Anyone done a Cruise to Alaska in May

[texasnana]

Looking at a Los Angeles to Vancouver Alaska cruise May 7-14, 2011. Any been that early in the season? Is it still cold? Are there pros and cons of an early May cruise. The price is good and easy for us to take off then.

[OceanDreaming2]

We did a repositioning cruise on the Star in mid-May 2005 and also an Alaskan cruise on the Pearl the end of May in 2006. Both times, we had great weather, not too cool - not too hot. No rain. Pros - prices are lower; ports are getting ready for a new season. Cons - could be cooler than a mid-summer cruise, new season ... prices may be higher.

 

I'd go again in mid-May.

[Alvarado]

I can tell you one thing it is cold off of San Francisco today. At this time of the year 67 is considered really warm and it is colder as you go North. But any cruise is a good cruise. It is always warm on the ship!

[NMLady]

Looking at a Los Angeles to Vancouver Alaska cruise May 7-14, 2011. Any been that early in the season? Is it still cold? Are there pros and cons of an early May cruise. The price is good and easy for us to take off then.

 

If you go to the CC topic Ports and choose Alaska, you will find some threads discussing May weather. From what I've read, May is the driest month. We're cruising 5/17-31.

[Dipsylee]

We did our cruise to Alaska in May and we only had 1 day that was rainy. We used the pool, got plenty of sun and whenever we do another one it will be in May!

[fshagan]

We did a May cruise to Alaska in 2008, and the weather was great; a little cool when we were in Glacier Bay, but that only seemed appropriate! The week before they had some rain and fog, so I think its the luck of the draw.

 

You can tell its a sunny day when the sun glints off the sea lions. These guys came up and visited us while on a small boat whale watching tour:

 

[boaterette]

We did the repositioning cruise last year. We had 25 foot swells all the way up. It was too cold to be outside. Once we were in Alaska it was great. Nice sunny weather. I am doing it again this year on princess and hope the seas are better.

[InTheWASide]

We were on Princess last May, and while the service and staff on the ship was horrible, the weather was incredible, sunny and gorgeous everywhere and Tracy Arm was beautiful and crystal clear.

 

I've also been the first week in June the year before and there were some light sprinkles in a couple ports...

 

There's no way to fully determine what the weather will do, but I would go again on either date (just never again on Princess)

[terrymtex01]

We did our cruise to Alaska the last week of May and first week of June and thought the weather was perfect. The only rain I remember was in Juneau and it was just light sprinkles. The temp was where we needed a light jacket. The great thing about sailing that time of year for me is all the daylight. You actually get sunshine from about 4AM to Midnight. It was so strange playing in the casino until 11PM or 12PM and then going outside to sunshine.. LOL.

[joanna0627]

Were doing the mid may trip, can anyone give me a temp. range. I don't want to over pack on cold stuff and not have enjoy warm stuff. Do you think we'll need boots, scarfs and such. Thanks

 

Joanna

[MBMGWM]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! DH and I went to Alaska in late May 2006 and it was so beautiful. I did a lot of research on the Alaska board before we went and the best advice I received was to plan on layers. We brought (and used) our swimsuits, tshirts and lighter clothing, but we also used our sweatpants (we don't wear jeans) and fleece. It might sound like a lot of clothing, but it wasn't. When layering, I found we could mix and match and wear things a few times.

 

We did not carry heavy coats or boots, but I did pack earmuffs and gloves for both of us. Having those enabled us to stay out on deck more, as it could get a bit chilly with the wind and ship's movement. I don't recall the temperature range, but that probably changes from year to year. We only had a couple of drizzly mornings that gave way to sunshine, but we were prepared with our rain slickers and travel umbrellas.

 

I would go on another Alaska cruise in a heartbeat!

[mbarnaby99]

I cruised to Alaska last year on back to back sailings. I did the first two cruises of the season. I also did the first sailing of the season in 2005. I had a great time on both trips. The weather was great last year. For 14 days, we had no rain while we were in port. The crew was great and very friendly. I think maybe they were happy to have a change in scenery. Being the first of the season, the ports were not crowded yet with other ships. Most of the stops we were the only ship in port. The only time I was really cold was when the ship was at Glacier Bay but I was also out on deck all day. You just need to dress in layers and it should be fine. I also enjoyed all the hours of daylight. Since I have never been later in the season, can’t say how it would be to cruise at a later time. This is just my experience from cruising earlier. The rates are also cheaper to cruise early in the season.

[rjm1cc]

The weather will be what it is when you are there. You can look at historic numbers but you will still not know the answer. I went in May and August. The only real difference is that snow had some of the hicking trails closed in May. But if you did not want to go hicking you might not even seen snow in the areas you are in.

[cvanhorn]

We are going on the Pearl 1 May this year. For NCL it is the first cruise of the season and hopefully will be nice.

[gliles]

We went on X last year, end of May Seattle RT inside passage. I should have packed more warm weather clothing but I think it was unseasonably warm when we were there. We expected rain and such but the weather was beautiful, couldn't have been better.

[Champagne64]

Yes, it's still cold. Sees were REALLY rough from San Francisco to Seattle (first day or two) with 30 foot swells. Most people were seasick, including the captain! Husband and I were fine though. Rained the whole time, really cold once we got to the Straights. Couldn't be out on balcony the whole time, and forget the pool deck. But, it was beautiful :). Would go in July or August if I did it again!

[dunaldo]

Went 2nd week of May last year and took hooded sweatshirt, water repellent jacket, heavy sweater, sleeveless jacket (that I bought specifically for this cruise), rain gear, gloves, wool cap and didn't use/wear any of them. Only had rain part of one day.

[Cruise_More_Often]

It's going to be different every year. We were on the first Alaska cruise in 2006, and it was plenty cold. We had bought 3-in-1 jackets from Land's End, and we were soooooo glad we did. It was dry but cold in Ketchikan. We hiked in snow up on Mt. Roberts. It was really cold on the Sawyer Glacier catamaran excursion (no sun popped through the clouds the whole day). And it was rainy, very windy and very cold in Skagway. That said, when we go back to Alaska, we'll do it again in early May or in late September. We like to visit when Alaska looks and feels like Alaska and not Texas.

[newmexicoNita]

Looking at a Los Angeles to Vancouver Alaska cruise May 7-14, 2011. Any been that early in the season? Is it still cold? Are there pros and cons of an early May cruise. The price is good and easy for us to take off then.

 

I am not sure, but if the ship is leaving out of Los Angeles it sounds like this is a repor cruise that will not be a true Alaskan cruise but more like a NoWest Pacific coast cruise. We are doing this in 13 days plus we have done Alaska out of Vancouver in late May. yes, it will be cold, that is the worst part, but the scenery is still breath taking and this ships are not terrible crowded.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

We did our cruise to Alaska the last week of May and first week of June and thought the weather was perfect. The only rain I remember was in Juneau and it was just light sprinkles. The temp was where we needed a light jacket. The great thing about sailing that time of year for me is all the daylight. You actually get sunshine from about 4AM to Midnight. It was so strange playing in the casino until 11PM or 12PM and then going outside to sunshine.. LOL.

 

Terry, that is the same time we did it about 10 or 11 years ago and the weather sucked. We only had hard rain one day, in Juneau, but we actually had a few snow flurries our first day out of Vancouver..We loved the wonderful sun, the cruise itself and everything about it, except for the rough seas the last couple of days and the damn cold weather.

 

Nita

[bkgadget]

We cruised the inside passage on the first cruise of the season ( May 4th I think it was) and the weather was actually very nice. Daytime highs were in the mid-60's. We did use the pool and hot tubs during the sea days, BUT we did not do any outdoor activities in the evening. It just got too cold.

 

One sort of drizzelly day but no heavy rain at all. Whale watching was great.

 

We do plan on going again SOON !

 

Inspector Gadget

[dodecadactyl]

Was on the first sailing last year early May on the Pearl RT out of Seattle. BEAUTIFUL weather! Sunny and warm (warm for Alaska, couldn't mistake it for a Caribbean cruise, of course). Our guides for our Haines expedition commented that we lucked out big time with weather that was like mid-July. Some of our favorite memories are sitting on our balcony in looking out at glaciers in short sleeved shirts!

 

We're rolling the dice again, going on the Star this May, we loved it so much! Won't mind one bit if it's colder or rainy... we'll just get to see another side of Alaska!

 

Happy sailing!