Alaska - What's the best time of year?

[lucia1024]

I just got back from my 1st NCL cruise. I am hooked on the Freestyle Dining. I was considering taking another cruise with NCL. I would like to do some research on Alaska. I just don't know when the best time of year is to go.

 

I was also wondering how the ships are that go to Alaska. Are they older and smaller ships? I was just on the Jewel and thought that ship was great.

 

If you could share some of your experiences and knowledge on this I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks

[hotspur]

We cruised Alaska from May 19 through 29. Weather was lovely, but that may not be normal. Crowds were small. Cabin prices were low. Few children because school was still in session. No flying insects...but few bear sightings.

[Len3]

We sailed on the Sun Princess in early August and it was just sooooo wonderful. Go over to the Alaska board and look for "Budget Queen" - she knows Alaska better than anyone.

[KeystoneCruiser]

We went to Alaska last summer during July. Yes, there were many ships there and most ships were full, but I never felt the ports were crowded. I loved it. We had a week with no rain and temps in the 65-75 degree range. Several of our tour guides remarked that it is very unusual to get any week with no rain. Obviously the cruises in May and September are going to be less crowded due to school being in session, but the deeper into summer that you are (late June to early August) the better chance you have of seeing whales and other wildlife.

 

The ships doing Alaska next summer for NCL are the Star, Wind and Sun.

 

As far as the ships are concerned, my favorite ship is the Star. It was my first NCL ship and I love her. We did the Star last year in Hawaii. The Jewel is the queen of the NCL fleet right now, but does not do Alaska. The Star (like her sister ship the Dawn) are only slightly smaller than the Jewel and have similar deck plans. 10 restaurants to choose from on her.

 

The Sun is the next catagory down, slightly smaller than the Star, but still very nice with many choices.

 

The Wind is a smaller ship but still has many of the amenities of the larger ships.

 

The Sun and Star were built purposedly for Freestyle cruising, the first NCL ships to be built that way. (both launched in late 2001). The Wind was launched in the late 1990's.

 

It then comes down to itineraries. The Sun and Star are doing the cruises out of Seattle while the Wind is basing out of Vancouver. The Star does Glacier Bay and I was so impressed by that area.

 

Hope this helps.

[bradspeck]

The best time to go is the last two weeks of June to the middle of July. It's also the sunniest and the best salmon fishing. If you are also doing a land cruise to Denali, you might not get to take the tour bus through the park to see the wildlife if you go earlier because the roads are still snowed in.

 

Also, take lots of warm clothes. Days can get to the 80s but they are rare and far apart. the 60s are more like it. Alaska doesn't have glaciers because it's warm.

[electricron]

Alaska does have glaciers. So many glaciers that we don't have an official count.

Glacier Bay National Park is name so because it has a dozen tidewater glaciers and numerous hanging glaciers.

 

How many glaciers are there in Alaska?

There is no certain answer. There are 616 officially named glaciers in Alaska (see USGS Geographic Names Information System online data base), and many more unnamed glaciers. The Alaska Almanac estimates that Alaska has 100,000 glaciers -- that’s a pretty good estimate.

 

Myths:

1. Iceworms are a joke originated by gold rush poet Robert Service (see The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail).

They are real - they are annelid worms (class Oligochaeta); several species are recognized. Also, there are several insects and algae that live on the surfaces of glaciers.

2. Alaska was covered by glaciers during the Great Ice Age (Pleistocene).

No - interior Alaska was a grassland refuge habitat for a number of plant and animal species during the maximum glaciation.

3. Today's glaciers are leftovers from the ice age … and … Glacier ice is "really old."

Sort-of and no - we must distinguish between glaciers and the ice in glaciers. Like the difference between rivers and the water in rivers: it takes a few weeks for water to travel the full length of the Mississippi river; however there has been a Mississippi River for thousands of years. Likewise, glaciers have existed in the mountains ever since the ice age, but glacier flow moves the snow and ice through the entire length of the glacier in 100 years or less. So, most of the glacier ice in Alaska is less than 100 years old! Therefore, most of the glacier ice is not ice-age leftovers.

NOTE: There is "really old" ice near the bases of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and in a few special places in the world’s mountains.

3.1 What about the mammoths and giant bison found in ice?

The remains of prehistoric animals are indeed found in ice, but not glacier ice. Frozen fossil animals are found in permafrost. Permafrost may be many tens of thousands of years old.

3.1.a But, the Copper-Age "Iceman" found during 1991 in the European Alps was "in a glacier."

Special circumstances preserved the Iceman. His body was not destroyed when the site was over-ridden by a glacier because it was near the edge of the glacier in a protective bedrock depression. Had he truly been in a glacier, he would have been ground to flour.

4. Glacier ice is very cold.

Not really - most of the glacier ice in Alaska is only a few tenths of a degree below the melting temperature, except for a surface layer a few meters thick that is cooled during winter. As a consequence, most glaciers in Alaska are not frozen to their beds. These glaciers are referred to as "temperate" glaciers. Glaciologists refer to a glacier as a "cold" glacier if it is more than a few degrees below the freezing temperature throughout most of its thickness.

 

Next summer, NCL is using three ships, the Wind, the Sun, and the Star. To summarize quickly:

The Wind started service in 1993, and will be homeported in Vancouver. The Wind is the smallest of the NCL ships sailing to Alaska. Both the Star and the Sun started service in 2001 and will be homeported in Seattle. The Star is much like the Jewel, and will sail to Glacier Bay National Park, but will not sail the Inside Passage. The Sun, although the same age, is a slightly smaller ship, and will sail the Inside Package but will not sail to Glacier Bay National Park.

[Keith1010]

I have been to Alaska three times and will tell you that you have some good options in terms of when to go.

 

If you go in May and September, while it will be somewhat cooler there than in June, July or August it's still very nice and it will be less crowded than during the other months and the cruise prices should be lower than the other months. Our first cruise to Alaska was over 10 years ago and just like the caribbean it is amazing how many cruise ships now cruise there so going there during May and September has its advantages.

 

The other months have the advantage of likely having better weather.

 

With that said, each time we have been to Alaska the weather has been different as is the case everywhere. So, the key is always to dress in layers since you never know if it will be sunny, warm, cool, rainy all in one day.

 

You have a large variety of ships that cruise Alaska; old and new; large and small. If I think back 10 years or only a few of the larger lines cruised there and over time most lines put ships in Alaska. So, you will have many to choose from.

 

For your first cruise to Alaska I would recommend the Inside Passage which normally begins in Vancouver and ends in Vancouver. If you have extra days and would like to add a land program to your cruise then you could start or end in Seward, but if you have less time then I would go with the inside passage for the convenience of flying in and out of Vancouver.

 

Alaska, is a wonderful place to cruise to.

 

Keith

[Budget Queen]

Obviously the cruises in May and September are going to be less crowded due to school being in session, but the deeper into summer that you are (late June to early August) the better chance you have of seeing whales and other wildlife.

.

 

 

This is not true. There is plenty of whales seen the entire Alaska sailing season including May and Sept. This mid May I saw about 25 humpbacks on the sailing into Juneau, another approx. 10 sailing into Glacier Bay. May is also the only time you have the better chance of seeing bears without tours. Look along shorelines- saw 2 browns in Glacier Bay and driving the Klondike Highway- bears possible. The fly in Bear tours out of Ketchikan are peak in August.

[Budget Queen]

Anytime is a great time to sail Alaska. :) But on average after the first week of Sept has the greatest potential for foul weather. May, on average is the dryest. :)

 

You might want to also consider your desired activities??? Some are time limited.

 

I like mid-late August the best, full salmon runs, great bear viewing, some "fall" likely interior Alaska. I also always spend at least 2 week, this year almost 3 so I had the range of heat to snow. Also Northern Lights. :)