Alaska in late May or late August?

[princessmommyx3]

For those of you who have sailed Alaska before or know a lot about it, would it be better for us to sail on the first sailing in late May or the second to last sailing in late August? We want to take advantage of the lower prices but are unsure which month would give us a better experience in terms of weather and wildlife. TIA!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

For those of you who have sailed Alaska before or know a lot about it, would it be better for us to sail on the first sailing in late May or the second to last sailing in late August? We want to take advantage of the lower prices but are unsure which month would give us a better experience in terms of weather and wildlife. TIA!

We've cruise in Alaska in early June (very early, Jun 1st) and mid September. Didn't really find much difference in the weather between the two. Biggest difference, we saw more snow (on the ground) in June than September. And the September cruise had shorter daylight hours.

As to wildlife - I can't say. I feel like we saw a fairly equal amount between the two.

 

[AKmomma]

Hi! I've lived in Alaska my whole life and I would say late May. The weather is usually beautiful and all the greenery is coming to life. August can be so rainy. Plus you're getting to everyone as they're excited about the season. Wildlife wise you'll have a chance to see babies! The moose are all having their babies right now and they're SO cute. With that said the weather can just be crazy - so you never know. Oh and you'll have the most daylight hours in late May. I went to bed at 11:45 last night and it was just dusk. Hope that's helpful.

 

[Simba's Mom]

DS, who used to cruise all summer in Alaska (since he worked for a cruise line) gave us a good reason to go at the beginning of the season, in May versus the fall. Lots of the ports will be offering "opening specials", at restaurant, tourist attractions, etc. Meaning May is usually slightly cheaper overall.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• May offers more daylight and dryer weather. Tracy Arm is often substituted for Endicott. Tracy Arm is often filled with ice and makes it difficult to navigate the 31 miles to meet up with Sawyer. In 2016.... The Wonder missed Tracy Arm the entire season.
• August is wetter, but they say there is more wildlife.
• I like dry weather, so will vote May.

 

[dclpluto]

Go on the first cruise of the season that way you can take the repo cruise and make it a decent length vacation

 

[princessmommyx3]

Go on the first cruise of the season that way you can take the repo cruise and make it a decent length vacation

I like the way you think!!! I had actually already thought about that! Thank you everyone for all of the advice. We had booked August but now I am going to change it to May. It sounds like late May is the way to go!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We saw a lot of whales during the end of May, but you have a better chance of seeing bears in August.

 

[cruiser21]

DS, who used to cruise all summer in Alaska (since he worked for a cruise line) gave us a good reason to go at the beginning of the season, in May versus the fall. Lots of the ports will be offering "opening specials", at restaurant, tourist attractions, etc. Meaning May is usually slightly cheaper overall.

Ive heard there's a lot of deals the end of the season too.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ive heard there's a lot of deals the end of the season too.

That was true on our first Alaska cruise. Did weren't on DCL, but HAL and it was the last cruise ship of all the lines for the season. PLENTY of really good deals, both onboard and in ports.

 

[cruiser21]

That was true on our first Alaska cruise. Did weren't on DCL, but HAL and it was the last cruise ship of all the lines for the season. PLENTY of really good deals, both onboard and in ports.

Can you walk off the ship and get deals on excursions?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can you walk off the ship and get deals on excursions?

That I can't answer. That cruise was only our second cruise ever, and I wasn't aware of the possibility of picking up tours once in port. We primarily do ship's excursions the first time we are in any given port.

 

[cruiser21]

There's no mosquito's in August they die off with the frost. The salmon is running in August, and the bears are out. We're going in September. I've read the change of seasons is nice. I wouldn't base my decision on weather that is such a crap shoot. It's like when people ask about the Caribbean. It's really hard to predict the weather. If I like the cruise I might do it again next May. I'm pretty tired of the Caribbean. I go when the prices are the lowest if that's May or September that's when I'm going. I could pay twice as much to go in July and have crappy weather. Unless you have some kind of crystal ball that predicts weather I would just go with whatever works best for you. I think wildlife is pretty abundant, all the time, but the best time to see bears is July to Sept.
This was kind of last minute trip for us. I booked it last week. I don't have a ton of money for excursions so if I decide to wheel and deal with tour operators on the dock I'll report back. I usually save a lot of money doing this. I've done it in the Caribbean and Europe and have been pretty successful.

 

[The Hunchback]

We went in May before the first salmon run. Bears had slept in too. Most exciting wildlife we saw was a banana slug and a dead vole. I would check with Alaska fish and game next time to get a feel for the Salmon run times and go from there.

 

[cruiser21]

For those of you who have sailed Alaska before or know a lot about it, would it be better for us to sail on the first sailing in late May or the second to last sailing in late August? We want to take advantage of the lower prices but are unsure which month would give us a better experience in terms of weather and wildlife. TIA!

I'll try to post on this thread when I return and let you know about the weather and wildlife. The prices on those weeks are pretty stable so I think you have some time. I booked the September 2017 cruise 2 weeks ago and it is still at opening day prices.