Alaska in mid-September

[tjcletzgo]

Hello, we are taking a 10 day Alaska cruise sailing 9/14/24. Can anyone give me your experience and tips for this cruise?

 

Thanks so much🛳️

[Rick&Jeannie]

It would help if you included the ship & itinerary...

I am of the opinion that there are NO bad cruises to Alaska, having done so 3 times (so far).  I know others have probably done many more.

 

I personally really like Skagway and the White Pass Railroad.  They do a couple of different runs with one actually crossing into Canada (passport needed!)  The Lumberjack show is also very entertaining.

 

One of our favorite excursions was the helicopter flight that landed on Mendenhall Glacier.  We were able to get out and walk around for 45 min to an hour.

[tjcletzgo]

We will be sailing the Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Icy Straight Point and Ketchikan. I believe the White Pass Railway will be closed for the season 🥺. We’re already booked on Jayleen’s Alaska for a whale watch tour. I’ve seen rave reviews and some who say “never again”. This cruise is the ONLY r/t Princess ship doing the TRUE Inside Passage🐳

[stevenr597]

Have been to Alaska in June with great weather and to Alaska in July in which we did have cooler temperatures due to a lot of rain.

September has its pro's and cons. 

Less people so tourist attractions will not be as croweded, but some like the White Star Railroad may be closed.  

Weather will probably be colder, but one may get a chance to see the Northern Lights.

Cost of cruise should also be less. 

[Thrak]

We've cruised Alaska 4 times and did a 7 week cross-country camping trip up to Fairbanks. Our first cruise ever was a 10 day round trip to Alaska out of San Francisco September 7 - 17 in 2011. Glacier Bay was cold but other than that we had amazing weather. I wore a tee shirt in the ports. (Of course one local in Ketchikan said they hadn't seen the sun for the 2 weeks prior to our visit...) At that time the White Pass Railroad was running.

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, tjcletzgo said:

This cruise is the ONLY r/t Princess ship doing the TRUE Inside Passage

If it is the r/t sailing out of San Francisco you will be missing the part of the inside passage that includes the Seymore Narrows. 

[XBGuy]

In six AK cruises, we have taken two in mid/late September and one in early September.  Like @Rick&Jeannie says, there are no bad Alaska cruises,

 

I am going to repeat a few comments that have already been made.  The ports will be less crowded.  So, instead of five cruise ships visit Juneau, there might only be two.

 

If you are shopping you will find that many stores are having sales in order to clear out inventory.  Of course the flip side of that is that their inventory might be low, limiting your choices.  I remember walking into the Alaska Fudge Company in Skagway and finding that their inventory of mint fudge was exhausted.  Happily, they still had many other choices for us.  In small towns that heavily rely on the cruise industry you might find that some businesses have already closed for the season.

 

The weather will be cool.  So, be prepared and dress warmly.  The standard advice to Alaska cruisers is to dress in layers. but that is less applicable in late September.  Fog or rain are not uncommon, at all.

 

One of our most memorable AK excursions we have enjoyed was the Bear Search in Icy Strait Point.  It does require some walking, though.  So, you must be mobile. 

 

You should be able to see wildlife from the ship.  Whales will probably have started their southward migration, but you should still see some.  I love showing these pictures of a bubble feeding whale.  As we were pulling away from the dock in Ketchikan on a late September cruise, I spotted this ring of bubbles just outside our balcony.  He didn't pop up until we were well past.  So, my pic is not that great.

 

 

 

 

Bon Voyage.  I am envious.

[dockman]

Lots of salmon , many dead, in the streams...quite a sight.

[tjcletzgo]

45 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

If it is the r/t sailing out of San Francisco you will be missing the part of the inside passage that includes the Seymore Narrows. 

No, it sails out of Vancouver 🇨🇦

[neverbeenhere]

Juneau - get to Mendenhall Glacier by one method or another (Lots of methods to get there)

Get a beer and maybe lunch at The Hangar on the Wharf

 

Ketchikan - Don't miss Creek Street add to the walk by heading up to the hatchery and Totem Heritage Center

[RedIguana]

26 minutes ago, tjcletzgo said:

No, it sails out of Vancouver 🇨🇦

I had the date wrong, was looking at the 2023 sept sailings. Great itinerary, I am doing the same one next month on the Crown (10 night). Wish I could have done the 11 night with the extra stop in Victoria, but had to time it to the wife's work schedule.

[RedIguana]

2 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Get a beer and maybe lunch at The Hangar on the Wharf

Is that by the Mendenhall visitor center or back in town?

[neverbeenhere]

In town overlooking the ships

[MileHighAko]

We love Alaska in September, been multiple times. I love the beginning of the fall weather, and we've been successful witnessing the northern lights in September.

 

Here are a few pics from my cell phone from our trip last September 18th cruise:

 

 

 

[tjcletzgo]

In Juneau we will be having Crab legs at Tracy’s Crab Shack the we’ll be taking a whale watching tour with Jayleen’s Alaska. In Ketchikan we will be doing the George Inlet Wilderness Crab Excursion🦀🐳🚢

[tjcletzgo]

14 minutes ago, tjcletzgo said:

In Juneau we will be having Crab legs at Tracy’s Crab Shack the we’ll be taking a whale watching tour with Jayleen’s Alaska. In Ketchikan we will be doing the George Inlet Wilderness Crab Excursion🦀🐳🚢

We will also be taking the Chilcoot Railway train to Emerald Lake in Skagway🚂🚂🚂

[jinpasco]

Unless you are set on King Crab  at Tracy's , try  The Crab and Chowder restaurant in Sitka. It's right at the dock. They serve Dungeness. You go out to a tank and pick your own. I am not a crab person, hubby is but not fussy so type didn't matter. Can't get much fresher than picking your own. The crabs are huge and he could barely finish. Price was reasonable considering its Alaska. He was glad we did as the line at Tracy's was LONG. Just a thought. 

[tjcletzgo]

1 minute ago, jinpasco said:

Unless you are set on King Crab  at Tracy's , try  The Crab and Chowder restaurant in Sitka. It's right at the dock. They serve Dungeness. You go out to a tank and pick your own. I am not a crab person, hubby is but not fussy so type didn't matter. Can't get much fresher than picking your own. The crabs are huge and he could barely finish. Price was reasonable considering its Alaska. He was glad we did as the line at Tracy's was LONG. Just a thought. 

We plan on eating crab every port. Do you remember the name of the restaurant?

[neverbeenhere]

One at the pier terminal building at Sitka. Not in town, but there is plenty in town. 

[XBGuy]

1 hour ago, tjcletzgo said:

We plan on eating crab every port. Do you remember the nour same of the restaurant?

 

 

Ooh I like the way you think.

 

Since you are going late in the season, there should not be as many cruise tourists in Juneau.  So, that may reduce the crowd at Tracy's.

 

However, I have an additional idea.  In Juneau, go for lunch at Deckhand Daves--139 S, Franklin St.  Amazing fish tacos.  Then have dinner at Tracy's.

 

On a cruise several years ago I noticed an Alaska Fish Co. truck delivering to our ship.  The next day we were in Juneau and had dinner at Tracy's.  However, when we arrived back at the ship people were raving about the King Crab that was served in the dining room that evening.  On our next AK cruise I saw that our ship was again being resupplied in Ketchikan.  Sure enough, the next day in Juneau King Crab was on the dining room menu.  So, Mrs. XBGuy and I decided to try it.  Unfortunate mistake.

[tjcletzgo]

44 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

 

Ooh I like the way you think.

 

Since you are going late in the season, there should not be as many cruise tourists in Juneau.  So, that may reduce the crowd at Tracy's.

 

However, I have an additional idea.  In Juneau, go for lunch at Deckhand Daves--139 S, Franklin St.  Amazing fish tacos.  Then have dinner at Tracy's.

 

On a cruise several years ago I noticed an Alaska Fish Co. truck delivering to our ship.  The next day we were in Juneau and had dinner at Tracy's.  However, when we arrived back at the ship people were raving about the King Crab that was served in the dining room that evening.  On our next AK cruise I saw that our ship was again being resupplied in Ketchikan.  Sure enough, the next day in Juneau King Crab was on the dining room menu.  So, Mrs. XBGuy and I decided to try it.  Unfortunate mistake.

What ship was this? I haven’t seen king crab offered in the MDR since HAL in 2009🦀🦀🦀

[jinpasco]

The  Halibut Point Crab and Chowder is the name of the restaurant . Can't miss it , it's right at the end of the pier.

Edited April 13, 2023 by jinpasco
Missing info

[XBGuy]

17 hours ago, tjcletzgo said:

What ship was this? I haven’t seen king crab offered in the MDR since HAL in 2009🦀🦀🦀

 

First observed on Emerald Princess May 2019, and then on Royal Princess September 2019 when we tried it.

[SiliconCruiser]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

First observed on Emerald Princess May 2019, and then on Royal Princess September 2019 when we tried it.

Wow!  The last time we saw crab (of any kind) on the menu was on an Alaskan cruise on the Grand in 2016.  I think we had about 11 orders for our table of 6 (I had the beef offering and only one order of King crab.)