1,000 miles southeast from Nome, the ice-free port of Juneau received its first cruise ship of the season Monday. In the Bering Sea, sea ice is slowly retreating north, making way for research and leisure ships to safely transit the region in just two month’s time.
There are eight cruise port calls scheduled for Nome this summer, down from 11 last year.
The season starts with Holland America’s MS Noordam, a sister ship of the MS Westerdam that visited Nome the last two summers. Like its sister, the Noordam has a capacity of 1,984 passengers and will anchor offshore then carry passengers to and from the shore with small tenders. The ship will briefly transit the Bering Strait to dip its toes in the Arctic Circle the day before arriving in Nome on June 18.
There are no cruises currently scheduled for the month of July.
A common visitor to the Port of Nome, the MS Roald Amundsen, is scheduled to arrive in Nome on Aug. 11. The Hanseatic Inspiration will anchor offshore of Nome on Aug. 13, followed by the National Geographic Resolution on Aug. 20.
The following week, the 264-passenger Seabourn Venture is scheduled to arrive on Aug. 25. A Veranda Suite aboard the 34-day luxury cruise was listed for $51,499. From Nome, the Seabourn Venture will head to Anchorage, then return to Nome on its way back to the Northwest Passage. Its second and final Nome port of call for the season will be Sept. 2.
The Roald Amundsen’s sister ship, MS Fridtjof Nansen, is scheduled to visit Nome on Sept. 7, followed by the season’s smallest cruise, the Greg Mortimer, on Sept. 16. The Greg Mortimer has a capacity of just 126 passengers.
In addition to the cruises, the Port of Nome typically hosts a number of research ships. The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) produces an overview of such vessels. It plans on holding a webinar May 14 to discuss the 2026 field season. An updated online calendar will be added to the IARPC website this spring.
