Help Regarding Alaska Cruise

[taylortime05]

Hi,

 

Going to Alaska has been on my bucket list but I have not done a lot of research yet. They just recently released Alaska for 2019 and I went ahead and booked a 11 night cruise in May 2019 on Ovation for total price of approx 5000 in an 8D balcony category (cabin 8278).

 

Below is the itinerary. I would appreciate your feedback on traveling in May, on the Ovation, our cabin selection and the ports of call. I will start researching to see if we should keep this reservation, switch to different time or ship or even switch to different cruise line. Appreciate your feedback.

 

1 Vancouver -- 5:00 PM

2 Cruising -- --

3 Cruising -- --

4 Icy Strait 9:00 AM 8:00 PM

5 Sitka 7:00 AM 6:00 PM

6 Hubbard Glacier 8:00 AM 11:00 AM

7 Juneau 7:00 AM 9:00 PM

8 Skagway 7:00 AM 8:30 PM

9 Endicott Arm 7:00 AM 12:00 PM

10 Cruising -- --

11 Cruising -- --

12 Seattle 6:00 AM --

[geomancer]

Alaska in May?

 

I'd imagine it would be fairly cold. Expect 40's to mid 50's as the highs. A balcony gives you a guaranteed semi-private space to enjoy the views, but be sure to bundle up. The usual rules apply for Alaska. Dress in layers and be prepared for rain.

[papaflamingo]

Looks like a great itinerary. Ovation is a big ship for this cruise though. We one on Rhapsody in May of 2014 and loved it. Fewer passengers and we were lucky to get quite close to the glacier in Tracy Arm. Not sure if size of ship affects that or not.

Ovation will have more shipboard activities for the at sea days though, and is geared to colder climates with the amount of indoor activities available. We stopped in Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria with visits to Tracy Arm. We were very lucky...the weather was spectacular for us, even though the forecast was rain and cold, we had sun and mid-60's every day!

[handbellplayer]

Lots of good information here on ports and excursions:

 

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

[srlucado]

I did Alaska in May of 2008 (on Holland America). For me it was the trip of a lifetime, and decided to do more than just cruise.

 

So we did a long land tour ending with a 4-night cruise. If you really want to see something besides glaciers, that's what I'd recommend. Go inland.

 

We did Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Tok, Chicken, Eagle, Dawson City, Carcross, and other stops.

 

Here's my photo album:

http://s582.photobucket.com/user/scottrlucado/library/Alaska%202008?sort=2&page=1

 

To simply visit the coast does not do justice to the unimaginable majesty of Alaska.

[taylortime05]

I did Alaska in May of 2008 (on Holland America). For me it was the trip of a lifetime, and decided to do more than just cruise.

 

So we did a long land tour ending with a 4-night cruise. If you really want to see something besides glaciers, that's what I'd recommend. Go inland.

 

We did Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Tok, Chicken, Eagle, Dawson City, Carcross, and other stops.

 

Here's my photo album:

http://s582.photobucket.com/user/scottrlucado/library/Alaska%202008?sort=2&page=1

 

To simply visit the coast does not do justice to the unimaginable majesty of Alaska.

 

Wow, the pictures are beautiful. Did you do the land tour through the cruise line?

[Kissmya63]

I did Alaska in May of 2008 (on Holland America). For me it was the trip of a lifetime, and decided to do more than just cruise.

 

So we did a long land tour ending with a 4-night cruise. If you really want to see something besides glaciers, that's what I'd recommend. Go inland.

 

We did Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Tok, Chicken, Eagle, Dawson City, Carcross, and other stops.

 

Here's my photo album:

http://s582.photobucket.com/user/scottrlucado/library/Alaska%202008?sort=2&page=1

 

To simply visit the coast does not do justice to the unimaginable majesty of Alaska.

 

I totally agree with this! We did a 15 day trip. The first 8 days was land and we saw Denali, Carcross, Talkeetna, the Kenai Peninsula, Wrangell - St Elias State Park and so much more!

 

If you do this I recommend doing land portion first because you're more active and then you can relax more on the cruise (sea days / glacier watching from the ship).

 

We started our trip on Memorial Day weekend and couldn't ask for better weather. BUT - you still need layers. When you're up close and personal with a glacier it gets really really cold! :p

 

Enjoy the research and planning! That's half the fun!!!

[cot427]

Did an Alaskan cruise on Celebrity this past May (May 24th). Our cruise director said he has been doing it for over a decade and would be hard pressed to remember a week as great as ours in terms of weather. Granted, it varies week to week and year to year, but I would go in May again in a heartbeat.

 

We had zero rain! Perfect sailaway in Vancouver, people were in the pool in Ketchikan as it hit over 70 degrees. Our day at Hubbard Glacier was cold (very cold!) but no precip.

 

We had friends that went in July this past year and it rained most of their trip.

 

Yours is a great itinerary...loved Icy Strait and Skagway. Juneau was fun too, but I would prefer Ketchikan over Juneau.

[srlucado]

Wow, the pictures are beautiful. Did you do the land tour through the cruise line?

 

Thank you!

 

Yes, we booked the whole shebang through Holland America...with one exception. A friend who'd worked on the pipeline suggested flying into Anchorage a couple of days early and exploring that area. An excellent idea, and it allowed us to see many of the places that are featured in the first few photos.

 

The first time we spotted a moose in the wild, it was pretty cool!

[Giantfan13]

We have been to Alaska twice, once on Princess and once on NCL. Personally, no matter how much you may love RCI and that itinerary, I would switch to any other line that goes to Glacier Bay and, if you can, do the Northern route as others have already said. (Going in may, you may or may not even get to Hubbard Glacier as it may be too icy to get close)

Alaska is wonderful, but as some one said, I might rethink that balcony unless you want a whole lot of cold air.

Positively dress in layers and make sure you have waterproof shoes and a waterproof jacket.

If you have real questions about Alaska and it's ports go over the Alaska Port of Call board and you will have all your questions answered.

Cheers

Len

[NancyIL]

The 11-night cruise definitely has a better itinerary than the 7-night cruises from Seattle. I know nothing about the ship, but I did b2b Alaska cruises on Radiance last May 17-26 and May 26-June 2, and the weather most of the time was good.

[hcps-osullivax]

Hi there, I worked on a small cruise ship in Alaska this past summer from end of May to September. It was the most incrdible experience of my life! Everyone is spot on saying it will be cold in May, definitely going to be in the mid to low 50s and Im sure youll have a day or two in the rain but thats Alaska for ya. Every Saturday in Juneau except one had rained for us, not terribly but enough that no one wanted to do much outside. My absolute favorite place was Skagway, there is so much to do and see! Its such a small town but it always seemed busy and filled with new experiences every Sunday and Monday we were there. Being part of the crew, we didnt do any excursions or touristy stuff often, it was mainly drinking at the local bars and making friends with the locals or grocery shopping (which is insanely expensive there so make sure you dont forget anything when packing!). If you need any tips on where to grab a drink just let me know!! Every now and then we would check out the shops or museums and take photos with the trains or hit up the gift shop. I would suggest taking the train tour as my passengers would tell me stories and show photos of it and it looked incredible! It took up the majority of their morning, but it picks you up right on the dock, takes you on an incredible scenic trip, then returns you back in time for lunch before you can head out to the town to shop and stroll along main street! Hope you have a good time, jealous you get to see Alaska's beauty from one of the greatests ships out there!

[Mr. Click]

We did Alaska in 2016 on Celebrity's Millennium from Vancouver to Seward and loved the trip. After our 7 nights on the ship we did our own 3 nights up to Denali and loved that too. We went in July hoping for better weather. Not so much. Some rain, some drizzle, some fog, some cool but also some nice days and once we got off the ship and went inland to Denali it was sunny and warm every day. For my own money I would rather do the one way and not have 4 sea days. There is so much to see on the land side that the sea days don't hold much value for me. Yes, you get some great scenery going up inside passage but....you are not up close and personal. Hubbard Glacier is another sea day. We were lucky. Despite early AM fog and a lot of icebergs in the bay our captain got us right up to the glacier. Right at the 1/2 mile legal limit and we spent about an hour right there. Truly amazing and not something you want to miss. We saw and heard the glacier calving over and over again. We spent the whole morning on our balcony with some great views and when we started back down the bay room service was right there with our breakfast.

[billandsue]

We did the Inside Passage itinerary on Radiance of the Seas in June. The weather was cool, with light rain on several days, so definitely dress in layers. For me, the highlight of the cruise was the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway excursion out of Skagway. The scenery is breathtaking. Below is one of the many photos I took during the excursion.

 

[Jimbo]

Did an Alaskan cruise on Celebrity this past May (May 24th). Our cruise director said he has been doing it for over a decade and would be hard pressed to remember a week as great as ours in terms of weather. Granted, it varies week to week and year to year, but I would go in May again in a heartbeat.

 

We had zero rain! Perfect sailaway in Vancouver, people were in the pool in Ketchikan as it hit over 70 degrees. Our day at Hubbard Glacier was cold (very cold!) but no precip.

 

We had friends that went in July this past year and it rained most of their trip.

 

Yours is a great itinerary...loved Icy Strait and Skagway. Juneau was fun too, but I would prefer Ketchikan over Juneau.

 

Yes weather was outstanding this past May 2017, We only had 3 hours of rain the entire 18 day's

We did back to back cruises starting in San Diego

11 nights Pacific Coastal Cruise on Celebrity Infinity May 17th

 

7 Nights Alaska Cruise Celebrity Infinity May 28th Vancouver RT

 

Keep in mind though in late May , early June you will not see many Bears because the salmon are not running yet.

 

If that doesn't bother you by all means go, prices are less too early in the season.

 

 

Jimbo:)