Questions about Alaska,

[Miss Tracey Lacey]

Is it ok to go in May, or because it is a shoulder season would it be a let down?

 

I have my heart on seeing the calving and the whales, will I miss this going the middle of May?:(

[Miss Tracey Lacey]

Also, how is the weather, and are the seas choppy at that time?

[AlinaMaria]

We just came back from the Dawn Princess and had a wonderful cruise with beautiful weather; however, I've read on these boards that weather in Alaska is unpredictable, and we were told by many Alaskan residents that we were very, very lucky with the weather we experienced. We did not have any rain at all, temps 45-50 early AM but by noon 62-65!!!

 

We did see a lot of wildlife: humpbacks and orcas, mountain goats, brown and black bears, bald eagles, stellar sea lions. We did not see any calving but I understand that Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arms is not known for it. But we did get close enough to see the glacier without binoculars!!! With binoculars it was SPECTACULAR!!!!

 

We did layer, layer, layer... It worked great...Returned with brand new raincoat and rain hat!!!! LOL LOL. In South Florida we use umbrellas but I might look quite elegant with my new raincoat.... LOL

 

AlinaMaria

[3boyzmom]

A word of advice- don't get your heart set on calving. Or even whales for that matter, though your chances of seeing whales are much better. You have to keep in mind that you're going into a natural environment- it doesn't play by the rules. You don't want to be let down if it doesn't happen. We planned for rain every day on our cruise last year and were pleasantly surprised that we didn't get much. But if it had rained, we were prepared and still would've had a great time. It's all about expectation!

[Chief Paul]

We just returned from a May cruise - Whittier to Vancouver. The weather was wonderful and we saw it all... glacier calving, land wildlife, whales, dall sheep , moose, eagles.... I would suggest doing a cruise tour, land first, then cruise. The land tour was great. It was alot of moving, and Princess made it painless. Our luggage was always in our room prior to our arrival. One suggestion... budget $100/day per couple for food while on the land portion.

 

We were blessed with good weather. I'm a meteorologist and could not have forecasted better weather.

[Sumy]

How was the food on the Princess Ship?

[bigal115]

We just got back from our cruise with RCI and did a week, self guided, Alaska thing prior to the cruise. The weather was fine ...in Denali it went from 40 to 65 in a day but that was the extreme. Not alot of rain..all and all good weather.

 

I did however feel that if I waited a week there would of been more going on. Everything we did was just getting started, like that week so all the tour guides just got there and were a little rough ....I dont really think that hurt us much though.... I think you will be fine in May.

[Budget Queen]

A significant problem in May, is if you want interior Alaska and Denali Park, too early in my opinion, as it is superior June 1 and later for distance into the park. A round trip Seattle mid May, has plenty of humpback action with the end of the migration. Roughest sailing potential of Alaska cruises however.

 

What route are you looking at??

[qiangf2]

May tends to be drier month of the cruise season. Many people report a good weather. But you never know. As several other cruisers pointed out, make sure you dress in layers to stay flexible. The whales have been back in May. You will see them. If wildlife is important to you, a good pair of waterproof binocular is necessary.

[Albino Mosquito]

A significant problem in May, is if you want interior Alaska and Denali Park, too early in my opinion, as it is superior June 1 and later for distance into the park. A round trip Seattle mid May, has plenty of humpback action with the end of the migration. Roughest sailing potential of Alaska cruises however.

 

What route are you looking at??

 

 

We are looking at Vancouver to Whittier 7 day cruise.

Thank you everyone for your feedback!

[NewPennCruiser]

We just got back from the Vancouver/Whittier Northbound on the Sapphire Princess. Weather was pretty rainy for us although the previous two weeks have been reported as being very nice. Temps were in the low 50's most of the week and downright pretty cold at times. It never seemed to be raining hard, more of a "mist" all the time.

 

Wildlife was abundant but take binoculars if you want to see things from the ship. We saw a lot of whales in the Glacier Bay area and had some pretty spectacular calving occur at Marjerie Glacier during our visit. Despite a lot of rain, we were blessed with tremendous weather our day in Glacier Bay and some pretty nice weather also in College Fjord.

 

Dave

[Putterdude]

Mid May would not be my first choice from a weather perspecitive, if you must go in May then go towards the end of the month or into June. However even now it is cold and wet...so you can never tell.