best month for Alaska Canada cruise

[weevee09]

Hello, just back from a med cruise which was excellent & Looking at cruises for next year.  Considering the Alaska/canada cruises from Seattle on either quantum or ovation. So far I can see there are rooms to suit our group available on 29th April/ 17th June or 15th July.  Is there a better month for cruising in this area? does it tend to be rocky at any stage on the route up to endicott arm etc?

[Cruise a holic]

We went in early August- weather was great!  I would recommend mid July through mid August.  Warm  dry weather- only cold weather was by the glaciers.  But weather other days was wonderful.  Loved sailing out of Vancouver.  It is a beautiful city.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[twangster]

It depends what you are looking for.  Best is highly subjective.

 

Best prices are in the shoulder season, May and September.

Best weather is possible every month of the cruise season.

Best chances to see Salmon run are in mid to late August.  

Best chances to see snow capped mountains are early in the cruise season.

Best photo opportunities are when days are longest, there are more daylight hours so more to see, plus or minus three weeks on either side of June 21.

 

In truth if you were to spend every week on the same cruise you would see something different every cruise.  Weather in Alaska is highly variable every month.

 

There is no wrong time to cruise Alaska.  I've sailed Alaska in May, June, July, August and September.  Every cruise was great with different memories.  

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by twangster

[OCSC Mike]

April is pretty early, temperature-wise. We spent 18 days on land & sea in June 2018 and the weather was very nice, cool but but not cold (long review in my signature though much of it is from the 10 days on land before our cruise).

 

I'd go with June or July.

[twangster]

Alaska snow capped mountains in early June

 

 

Same mountains later in the season and the snow is all gone.

 

 

Picture taken from Explorer of Radiance sailing out of Juneau, early June.

 

 

In September that year I was on Radiance taking a picture of Explorer as we departed Juneau at the same time of day compared to the picture taken above.  In September it's dark out when at the same time of day in June it's daylight. 

 

 

Early in the cruise season you see more compared to later in the cruise season because it's still light outside so you can see more whales and such because it's light outside longer.

 

[cruzvaca]

I went end of May last year and it was beautiful. Snow capped mountains and pretty warm during the daytime. Loved it

[DonnaK]

We went to Alaska last August on Ovation and was very disappointed.  It rained heavily and consistently the entire time, we saw zero wildlife, and the scenery was not much different than other mountainous places.  The mist and fog obscured and limited our vision, and it was nowhere near as spectacular as it was built up to be.   

 

We will try again earlier in the season and hopefully the weather will be clearer.

 

Ovation is a wonderful ship, and it was the most fun we've ever had on a cruise.

[CruisingWalter]

4 hours ago, weevee09 said:

Hello, just back from a med cruise which was excellent & Looking at cruises for next year.  Considering the Alaska/canada cruises from Seattle on either quantum or ovation. So far I can see there are rooms to suit our group available on 29th April/ 17th June or 15th July.  Is there a better month for cruising in this area? does it tend to be rocky at any stage on the route up to endicott arm etc?

 

Alaska is very much like a river cruise, but on a very large ship. Personally, we recommend smaller ships in Alaska because you spend so much time in port, you want to be able to easily exit and embark onto the ship. Smaller ships can also more easily navigate into and out of port in Alaska. Note that Quantum is skipping Skagway this year for reported 'pier damage' from the rockslides,

 

That's one small part of it, but in reality, it's probably the logistical nightmare of trying to bus over 4000 from the rear berth to land that is the reason for the cancellations. Or using the water tenders from the forward berth if she can even tie up there. Meanwhile smaller ships have the option to tie up at the secondary pier in Skagway and they can sometimes call into piers that the larger ships can't. 

 

If I was choosing a Royal ship for Alaska I'd go with Radiance or Brilliance of the Seas. Alaska IS the star on those cruises and you are generally in port much longer on Alaska cruises. For me the big ships get in the way more than they help on that itinerary. 

 

If you are one of the very first cruises in the season be aware that not everything may be open yet. And at the very end of the season, the same, some tours and shops will have already shut down. April/May and end of August to October have fewer kids.  If you go to Alaska after Aug. 21 you will be in "Aurora Season" (northern lights) with at least a chance to see them in the evening. 

 

Honestly Royal is not my first choice for Alaska, we did a Princess Cruise Tour for 14 days that is still the most incredible cruise we've taken. 7 days on land staying in Princess lodges in Fairbanks, Denali and Copper River, then the full 7 day cruise on the Sapphire Princess. That was about as large of a ship as I'd want in Alaska. 

 

But regardless, go to Alaska, you will have an amazing time!

[Sigyn]

Another consideration is northern lights. You're more apt to see them when the days are shorter, not in the middle of summer. I saw them once up near Denali in mid-september.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

Honestly Royal is not my first choice for Alaska, we did a Princess Cruise Tour for 14 days that is still the most incredible cruise we've taken. 7 days on land staying in Princess lodges in Fairbanks, Denali and Copper River, then the full 7 day cruise on the Sapphire Princess.

 

Regardless of ship or cruise line preference, I would highly recommend including as much time on land as possible if your schedule and budget allows. As I mentioned earlier, we did 10 days on land traveling all the way from Fairbanks down to Seward before a 7-night southbound cruise on Radiance. We did the land portion DIY with lots of help from an outside company and it was more amazing than the cruise portion. This was a special vacation for us and we spent WAY more than our typical vacation (driving an hour to PC for a Caribbean cruise in an interior with a good deal).

 

NOTE: I realize the OP wants to sail out of Seattle which doesn't make this possible but figured I'd throw it out there just in case they have some flexibility and want to look into something else.

 

BTW, IIRC, while in Denali, we "borrowed" the lobby of the Princess Lodge for a short break while we were waiting for a shuttle to take us back to our cabin at the front of the park. It looked very nice.

[Cruise5life]

2 hours ago, DonnaK said:

We went to Alaska last August on Ovation and was very disappointed.  It rained heavily and consistently the entire time, we saw zero wildlife, and the scenery was not much different than other mountainous places.  The mist and fog obscured and limited our vision, and it was nowhere near as spectacular as it was built up to be.   

 

We will try again earlier in the season and hopefully the weather will be clearer.

 

Ovation is a wonderful ship, and it was the most fun we've ever had on a cruise.

That’s funny.  I went august last year.    And it was amazing.   Seen so much wildlife.  And right from the ship.     
weather was great.  Temps were perfect.   Was an amazing trip.   
weather is always hit or miss in alaska.   

[weevee09]

Thanks to everyone who replied, we went for 28th June, paid the deposit today. only 416 days to go 🤪I have one excited 4 year old who wants to see some bears and whales!

 

[taglovestocruise]

8 hours ago, DonnaK said:

We went to Alaska last August on Ovation and was very disappointed.  It rained heavily and consistently the entire time, we saw zero wildlife, and the scenery was not much different than other mountainous places.  The mist and fog obscured and limited our vision, and it was nowhere near as spectacular as it was built up to be.  

We were on Ovation last week of September and found our cruise to match yours to a T.  Found Alaska to be the worst cruise in 30 years of cruising, once and done. I will add the crew were  fantastic and the food was as good or better than any other cruise. 

[xlxo]

My vote goes to early June...

• cheaper than the summer
• cheaper hotels than in the summer
• no summer heat
• all the excursions are operating.  Bennet train does not start service until May 30th.  Crews are trained and experienced from May travellers
• lots of daylight in the land of the midnight sun
• more flowers than May
• avoid the July wildfires and wildfire smoke
• avoid the August/September rain

 

Late July and early August has an uptick on wildlife activity chasing the returning Salmon

Edited May 10, 2023 by xlxo

[Coral]

I like May and June. Historically dry.

[PCHENG]

I vote for May and early June.  The scenery is more beautiful with snow still on the mountain top, the price is cheaper, and you avoid the Alaska state bird - mosquitoes.  

[CruisingWalter]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:52 AM, DonnaK said:

We went to Alaska last August on Ovation and was very disappointed.  It rained heavily and consistently the entire time, we saw zero wildlife, and the scenery was not much different than other mountainous places.  The mist and fog obscured and limited our vision, and it was nowhere near as spectacular as it was built up to be.   

 

We will try again earlier in the season and hopefully the weather will be clearer.

 

Ovation is a wonderful ship, and it was the most fun we've ever had on a cruise.

 

It rains in Alaska. Often. Of the 14 days we were there it rained at least half the time. In fact low hanging clouds cancelled two of our aerial excursions. But it was still the most spectacular cruise tour ever. If you only do a cruise, you're missing out on so much. We saw so much wildlife during our 7 days on land, especially the babies because it was the end of May, early June. So many babies. Owls, Moose, Grizzly Bears and more During the cruise itself we mainly saw whales and eagles.