Whittier Cruise Port Guide: Terminals, Day Cruises, Transfers and the Tunnel

Whittier is a small town with two kinds of departure: large cruise ships at the cruise terminal, and the Prince William Sound day boats at the harbour a short walk away. Everything arrives and leaves the same way, by sea, by train, or by road through a one-lane tunnel that runs on a timetable. If you are joining or leaving a ship here, check which dock your line uses, book your transfer to Anchorage before you sail, and give yourself a spare tunnel opening either side of anything you cannot miss.

Quick answer

Princess and Holland America ships use the older cruise terminal in town, with the railway platform across the street. Norwegian’s newer Glacier Gateway Terminal, about a mile and a half away, was declared a total loss after a fire on September 14, 2026, so ask your cruise line which dock a 2027 sailing will use. Day cruises leave from the Cliffside Marina, where Phillips Cruises checks passengers in an hour before departure.

To get between the port and Anchorage you have four choices: your cruise line’s transfer, the Alaska Railroad, a coach or private tour, or a rental car through the tunnel. If you have a free afternoon in Whittier before or after your ship, the Glacier Quest Cruise from Whittier with Onboard Lunch ($210, 4.8/5 from 171 reviews on GetYourGuide) runs from 1:00 to 4:45 pm and is the easiest sailing to fit around a ship.

Key facts to know

The road into Whittier is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, one lane shared with the railway, so traffic takes turns.
From May 1 to September 30, cars enter Whittier on the half-hour (5:30 am to 10:30 pm) and leave on the hour (6:00 am to 11:00 pm). The toll for a car is $13, paid on the way in.
Whittier is about 60 miles from Anchorage. Phillips tells drivers to allow an hour and a half from Anchorage, tunnel wait included.
Whittier had 46 cruise ship calls in 2024; the state transport department expected 103 in 2026.
The Phillips day cruises check in at the Cliffside Marina one hour before sailing.
Your ship documents name the terminal and the boarding time. They overrule anything here.

Whittier as a cruise port

Whittier is the closest deep-water port to Anchorage, and that is why cruise lines use it to start and finish one-way Gulf of Alaska sailings. Passengers fly into or out of Anchorage and cover the last 60 miles by train or coach. The town itself is tiny: about 260 people, most of them living in one building. On a ship day the port, the railway platform, the harbour and the tunnel queue are all busy at the same time.

The same waterfront serves the day boats. Phillips sails the 26 Glacier Cruise and Glacier Quest from here, and smaller operators run Blackstone Bay trips from the harbour. Many people pass through Whittier twice in one Alaska trip: once on a ship, and once on a glacier day cruise from Anchorage.

The state transport department’s 2024 count was 46 ship calls carrying 296,300 passengers. Calls rose to 73 in 2025 after the new terminal opened, and 103 were expected in 2026. In practice that means queues: residents and visitors have complained about scarce parking, confusing signs and crowded public facilities on busy days. Plan as if the town will be full, because in July and August it often is.

Main cruise terminals

The Princess terminal is the older cruise dock in the centre of town. Princess Cruises and Holland America Line use it. The Alaska Railroad platform sits directly across the street: a paved area with a tented shelter, no station building. Holland America and Princess run chartered trains from here for their own passengers, and the public Glacier Discovery train stops at the same platform. If you have booked your line’s rail transfer, you walk off the ship, across the road and onto the train.

The Glacier Gateway Terminal opened in September 2024, about a mile and a half from the older dock, on land owned by Huna Totem Corporation. It was developed with Norwegian Cruise Line, which holds the main scheduling rights, and 2025 was its first full season. A fire on September 14, 2026 burned the dock for more than 12 hours, and the Alaska State Fire Marshal’s Office declared it a total loss two days later (Anchorage Daily News). Huna Totem has said it is too early to set a repair timeline. A Phillips catamaran moored nearby, the Klondike Express, was damaged by fire and smoke; no one was hurt.

If you are booked on a Norwegian sailing from Whittier in 2027, or any line that used the newer dock, do not assume the terminal on your booking is still the one you will use. Check your cruise documents again in the weeks before you travel. Ships may move to the Princess terminal, which changes where your transfer picks you up.

Cliffside Marina

The Phillips day cruises board at the Cliffside Marina on the Whittier waterfront. Check-in is at the Phillips office there, one hour before departure: 11:30 am for the noon 26 Glacier Cruise, and 12:30 pm for the 1:00 pm Glacier Quest. Boarding starts about half an hour before sailing. Day cruise passengers park in the town lot (Whittier Parking & Campground charges $15 a day); none of the Phillips fares include parking or the tunnel toll.

The marina is where you check in; there is no Cliffside Marina cruise to book. The two sailings that leave from it are:

The Prince William Sound 26 Glacier Cruise from Whittier ($260, 4.8/5 from 231 reviews on GetYourGuide), noon to 5:15 pm, about 120 miles out through Port Wells and Esther Passage to College Fjord, with a hot meal included. Phillips sells it from May 1 to October 10 in 2027.
The Glacier Quest Cruise, 1:00 to 4:45 pm, about 45 miles to Blackstone Bay and its two tidewater glaciers, also with a hot meal. It runs from May 15 to September 12 in 2027.

Our 26 Glacier Cruise guide covers the route and what reviewers say about it in detail.

Transfers

The 60 miles between Whittier and Anchorage are where most port-day stress comes from. These are the options, in rough order of how little you have to organise:

Your cruise line’s transfer. Princess and Holland America sell rail and coach transfers that start at the ship and finish in Anchorage. You book them with the cruise, and the line usually handles your bags. It usually costs more than doing it yourself, and you travel on the line’s timetable.
The Alaska Railroad. The public Glacier Discovery train links Anchorage and Whittier once a day in summer, stopping at the platform opposite the Princess terminal. It leaves Anchorage at 9:45 am; Phillips times its Glacier Quest rail package around it, with the return train reaching Anchorage at 9:15 pm. Check the Alaska Railroad timetable for the date you travel.
A coach or tour transfer. Phillips runs its own coaches from the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage (9:00 am out, back about 7:30 pm) for day cruise passengers. For ship passengers leaving Whittier, the Whittier Cruise Shuttle Tour with Multiple Stops ($200, 4.7/5 from 15 reviews) picks up at the cruise port and turns the transfer into a six-hour sightseeing drive: Portage Lake, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Beluga Point and Potter Marsh, then drop-off in Anchorage. It needs at least two people and takes up to 12. Fifteen reviews is a small sample, so read them before you book.
A rental car. Useful if you are carrying on into the Kenai Peninsula or staying in Alaska after the cruise. Check whether your rental company has a Whittier office or only Anchorage ones, and remember the tunnel queue on the way out.

Our guide to getting from Anchorage to Whittier by car, coach or train compares the road options and costs in more detail.

Tunnel logistics

Every vehicle leaving Whittier, cruise coaches included, goes through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. It is 2.5 miles long and one lane wide, shared with trains, so cars run in one direction at a time and each opening lasts 15 minutes. From May 1 to September 30 traffic enters Whittier on the half-hour from 5:30 am to 10:30 pm and leaves on the hour from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. From October 1 to April 30 the first opening out of Whittier is at 7:00 am, the first one in at 7:30 am, and the tunnel closes overnight all year.

Three things catch cruise passengers out:

Trains go first. The state warns that unscheduled trains can delay a car opening by 15 to 30 minutes. On a ship day there are more trains.
You queue before the opening, not at it. The Alaska transport department asks drivers to reach the staging area 10 minutes before the scheduled time. Miss the window and you wait an hour.
The toll is paid once. A car pays $13 on the way into Whittier, and that covers the return. If you are only driving out, you pay nothing.

The Whittier tunnel guide has the full timetable, every toll class and the opening to aim for on each cruise.

Before or after a cruise ship

A Prince William Sound day cruise works well on either side of a big-ship sailing, because you are already in Whittier and the day boats go into narrower fjords, closer to the glacier faces than a big ship.

Arriving on a ship: if your ship docks in the morning and your onward travel is flexible, the 1:00 pm Glacier Quest gives you a lunch and Blackstone Bay’s glaciers and still leaves time to reach Anchorage the same evening by train or road. The noon 26 Glacier Cruise also fits, but it ends at 5:15 pm and Phillips does not sell round-trip rail on it: its rail option is the coach in and the 6:45 pm train out.

Joining a ship: do it the other way round and you risk missing the ship if the day boat runs late. The safer plan is a day cruise from Anchorage a day or two before, then the trip to Whittier for boarding. If you do combine them on one day, check your ship’s all-aboard time first and leave at least an hour of margin after the cruise returns.

Either way, book the day cruise only once you know your ship’s arrival or boarding time. Ship schedules change, and day cruises sell out in July.

Luggage and timing

Big-ship passengers on their line’s transfer usually never see their bags between cabin and hotel; the line moves them. Independent travellers are on their own. Things to sort before the day:

Ask the day cruise operator whether they store luggage while you sail. Do not assume it.
Phillips’ coach transfers let you leave bags on the coach for the return, which makes them the safer choice on a day you are also changing hotels.
The Alaska Railroad publishes a baggage policy; check it before you turn up with cruise-sized cases.
Leave the evening flexible. A missed tunnel opening or a delayed train can push your arrival in Anchorage back by an hour.

For timing, work backwards from the fixed point: check-in for a day cruise, all-aboard for a ship, or the tunnel opening for a car. Then add one spare tunnel slot.

Who this article is most useful for

Cruise passengers starting or ending a Gulf of Alaska sailing in Whittier
Anyone adding a Prince William Sound day cruise before or after a big ship
Independent travellers arranging their own transfer between the port and Anchorage
Drivers picking up or dropping off cruise passengers in Whittier
Day cruise passengers who want to know where to go once through the tunnel

Practical planning checklist

Confirm your terminal and boarding time on your ship documents, and recheck them for 2027 sailings that were due to use the Glacier Gateway Terminal.
Book your transfer to or from Anchorage before you leave home.
If driving, plan around the published tunnel openings and arrive at the staging area 10 minutes early.
Budget $13 for the tunnel toll and $15 a day for Whittier parking.
Check in for a Phillips day cruise one hour before departure at the Cliffside Marina.
Ask in advance about luggage storage if you will have bags on the day.
Bring a waterproof outer layer, a warm mid-layer, a hat and gloves for the day boat.
Keep the evening after a cruise free in case the tunnel or the train runs late.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which cruise lines use the port of Whittier?

Princess Cruises and Holland America Line use the older cruise terminal in town. Norwegian Cruise Line used the newer Glacier Gateway Terminal, which was declared a total loss after a fire in September 2026. Check your cruise documents for the terminal your sailing uses.

How far is the Whittier cruise port from Anchorage?

About 60 miles by road, through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. Phillips Cruises tells drivers to allow an hour and a half from Anchorage.

Can I walk from the cruise terminal to the train?

From the older Princess terminal, yes. The Alaska Railroad platform is across the street, and cruise line trains and the public Glacier Discovery train both use it.

Can I take a glacier day cruise on the day my ship arrives?

Yes, if your ship docks in the morning and your onward travel is flexible. The Glacier Quest Cruise sails at 1:00 pm and returns at 4:45 pm, and the 26 Glacier Cruise sails at noon and returns at 5:15 pm. Check in an hour before departure at the Cliffside Marina.

Do I need a car in Whittier?

No. The cruise terminal, the railway platform and the harbour are all close together, and the day cruises sell coach and rail transfers from Anchorage. A car only helps if you are travelling on from Anchorage by road.

Do I need to book in advance?

Yes, for July and August. Book your transfer between the port and Anchorage when you book the cruise, and book a day cruise as soon as you know your ship’s arrival or boarding time.

What if the weather is rainy?

Rain is common in Whittier and the day cruises sail in it. Bring a waterproof shell and a warm layer, and stand under cover on the waterfront while you wait to board.

How much does it cost to drive into Whittier?

The tunnel toll for a car is $13, paid on the way in, and it covers the return. Parking in the main town lot is $15 a day. Neither is included in the Phillips cruise fares.

Final take

Whittier works as a cruise port as long as you plan around the tunnel and the timetable. Confirm your dock, book your transfer early, and if you have an afternoon in town, take a day boat into the fjords before you leave. Then check your exact dates against the tunnel and train schedules, because both change between summer and winter.

Whittier Cruise Port Guide: Terminals, Day Cruises and Transfers