Alaska in August / September

[esjas12]

Hi,

 

We're thinking of an Alaska cruise in late August early Septemnber. Is the weather OK? Which ship is recommended and from which port, Seattle or Vancouver?

[Juscaus]

You need to do some homework and visit the Alaska forum. You'll fnd plenty of seasoned Alaska cruise verterans that will assist with your quesstion.

 

You may want to consider the following:

 

Are you interested in a R/T or S/B - N/B cruise?

Some say the weather is beautiful during this time of year and others say it's cold and rainy....

 

I've read that September is the beginning of the rainy season, hence, more rain.

 

Hope this helps and good luck with your homework.

[KAYEF]

That's our favorite time of year to go.............even the tundra turns color as do our leaves here in the Pacific Northwest.

Only once have we had rain in September.

If you are an early shopper, those souvenir shops have their "stuff" 75% off, too.............and, once we waded through shoppers when it was 90% off in Skagway and Juneau............you need to have an extra suitcase if you love that type of shopping, though.;)

The ships and the land activities are less crowded but the scenery is fantastic in Sept.

HAVE FUN, FUN, FUN...............you will get hooked...........we go "all" the time.

[alcpa1]

The key to Alaska cruising is in the prep. We have sailed in June and September.

Waterproof outerwear and shoes will make even the mistiest day a snap. We sure did not let the weather stop us. September provided the most glorious trip from Skagway to Emerald Lake in Canada ever.

If you can go late in the season there should be fewer ships too. That could mean smaller throngs everywhere and the bargain shopping.

The daylight will be shorter too if you have light sensitivity that's a good thing.

I'd pick September over August anyday.

[Putterdude]

My personal choice for Alaska is mid-July to mid-August. Having lived in Vancouver for over 60 years I don't want to see any more rain than need be. It has been my experience that the above period stands the best chance for warm weather, but there are no guarantees for weather in Alaska. I would also recommend a cruise out of Vancouver as for the most part these ships sail in the Inside Passage where the scenery is almost non stop and the seas are calm. The itineraries out of Seattle have the ships sailing on the west side of Vancouver Island in the Pacific where you do not have scenery for about 1.5 days in either direction and are subject to the sea conditions of the north Pacific.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have cruised all months for Alaska -- had a lot of rain when we sailed the end of August / beginning of Sept. Also a couple of stores were already out of merchandise and ready to wine down for the season.

I know the prices are higher but we prefer end of June and all of July -- also first week of August.

[agabbymama]

I booked our cruisetour in June of 2006 for the following August 2007. Then August of '06 arrived with torrential rains, cruisetour folks were stranded, roads closed, even the railroad couldn't run for a couple of days. It was terrible.

 

I had selected August because I'd read on this board that it was the best time for NO BUGS. Mosquitos love me, and I didn't want to have to fight them off.

 

I prayed all year that we had better luck. We left from Vancouver headed North. We had cloudy skies for the 3 days on the ship, and it poured in Juneau. We debarked in Skagway. Up the Whitepass Yukon RR with Sunny skies. We were on the coach, train, riverboat for 8 days inland Yukon & interior Alaska. We had a few sprinkles & showers, but it seemed to wait until we were either on the coach or after we got to our hotel in the evening. We had a wonderful trip, without any major mishaps, and we only saw 2 mosquitos the whole trip.

 

I think they had their first snow in '08 in early Sept though. Nobody can predict the weather, you book and take your changes. Be prepared for Sun, Rain or Snow! Have a great trip!