Alaska in early May - what will we see/or miss?

[Piratical]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who has provided so much useful info here. My husband and I will be travelling to Alaska early in May. We are guessing that there will still be lots of snow and some things therefore may not be as accessible as later in the season. I understand the salmon spawn in August but will we still see bears? We are interested in all the wildlife excursions. Our ports will be Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria, as well as Glacier Bay. Can anyone help us with suggestions for good things to see and do? Thank you.

J.and R. (in Australia)

[Budget Queen]

I'm assuming you are round trip Seattle. Be out on deck you first and last sailing day. Will be able to see some humpbacks migrating. Early May will have snow at White Pass and Yukon, Mt. Roberts etc, but totally snow free in ports.

 

Sorry, bear viewing will be totally - "chance" and not a very good one. Probably the best possibility is to drive the Klondike Highway to Carcross and spend all day. Problem may be a concern about snow conditions. I've had total white outs and 12 foot banks the last 2 years with my going in this timeframe. No concern for me, but may be for others??

[Budget Queen]

Ok I see you are on the Pearl. Another possible bear area is Glacier Bay, scan the shorelines- necessary is a good pair of wide angle binoculars, at least 10 power.

[chieffan9]

Duplicate

[chieffan9]

Budget Queen,

Thanks so much for all of your info you provide on the board. I'm new to CC, but I've already learned a lot from you and other posters. I have similar questions as jmg-rmg.

 

I'm taking my family to Alaska the last week of May aboard the Zaandam. We're stopping in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, then going by Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Do you have any recommendations specific to those places and at that time of year? Can we still see a lot, on a limited budget (there are 4 of us)? If I were to break down and spend $150/person on an excursion, which one would you recommend?

 

Thanks so much for your help!

[Piratical]

I'm assuming you are round trip Seattle. Be out on deck you first and last sailing day. Will be able to see some humpbacks migrating. Early May will have snow at White Pass and Yukon, Mt. Roberts etc, but totally snow free in ports.

 

Sorry, bear viewing will be totally - "chance" and not a very good one. Probably the best possibility is to drive the Klondike Highway to Carcross and spend all day. Problem may be a concern about snow conditions. I've had total white outs and 12 foot banks the last 2 years with my going in this timeframe. No concern for me, but may be for others??

 

Sincere thanks for helping here. We were lucky enough to get a package deal on the repositioning cruise from Miami to Seattle and then the 7-day cruise to Alaska so the timing is probably not what we would have chosen if we had booked for Alaska only. However as we visited Yellowstone NP in May (the first week, the road through opened) and did manage to see lots of wildlife including bears, so I will keep my hopes up here. Thanks for the tip re binoculars - will have to make sure that ours are strong enough as you suggested. Good thing is that we have a balcony cabin so we should have the best chance of seeing as much as possible. Have had good reports re Glacier Bay too.

My husband was hoping to go horseriding and the ships shore excursions do offer the opportunity but with '12 foot banks of snow' sounds like it might be doubtful.

Will keep checking in to see if there are any more replies. Thanks again for your help.

Regards

Jill and Ray (in Australia)

[Budget Queen]

I've read posts here where someone (I think it was you) said, "the humpbacks will be fully migrated by the end of April." Did their migration timing change with all the snow-fall last season?

 

There are migrated whales definately earlier so the whale watching season is available the full Alaska cruise season. But there is still migration going on until about Mid May, and a little later.

[Sunshine Gal]

Budget Queen,

Thanks so much for all of your info you provide on the board. I'm new to CC, but I've already learned a lot from you and other posters. I have similar questions as jmg-rmg.

 

I'm taking my family to Alaska the last week of May aboard the Zaandam. We're stopping in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, then going by Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Do you have any recommendations specific to those places and at that time of year? Can we still see a lot, on a limited budget (there are 4 of us)? If I were to break down and spend $150/person on an excursion, which one would you recommend?

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

One suggestion is to rent a car in Skagway and drive to Emerald Lake near Carcross. With four people the cost would be about $25 pp including gas and is one of the best trips you can take while in Alaska. Round trip takes about five hours and still leaves plenty of time for sightseeing and shopping. If you want to do this be sure and reserve early at AVIS.

[plenox]

Ok I see you are on the Pearl. Another possible bear area is Glacier Bay, scan the shorelines- necessary is a good pair of wide angle binoculars, at least 10 power.

 

BudgetQueen, can you tell us how far the ship is from the shore when sailing to Glacier bay? We will have our binoculars ready. But we are not sure if it is good enough to the see anything on the shorelines. Thx

[Budget Queen]

BudgetQueen, can you tell us how far the ship is from the shore when sailing to Glacier bay? We will have our binoculars ready. But we are not sure if it is good enough to the see anything on the shorelines. Thx

 

Even with 10 power, the images are small. The distance from shore varies.

[chieffan9]

One suggestion is to rent a car in Skagway and drive to Emerald Lake near Carcross. With four people the cost would be about $25 pp including gas and is one of the best trips you can take while in Alaska. Round trip takes about five hours and still leaves plenty of time for sightseeing and shopping. If you want to do this be sure and reserve early at AVIS.

 

Thanks, Sunshine! Great suggestion. I'm assuming it's a scenic trip?