SC LTC Posted December 27, 2023 #1 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Any information on taking a cruise to Alaska 2024, any input would be appreciated… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted December 27, 2023 #2 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Have you looked around the board? Pay particular attention to the thread titled " April, May....September October...cruisers". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Aurora Posted December 27, 2023 #3 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Just a comment from someone who lives in Alaska and has traveled to SE Alaska on business -- there is a reason why those October cruises are so discounted. Expect rough seas and heavy rain. Some folks have reported that they were lucky with the weather -- but be forewarned if you decide to cruise SE Alaska in October. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Crew News Posted December 27, 2023 #4 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Definitely May for least rain, lowest prices for airfare/hotels/cruises, still a chill in the air each morning,and lots of baby creatures enjoying life. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC LTC Posted December 27, 2023 Author #5 Share Posted December 27, 2023 38 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said: Just a comment from someone who lives in Alaska and has traveled to SE Alaska on business -- there is a reason why those October cruises are so discounted. Expect rough seas and heavy rain. Some folks have reported that they were lucky with the weather -- but be forewarned if you decide to cruise SE Alaska in October. What do you mean SE Alaska? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Aurora Posted December 27, 2023 #6 Share Posted December 27, 2023 10 minutes ago, SC LTC said: What do you mean SE Alaska? If you read this boards you will see this term often. SE Alaska means Southeast Alaska. When folks are on a cruise ship they are in SE Alaska. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyochem Posted December 28, 2023 #7 Share Posted December 28, 2023 15 hours ago, SC LTC said: What do you mean SE Alaska? 15 hours ago, Northern Aurora said: If you read this boards you will see this term often. SE Alaska means Southeast Alaska. When folks are on a cruise ship they are in SE Alaska. And for most cruise lines, this means Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway port stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC LTC Posted December 28, 2023 Author #8 Share Posted December 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, disneyochem said: And for most cruise lines, this means Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway port stops. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted December 28, 2023 #9 Share Posted December 28, 2023 17 hours ago, SC LTC said: Any information on taking a cruise to Alaska 2024, any input would be appreciated… I assume you are most likely considering NCL, as the Alaska cruise line experts have already left the region, for good reason. I haven't lived in Alaska, but did complete 2 seasons working on the ships, with us leaving the region mid-September. Year round, I spent 30+ years working the waters just below SE Alaska, so no way I would pay money for that experience in October. To reach Alaska you must sail through the waters where I worked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKStafford Posted December 28, 2023 #10 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Below was taken from a recent Facebook post in a group for advice for Alaska travel. I thought it was worth placing here as well: "Hola Travelers, As someone *very* active in the Alaska business & tourism field (and local to Juneau/Skagway since 2009), many of you chose to NOT book thru a travel agent and do not get the information I'm about to post; and the cruise lines and online booking sites don't know (or don't WANT you to know) this timeline of how business operates in Alaska. This includes TOURS, shops, TRANSPORTATION (including the TRAIN), etc). Our season has *always* been May 15 - September 15th. This is etched in STONE. Almost everything is open during this time period. Here's how they staff: April - workers start showing up, training commences. April 15 - maybe 25% of all tours/shops/excursions are open May 1 - 60%ish of businesses are open May 15 - 80% of businessses are open. Alaska Railroad opens. May 23/24thish: 100% of businesses are open September 4/5ish: We lose 25% of our staff and businesses September 15: About 50% of tours/businesses closed (including the Alaska Railroad) October 1st: We are probably at 20-25% of businesses and tours open Last Cruise: 5-10% of businesses are open (except for locals). Keep this in mind when you book your cruise if you are NOT going to book thru an Alaska-based agency or someone who has been up here a lot. In Skagway, it was rough on October 1st when we had only *** 2 *** full service restaurants open in town. JUST TWO. Yet we had 5,000 passenger ships still coming in. Most of our tours had already closed, except for a few ran by Skagway Tours, Southeast, and the railroad. I think Alaska X had a few still going. But it was NOT pretty for how the tourists were treating us (I even closed my shop due to how rude some of them were, and went on my own cruise in Florida). We had ships skipping ports due to horrible weather starting in late September, and every day I was getting an email from Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, or Sitka advising of another ship skipping a port that day or heavily delayed. There's a reason the cruise lines drop the prices SSSOOO low in our off-season - please keep this in mind when booking. If you are perfectly fine in NCL's Thermal Spa or doing onboard activities, then fantastic. You'll have a wonderful time." 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted December 28, 2023 #11 Share Posted December 28, 2023 @AKStafford, I suggested reading the other thread with this info in it. I don't think the OP bothered. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC LTC Posted December 28, 2023 Author #12 Share Posted December 28, 2023 51 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said: @AKStafford, I suggested reading the other thread with this info in it. I don't think the OP bothered. I’m not either… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted December 29, 2023 #13 Share Posted December 29, 2023 17 hours ago, SC LTC said: I’m not either… If this response says what I think it says my comment would be - don't confuse me with the facts my mind is made up. If not - I apologize. DON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted December 29, 2023 #14 Share Posted December 29, 2023 After going to Alaska a ton, I wouldn't mind trying one in October for fall colors. I would never recommend it for a first time traveler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC LTC Posted December 29, 2023 Author #15 Share Posted December 29, 2023 1 hour ago, donaldsc said: If this response says what I think it says my comment would be - don't confuse me with the facts my mind is made up. If not - I apologize. DON 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie11 Posted December 29, 2023 #16 Share Posted December 29, 2023 3 hours ago, Coral said: After going to Alaska a ton, I wouldn't mind trying one in October for fall colors. I would never recommend it for a first time traveler. I was on a cruise the last week of September this year. The weather was a bit rough with wind and rain almost every day. I’ve been on so many Alaska cruises I really don’t care if I get off the ship or not, but if I paid a lot of money for a bucket list cruise and actually expected to see something or have a wide choice of excursions to choose from I’d be very disappointed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Aurora Posted December 30, 2023 #17 Share Posted December 30, 2023 7 hours ago, Coral said: After going to Alaska a ton, I wouldn't mind trying one in October for fall colors. I would never recommend it for a first time traveler. Well -- I've been in SE Alaska in October a number of times. For years I attended the Museums Alaska/Alaska Historical Society annual meetings (the two groups meet jointly as so many folks attend both). Don't get too excited about those fall colors. The bulk of the forest in SE (or at least in the Tongass) is sitka spruce, western hemlock and red cedar. But I will acknowledge that when the pelting rain moves from vertical to horizontal the green of the sitka spruce makes it easy to see what has happened. In the Interior we have lovely fall colors above tree line as the lichens and ground shrubs change colors. And more folks now have been planting Amur Maples in their yards. They are not native but the Georgeson Botanical Garden brought them into Fairbanks in the 1980s and local nurseries sell them. They do change colors, as do our birch and aspen trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted December 30, 2023 #18 Share Posted December 30, 2023 19 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said: Well -- I've been in SE Alaska in October a number of times. For years I attended the Museums Alaska/Alaska Historical Society annual meetings (the two groups meet jointly as so many folks attend both). Don't get too excited about those fall colors. The bulk of the forest in SE (or at least in the Tongass) is sitka spruce, western hemlock and red cedar. But I will acknowledge that when the pelting rain moves from vertical to horizontal the green of the sitka spruce makes it easy to see what has happened. In the Interior we have lovely fall colors above tree line as the lichens and ground shrubs change colors. And more folks now have been planting Amur Maples in their yards. They are not native but the Georgeson Botanical Garden brought them into Fairbanks in the 1980s and local nurseries sell them. They do change colors, as do our birch and aspen trees. Right after I wrote that - I was thinking that inland would have the colors as opposed to the cruise ports. Well - there is always the chance of Northern Lights, right??? 🙂 Again, I would never recommend this for someone on their first or second cruise. For someone like me, it would be fine. We experience vertical and horizontal rain also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KruisinKath Posted December 30, 2023 #19 Share Posted December 30, 2023 On 12/28/2023 at 12:24 PM, AKStafford said: Below was taken from a recent Facebook post in a group for advice for Alaska travel. I thought it was worth placing here as well: "Hola Travelers, As someone *very* active in the Alaska business & tourism field (and local to Juneau/Skagway since 2009), many of you chose to NOT book thru a travel agent and do not get the information I'm about to post; and the cruise lines and online booking sites don't know (or don't WANT you to know) this timeline of how business operates in Alaska. This includes TOURS, shops, TRANSPORTATION (including the TRAIN), etc). Our season has *always* been May 15 - September 15th. This is etched in STONE. Almost everything is open during this time period. Here's how they staff: April - workers start showing up, training commences. April 15 - maybe 25% of all tours/shops/excursions are open May 1 - 60%ish of businesses are open May 15 - 80% of businessses are open. Alaska Railroad opens. May 23/24thish: 100% of businesses are open September 4/5ish: We lose 25% of our staff and businesses September 15: About 50% of tours/businesses closed (including the Alaska Railroad) October 1st: We are probably at 20-25% of businesses and tours open Last Cruise: 5-10% of businesses are open (except for locals). Keep this in mind when you book your cruise if you are NOT going to book thru an Alaska-based agency or someone who has been up here a lot. In Skagway, it was rough on October 1st when we had only *** 2 *** full service restaurants open in town. JUST TWO. Yet we had 5,000 passenger ships still coming in. Most of our tours had already closed, except for a few ran by Skagway Tours, Southeast, and the railroad. I think Alaska X had a few still going. But it was NOT pretty for how the tourists were treating us (I even closed my shop due to how rude some of them were, and went on my own cruise in Florida). We had ships skipping ports due to horrible weather starting in late September, and every day I was getting an email from Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, or Sitka advising of another ship skipping a port that day or heavily delayed. There's a reason the cruise lines drop the prices SSSOOO low in our off-season - please keep this in mind when booking. If you are perfectly fine in NCL's Thermal Spa or doing onboard activities, then fantastic. You'll have a wonderful time." I wish this could be a pinned post at the top of the first page! I’ve been researching for my second Alaska trip and was surprised to see that the cruise lines have expanded the sailings earlier/later. Wasn’t surprised at the negative reviews I started seeing about tours/venues being shut down; though even just a few days of reading this and other forums would steer people away from these outside-shoulder seasons, but sadly many people don’t want to bother doing a little homework. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC LTC Posted January 2 Author #20 Share Posted January 2 On 12/29/2023 at 9:39 PM, KruisinKath said: I wish this could be a pinned post at the top of the first page! I’ve been researching for my second Alaska trip and was surprised to see that the cruise lines have expanded the sailings earlier/later. Wasn’t surprised at the negative reviews I started seeing about tours/venues being shut down; though even just a few days of reading this and other forums would steer people away from these outside-shoulder seasons, but sadly many people don’t want to bother doing a little homework. So true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie11 Posted January 3 #21 Share Posted January 3 This video was taken last April. I believe it was late April because it took longer to clear the tracks to the Summit last year. After you watch the people board the train, skip to around six minutes in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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