Alaska Cruise

[Brook1550]

Hello , what is the best time to cruise to Alaska from Seattle.

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

As we don't know your definition of "best", some reading on the portion of Cruise Critic devoted to Alaska, located here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

will give you lots of info on the criteria for "best".

[Keith1010]

CruiserBruce is correct. The Alaska Ports Of Call Board has a lot of great information on Alaska.

 

With that said in my opinion and as someone who has sailed Alaska several times from April (very early in the season) thru September (late in the season) I found there are pluses with various times of the season and also history means nothing. In other words on year June could have great weather and another year it could have rainy weather. Things can change day to day anytime you sail.

 

I like early in the season in say April and May as the ports are less crowded and there are less families there and you still see quite a bit of snow on the mountains but personally I would go anytime.

 

Keith

[MNfamilycruiser]

CruiserBruce is correct. The Alaska Ports Of Call Board has a lot of great information on Alaska.

 

With that said in my opinion and as someone who has sailed Alaska several times from April (very early in the season) thru September (late in the season) I found there are pluses with various times of the season and also history means nothing. In other words on year June could have great weather and another year it could have rainy weather. Things can change day to day anytime you sail.

 

I like early in the season in say April and May as the ports are less crowded and there are less families there and you still see quite a bit of snow on the mountains but personally I would go anytime.

 

Keith

 

From my research this is exactly right - you are making trade-offs and you just have to decide what is most important to you.

We went at the end of May - the first southbound trip for RCI. The negatives for May were: colder, less wildlife. The positives: less bugs, less rain, less crowded. We didn't mind the cold, and less bugs and less crowded were important to us - so we chose May.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have cruised Alaska all months of their season.

May and September are cheaper -- but on our cruises during that time we had a lot of rain and cool/cold weather.

We much prefer to sail anywhere from the 3rd week of June through the first couple of weeks of August.

[Keith1010]

I just want to note again that it's great to see what the weather was when others sailed but you just never know.

 

For example, we sailed Alaska two different times in August. One time no rain. Other time rained every day.

 

You just never know and history means nothing.

 

One time we were on a ship in Alaska in April three weeks before the next ship visited. I was concerned and thought the weather could be bad. Well it was cool but the pro was being the only ship in port and who would have guessed that when we were in Glacier Bay it was the best weather we had every had. As the Park Rangers said it was once in a season with a picture perfect day.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qxcrjPjkY8/T4idznBV57I/AAAAAAAAQr0/2FKWyQxQk0Y/s1600/DSC_4218.jpg

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0UdF6OlPUIM/T4hXwxtIOwI/AAAAAAAAQqI/hjUyFoGaF1s/s1600/DSC_4195.jpg

 

Keith

[dorisis]

I prefer the longer cruises with some land touring. I also like early September.

[GORDONCHICK]

Our last AK cruise was the last week of May, and it was 89 in Juneau and Skagway. And we didn't see any rain at all. You just never know.

[RuthC]

I've sailed Alaska in every month from May through September, some months many times, and agree that weather is always a crapshoot.

However, there are some periods where you have a better chance of good weather, and earlier in the season is the time for that.

 

I prefer the early June through mid-July period. The weather has a good chance of cooperating, and the days are incredibly long. I love to sit up in the evening watching those lingering sunsets, waiting for the pink to leave the sky. I generally give up about 1:00 AM!

That's also a good period to see the animals up and out, perhaps even some salmon heading back to their place of birth.