May verses June in Alaska

We are going to Alaska on the Grand on her June 25th, 2018 sailing. I was noticing that the May 26th sailing is almost a $1000 dollars less expensive. Any particular reason for the disparity in expense?

June is more popular then May with schools out and just in general.

We actually prefer May even though the weather can be cooler as there are usually less people in port.

Keith

I love the end of May. Easy choice for me.

There is more snow on the mountains - it is beautiful.

May is early, less wildlife activity, and less likely to be able to get into Glacier Bay because of ice flows.

We cruised late May!

Only thing that I saw affected was that one of the tour companies, out of Whittier, (pre-cruise, just before boarding) did not begin their season until Memorial Weekend.

We barely missed their dates, and took a different tour provider.

There will be no problem in Glacier Bay....

Might not get quite as close to some Glaciers.

But, heavy calving can cause more ice in the water (bergs and flows), well into the season.

We had a wonderful cruise thru Glacier Bay.

We were lucky, and were even able to see Hubbard Glacier.

It is the possible heavy fog in that area than can be a concern.

May is early, less wildlife activity, and less likely to be able to get into Glacier Bay because of ice flows.

There is no problem with GB in May. I have been here a ton in May and had great viewing. Just as good as June and July.

Wildlife will be the same in May as in June. It is July and August when wildlife changes.

It's beautiful every month but there will be differences. We went this past May and we had to stay so far away from Hubbard Glacier that even with telephoto lenses we couldn't get a decent shot of it. Many cruisers said why bother going there and we bit our tongues. We had gone the past two years in August and got so close we could hear and see calving ice. It was spectacular. We got plenty close to the glaciers in Glacier Bay though so it made no difference on that day.

There is a current review, just one page back from here, Voyage of the Glaciers SB May 20-27.

There are a few photos, and they look a lot like ours, from this exact sailing last year in 2016!

If you want warmer weather go in June. June, July, August are definitely the warmest.

Thoughts... late June offers...

• more daylight compared to May
  
• more holiday opportunities for children
  
• warmer temperatures
  
• a better chance to cruise Tracy Arm for those ships that include it
  
• if your ship has you in Vancouver on July 1st.... you get a fireworks show in the evening.
  

The past 2 years, Tracy Arm was not accessible to cruise ships until August or so. I would focus on Glacier Bay for an itinerary.

There is plenty of daylight temps in May (June 21st is longest day). I can tell you that I never saw dark skies on any of my Alaskan cruises in May. This really is a non-issue. It happens in the middle of the night.

I personally love the temps in May in Alaska. It is already hot where I live by May - it is nice to have some 60 degree temps!

You never know with the weather in Alaska.

We have had extremes from one end to the other in all months during Alaska cruising.

We are going to Alaska on the Grand on her June 25th, 2018 sailing. I was noticing that the May 26th sailing is almost a $1000 dollars less expensive. Any particular reason for the disparity in expense?

The first two weeks and last two weeks of the AK cruising season are called the shoulder season and are a good bit cheaper. The reason is that the children are not out of school yet so that Princess has a more difficult time filling the ship. I went the second week of the season for $$$ reasons and arrived in AK the first week of June. Many of the tourist services were not open yet or were just starting to open.which did present some problems. However since I had already been to AK on land trips several times, I had a great time without the crowds. Denali was great and easy to get around and book the trip to now Denali peak. I would do it again without hesitation.

WE sailed the middle of May and the scenery was beautiful with all the snow covered mountains. We saw lots of animals. Highly recommend May.