Corporation: up 2.7%, 27.75. Royal Caribbean: up 3.8%, 282.26. Norwegian: up 2.6%, 19.03. And Viking: up 1.3%, 90.31.
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Have yourself a great Wednesday. I'm Doug Parker with Cruise News Today.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 10:07 AM.