First time to Alaska

[travelforfun22]

I am looking at booking on Radiance of the Sea and have a few questions:

 

1. Looking at either leaving 5/15, 5/29, or 8/21. Is there a big difference in weather for these dates? How about wildlife? What would we be able to do/see differently leaving May vs. August?

 

2. Is paying the extra worth having a Balcony room vs. Ocean view?

 

3. Anyone who sailed on other cruise lines to Alaska? Is RC better/worse than NCL or Princess?

[papaflamingo]

I am looking at booking on Radiance of the Sea and have a few questions:

 

1. Looking at either leaving 5/15, 5/29, or 8/21. Is there a big difference in weather for these dates? How about wildlife? What would we be able to do/see differently leaving May vs. August?

 

2. Is paying the extra worth having a Balcony room vs. Ocean view?

 

3. Anyone who sailed on other cruise lines to Alaska? Is RC better/worse than NCL or Princess?

 

Wow... really subjective.

I did my first Alaska cruise last May. The weather was SPECTACULAR!!! Now, be advised, it was forecast to rain everyday and be low 50's. But it turned out sunny every day and mid to high 60's. Calm seas and clear skies. Really couldn't have asked for better weather. But it's truly hit and miss.

Balcony....worth it? OH HECK YEA! But, we had a stern balcony so our view was uninhibited going and coming. We were a party of 10 and we all gathered on our balcony (lot's of extra room) when we went into Tracy Arm to see the glacier. The Capt. spun the boat a number of times and we just enjoyed the view. So my advice, get a stern balcony. If not available, see which side the shore will be on during the day and get that side. Totally worth it!

May or August? Well, we did May and loved it. But who knows?

RCCL, Princess, or NCL? We are D+ and get free happy hour on RCCL. So, no brainer. I'd pick the itinerary and price that works best for you. It's all good.

Enjoy the cruise. Alaska is beautiful!

[kitkat343]

We sailed in late May/early June since I was TTC, and we wanted to sail as early as possible in the season. The big advantage to this time of year is it is the driest of all the Alaska tourist season. The downside is that you should bring a lot of layers, as it might be cold. As it turned out, the weather for the whole trip was quite warm and we were very lucky. The two downsides to May/early June are: you will miss the salmon spawning season (and thus the bears that follow them, although you may see bears in other spots - it's just a bit more unpredictable as to where the bears will be located) and if you are visiting Denali, the wildlife buses start in June (you would need to check their exact schedule, since each week they go a bit further into the park).

 

I don't know if you are planning on traveling roundtrip from Seattle, but if you are going northbound or southbound, I would consider the Coral or Island Princess, since they are Panamax ships and are narrower and can get to glacier bay. Princess also has very good naturalists on board. We were happy with that cruise, and hopefully you will hear from the people who traveled with Royal as to their experiences in Alaska. It is gorgeous, and you will have a wonderful time!

[tdk]

We are booked on radiance may 15th ... Our 2nd time to Alaska but almost 20 years apart. Last time was in May as well and luck out with awesome weather so we shall see. balcony is a must for us ...it ridiculous on this Alaska trip but wouldn't have it any other way :)

[Hoopster95]

I am looking at booking on Radiance of the Sea and have a few questions:

 

1. Looking at either leaving 5/15, 5/29, or 8/21. Is there a big difference in weather for these dates? How about wildlife? What would we be able to do/see differently leaving May vs. August?

 

2. Is paying the extra worth having a Balcony room vs. Ocean view?

 

3. Anyone who sailed on other cruise lines to Alaska? Is RC better/worse than NCL or Princess?

 

1. Weather has been fantastic for several years in Aug & Sept in the Pacific Northwest. May is a crap shoot. I personally would choose Aug 21 from your list.

 

2. I differ than most CC'ers on this I think... I feel a balcony could make your cruise worse, especially for the elevated prices on the Alaska runs. You are stuck looking out one way of the ship and miss the other 270 degrees all around you forward, back and the other side. During one of my Alaska sailings (Sept) a huge pod of Orcas were swimming right beside us on the port side and everyone ran to the railings, it was incredible! If you were stuck in your cabin looking out starboard you would've missed everything. That's just one example. I don't mind walking around top deck with winter clothing... some people do mind, and that's where the balcony comes in handy you can scoot in and out. But for me personally, no way.

 

3. Can't answer this, both my Alaska sailings were on Rhapsody. But I've been on the NCL Pearl (not Alaska but pacific Coastal) and the sitelines at top deck are horrible, and the glass is higher than your head, so with morning dew you see hardly anything...horrible ship for viewing. RCL ship railing are basically chest high with no glass, beautiful viewing all around 360 degrees with only Viking Crown and the front Solarium/mast area blocking those two angles.

 

Have a great cruise! :D

[xlxo]

When you look at the monthly rainfall averages....

• Alaskan Ports are dryer in May/June.
  
• Vancouver/Seattle is dryer in July/August.
  

Edited January 21, 2015 by xlxo

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I am looking at booking on Radiance of the Sea and have a few questions:

 

1. Looking at either leaving 5/15, 5/29, or 8/21. Is there a big difference in weather for these dates? How about wildlife? What would we be able to do/see differently leaving May vs. August?

We went in early May this past year and loved it - only one partial day of rain, and realizing that Ketchikan and a few other places are actually in a rain forest zone...it was terrific weather. We saw bears, bald eagles, sea otters, 2 kinds of whales, sea lions, and other wildlife. May has a better chance of seeing whales, but you can see some in August too. Recommend tours for that.

 

2. Is paying the extra worth having a Balcony room vs. Ocean view?

Yes. Between close-ups of fjord views, glaciers, and other sites...no comparison.

 

3. Anyone who sailed on other cruise lines to Alaska? Is RC better/worse than NCL or Princess?

We only have sailed Royal Caribbean there. Radiance of the Seas is a terrific ship. From fellow passengers who were on NCL...they told us Radiance was superior in many ways.

 

Answers above in red.

Edited January 21, 2015 by CRUISEFAN0001

[campingwhit]

Hubby and I did land tour and cruised on the Radiance aug29-sept11 2009. we had the best weather...we lucked out I think. We had temps not lower than 72 for the whole 2 weeks. Even in Fairbanks it was 78. We had an Aft cabin and it was wonderful! I would not have done it any other way. With the balcony you have the choice of having a private viewing of the sites or enjoying with fellow cruisers. While pulling in to view the glacier, we watched from the deck with everyone and then went to our cabin when the ship turned. It was fabulous. just my opinion!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

There is a wealth of information on the Alaska message board. Have you checked there, yet? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

Any Alaska cruise is great--so, I know you will have a good time. Enjoy!!

 

Having said that, I wish I had done more research before I booked my cruise. There are many different things to consider.

 

We did an inside cabin and used the money for excursions.

One problem with that time of year is visiting Denali. Do you plan to visit? The shuttle and tour buses do not go very far into the park until after June 1. [or around that time]

 

edit: I did a Live thread on our trip. It is 2 years old--but, you can see some things that might interest you. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1697232

Edited January 21, 2015 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Buccaneergirl]

We have sailed in AK twice. Once on Princess and the other time on Royal Caribbean and I would choose RC because it was a younger crowd and there were more activities on board that we like to do. We were D at the time, so those perks are always great.

 

We went in May on RC and early June on P, so I would choose late May because I think the prices are cheaper in May and we were told that the insects(mosquitos and flies)come out in August and September.

 

Definitely yes for the balcony! If you are going to have a balcony on only one cruise ever, this is the one that you should do! There is wildlife everywhere and you can sit on your balcony and enjoy it instead of fighting the masses on deck.

 

The best excursion we did was the helicopter to the glacier with the dog sledding. Although pricey, it was the most amazing 4 hours of my life! From the helicopter, you get such a different perspective than from seeing AK from on land/ocean.

[epixx]

I am looking at booking on Radiance of the Sea and have a few questions:

 

1. Looking at either leaving 5/15, 5/29, or 8/21. Is there a big difference in weather for these dates? How about wildlife? What would we be able to do/see differently leaving May vs. August?

 

 

The weather is generally colder in May and more rainy in August, but unpredictable. Your likelihood of viewing bears is greater in August, depending on where you travel.

 

If you are interested in wildlife, your best choice of the three would be the August date. For wildlife viewing, spend extra time to visit Denali Park. The problem with the May dates is that the park shuttle to Eielson, which would give you the best wildlife viewing, does not open until June 8th. This shuttle will be available to you in August. See this:

 

http://www.reservedenali.com/play/shuttle-buses/eielson-visitor-center.aspx

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We have sailed in AK twice. Once on Princess and the other time on Royal Caribbean and I would choose RC because it was a younger crowd and there were more activities on board that we like to do. We were D at the time, so those perks are always great.

 

We went in May on RC and early June on P, so I would choose late May because I think the prices are cheaper in May and we were told that the insects(mosquitos and flies)come out in August and September.

.

 

There were no insects at all when we sailed Aug 31-Sept 7. It got to freezing some nights. It even snowed in Denali.

[BecciBoo]

Same here no bugs

 

Radiance round trip Vancouver...last cruise of the season because from gathering of all info in reviews on the Alaska thread, Sept/Aug is the sunniest months. There is the chance that you will see fewer whales, they are off on the trip to Hawaii around then, but we saw enough on our tour.

 

Ketchican was sunny and warm, people out in their shorts painting as it almost always rains there, here's what we woke up to on our aft balcony pulling into Ketch:

 

In fact the whole trip was perfectly sunny and warm, except at Hubbard which was my favorite stop, it was sunny and COLD, we were very up close and personal and with the aft balcony had at least 30 minutes of retreating glacier as we left that our buds on the side of the ship never saw:

 

In fact the 4 of us were always on our aft balcony. BTW, Radiance has no trouble at all getting through tight spots or up close to glaciers. In fact we are going to book the Seattle round trip on Jewel the same time next year whenever the itin comes out hoping to get the deck 10 2 aft balconies together for the 4 of us.

Edited January 21, 2015 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

In fact, we had just enough sprinkles to give us this at Icy Straight Point:

[starfish216]

We sailed the end of July into the beginning of August. It was our first cruise to Alaska. We went Northbound out of Vancouver.

 

Before we booked Alaska I did research on time of year to visit and tried to balance best time for viewing wildlife, weather and being able to get close to Hubbard Glacier (meaning that the ice floes have departed making it safe for the ship to enter)

 

Weather and wildlife sightings are always hit or miss. So my comments are to just my observation from our July 25th cruise.

 

We always book a balcony when we cruise in the Caribbean (10 times) so we were really excited when be were able to book 3 Aft Balconies on deck 8 for our Alaska Cruise. We all paid a premium for these balconies and the time of year.

 

The Alaska cruise was the only cruise we didn't make use of the balcony…..it poured for five days straight and it was constantly foggy. We weren't able to see the beautiful views or the tops of mountains until we left the coast and went inland to Canada when we were in Skagway (day 6). We couldn't use our balcony since the railing and loungers were always soaked. Water would be dripping down from the balcony above us. That being said we were always out and about on the ship. We ended up actually preferring moving around the ship, there are many public places with good views both inside and outside. Once we were up, we were out of the cabin. There is a nice covered outside area behind the Windjammer that offers some protection from the rain yet it is outside. It offered the same view we had from our aft balcony.

 

We did have a gorgeous day when viewing Hubbard Glacier (day 7). We preferred being out and about moving around the ship sharing the excitement with other guest. I took pictures of them and they took pictures of my DH and I. We were able to see and photograph Glacier Calving since we were outside at that time….the others in our group decided to stay on their balconies and missed it.

 

We did have a mix of nice weather and some drizzle on the land portion of our tour from Seward and went to Denali.

 

As for wildlife from the cruise portion… we saw whales, seals, eagles, otters and deer. We saw no bears on our bear search in Icy Strait. We saw very few salmon.

 

On the land portion on the Denali Wilderness Tundra Tour (10 hours) we saw sheep, moose, fox and some bears in the far distance.

 

I am now waiting and hoping for last minute good deals this summer for Alaska. All the planning for the perfect time of year didn't matter when mother nature does what it wants. So this time I will not be so fussy where my cabin is or what time of year and just go when I can get a good deal. Since there is such a huge price difference between and inside and a balcony I would even consider trying an inside for this cruise. We really spent very little time in our cabin or balcony as we preferred moving around the ship looking for wildlife.

[Grannycb]

I am looking at booking on Radiance of the Sea and have a few questions:

 

1. Looking at either leaving 5/15, 5/29, or 8/21. Is there a big difference in weather for these dates? How about wildlife? What would we be able to do/see differently leaving May vs. August?

 

2. Is paying the extra worth having a Balcony room vs. Ocean view?

 

3. Anyone who sailed on other cruise lines to Alaska? Is RC better/worse than NCL or Princess?

 

We've been on three Alaska cruises: Early May (1st ship in), mid May, and mid September. The May cruises were spectacular. The mountains were covered in snow, the glaciers were calving, and it was cold but so worth it. The September cruise was nice, but we were disappointed to see mostly dead or dying salmon in the streams. The weather was very wet and rainy then as well.

 

All three of our cruises were done with inside cabins. There was a lot of difference in the price. The extra savings went toward tours. We easily saved enough to take the White Pass RR to Emerald Lake, go on the Deadliest Catch tour, and a private whale watching tour. Alaska is so huge it's a shame to have a restricted balcony view. Even if we had a balcony we would still have been on the top deck to watch the scenery.

 

We found Princess did a good job, but I'm sure all the cruise lines will give you a wonderful experience.

[negc]

We've done two cruise tours in Alaska, both in late May or early June. The first was on Princess which we thought was excellent and which we chose because Princess had been doing Alaska the longest. Our second was a few years later on Royal Caribbean and in almost all respects it blew the Princess cruisetour out of the water. Both involved a landtour at the start of the trip and concluded with a southbound cruise ending in Vancouver. The Princess tour included the less satisfactory Natural History Tour in Denali while RCI's tour included the longer and far superior Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali that took us deeper into Denali and showed us more wildlife including close-up encounters with a Mama Bear and her cubs. We cruised Glacier Bay with Princess and Hubbard Glacier with RCI and I cannot say that one experience was noticeably better than the other. Our RCI landtour included a dedicated escort who added immeasurably to our enjoyment of the trip and our understanding of what we were seeing. Our Princess land tour would have been at extra cost if we had a dedicated escort. I also preferred the seating arrangements on the RCI train to those on the Princess cars and the selection of lodging facilities .

In May-June the days (hours of daylight) are getting longer offering you more time to explore all that Alaska has to offer. Weather is pretty much a crapshoot and since temperatures can vary widely regardless of the time you travel, dressing in layers is always recommended.

Whichever line you choose you should have a wonderful time in Alaska and I can almost guarantee that once you go, you will be anxious to return.:)

[PNW Traveler]

If you cruise in May there will be fewer children on board than cruising in August. You will also have more hours of daylight for sightseeing. I've done the Denali tours in both May and August. We saw more animals in May than in August. The snows were melting, the animals were hungry and active, and therefore were more visible. The statistics on weather do show more rain in SE Alaska beginning in later August. I'd choose a May cruise.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Same here no bugs

 

Radiance round trip Vancouver...

Yup...we did the Vancouver round trip to Alaska too...saving all that added cost for airfare to 2 different places (starting port/finish port).

 

We also added a couple days for touring Vancouver and also Vancouver Island.

 

Lots to see before or after the cruise...and when we went mid-May...the temps were in the 65-74 degree range for most of the entire cruise and trip (except nights of course).

 

 

 

[shipgeeks]

We had a balcony on our AK cruise, and we only used it for a couple of hours the entire 11 days. The views are 100% better on the open decks, both for scenery and for wildlife sightings. Go with inside or oceanview.

[Ashland]

Our last 3 Alaska RCI Radiance cruises were in mid to late May...great weather all three trips. We have either had a midship balcony or a corner aft...just amazing !!!

[Boilermaker77]

My first cruise was on the Crown Princess in late June/early July and it was amazing. We left from Whittier, AK and we were on the port side balcony so we could see the land as we went down the coast. We went into glacier bay and everyone was out on their balcony. It was the most amazing trip I have ever taken. We saw lots of wildlife, took excursions in every port, and the food was exceptional. It was a trip of a lifetime for me which took a long time to save up bc I wanted to do it right (I am an earth science teacher so I could not afford the higher end excursions like the helicopter ride). You will have a fantastic time but I would recommend a balcony.

 

In Aug, I am taking my second cruise but this time it is on RC Grandeur of the Seas. My friend and I are celebrating our 60th birthday and we have booked an ocean view window instead of a balcony. We had to compromise bc she wanted an interior room but I felt after the Alaskan cruise I would be too claustrophobic. I hope I have an equally wonderful time in the Bahamas as I did in Alaska.

 

Have a great time in Alaska - it is a beautiful place.

[travelforfun22]

Wow your responses are amazing- so much good advice and insight. I think we are leaning towards doing an ocean view and using the extra money for excursions.

Also probably going to eliminate May as we want to do some extra time in Denali after our cruise. Possibly end of June now that ocean view is a choice we can afford to go in June.

[smedley_odwin]

Just wanted to thank the op for posting the question, and all the others for replies. We are looking at an Alaskan cruise in 2017 (I know still far away) and seeing whales is my top priority, I know wildlife in general is mentioned, but is there a 'prime' time for seeing whales? I understand nothing is guaranteed.

[kitkat343]

Someone upthread included the links to the schedule for the shuttles in Denali. We traveled northbound leaving in late May, and arrived in Denali in early June. We were able to take a shuttle to Eielson Visitor Center. If you are willing to travel northbound, late May/early June cruises could save you a lot of money, and still let you see Denali. It all depends on the exact schedule of what date you will arrive in Denali. Please bear in mind the bus rides are very long, so you may not want a longer route. I had initially been disappointed about missing the shuttle to Wonder Lake by one day (this starts June 8th) but since it is an 11 hour roundtrip journey, I was very happy with our 8 hour trip to Eielson Visitor Center (which starts June 1st). We got very lucky and saw all kinds of animals on our 8 hour trip, including a mommy bear and her cubs.

 

Most people prefer sailing on the southbound voyages to get the long flight out of the way first, but the advantage of the northbound journey is that the scenery gets nicer as you travel further into your cruise (and the northbound trips tend to be less expensive).

 

If you are also trying to save money, you might want to price out your land tour to Denali independently. At least for us, it saved a lot of money (although we booked our cruise last minute so the cruise tours might be cheaper if you book them in advance). We took the Alaska Motorcoach bus from Anchorage to Denali (there is an afternoon bus available so you can take the bus the same day you depart the cruise ship unless things have changed). We also took the scenic Alaska Railroad GoldStar train from Denali to Anchorage, which was lovely and had an open air platform on the back of the train. There is also less expensive seating, but the views are not guaranteed. You can also save money by booking a ticket on one of the cruise line's trains, which will guarantee you a seat in a domed railcar. A few years ago HAL had the cheapest tickets of the cruise ship railcars, but you'd need to check to see if things have changed.

 

In Denali, we stayed at the McKinley Chalets, which had very good food (including excellent pizza), is in a great location, and had adequate rooms. The hotels in Denali are only open 4 months a year, so they are all significantly more expensive than a comparable hotel in the continental US.

 

Have a great trip!

 

 

Oh, and to the previous poster: I don't know the answer to your question, but these tour operators really seemed outstanding in terms of whale watching and you might want to contact them directly to ask what they would recommend in terms of timing for whale watching: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g31020-d669783-Reviews-Harv_and_Marv_s_Outback_Alaska-Juneau_Alaska.html

Edited January 22, 2015 by kitkat343