Holland America Line has been sailing to Alaska since the 1940s, and for next summer it's pulling together the experiences that started it all. The new Alaska Heritage Tours collection bundles five classic excursions that the line says trace right back to its earliest days in the region, and they're bookable now on select 2027 Alaska cruises and Cruisetours.
The idea is simple: Alaska's biggest draw hasn't changed much in eight decades. Glaciers, gold rush history, wildlife and big tundra skies are what drew visitors in the 1940s, and they're what people still cross the ocean for. Holland America has updated how you see them — glass-domed rail cars, modern catamarans — but the destinations themselves are the same.
So what's actually in the collection? The McKinley Explorer Railroad takes guests through Alaska's interior on a glass-domed train, with the kind of views you'd miss from a car. The White Pass Summit Scenic Railroad climbs out of Skagway along the route stamped by Klondike Gold Rush prospectors in the 1890s. From Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier Explorer puts one of Alaska's most photographed glaciers within easy reach of the ship.
Wildlife fans get two options: a Kenai Fjords National Park cruise, where tidewater glaciers calve into the sea while whales and sea otters work the water, and the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour, which pushes deep into Denali National Park for chances at bears, moose, caribou and the mountain itself on a clear day.
The tours can be added to a range of 2027 itineraries — Alaska Cruisetours, Alaska Explorer and Inside Passage sailings, plus the longer 28-Day Legendary Alaska Arctic Circle and Glacier Discovery voyages. That last one is worth a look if you want the full sweep of the state rather than a single week in the southeast panhandle.
For travellers, the timing matters. Alaska's cruise season is short and ships sell their prime cabins early, and Holland America is one of the few lines that also operates land-based elements — trains, lodges, park tours — which makes a combined CruiseTour the easiest way to see both the coast and the interior in one trip without having to stitch together your own rail tickets and park bookings.
If you're planning an Alaska trip, it's worth deciding early whether you're a glacier person, a wildlife person or a gold rush history person — the Heritage Tours collection conveniently covers all three, and pairing one cruise itinerary with one or two of these excursions is probably the most efficient way to hit the highlights. Anyone with flexibility should also compare the Inside Passage routes against the longer Arctic Circle itinerary; the latter adds remote ports most cruise visitors never see.
Bookings for the Heritage Tours are open now through Holland America for the 2027 season.
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