Advice please

[Grannymcgoo]

We are boarding the celebrity infinity cruise ship on Sunday 28 August until 4 September and looking if someone could help with what the weather will be like at that time in Alaska also if you would recommend booking shore excursions from the ship or independently. We are visiting Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. Any help or advice would be grateful. Thanks

[cb at sea]

I would go to Weather.com and enter in the city you want a forecast for! You know even the weathermen are NOT accurate more than 2 days out.....anywhere!

[Bo1953]

We are boarding the celebrity infinity cruise ship on Sunday 28 August until 4 September and looking if someone could help with what the weather will be like at that time in Alaska also if you would recommend booking shore excursions from the ship or independently. We are visiting Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. Any help or advice would be grateful. Thanks

 

 

Recommend that you do an internet search as to what the 'typical' seasonal weather is like in that area, as to say what the weather will be like in my hometown would be a total guess with some hope!

 

As for excursions, you will need to determine which ones you really want to do and possibly reach out to X to find out how full they are currently, although that is no guarantee that they will still be available upon boarding.

 

If pre-paying them is the issue, I understand that you can cancel and re-book once on board to pay with OBC.

 

bon voyage

[monibugg]

We are boarding the celebrity infinity cruise ship on Sunday 28 August until 4 September and looking if someone could help with what the weather will be like at that time in Alaska also if you would recommend booking shore excursions from the ship or independently. We are visiting Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. Any help or advice would be grateful. Thanks

 

I am doing this cruise in a few weeks. We booked an independent company for whale watching in Juneau. Harv and Marvs! Look them up on Trip Advisor, they have amazing reviews and very good policies!:)

[villauk]

We are boarding the celebrity infinity cruise ship on Sunday 28 August until 4 September and looking if someone could help with what the weather will be like at that time in Alaska also if you would recommend booking shore excursions from the ship or independently. We are visiting Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. Any help or advice would be grateful. Thanks

 

If you haven't already, join your roll call. You'll get lots of advice and possibly there are places still available on private excursions others have already arranged ;). It's a good way of sharing the cost of independent tours :).

 

Here's the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2198255

Edited June 3, 2016 by villauk

[ozarkmama]

I would post in the ports of call section for Alaska

 

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

[Bruin Steve]

We are boarding the celebrity infinity cruise ship on Sunday 28 August until 4 September and looking if someone could help with what the weather will be like at that time in Alaska also if you would recommend booking shore excursions from the ship or independently. We are visiting Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. Any help or advice would be grateful. Thanks

 

First off, I agree, start checking the advance weather forecasts on the internet...but with the caveat that they are not necessarily very accurate way in advance. That said, even if it is warm, there will be certain times when you will need cold weather wear. For example, if you visit Hubbard Glacier and want to view it from the open deck, it gets VERY chilly with the winds blowing off all of that ice. Also, say you want to do a helicopter landing on a glacier, again, very cold. So most will advise that you bring "layers" with you, no matter the weather...I usually wear cargo shorts and T-shirts, but will also back...and wear over it...a sweatshirt, a nylon hooded windbreaker and a pair of "wind pants" (long nylon pants with an elastic waist that can slip easily on or off over your shorts or pants). If the weather gets warm, I'll peel off layers and stow them away in my knapsack...

 

As to excursions, I have always found the private providers in Alaska to be very dependable, very good and cheaper than booking through the ship. In Juneau, I really recommend Coastal Helicopter:

 

http://www.coastalhelicopters.com/

 

It's pricey, but still not as much as through the cruise lines...and those helicopter landings are unreal.

 

In Icy Strait point, we've done whale watching twice--it is a great spot for it...Once we did it through the cruise line and it was a little disappointing...Last year, we used Misty Bay Lodge:

 

http://www.mistybaylodge.com/#!tours/cg24

 

Great experience. Very roomy boat with indoor and outdoor viewing areas with only a maximum of six passengers. There are a few other similar operations there. Others on our cruise used F.I.S.H.E.S....

 

In Ketchikan, we've just gotten off the ship and booked something right there--lots of providers dockside to sell you whatever you want...City tours are cheap. This last visit, we did book the Duck Tour through the ship--because the prices were about the same either way.

 

Have fun...

[joanne2]

We've done the Alaska cruise twice during your time period. No matter what the temperature, you will need rain gear.

[cruisin lady ca]

We were on Infinity in mid-August a few years ago. We encounters rain twice during the seven days. However, it was cold enough to have us wearing gloves, hats and winter jackets.

 

We booked an independent excursion in Skagway which was great because we covered more sights in the day than we could had with a ship excursion.

[ClaudiaB]

The number one item we take on every vacation - land or sea - is our lightweight longer length Gore Tex jackets with attached hood. They weight nothing, pack small and are a great layer. We got ours in the US at Cabela's but any big sporting goods type store would have them, or on-line stores like Land's End or LLBean.

At the glaciers it can be COLD! The day cruising around the glacier can really be windy and cold. Wear layers. There may be days you're in shirtsleeves and jeans in port, and there could be a day when it's so cold you want your warmest coat. We bring gloves and a hat or wool headband (like for skiing) in the pockets. Because of all the extra layers needed it's a great idea to pack them in one of those Space Bags and suck out the air so it takes very little room.

They do have wool blankets available to wrap up in, and there will be sweatshirts and other "warm" items you can purchase on the ship - all with 'Alaska' embroidery, etc. on them (I don't like embroidered clothing so I bring my own).

The last time we were in Alaska, on the morning we were approaching Hubbard Glacier the back doors were open by the Oceanview buffet and the cold breeze was coming in. Right by the doors they had set up tables to buy sweatshirts and jackets which seemed really appropriate when you felt the cold air. Clever but shameless marketing, Celebrity! So you honestly needn't pack those things and carry them all the way across the pond.

 

We have been in Ketchikan where it was chilly and rainy all day long and we've been there when it was warm and we were in shorts (both end of August) and had totally clear blue skies and did kayaking on glass smooth water.

 

I wore a shirtsleeve or long sleeve tee with a very light cotton sweater with that Gore Tex jacket quite a lot, and then packed away the jacket and sweater in a back pack when I didn't need them.

 

It's a great idea to spend as much time as possible out on the decks and up in the high front lounges watching for whales, etc. We have always drunk our weight in hot chocolate and hot tea on an Alaskan cruise!

 

One thing we found on the glacier cruising day is there were more people congregated on the higher decks. We stayed down on 3, 4 and 5 - less people and closer to the water and it was a great spot to watch. Of course we also spent a lot of time on our own balcony.