As September 2024 draws to a close, some travelers may be wishing they’d taken an Alaskan cruise this past summer. But while the season in America’s Last Frontier is over for most cruise lines, it’s the perfect time to get excited about a luxurious Silversea Alaska vacation in 2025.
This week, the ultra-luxury cruise line released a few fun factoids about its 19-voyage Alaska season. The end-of-season roundup provided tidbits about what guests sailing on the 728-passenger Silver Nova experienced between May and September 2024.
The best “takeaway” is that travelers can enjoy similar Alaska vacation experiences next summer. And Silversea will have two ships in The Great Land in 2025 — Silver Nova and Silver Moon.
(In the photo above, whales are seen “bubble feeding” outside Juneau, Alaska. Photo © State of Alaska/Reinhard Pantke.)
Silversea Alaska: Wildlife and Exploring
Silver Nova’s guests enjoyed numerous wildlife sightings throughout the 2024 season. Yes, they spotted bears, bald eagles and whales. They also viewed cute sea otters, jumping salmon and other wild critters.
Each voyage included at least four ports of call and cruising to the Hubbard Glacier and along the Inside Passage. If you go to Alaska on Silversea, you won’t have just three or four experiences to choose from in a port, typically. A good example? In Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, Silver Nova’s guests traveling this past summer chose from 30 different shore excursions.
They also selected from 22 different shore experiences in Skagway, 21 in Sitka, and 32 in Ketchikan. In total, Silversea offered more than 100 different shore excursions throughout the season.
Silversea Alaska: Wining and Dining
Throughout the Alaska 2024 season, Silver Nova’s guests also consumed some 10,000 bottles of champagne! On board the ship, they dined in multiple, elegant restaurants and socialized in many bars.
In addition, guests took nearly 200 S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste) Lab classes aboard the ship. For instance, guests on some cruises learned three different ways to prepare salmon. They received salmon recipes and insight from “The Salmon Sisters” — Emma Teal Laukitis and Claire Neaton. Those Alaska ladies are experts in everything local related to fish and seafood.
“If you sail within Alaska on Silver Nova in 2025, you’ll also discover a wide variety of incredible, curated cuisine,” says Shelby Steudle, president, Pavlus Travel. “Thanks to the creative S.A.L.T. program, travelers might taste dishes created with such local ingredients as spruce tips, wild sockeye salmon, prawns, fiddlehead ferns, saskatoon berries and more.”
S.A.L.T. Chef’s Table
During this past summer, for example, the ship’s S.A.L.T. Lab transformed nightly into the S.A.L.T. Chef’s Table. That’s an intimate, interactive dining experience first introduced on Silver Nova in 2023.
Throughout an Alaska cruise, guests might order such delectable local dishes as these:
- Cured duck breast with traditional Alaskan frybread and tangy redcurrant jam
- Alaskan salmon pie
- Venison ravioli with wild mushrooms
- And, of course…. iconic Baked Alaska!
But what about local drinks? This past summer, Silversea’s mixologists in the S.A.L.T. Bar served up many “Gold Fever” cocktails, inspired by the late 1800s Klondike Gold Rush.
As for a nonalcoholic choice, some guests opted for “Peace & Thunder,” a tribute to the Alaska’s Malaspina Glacier. Plus, patrons could order other regional beverages.
Silversea Alaska: Enrichment and Entertainment
Throughout the course of the 2024 Alaska season, Silversea fielded a strong Alaska enrichment program. More than 120 lectures provided insight about Alaska’s indigenous people, culture, heritage, ecology and wildlife.
Entertainment-wise, the Juneau Alaska String Band, a family of musicians, performed. Their 16 performances on board in summer 2024 highlighted Alaska’s history and folklore.
As for the journey itself, Silver Nova sailed more than 32,000 nautical miles on 19 voyages during the 133-day Alaska season. That’s a lot of water territory! Guests sailed an average of 1,685 nautical miles per cruise.
So, Alaska visitors, whether they’ve just returned or are planning to travel to the 49th U.S. state next year, can truly call themselves an explorer. An Alaska cruise is a grand adventure!
Steve McCurry Photography
One passenger who sailed on Silver Nova in August was acclaimed photographer Steve McCurry. He’s worked with Silversea for many years in capturing the beauty of destinations in photographs.
Now, 30 of his best photos grace Silver Nova‘s interior in an exhibition to celebrate the line’s 30th anniversary. The images reflect Silversea’s most important destination milestones over the decades. The photographs are also available for guests to enjoy on Silver Ray, the sister ship that launched this year.
During his time in Alaska, the iconic photographer captured both the beauty of the ship and the region of sailing. “On my journey through Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, and Skagway, I sought to capture the raw beauty and spirit of Alaska’s untouched wilderness,” emphasizes McCurry.
He adds that the region’s landscapes and wildlife “possess a rugged, timeless quality that I hoped to convey in my images.” Certainly, much of Alaska’s landscape is untouched as far as the eye can see.
“From the majestic mountains to the quiet moments of wildlife in their natural habitat, I wanted to tell a story of nature’s resilience and grandeur,” he says. Plus, the photos reflect the connection between the land, the animals, and the people who inhabit America’s Last Frontier.
Silversea Alaska: Shoreside Experiences
So, if you’re considering a 2025 Alaska cruise next summer, what kinds of shore excursions are available? For McCurry and other Silversea’s guests going ashore in Ketchikan this year, one “must do” choice was an exhilarating floatplane ride.
Those travelers had a bird’s eye view as their plane soared along the waterfront, continuing over the Tongass Narrows through Misty Fjords National Monument. They gazed at soaring granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls and glacial lakes. Some spotted eagles, mountain goats, whales or sea lions.
Elsewhere in Alaska, many of Silver Nova’s guests arriving in Juneau, visited the Mendenhall Glacier and then headed for whale watching in Stephens Passage.
“Others going ashore in Juneau relived the spirit of the 1880s Gold Rush,” says Pavlus Travel’s Steudle. “With a skilled Iditarod dog musher directing a team of Alaskan Huskies, the cruise guests rode in a specially designed, wheeled “dogsled-like” cart. What fun!”
Also in Juneau, a half-day S.A.L.T. excursion took guests to the McCaulay Salmon Hatchery and also the Forbidden Peak Brewery and its Red Spruce Restaurant. That was topped off with a lunch of local kelp salsas and Alaskan seafood, prepared by a renowned local chef and paired with local beers.
On another Juneau excursion, guests went “flightseeing” over the Juneau Icefield to view five glaciers; that was followed by a traditional Alaskan salmon meal at the historic Taku Glacier Lodge.
Sitka and Skagway
In Sitka, many guests this year booked Silversea’s “Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest.” On that excursion, they spotted grey whales early in the season and bears along the shoreline late in the season.
As the ultra-luxury ship called at Skagway, many travelers took a ride on the White Pass Scenic Railway. Other guests explored the Chilkat Valley including time in remote Haines.
Silversea’s excursions from Skagway also offered opportunities for spotting seals, sea lions, porpoises, and whales in the wild. Some guests visited the world-famous Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, a river cruise and a picnic lunch on a remote beach.
Silversea Alaska: Summer 2025
If you’d like to experience Silversea in Alaska next summer check out the 2025 departures.
Yes, Silver Nova will return to Alaska from May through September, giving guests an opportunity to sail on the line’s newest class of ship. Once again, itineraries will include such ports as Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan.
Plus, guests will visit some less-visited ports; those might include Valdez, Icy Bay, Icy Strait Point, Wrangell and Haines.
In one example, Silver Nova will depart on seven-day Vancouver-to-Seward sailing on May 8, 2025. At press time, pricing started at $7,400 per person, double occupancy (port to port fare) or $10,200 per person, double occupancy (the line’s more inclusive, door-to-door fare).
Desire a longer vacation? Silver Nova also operates 14-night cruises roundtrip from Vancouver.
Did you know that Silver Nova is 40 percent more energy efficient than required international standards and regulations? That’s a fact.
As for creature comforts, guests sailing on that ship will discover new Otium spa and wellness experiences, plus S.A.L.T. culinary program enhancements. The ship also has a unique horizontal layout.
In particular, guests will discover a lighter, airier interior feel to the ship. It sports 43,000 square feet of exterior glass. Plus, there are several new outward-facing venues including the S.A.L.T. Bar.
Silversea Alaska: Another Alaska Ship
The 596-passenger Silver Moon will also cruise Alaska from May through September 2025. Seven-day voyages from Seward-to-Vancouver or in reverse will spend a day cruising in Hubbard Bay and the Inside Passage. Ports of call will include Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan.
Pricing for a seven-day Silver Moon voyage departing July 24, 2025, starts at $4,500 per person, double occupancy (port to port) and $6,400 per person, double occupancy (door to door).
More About Alaska
It’s good to know that Silversea’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, supports communities across Alaska. One interesting pilot program that launched last month is helping increase access to high-speed Internet across Juneau.
Created in partnership with Alaska native corporation Goldbelt, the program has deployed Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency Internet for use by locals, vacationers and businesses across the city.
In addition, earlier this month several Starlink terminals were also deployed to Sitka. During that destination’s widespread Internet outages this past summer, the partnership helped local residents with some Internet coverage.
For more general information on Silversea’s 2025 Alaska voyages, please visit the line’s official website page.
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