Late May/early June..what will we see?

[relo854]

First time cruise...first time to Alaska. Don't know which cruise line yet. We are coming from the Boston area so we are probably looking at one of the roundtrip cruises from/to Seattle. What can we expect to see at this time...do the differant cruise routes have differant/better scenery/wildlife at this time? Read various comments. Snow covered glaciers...can't see the beauty of the glacier(s)? Will we possibly see any wildlife? Some people said they loved this time for the cruise We are open to any time for our cruise. Would like a time when we can witness the beauty of the glaciers/wildlife etc. Any comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks in addvance

[plenox]

wondering the same question as well

[retiredAF]

We are on the 1 Jun NCL Pearl cuise and also wondering what we should look forward to seeing. We have already signed up for a whale watching trip but are anxious to hear what others recommend.

Thanks for you hlep!

[TwelveKitties]

Have done this trip three times - once in May, once in August and once in September. On the May and August trips, we also did a land tour (Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, etc.). This past September, we did the round trip out of Seattle. All three of our trips have been on Princess, so can't comment as to which line is best. Most people say HAL and Princess are the best for Alaska, but my thought is ... take whatever line you like - just go to Alaska! There is nothing else like it and worth every penny. Here's what I remember about the wildlife we saw on the cruise portions of our trips:

 

In May, we saw the most eagles (probably 100 alone in Juneau). Also saw whales and sea lions in Juneau, and Dahl sheep near Skagway and in Glacier Bay.

 

In August, all we saw the entire time from the ship were two whales and a few eagles. Didn't do the "whale watch" in Juneau, but I think you can see whales there whenever you go. You also can rent a car in Juneau and drive out to the Grotto of St. Terese where you can walk out to the water and watch the same whales that you see on the excursions. We did see some salmon running in the streams near the ports. It is also a good time to go on a "bear watch" excursion.

 

In September we didn't see a lot of eagles (we did see some), but we saw whales from the time we left Seattle until we got back. There was a mother bear and two cubs living very close to Mendenhall glacier which caused several of the trails to be closed to hikers. Unfortunately, they were not out for us to see, but there are bears around Juneau on a regular basis.

 

You will have no problem seeing the glaciers no matter when you go. We have been to Glacier Bay twice, and the twin Sawyer Glaciers this last time. All are beautiful.

 

If you don't do the land tour, you probably won't see moose or caribou - they tend to be at locations in the interior - not along the inside passage.

 

Finally, having done both Southbound and round-trip itineraries, I can honestly say either one is great in its own way. Round-trip out of Seattle was by far the easiest for making travel arrangements. Whatever you choose, it will be the trip of a lifetime - and it won't be your last. I haven't met anyone who made this trip who doesn't want to go back again and again.

 

If you have specific questions, would be happy to help if I can. There are also a lot of experts on this board who know much more than I do, so I hope they weigh in as well.

 

TwelveKitties

[relo854]

Thanks for your response. We are looking at excursions in the above 2 areas. Seems like mostly historical and whale watching. Any recommendations on excursions in these 2 areas. We would like to see wildlife and the beauty of the area more so than the history. In Juneau we plan on inquiring on the dog sled sled...any comments on that? thanks again

[TwelveKitties]

In Ketchikan, if you want to see nature on land - do the rainforest wildlife sanctuary or the rainforest canopy & zipline. The tour on the "Deadiest Catch" boat is also nature related - they take you out, drop the crab pots, pull up pots, show off all the different things they catch, etc. If you decide to do history, be sure to include the Totem Village.

 

I haven't been to Sitka, but a good friend says for wildlife, take the sea otter quest. For history, the Russian walking tour.

 

I haven't been to the dog camp in Juneau, but if it is anything like the one at Skagway - this is a must do. On our last trip, we did this for the first time and it was one of the best excursions any of us (there were four traveling) have ever been on. Of course, if you can afford to do the flight to the glacier and dog sled ride (which was just too expensive for us), I understand that is even better.

[relo854]

I wanted to do one of the dog sled excursions (not the flight one either....too expensive!!). My husban doesn't want to go...says it's soundds hokey and possible for young people. We're 50is...think we might enjoy the dog sled? Any comments ont the dog sleds are appreciated There is one out of Junuea and another one from Skagway..which one is better? Thank you

[TwelveKitties]

The ages of our group were 65, 53, 38 & 23. Everyone thought it was a great excursion. I don't know which one is better between Skagway and Juneau - I would think they were about the same. Ours included a 30 minute bus ride to the musher's camp, a ride in a dog cart for about 20 minutes (each dog cart can carry up to 6 people, each musher runs his/her own team), time for photos following the ride, then a short lecture and question/answer with one of the mushers (this one was preparing for the Yukon Quest), and then time to play with the puppies. We all had a great time. We chose to do ours in Skagway because we wanted to rent a car in Juneau - but I would imagine that the excursion in both ports is similar.

 

FYI - Renting a car in Juneau is something that everyone should do sometime (we used Rent-A-Wreck who picks you up near the pier to take you to their rental facility, and if you want to pay an extra $15 you can drop the car back near the pier after their business hours if you are staying in the port later than they stay open - if you are done before they close, they drive you back). We were able to go to Mendenhal glacier, tour the Alaska Brewing Company (the tour is short, funny and free and you get unlimited tastings), go to the Grotto of St. Therese to watch the whales, and get the shopping that we wanted to do done with time to spare. Our only expense for the three venues was the car - so we saved a lot of money since there were four of us.