Key Aspects:
- A landslide in the area around the Tracy Arm Fjord, which then triggered a tsunami, has made the area unsafe for cruising temporarily.
- Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas will be skipping the scenic cruising destination on August 13, 2025, and heading straight for Juneau.
- With several other ships expected to sail through Tracy Arm in the coming days, Alaska-bound cruisers should keep an eye out for possible updates.
Cruise guests looking forward to visiting Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska, will be disappointed to learn that Mother Nature had other plans.
Due to a landslide (and subsequent tsunami) that impacted Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm on August 10, 2025, Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas will have to skip her planned visit on August 13, 2025.
For context, both “Arms” are two separate (but close) waterways that branch off from Holkham Bay in Southeast Alaska.
Both destinations are also only visited for scenic cruising. Guests do not actually disembark.
“As previously announced by our Captain, there was a landslide that occurred near the Tracy Arm Fjords area yesterday, pushing an extensive amount of debris into the water,” the up to 2,490 guests onboard were notified.
Local reports show that tens of thousands of cubic meters of debris went careening into the ocean, which currently makes the area unsafe for cruise ships to navigate – and safety has to be the top priority for the cruise lines.
“The US Coast Guard has alerted us that the area still remains hazardous to navigate. As a result, we are unable to visit the Tracy Arm Fjords & Glacier,” the cruise line’s update continued.
On the bright side, the Radiance-class cruise ship’s planned call on Juneau, Alaska, which was scheduled as an afternoon call following the scenic cruising on August 13, will now be expanded to a full day in the popular city.
“We are proceeding to Juneau, Alaska, and we will now arrive at 9:00 AM instead of 2:00 PM,” Royal Caribbean confirmed.
The final port calls on Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan will also go ahead as planned before this 7-night itinerary concludes in Vancouver on August 17.
What Exactly Happened?
At about 5:30 a.m. local time on August 10, a landslide sent debris tumbling into the ocean. This was followed by localized tsunami waves that averaged at around 10 to 15 feet high.
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“We received reports this morning from the Endicott Arm area of Southeast Alaska of a local tsunami that rolled through the area just after 5:30 AM,” the Alaska Earthquake Center shared on social media shortly after the event.
“…At this point, all evidence suggests that this set of reported 10- to 15-foot high waves was set in motion by a landslide of several tens of millions of cubic meters of rock striking the water. We are working to confirm the exact location,” the post continued.
It’s also not the first time a landslide has thrown a wrench into cruising plans. Ketchikan experienced its own landslide on August 25, 2024, just about a year ago.
About a month earlier on July 23, 2024, Alaska cruisers who set off to tour the Yukon during a day in Skagway were stranded in Canada due to a major landslide.
Read Also: From Mishaps to Maydays – Cruise Ship Accidents
In this case, it’s unclear how long it will be before cruise ships can safely sail through the Tracy Arm Fjord.
With dozens of ships planning to take their own scenic tours before August ends, cruisers bound for Alaska in the near future should be keeping an eye out for updates from their cruise line.
Princess Cruises’ Discovery Princess and Holland America Line’s Westerdam are expected most immediately in Tracy Arm on August 13, but it’s unclear if they, too, will be altering course.
