JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — For years, a popular part of many southeast Alaska cruises has been the trip to Tracy Arm, a long, narrow fjord marked by steep mountains, sparkling waterfalls and cubic glaciers.
But this season, major cruise lines are skipping it. A massive landslide last summer sent parts of the glacier falling into the water, creating a tsunami and sending waves high up the opposite mountain wall. Some companies declined to participate, citing safety concerns with the slopes remaining dangerous.
“Tracy Arm is a majestic princess, you know, she’s the queen of the fjords,” said travel agent Nate Vallier.
The destination travel and tourism companies have chosen as alternatives – Endicott Arm and nearby Dawes Glacier – “are still beautiful in every way, but it’s not the same,” he said.
Tracy Arm, southeast of Juneau, is a fjord about 50 kilometers long that has two tidal glaciers – North and South Sawyer – and wildlife, including seals and bears.
Early on the morning of August 10, 2025, a landslide originated on a slope above the base of South Sawyer, near the head of the fjord, sending water rising more than a quarter mile (over half a kilometer) up the mountain wall opposite the slide and out of Tracy Arm.
Officials said there were no ships in the fjord and no deaths or injuries were reported. But kayakers camping on an island near where Tracy and Endicott met had much of their equipment swept away by the water.
Southeast Alaska, largely surrounded by temperate rainforest, is no stranger to landslides. And while it has long been known that the fjord network in the Tracy Arm region is vulnerable, the collapsed slope had not been identified as a real hazard before last summer’s collapse, said Gabriel Wolken, manager of the state’s ice and climate hazards program.
Scientists are working to understand not only what caused the slope to collapse, but also what other dangers may exist in the fjord, he said.
Steven Sobieszczyk, a spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey, said the area remains unstable. He said via email that steep landslide areas continued to change for years after the initial slide.
“Small-scale rock falls and slides from the exposed landslide scar are expected and could impact water, potentially causing localized tsunamis in the future,” he said.
Major cruise companies, including Holland America, Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, said in response to questions from The Associated Press that they would replace visits to Tracy Arm with Endicott Arm. Instead, MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages and regional cruise company Allen Marine are also doing Endicott and Dawes Glacier. Norwegian Cruise Line said it has no Tracy Arm sailings.
Endicott has previously been a stopping point for several ships and is an alternative when conditions at Tracy Arm, such as excess ice, are unsafe.
Vallier, who owns Alaska Travel Desk, said he wants travel companies to give travelers more advance notice of itinerary changes.
After leaving Seattle, the first trains of this season will arrive April 21 at Ketchikan and at Juneau next week.
Seeing a glacier — especially a dynamic, forming glacier — is a bucket list item for many tourists, he said, and it’s what has made Tracy Arm famous. While Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier is a major attraction to the capital city and cruise port, many visitors can view it from across a large lake, and it has reduced or completely hidden visibility from some hiking spots.
Kimberly Lebeda of Wichita, Kansas, was excited when she booked tickets to visit Tracy Arm for her family last year. Lebeda, who researches the areas she visits, said she enjoys the scenery.
But the night before they stopped, they were told that due to ice at Tracy Arm they would instead go up Endicott. Her family and others who had booked the tour got off the ship and boarded a smaller boat with glass windows and plenty of seating and snacks. They saw seals on ice floes, waterfalls and “walls of ice” of calves from the Dawes Glacier, she said.
She called it “a wonderful thing to witness.”
“Was it worth it? Yes, because I don’t know if I could do that trip again,” she said. “Again, I’ve never been to Tracy Arm so I can’t compare. But to me, is it worth it and enjoyable? Absolutely.”