Alaska - June or July

[cusematt4]

Hi All,

 

We are debating a first time cruise to Alaska in either June or July.  We would go from Anchorage to Vancouver with a 3-4 day pre-cruise land tour.  We are looking at a cruise either mid-June or late July.

 

Is there any reason we should consider June over July OR July over June?  Is either month nicer, more daylight or less likely to rain?

 

The cruises would be the same price and we are open to either.  Websites seem to state any time from 5/15-9/15 for Alaska.

 

Thanks so much.

[A&L_Ont]

We have been three times all in late July, 3rd week. We have have had nice weather every time.
 

If we were returning we’d try to go at the same window, but not August. Quite often in August some of the glacial excursions get cancelled because it gets too warm. I would pick June over August. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by A&L_Ont

[OCSC Mike]

Very long review of our 2018 trip from June 12-30 (10 days on land followed by 7-night cruise southbound) in my signature if it helps.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, cusematt4 said:

late July

 

👍

[kctwinmommy]

We did July and loved it! We had nice weather, no rain, and got to see everything we wanted. I have a review in my signature as well.

[crzndeb]

The Summer Solstice is June 20th in 2024. The days will become shorter after that, but not a whole lot will be noticeable at end of July. Nobody can predict the weather. That’s why most always say to plan for layers. I was just there in May, and it was warm(for me),  in low 70’s. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by crzndeb

[The Fun Researcher]

I vote July.  We had amazing weather July 10-17

[A&L_Ont]

Forgot to add there is a review in my signature as well, along with a pre-cruise 3 day adventure. 

[Jimbo]

We did late May, early June. No salmon running at that time, So if you want to see Salmon running you have to go later then we did.

 

Weather wasn't an issue for us, shorts and short sleeves.........Hoodie needed if breezy other then that it was fine.

[smokeybandit]

I'd go as early or as late in the season as possible

[A&L_Ont]

18 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

We did late May, early June. No salmon running at that time, So if you want to see Salmon running you have to go later then we did.

 

Weather wasn't an issue for us, shorts and short sleeves.........Hoodie needed if breezy other then that it was fine.

 

Good point Jimbo. I’d the 3 sailings we did in late July the salmon run was going on for two of them. For the one, it had yet to start. 

[h18furball]

We just did June, no Salmon in Ketchikan.  I think the Salmon run Mid to end of July.

[cusematt4]

Thanks.  Aside from the salmon, is everything else similar in June and July?  Is it typically decent weather / similar in terms of animal sighting possibilities?

[The Fun Researcher]

52 minutes ago, cusematt4 said:

Thanks.  Aside from the salmon, is everything else similar in June and July?  Is it typically decent weather / similar in terms of animal sighting possibilities?

This is our only year going to Alaska but we were on our whale watching tour in Juneau on July 14. Sunny and around 75F.  The captain of the ship and crew said that it has been raining pretty much all year up until our week. Take that for what it’s worth but we had no rain our entire cruise.

 

ours is just a one off example though

Edited July 26, 2023 by The Fun Researcher

[Jimbo]

51 minutes ago, cusematt4 said:

Thanks.  Aside from the salmon, is everything else similar in June and July?  Is it typically decent weather / similar in terms of animal sighting possibilities?

Salmon not running, Bears are harder to find/see.

[Oceansaway17]

June as there would be a little more snow in the mountains making for prettier photos.

[The Fun Researcher]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

June as there would be a little more snow in the mountains making for prettier photos.

Yeah here is Sitka mid July.  Just a little snow left.  We don’t know any different so still thought it was gorgeous 

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

June as there would be a little more snow in the mountains making for prettier photos.

 

Maybe it's because we were born and raised in PA and had been in FL for 18 years but we wanted it to be on the cold side. Our weather in June 2018 was great (50s-60s).

Edited July 27, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[lenquixote66]

10 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi All,

 

We are debating a first time cruise to Alaska in either June or July.  We would go from Anchorage to Vancouver with a 3-4 day pre-cruise land tour.  We are looking at a cruise either mid-June or late July.

 

Is there any reason we should consider June over July OR July over June?  Is either month nicer, more daylight or less likely to rain?

 

The cruises would be the same price and we are open to either.  Websites seem to state any time from 5/15-9/15 for Alaska.

 

Thanks so much.

We did a 7 day land followed by a 7 day cruise in May.We were originally planning a June or July but opted for a May.

[Oceansaway17]

13 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Maybe it's because we were born and raised in PA and had been in FL for 18 years but we wanted it to be on the cold side. Our weather in June 2018 was great (50s-60s).

I live in PA and have done Alaska in all the months. The weather varies a lot and folks should know that some areas of Alaska have mild winters. What makes the weather chilly is the rain and clouds as well as wind just like New England.

I live AK and going end of August on Princess do I can revisit Glacier Ntl park.

But I love going in May and June.

[OCSC Mike]

2 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

The weather varies a lot and folks should know that some areas of Alaska have mild winters.

 

Absolutely... but coming from FL, it's either going to be cool or cold to us no matter what.

 

We go to CocoCay to cool off, even in October! 🤣

 

#itswaytoohothere

Edited July 27, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[Oceansaway17]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Absolutely... but coming from FL, it's either going to be cool or cold to us no matter what.

 

We go to CocoCay to cool off, even in October! 🤣

 

#itswaytoohothere

I went to Coco with Anthem in Oct 2021 and was surprised how chilly the Oasis pool was and the always windy walk in from ship.

While I envy you being close to the ships, I do not think I could live in Fl because of bugs, gators, and humidity.

[fac429]

17 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

This is our only year going to Alaska but we were on our whale watching tour in Juneau on July 14. Sunny and around 75F.  The captain of the ship and crew said that it has been raining pretty much all year up until our week. Take that for what it’s worth but we had no rain our entire cruise.

 

ours is just a one off example though

 

Their memories may have been a bit short because we were there in mid-June and the weather was the same as yours.  I second those who say that June is better for snow on the mountains.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  Also, there were tons of little waterfall ribbons everywhere on the mountains (and some larger waterfalls as well), not sure if you'd see as many of those once most of the snow was already gone (but maybe you would?)

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

While I envy you being close to the ships, I do not think I could live in Fl because of bugs, gators, and humidity.

 

The gators don't bother you as long as you don't do something dumb like swim in a lake.

 

The rest... I don't blame you. Besides the heat, we always talk about how we went from cute, fuzzy animals in PA like rabbits, chipmunks, deer, etc. to critters down here like gators, armadillos, lizards, etc.

 

Being close to PC is by far my favorite part of living here, lol.

Edited July 27, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, fac429 said:

 

Their memories may have been a bit short because we were there in mid-June and the weather was the same as yours.  I second those who say that June is better for snow on the mountains.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  Also, there were tons of little waterfall ribbons everywhere on the mountains (and some larger waterfalls as well), not sure if you'd see as many of those once most of the snow was already gone (but maybe you would?)

I'm just repeating what they said.  They were genuine folks and didn't seem to have any reason to exaggerate.   Wonderful crew.

https://www.juneauwhalewatch.com/

 

We saw the ribbons of waterfalls primarily in the Endicott arm, where there were a lot.  I did not notice many of them elsewhere but I wasn't looking along shore much as we were travelling between ISP, Sitka, and Juneau.  Nugget falls by the Mendenhall Glacier seemed to still be gushing full force.  That was awesome to be so close to.

 

Glad to hear June is very nice also.  We felt very blessed with our weather, with no rain the entire cruise, and mostly sunny for about 2/3 of it.  Of course weather changes a lot anywhere in the country and we lucked out.

 

We absolutely loved our Alaskan cruise, and would rank it right next to our very best Caribbean cruise (9 night to the ABC's and Labadee onboard the newly Amped Navigator March 2019).

 

Alaska will hold us over for a long time.  Now that we've experienced it, I think there are many other locations we would like to visit first before going back.  Not knocking Alaska, it was absolutely fantastic ad special, but it doesn't have the repeat factor for us like warm weather cruising or exploring other new and exciting locations.  Maybe we'll go back in retirement.

 

Happy cruising!