Endicott Arm in brief
Two fjords share one front door. Holkham Bay opens off Stephens Passage, about 50 miles south of Juneau, and splits in two — Tracy Arm to the north, Endicott Arm to the south.
Both sit inside the Tracy Arm–Fords Terror Wilderness, set aside by Congress in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Wilderness Connect puts it at about 656,000 acres, with permanent ice over roughly a fifth of it.
The Forest Service’s Juneau Ranger District is the office to ask for maps and information.
Endicott Arm runs about 30 miles. Holland America describes the water turning from gray to jade as the walls close in, waterfalls coming off the peaks, and Dawes Glacier appearing around a final bend — roughly 600 feet tall and about a mile across, by the line’s figures.
So why is everyone suddenly going here?
Early on August 10, 2025, a slope high above South Sawyer Glacier, near the head of Tracy Arm, gave way. AP reported the wave ran more than a quarter-mile up the opposite wall and back out the fjord.
No ships were inside. Nobody was hurt.
But the US Geological Survey told AP that “continued rockfall and small-scale sliding from the exposed landslide scar are expected,” and that it could set off another localized tsunami.
The cruise lines read that the same way.
Holland America told guests it was replacing Tracy Arm with Endicott Arm “due to ongoing ice and geological conditions.” Carnival’s letter said the waterways were “currently not suitable for cruise ship navigation.” Royal Caribbean cited “a recent landslide and ongoing navigation safety concerns.”
That’s a safety call, not a scenery downgrade by choice — and Endicott Arm had already served as a backup when ice made Tracy Arm unsafe, AP noted.
Is it the same view? No.
A Juneau travel agent told AP it’s “still beautiful by any means, but it’s just not the same” — while Carnival’s letter rates the scenery every bit as highly. Both can be true.
Go in expecting a glacier day, not a specific glacier, and you’ll enjoy it.
Where to watch from
One 2027 Celebrity Edge schedule we read has the ship in the fjord from 5:30 a.m. — early, but the narrowing walls and first ice come on the way in, not at the glacier. Ask whether your ship opens a forward deck, then set an alarm.
For most of the 30 miles, waterfalls, goats on the ledges and eagles in the spruce can turn up on either rail. An upper open deck lets you cross sides in a minute — a balcony doesn’t.
Holland America says the bergy bits grow bigger and thicker the deeper you go, with harbor seals — and in spring, pups — resting on them. A lower promenade puts you closer to the water, and binoculars beat a phone here.
Ships move in close enough to watch Dawes calve, by Holland America’s account, and the line says it cracks and rumbles. Keep your spot at the forward rail — the ship has to turn around up here, so let it do the turning.
In a dead-end fjord, each side faces one wall going in and the other coming out — our reading, since no line we read promises a side. Don’t overpay for a cabin over one morning; go to the open deck for the glacier.
Once the ship turns for home, Dawes falls behind it, and the aft deck is where you keep it in view. Grab something warm first — the wake through the ice is worth standing in the cold for.
What you’ll see
Dawes is the one you came for. Holland America and Princess both describe it as actively calving, and the ice floating down the fjord is mostly its work.
Fords Terror is a narrow side channel off Endicott Arm, named, by Wilderness Connect’s account, for a Navy crewman who rowed in in 1899 and got stuck there for six hours in the tidal rush. Big ships don’t go in — it’s a kayak and small-boat place.
The wildlife list from Wilderness Connect, Princess and Holland America runs long: seals, goats, bears, wolves, deer, whales, eagles. Treat it as possible, not promised.
Scan the ice floes for seals and the cliff ledges for goats — that’s where to look first.
Which sailings include it
Endicott Arm usually takes one morning of a 7-night Inside Passage round trip from Seattle or Vancouver, next to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.
2026. AP reported in April that Holland America, Carnival and Royal Caribbean were replacing Tracy Arm with Endicott Arm, with MSC and Virgin Voyages heading here too — and that Norwegian had no voyages past Tracy Arm.
Cruise Critic adds Princess to the lines that cancelled all their 2026 Tracy Arm visits. Carnival named Spirit, Miracle and Luminosa; Royal Caribbean named Serenade and Voyager of the Seas.
2027. Royal Caribbean’s October 2025 announcement puts Endicott Arm on Voyager of the Seas from Seattle, and Cruise Passenger reports Quantum of the Seas too.
Princess’s August 2025 release lists it for Coral, Crown and Discovery Princess from Vancouver, Ruby Princess from San Francisco, and Emerald Princess (Glacier Bay or Endicott Arm).
Third-party listings show it on a May 2027 Koningsdam sailing and a June 2027 Celebrity Edge sailing.
Carnival’s 2027 Luminosa itineraries were announced in July 2025 with Tracy Arm on them — before the slide. We haven’t seen whether that’s changed.
One-way Gulf of Alaska sailings in the 2027 releases we read lean on Glacier Bay (Princess’s Voyage of the Glaciers) or Hubbard Glacier (Royal Caribbean’s Anthem) instead — check your own day-by-day, not a brochure. The whole region is mapped in Alaska Cruises, Decoded.
Getting closer from Juneau
You don’t need to book anything for this day. The ship does the work.
Want to go deeper than a big ship can? There’s a small-boat version, sold out of Juneau.
Holland America’s Juneau listing, “Tracy Arm Fjord or Endicott Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer,” starts at $359 and says all 2026 departures go to Endicott Arm. It runs about 8.5 hours in 2026, skips Tuesdays, and uses a jetboat with a heated cabin, a restroom and a naturalist.
Allen Marine sells its own version from Juneau — also about 8.5 hours, also Endicott Arm for 2026. If ice blocks the way in, it may switch to wildlife viewing.
Neither one is wheelchair accessible. Allen Marine notes 3 to 5 steps to board and up to 100 yards of walking, depending on where your ship ties up.
Two catches. You need a Juneau call long enough for 8.5 hours on the water — and if your ship already cruises Endicott Arm that week, you’d be seeing Dawes twice.
Princess also lists two catamaran tours under its Endicott Arm scenic-cruising stop — about three hours from $269.95 and six hours from $359.95. Its page doesn’t explain how they connect to the ship, so ask Princess before you book.
Everything else for a Juneau day — the Mendenhall Glacier, whales, the tram — is in our Juneau shore excursion guide.
Best Juneau shore excursions
Docking in Juneau the same week? Here’s what to book for the port day itself — and how to fit it around a fjord morning.
See the Juneau excursion guide →Practical notes
If your documents say Tracy Arm, here’s what that means.
Most likely, no action on your part. Holland America says it told affected guests; Carnival sent a letter and said its website would change within 24 hours.
Royal Caribbean said prepaid excursions it sold would move to new times where possible, or cancel with a full refund.
Booked a tour yourself? Royal Caribbean told guests to reconfirm with the operator — good advice on any line.
Older confirmations, marketing emails and 2027 listings may still say Tracy Arm.
Check the day-by-day in your cruise app the week you sail — that’s the plan, not the PDF from booking day.
Times are a schedule, not a promise.
On the 2027 listings we read, Celebrity Edge is in the fjord 5:30 to 10:00 a.m. before a 1:30 p.m. Juneau arrival; Voyager of the Seas 7:00 a.m. to noon the day after Skagway; Koningsdam 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Those times come from a third-party itinerary site, not the lines.
Ice, fog and the captain decide how far up the fjord you get. Wilderness Connect warns that floating ice, sometimes the size of a three-story building, often blocks the ends of these fjords in summer.
If the ship stops short of Dawes, that’s seamanship, not a refund trigger — we found no line that promises the glacier face.
Dress for the glacier, not for Juneau.
NWS Juneau says summer nights often drop into the 40s, and 70°F counts as warm. Holland America notes it gets colder the deeper you go.
The weather office calls April to June the dry stretch, with cloud and steady rain arriving in July.
Layers, a windproof and waterproof shell, a hat and gloves — the same list Holland America gives for its small-boat tour. Bring the gloves even in August.
Passports aren’t an Endicott Arm question.
The fjord is US wilderness and you don’t land, so there’s no border check here.
Your documents depend on the rest of the trip — Vancouver, Victoria or another Canadian stop. Follow your line’s rules for the whole sailing.
Accessibility on the ship.
No line page we read publishes deck-by-deck viewing access for this fjord. Ask your line which open decks have elevator access and covered rail space before sailing, and book a balcony cabin if deck crowds are a problem.
Sources: Wilderness Connect’s Tracy Arm–Fords Terror Wilderness page (wilderness.net), which refers visitors to the US Forest Service Juneau Ranger District; the Tongass Forest Plan map (fs.usda.gov); Holland America’s Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier page and its Juneau “Glacier Explorer” excursion listing (hollandamerica.com); Princess’s Endicott Arm destination and excursion pages and its August 11, 2025 Alaska 2027 release (princess.com); Seabourn’s Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm page (seabourn.com); Royal Caribbean Group’s October 22, 2025 Alaska 2027 release (rclinvestor.com); Allen Marine’s Endicott Arm tour page (allenmarinetours.com); NWS Juneau’s Summer Climate Guide (weather.gov); AP’s April 2026 report via the Anchorage Daily News; TravelPulse (March 17, 2026), Cruise Hive (March 24 and April 7, 2026; July 24, 2025), Cruise Industry News (April 2, 2026), Cruise Critic (April 17, 2026, updated October 9) and Cruise Passenger (October 2025); and Jetsetter Guide’s 2027 itinerary listings for timings — all read October 20, 2026. We couldn’t find a current Forest Service web page for the wilderness itself, and no source we read says whether Tracy Arm reopens to big ships in 2027.
Planning a sailing with Endicott Arm?
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Tell us your sailing. Seabound Journeys will check whether it goes to Endicott Arm or Tracy Arm, what time the fjord day falls, and whether the Juneau small-boat tour fits your schedule.
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Endicott Arm FAQ
Is Endicott Arm the same as Tracy Arm?
No — they’re neighbors, branching off Holkham Bay south of Juneau inside the same wilderness.
Tracy Arm ends at the Sawyer Glaciers. Endicott Arm ends at Dawes Glacier.
In 2026 the big lines sent ships to Endicott Arm instead of Tracy Arm, after the August 2025 landslide near South Sawyer Glacier.
Do cruise ships still go to Tracy Arm in 2026?
Not the major lines, in the reports we read.
AP named Holland America, Carnival and Royal Caribbean as switching to Endicott Arm, with MSC and Virgin Voyages going there too; Cruise Critic adds Princess. Norwegian told AP it had no voyages past Tracy Arm.
For 2027, no line we read has said whether Tracy Arm comes back.
Can you get off the ship in Endicott Arm?
No. It’s scenic cruising — the ship sails in, turns at the glacier and sails out, with no dock or tender.
The way to get closer is a small-boat tour from Juneau on a separate port day.
What time does the ship reach Endicott Arm?
It depends on the sailing. 2027 listings we read show 5:30 to 10:00 a.m. on a Celebrity Edge sailing before Juneau, 7:00 a.m. to noon on Voyager of the Seas and 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Koningsdam.
Check your own day-by-day in the line’s app — ice and weather can change it on the day.
Which side of the ship is best for Dawes Glacier?
Neither, reliably — the ship has to turn to leave, so each side gets its turn. That’s our reading, not a line policy.
For the glacier face itself, head for the bow or an open upper deck.
What happens if it’s foggy or the ice is too thick?
The captain decides how far in to go. Wilderness Connect notes floating ice often blocks the ends of these fjords in summer, so stopping short of Dawes is possible.
Allen Marine’s small-boat tour says it may switch to wildlife viewing if ice blocks the way.
Do I need a passport for Endicott Arm?
Not for the fjord — it’s US wilderness and nobody lands.
Your document rules come from the rest of your itinerary, including any Canadian port, so follow your cruise line’s requirements for the whole trip.
What should I wear for Endicott Arm scenic cruising?
Warm layers, a windproof and waterproof jacket, a hat and gloves — plus binoculars.
NWS Juneau says summer nights often dip into the 40s, and Holland America notes it gets colder deeper in the fjord.
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