Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth prepares to leave Juneau on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth prepares to leave Juneau on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

Lavish British ship makes maiden voyage to Alaska

Luxury cruise line returns to Alaska after 20 years, plans regular runs

On a Saturday earlier this month, the Queen Elizabeth was quiet.

The croquet court was empty. The heated relaxation beds were vacant. The Midships Bar, which serves more than 13,000 combinations of gin and fizz, was closed up. There were hardly any attendees for afternoon tea.

The passengers of the luxury ship, from the Cunard cruise line, enjoy the lavish amenities on board but also wanted to get out and see Juneau, where the ship was in port for the day.

The Queen Elizabeth, commissioned in 2010, is the third and newest ship in the British cruise line’s fleet, and made its first ever trip to Alaska earlier this month. Cunard, a cruise line that has been an innovator in comfortable cruising, hasn’t sent a ship to Alaska in 20 years, but Cunard Public Relations Manager Meryl Press said management started looking to Alaska due in part to popular demand.

“We thought this would be a great opportunity to bring the Queen Elizabeth over from Japan and do Alaska here,” Press said while giving media members a tour of the ship. “It was something that our guests really wanted, so that’s why we will be in Alaska this year, and next year and hopefully for many years to come.”

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth prepares to leave Juneau on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth prepares to leave Juneau on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

The Queen Elizabeth will make a few runs to Alaska this year (starting in Vancouver) and has already scheduled 10 trips to the state in 2020, Press said. The cruise line isn’t alone in its interest in Alaska, as a record number of cruise passengers (about 1.3 million) is expected to come to Juneau this summer.

Hardly any of those visitors will arrive in comparable style to the Queen Elizabeth. The ship includes a spa, a variety of gaming areas (including a large open-air chess set), two pools, a gym, a large theater, multiple luxury restaurants and more.

A chessboard sits atop Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

A chessboard sits atop Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

There’s particular care put into the alcohol. Each of the three ships in Cunard’s fleet has its own personalized gin, which is made of ingredients from places each ship visits. The Queen Elizabeth’s gin, for example, includes ingredients from Australia and Asia.

For this maiden voyage to Alaska, the Queen Elizabeth sailed straight from Japan, filled with tourists from Australia and Japan. Press said most trips to Alaska, based on who has booked trips this summer, will primarily include visitors from the United States, Great Britain and Canada.

Tickets go for $1,600 and up for a spot on the ship, and some services on board require additional payment. The ship carries 2,081 passengers and 1,005 crewmembers.

Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge speaks to reporters aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge speaks to reporters aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge told reporters on board that she used to sail in Alaska waters about 15 years ago, and it’s much easier now than it was then. She said the tides and the current are still a little different and challenging than most places, but ports including Juneau have made the going much easier on her.

Juneau has made significant improvements to its waterfront in the time since Thorhauge last came here — thanks in part to collecting fees from cruise passengers and using them to build better docks and facilities.

[Opinion: Cruise ship tourism is damaging our way of life]

She said that Juneau’s floating docks are a “huge improvement” from how things used to be, saying that it was difficult to get passengers off the ship. Now, because of the investment in the waterfront, that problem is a thing of the past in Juneau.

“Here we don’t even have to think about it, everybody can go in and out of the ship all day long without any issues,” Thorhauge said. “It’s phenomenal.”


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


The Grand Lobby on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth is pictured on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

The Grand Lobby on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth is pictured on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)

More in News

Kenai Vice Mayor Henry Knackstedt and Kenai City Council member Sovala Kisena share thoughts on Kenai’s parks and recreation facilities and programs during the kickoff for a development of a parks and recreation master plan in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai begins community conversation about parks and recreation master plan

The city is undertaking a yearlong process to create a guiding document for the next 20 years of outdoors and recreation development in the city.

Alaska State Troopers (file photo).
2 dead, 1 hospitalized in Nanwalek plane crash

The crash occurred near the airport Monday afternoon.

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai man pleads guilty to 2019 sexual assault

The man was arrested Dec. 4, 2019, after a person reported several injuries at a local hospital.

Economist and research analyst Andy Wink presents “State of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economy” during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District Industry Outlook Forum in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KPEDD forum focuses on borough economy, vision for future

Where most economic indicators suggest fairly good health, housing appears to be a cause for concern, according to an economist presenting at forum.

State Sen. Löki Tobin (D-Anchorage) reviews an amendment on an education bill with other senators during a break in floor debate Monday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Update: Effort to rush compromise education bill through Legislature hits snag due to ‘drafting error’

Bill returned to Senate, which passed it 19-1, to fix error in amendment; House vote expected by Wednesday

Member Tom Tougas speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Tourism Industry Working Group in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Tourism working group gets 2-month extension

In a 3-3 vote, the working group had earlier this month rejected a draft document with proposed recommendations.

Various electronics await to be collected and recycled during an electronics recycling event in Seldovia. (Photo courtesy of Cook Inletkeeper)
Cook Inletkeeper celebrates 20 years of electronics recycling

More than 646,000 pounds of electronic waste has been diverted from local landfills.

Liz Harpold, a staff member for Sen. Donny Olson (D-Golovin)​, explains changes to a bill increasing per-student education funding and making various policy changes during a Senate Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Revised education bill with $700 BSA hike gets new policy measures, advances to Senate floor

Changes easing charter school rules, adding new district evaluations fall short of governor’s agenda.

Students of Sterling Elementary School carry a sign in support of their school during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
District adopts budget with severe cuts, school closures

The preliminary budget assumes a $680 increase in per-student funding from the state.

Most Read