Thoughts on late Alaska season

[bcwife76]

I hope it's a good time to go - we leave in 2 1/2 weeks!

 

[jdb in AZ]

We went last cruise of the season in 2014. I think the major plus late season is that you are less likely to be unable to reach the glacier on scenic sailing day; that seems to happen more early in the season. Weather wise, I don't think there's any way to predict. We had mostly 60s with just one drizzly day. I did an Alaska cruise in the late 90s where we were first cruise of the season (early May on HAL) and it was so hot several days that I wished I had packed shorts.

We were able to spot wildlife on both trips, though the early September trip was at the end of the salmon run so we saw fewer salmon. (Does anyone else care about salmon spotting, or is that just my son?) I would personally go on the cruise if I were you, OP. DCL to Alaska is my second favorite vacation of all time (having been displaced this year by our trip to Costa Rica).

If you see salmon, you might see bears fishing for them.

 

[Sleepyluke]

We have been on 3 DCL cruises to Alaska and all 3 were in August (and pretty much the same week each time). We absolutely loved the time of year for each of our cruises. There were some excursions cancelled on each cruise, but there was only one day that was a total wash - Juneau day on our cruise in 2011 - where almost every single excursion was cancelled. Tracey Arm day was beautiful all 3 cruises, although slightly better on the first one, and even that late in the season we got diverted to Endicott Arm last year due to ice. The salmon were running on two of our cruises, but last years it hadn't started yet. We didn't see any bears while on the ship, but in 2013 we took a float plane to Neets Bay and saw some amazingly up close. All 3 years we did see whales from the ship, as well as on our excursions in Juneau.

I would most definitely go to Alaska with DCL again in August! I do have a trip report from last years trip if you would care to read. You can find it here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...-wonder-with-four-adults-august-2016.3560012/

Hope this helps!

Aby

Thank you! We bit the bullet and moved our cruise to next August. While we are disappointed we are not going to be cruising in the Caribbean, we are very excited about Alaska. I have heard a lot of it was the best trip, just have to rearrange my brain!

 

[RedSox68]

We are having to move an upcoming cruise and the new thought is that we are going to move it to Alaska. We basically have August 2018 open and can book. For you Alaska vets out there, is there any advantage to going earlier or later in the season? Don't have to worry about school, so later is a valid option with cheaper prices, but don't want to miss out on must see things that are either done or sold out by late season. We have heard there is a chance of seeing the northern lights at the end of August/early September, but not very likely and that wildlife could be a little less if the winter decides to show up early.

What else do we need to consider, or just take the money savings, go late and enjoy the scenery?

We did early May and saw a lot of animals and babies; going in August I think is when the Salmon run and more bears would be around. Animal sightings are luck of the draw, so you never know. My hope next time is to go in September. I'd rather have it cooler than warmer.