Weather & seas in May?

[Poodle Lady]

Planning our first Alaskan cruise. I hear the weather is pretty decent in May. I'm concerned about rough seas, though. We will leave from Vancouver and end in Whittier.

[Coral]

The first night (regardless of months) can be rough out of Vancouver. It is better than out of Seattle. Generally the rest of the trip should be uneventful but there are situations where they have storms and it can be bad. Most of them are not. I would be more worried if you were going in September. I have gone a ton in May and have never had an issue.

 

Though - if you are prone to being sick, bring precautions - speak to your doctor.

[martincath]

On paper it should be bounciest during the last couple of days, not the first - sheltered waters from Vancouver right up to the top of the Island, some open ocean, then into the AK inside passage for your ports of call. It's after you leave the last of the usual suspects (Juneau/Skagway/Ketchikan/ISP) and start heading across the gulf to Whittier that you'll have nothing but open ocean. But really it doesn't matter which days should be the best/worst though, your whole cruise could be rough or smooth as glass or more likely somewhere in-between, so 100% agree with Coral that figuring out meds with your own health provider is the sensible way to go - just like packing rain gear even though May is the dryest month, you prepare for the worst case and hope for the best!

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, Coral said:

The first night (regardless of months) can be rough out of Vancouver. It is better than out of Seattle. Generally the rest of the trip should be uneventful but there are situations where they have storms and it can be bad. Most of them are not. I would be more worried if you were going in September. I have gone a ton in May and have never had an issue.

 

Though - if you are prone to being sick, bring precautions - speak to your doctor.

Sorry, but having worked on Alaska cruises and on the BC Coast, with 28 years in command, I have a contrary opinion.

 

Departing Vancouver, the ship heads up Georgia Strait, where it can be rough at any time, but the frequency from May to Sept is low. Late evening, depending on tides, the ship will enter the sheltered Inside Passage at Campbell River. The entire first night is spent navigating Johnstone Strait, a narrow channel between Vancouver Island & the Mainland. Only rocking should be big turns at Helmecken Island, if tide is running.

 

On day 2, the vessel leaves sheltered waters late morning at Pine Island, entering Hecate Strait, then Dixon Entrance. This is open waters and has the chance of being rough. However, the frequency in May is fairly low. The vessel does not enter sheltered waters again until late evening.

 

After departure Glacier Bay/Icy Strait the vessel navigates the Pacific Ocean up to Prince William Sound. Again this is open waters.

[Coral]

6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Sorry, but having worked on Alaska cruises and on the BC Coast, with 28 years in command, I have a contrary opinion.

 

 

I basically said it can be rough at any time but typically in May it is pretty good. I stand by that. I also suggested they bring precautions. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Coral

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

 

I basically said it can be rough at any time but typically in May it is pretty good. I stand by that. I also suggested they bring precautions. 

You are correct in that May normally has a low probability of storms, however stating it could be rough the first night is incorrect. From approach to Cape Mudge (approx 22:00 depending on tides) it will be smooth sailing on the first night.

 

Day 2 in Hecate Strait and the last days crossing the Gulf of Alaska/Pacific Ocean have the highest probability of rough weather, not the first night.

[Coral]

 

You are correct in that May normally has a low probability of storms, however stating it could be rough the first night is incorrect. From approach to Cape Mudge (approx 22:00 depending on tides) it will be smooth sailing on the first night.

 

Day 2 in Hecate Strait and the last days crossing the Gulf of Alaska/Pacific Ocean have the highest probability of rough weather, not the first night.

On almost all of my cruises - the first night out of Vancouver has been rougher than any other night. Sometimes barf bags are out.

[wolfie11]

When you depart Vancouver at 4pm you go into Georgia Strait and transit Seymour Narrows in the wee hours, then into Johnston’s Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait.  Queen Charlotte Sound (Day 1) is open water and can get quite rough.  Between Haida Gwaii and Dixon Entrance is also open water, but shorter and transited at night.  Then after leaving Glacier Bay you head into the Gulf of Alaska towards Whittier, which can also be quite rough.  If you are going mid-May or later, there are fewer storms as the worst weather tends to be in spring and fall.  I’m looking forward to a Tokyo-Anchorage crossing in early May but realize the odds of smooth sailing are not great.  

 

Timing is everything. I was southbound to Hubbard Glacier on one cruise where it was a bit rough but ok.  The ship a few hours behind us got into worsening weather and tossed around to the point where unsecured items were flying around the cabins.

[BarbinMich]

We've cruised Alaska 4 times, 3 in May and 1 in June.  3 were NB and 1 was SB.  Only once did we have bad seas and that was in the Inside Passage where there was a freak storm (per the captain), making for rough waters for a day or so.

[new_cruiser]

I cruised from Seward to Vancouver last year from mid-May to the end of May (14-day cruise). We had very rough seas during most of the time crossing the Gulf of Alaska (the first night and part of the next day). It was heavy enough seas that they had to shut off the elevators on our smallish (220 passenger) ship. The rest of the cruise was pretty smooth sailing (including the when we left the inside passage to visit Sitka. 

 

This was a back-to-back for the Pacific Crossing from Japan and the first Alaska cruise. We had pretty smooth sailing for most of the crossing with 2 m seas the first two days and 2 m seas the last couple of days so it wasn't very rough seas when we sailed into Seward.

 

We had cloudy and rainy weather most of the trip even though people say that May is statistically less rainy. There was only 1 day in the middle of the cruise when we had sunny weather and then the sun showed again on the last couple of days.