Alaska in June, questions

[smurf1635]

We are booked on Norwegian Sun in June. We are flying into Bellingham Washington (31 miles from Vancouver). Does anyone know if Norwegian offers transfers to/from this airport?

 

Cruising is not new to me, but Alaska sure is. How cold can it be in the middle/end of June? Is it warm enough to use the pool? Are there many kids on board for Alaska? I have a 14 year old son and I'm hoping that he'll find plenty to keep him busy on days not in port, especially if it is not warm enough for the pools.

 

Thank you for any info you can offer me :)

[garycarla]

regarding June, Alaska and weather. You might want to go over to the PORTS OF CALL and look under ALASKA. Lots of great info there.

[MAD18]

We are booked on Norwegian Sun in June. We are flying into Bellingham Washington (31 miles from Vancouver). Does anyone know if Norwegian offers transfers to/from this airport?

 

Cruising is not new to me, but Alaska sure is. How cold can it be in the middle/end of June? Is it warm enough to use the pool? Are there many kids on board for Alaska? I have a 14 year old son and I'm hoping that he'll find plenty to keep him busy on days not in port, especially if it is not warm enough for the pools.

 

Thank you for any info you can offer me :)

 

I have cruised to Alaska the past 2 years both in June.

 

2005-NCL Sun, excellent weather, not a drop of rain, on Glacier day people were in swimming suits by the pool. I found the nights were cold.

 

2006-Celebrity Infinity, still excellent weather, no rain but Glacier Day was freezing.

 

I travelled both times with my son now 4 years old, and he preferred NCL as there were more kids to play with. I also found there were more teenagers on NCL than Celebrity.

 

I am sailing on the Sun again this June :-)

 

Here are pics if you want to check them out.............

 

NCL Sun 2005

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/chrisandmeldormoriz/album?.dir=b6fa&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/chrisandmeldormoriz/my_photos

Celebrity Inifinity 2006

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/chrisandmeldormoriz/album?.dir=b8fescd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/chrisandmeldormoriz/my_photos

[Len3]

Just hop over to the Alask board. "Budget Queen" will have all of the info that you need.

[alpal1993]

The plan for Alaska is LAYER you never know what the weather will be.June 2003 we hit a heat wave 94 in Fairbanks.Needed Jacket in Juneau a week latter.

[puablo]

We went on an Alaskan inside passage cruise (with Princess) the first week of June last year. The weather was great but you really do need layers. Pretty much I had to pack everything I owned. Each day started out in the mid-60s and ended up in the upper 70s at all our ports. It only rained lightly for about 10 minutes in Ketchikan, and we were swimming in the pool while in that port looking at the mountains. Ultimately we wore long pants, t-shirts, and a jacket every day for our early excursions, ditching the jacket and changing into shorts by the afternoon. When we were in Skagway, our northernmost stop, it was 80 degrees that day. However we took the train ride and stood outside for most of it and that got a little chilly, but not bad.

 

The one time that really was cold was when we did our glacier sail-by (we went to Tracy Arm Fjord, which is different from where NCL goes) from 6am to 10am. It was very cold, we needed our winter coats, gloves, and hats. That was the only time of the entire trip where in our pictures we actually look appropriately dressed for the surroundings - i.e. not wearing shorts with a glacier in the background, etc.

 

Ultimately we had to pack clothes for the dining room, formal clothes, and then warm, cool, and cold-weather clothes for excursions and on-deck sightseeing, and we went through everything we brought. So bottom line, prepare for every weather pattern you can think of, you'll probably encounter it all.

 

And you will be able to swim in the pool!

[puablo]

Oh and to answer one of your other questions, the Alaskan cruise definitely seemed to have "older" clientele, especially when compared to a Caribbean cruise. My wife and I are in our mid-20s and we were beyond a doubt in the lower 1% of the age range of the ship. After a whole week I only saw two other couples our age (not counting employees). There were families with kids of course, but even then not very many, to the point where seeing a kid was a rare sight. I'm convinced that when I saw 10 - 20 kids around the pool deck, it was probably the majority of kids on the ship. Again, this was on Princess, but my wife had taken the NCL Alaskan cruise a number of years ago and she said it was pretty much identical in terms of demographics.

 

Still, you're going to have an amazing time and your kids should love it. Alaska is beautiful and there are some really cool excursions that you can take kids on if you like active trips. For example, we did zip-lining in Ketchikan, rock climbing in Skagway (and the train of course), and kayaking near the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. All were excellent, and kayaking was the best part of the entire trip.

[Scarlett3]

Thanks for starting this thread and thanks to those who responded. I read with eagerness, as my family and I are going - first cruise (on the Pearl) and first time in Alaska in June!

[MommyJamiex4]

We were on an Alaskan cruise last June and it was COLD!!! But the following week it was warm and sunny. Do be prepared for rain as it rains a good 250-300 days a yea in ALaska. Despite the cooler weather and occasional rain we had a wonderful time!

[puablo]

We were on an Alaskan cruise last June and it was COLD!!! But the following week it was warm and sunny. Do be prepared for rain as it rains a good 250-300 days a yea in ALaska. Despite the cooler weather and occasional rain we had a wonderful time!

 

Good point, I should have mentioned that every single port had rain all day the day prior to our arrival. Every local said "You're lucky, the weather is great today! It was cloudy and rainy all day yesterday!" So while Alaska can be warm in June, it's completely random. Obviously we both went in the same month and had a totally different experience. The upside is that Alaska would still be beautiful even in a downpour.

[Eeyoregon]

I have a 14 year old son and I'm hoping that he'll find plenty to keep him busy on days not in port, especially if it is not warm enough for the pools.

 

What ship/sailing are you on?

[smurf1635]

Thanks for all of the tips and info.

 

We are on the Norwegian Sun, June 17.

[newbiefromvancouver]

We are booked on Norwegian Sun in June. We are flying into Bellingham Washington (31 miles from Vancouver). Does anyone know if Norwegian offers transfers to/from this airport?

 

 

 

Not sure about NCL transfers but both Amtrak and QuickCoach are reasonably priced to get from Bellingham to Vancouver.

[Len3]

You just never know about the weather on the Inside Passage. Just remember that it's in a rain forrest, so pack accordingly. We did Alaska in August and had ever kind of weather possible - it's a hard trip to pack for because you just never know from one day to the next.