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While you’re on the boat, you’ll enjoy delicious and local cuisine, with many of our cruises offering fine-dining options. And in addition to the glaciers outside, you can stay entertained with phenomenal live music performances featuring musicians from The Juilliard School, B.B. King’s Blues Club Memphis, and other institutions. At AAA, we offer a wide selection of cruise itineraries to those explorers who want to get up close and personal with Alaskan wildlife, landscape, and culture. As for land trips, June sees Denali National Park and Kenai Fjords National Park open, both of which offer stunning floatplane and flightseeing adventures. Alaskan railroad trips are also available, giving you access to interior hiking, cozy lodges and remote wildlife viewing.
The Best Time to Cruise Alaska 2024: A Month-by-Month Guide - Condé Nast Traveler
The Best Time to Cruise Alaska 2024: A Month-by-Month Guide.
Posted: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Month-by-Month Breakdown: Best Time to Cruise to Alaska
Unless you booked early, cabin choice could be limited — especially if you are looking for a fancy suite or cheap inside cabin, which tend to be the first categories to sell out. Big-ship cruise lines such as Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean ramp up their operations in May, as do Disney Cruise Line and small-ship and luxury lines. In September, the scale now tips towards later sunrises and earlier sunsets in Alaska. By the end of September, there are less than 12 hours of daylight in Juneau.
Cruises
In this guide, you will get to know the best time to cruise in Alaska so you can go for a memorable trip in this remarkable corner of the world. While the tourism season in Alaska doesn’t really kick in until June, many small cruise ships start running tours in May. If you’re looking for dry weather and lots of wildlife, then May is a great time to join a cruise as it’s one of the state’s driest months and features spring migrations and lots of newborn wildlife. The best month to cruise to Alaska largely depends on your preferences; however, July offers the warmest weather and is excellent for wildlife spotting and shore excursions.
When is the best time to find special offers on an Alaska cruise?
For all your Alaska shore excursions, you’ll want to dress in layers, as the weather can change quickly. If you want to experience the phenomenon of sunlit nights for yourself, the best time to go to Alaska on a cruise is right around the Summer Solstice in the second half of June. This is the time when days are longest in the entire Northern Hemisphere. Shore excursions are easier to book, so take full advantage of roomier whale-watching cruises and less crowded restaurants. You may even catch a glimpse of a whale swimming alongside your cruise ship as you sip morning coffee on your stateroom veranda; it’s just one of the joys of cruising to Alaska. Even when the daytime temperatures are well above freezing, nighttime temperatures can dip below 32 °F, even in the summer.
The larger crowds can add to the atmosphere and make for a lively and enjoyable vacation. The beginning of September is much like August, but after the kids go back to school and the family crowd departs, it's shoulder season for cruising and pricing drops. Most cruise ships will have repositioned out of the state by the end of the month. You will experience a change of season, with cooler temperatures (in the 50s or lower) and some rain.
You can go for a trip after the winter solstice on June 20 to maximize daylight hours. This provides you with extra time to appreciate Alaska's breathtaking scenery and have close encounters with its distinctive wildlife. As the school season begins and fall approaches, cruise prices start to dip, affording the opportunity to snag a last-minute bargain for Alaska.
If you have a flexible travel schedule and don’t have a specific stateroom in mind, consider visiting Alaska during shoulder season. Gray whales are also more commonly spotted earlier in the season, while blue whales are more likely to be seen during July and August cruises. Ice calving is both a thunderous warning of climate change and an incredible phenomenon to behold. The best time to view artic-blue ice plunge into the sea is during the warmest months of June, July, and August at active glaciers.
When Is The Best Time To Cruise Alaska To See Whales?
Lush green landscapes are sprinkled with delicate, magenta flowers while the horizon dons frosted alps and royal blue skies. Locals gleefully prepare for peak fishing season, and iconic wildlife take their graceful positions among the pristine backdrop. Each summer month brings new and exciting adventures – peaceful hiking trails in June, fruitful fishing expeditions in July and extraordinary flightseeing tours in September. So, the best month for an Alaska cruise depends entirely on which excursion you want to embark on during the summer season. While gray whales are active in Alaskan waters during the early spring, most species, including belugas, orcas, humpback whales, and blue whales, peak between May and September.
October-December: Off-Season Insights
Less travelers might sound appealing, but many port towns aren’t fully “tourist operational” until late June when summer workers start to arrive. Locals typically call the months of April and May “break-up” because the snow and ice begin to break apart and melt after the long winter. In April, mountains will still be snowy, and high temperatures will max out in the upper 40s for most cruise ports. So pack your bags and get ready to spot humpback whales and get up close and personal with a glacier from a kayak because "The Last Frontier" is waiting.
You won’t want to miss this indescribable sight, so watch for clear night skies and set an alarm to go on deck (or on your balcony) for potential middle-of-the-night Northern Lights shows. Not only is it your best shot for warmer weather, but you’re also sure to see a good amount of the wildlife Alaska is famous for. The loss of daylight does mean you could see the Aurora Borealis while cruising to Alaska in late August. The best time to see the Northern Lights is between late August and April, typically peaking in March. May is a practical choice for Alaskan cruisers who are on a limited budget but want to have slightly warmer and drier weather and more chances to see wildlife.
And for good reason, as July in Alaska is ideal for salmon fishing, culture festivals like the Girdwood Forest Fair, bear viewing and memorable trips into the interior. During spring, wildflowers bloom along the Inside Passage; you’re more likely to see larger animals migrating. Early June is an excellent time to see calving glaciers, Orcas, Minke whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins. If you venture off the cruise ship and head north of the Arctic Circle, you may be able to see the midnight sun. While Alaska cruises don’t typically operate during these months, it’s essential to understand why.
Warmer weather in Alaska also has an unexpected bonus for cruisers in the form of glacial calving. Juneau gets about 17 days of rain in August, so a high-quality raincoat is essential. After the Summer Solstice in June, Alaska begins losing daylight with each passing day. While the days are still longer than those in the Lower 48, they are getting slightly shorter throughout July.
The average temperature for an Alaska cruise in September is in the mid-50s and lows in the low-40s. It's also very likely to encounter rain, as September is an even rainier month than August. You'll likely encounter the highest chance of rain if you take an Alaska cruise in August, but it's also when you can expect to find the most comfortable outdoor temperatures.
For those embarking on their first Alaska adventure or with limited time, we recommend two outstanding options. The Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise and the Spring Wildlife Alaska Whale Watching Cruise in Ressurection Bay provide an excellent overview of Alaska’s breathtaking scenery and wildlife. These cruises are perfect for travelers looking to make the most of their limited time in Alaska. July and August can be extremely busy months for the Alaska cruise industry. With the warmer weather, it is not unusual to see an increase in the number of people looking to enjoy Alaska’s untamed wilderness. With more daylight and improved weather, your options for excursions also increase.
The cruise season beefs up in June, with the number of ships growing and the season in full swing by the end of the month. The midnight sun means many hours of daylight, especially on June 20, the longest day of the year — when you'll have to stay up late to see any darkness at all. The Alaska cruise season is a little over six months long, but choosing the best time to cruise Alaska is surprisingly not that simple.
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