Alaska in May - How cold is it really?

I know that Alaska is unpredictable, but for anyone who has been in May, is it just chilly, or downright freezing? (I guess freezing is subjective though). I have read that there is more chance of it being dry in May. We are looking at a cruise in 2015 in mid May, but if we have to we could probably stretch to early June but that's not ideal timing for us.

Our last 3 Alaska cruises have been in mid to late May (just returned June 7th)..and they have been cool to warm..never freezing..and always dry weather...with this last one being the warmest...Sorry but a little disappointed as I have always looked forward to the snow scenery but less this time than we've ever seen.

Impossible to predict the weather ... it might be sunny and 60, or rainy and 45.

Plus it's impossible to know how those temperatures will FEEL to you.

The best you can do is look at historical data for the ports you will visit. ie look at Juneau for the middle week of May for the past 5 yrs. Look at the high, low and precip.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/PAJN/2014/5/19/WeeklyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

It could be raining and 50 degrees or it could be sunny and 75 degrees. Or it could even be snowing in mid-May. It could snow on a Monday and be in the high 60's by Wednesday.

Typically late May to early June is our driest time. But again, any year has the possibility of being an anomaly.

Your best bet for Alaskan weather: Hope for the best, plan for the worse and have fun no matter what.

Thanks so much for your replies - Mapleleaves that link is awesome and tells me everything!

Interesting that in 2012 May was really cold and other years pretty temperate.

There are huge differences in May with earlier possible colder and wetter- on average. :)

I've gone in May pushing 20 times, including 3 trips this year. Had very little rain with one week none. Of course, before I went- it was unknown what the weather was going to be.

There are many other choices that go into the end selection. Be sure to consider them all, depending on your priorities. Especially important to consider if visiting mainland Alaska.

we did our first trip to Alaska in late May this year.

it was just nice on board the ship and cool-chilly outdoors during port days.

naturally, it was very cold when out on deck as we viewed the Hubbard Glacier.....scarves, gloves, hats etc needed.

the way to dress is in layers so that clothes could be added or removed.

 

I've gone in May pushing 20 times, including 3 trips this year. Had very little rain with one week none. Of course, before I went- it was unknown what the weather was going to be.

 

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Just as a matter of interest, how many times have you traveled to AK? Just round it off to the nearest 100 (LOL!!) if you have lost count.

DON

Just as a matter of interest, how many times have you traveled to AK? Just round it off to the nearest 100 (LOL!!) if you have lost count.

 

DON

Over 40. :) Have already been there 7 weeks this year, and will be returning, this Friday, for 3 more Alaska cruises - 7 cruises this year. :)

My ship is in Alaska for several months every summer.

This past May 01 we had 8 inches of snow on the decks at Glacier Bay, with freezing rain, high winds, and 30 foot seas.

On May 15 it was over 70 degrees fahrenheit, with sunny skies, and stayed that way for the entire month.

In May 2013, it was miserably cold for the entire month, with heavy rains, fog, and snow.

There is no way that you can predict Alaska weather in advance.

Gosh - seems like its freezing, rainy, snowy, sunny and everything in between!

Budget Queen - I want your life! Is it just Alaska you spend so much time in or cruises in general?

With this much experience, can you tell me (or can anyone who wants to jump in tell me) is there really such a huge advantage to sailing from Vancouver rather than Seattle? Sailing from Vancouver there are no 7 night round trips, only one ways, and sailing from Seattle we have more choice of the ships we wanted to sail on. Do you still see as much of Alaska on both?

Gosh - seems like its freezing, rainy, snowy, sunny and everything in between!

 

Budget Queen - I want your life! Is it just Alaska you spend so much time in or cruises in general?

 

With this much experience, can you tell me (or can anyone who wants to jump in tell me) is there really such a huge advantage to sailing from Vancouver rather than Seattle? Sailing from Vancouver there are no 7 night round trips, only one ways, and sailing from Seattle we have more choice of the ships we wanted to sail on. Do you still see as much of Alaska on both?

I travel many places, but do take a lot of cruises- will be 15 this year.

There are round trip Vancouver cruises. But you may need to look later May. An example, I am booked 5-18 on the repo Carnival one way Vancouver to Seattle, which could be a compromise. Several cruise ships sail this one way early season. Benefit is the good port times. There is a difference with a round trip Vancouver, vs a round trip Seattle. There is more scenic sailing, out of Vancouver. Also usually better port times, since no time is tied up in a Canada port.

Gosh - seems like its freezing, rainy, snowy, sunny and everything in between!

 

Budget Queen - I want your life! Is it just Alaska you spend so much time in or cruises in general?

 

With this much experience, can you tell me (or can anyone who wants to jump in tell me) is there really such a huge advantage to sailing from Vancouver rather than Seattle? Sailing from Vancouver there are no 7 night round trips, only one ways, and sailing from Seattle we have more choice of the ships we wanted to sail on. Do you still see as much of Alaska on both?

Have you considered sailing from San Francisco?

We are going on the Golden Princess May 12 for 10 nights...mostly because we don't have to fly..we live 2 1/2 hours north east.

We did a Norway cruise departing this past June from Southampton, England, and DH says no more long flights for him.:eek:

Jeanne

Have you considered sailing from San Francisco?

We are going on the Golden Princess May 12 for 10 nights...mostly because we don't have to fly..we live 2 1/2 hours north east.

We did a Norway cruise departing this past June from Southampton, England, and DH says no more long flights for him.:eek:

Jeanne

We definitely considered this one, but decided as this may be our one and only Alaska cruise (at least for a very long time) we wanted a cruise with more Alaskan ports. The Golden Princess cruise has only 4 ports (one of them Victoria) in 10 days and 4 sea days getting to and from San Fran. For us, if we cruise on that date, the cruise departing Vancouver has much more of Alaska. But if I lived where you do, I would definitely cruise from San Fran!

I'm guessing that since you are sailing in May, as is Budget Queen, you have no concerns about the weather in May as opposed to June (I know it's luck of the draw) but have read that it's usually drier in May. But May is when the 10 day cruises are, except for Golden Princess which does 10 day from SF the whole season.

HAL offers a 14 day itinerary (roundtrip Seattle) on the Statendam next year, which includes no repeat ports, making it a true 14 day sailing. Includes little visited-by-cruise-ship ports of Kodiak, Homer and the port of Anchorage itself. It offers two glacier sailing days - Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier, and provides for a full day in Victoria, BC. Port times are quite good. I've done this trip three times (albeit on the Amsterdam) and just loved it! If your goal is more Alaska ports - this may be something to consider.

HAL offers a 14 day itinerary (roundtrip Seattle) on the Statendam next year, which includes no repeat ports, making it a true 14 day sailing. Includes little visited-by-cruise-ship ports of Kodiak, Homer and the port of Anchorage itself. It offers two glacier sailing days - Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier, and provides for a full day in Victoria, BC. Port times are quite good. I've done this trip three times (albeit on the Amsterdam) and just loved it! If your goal is more Alaska ports - this may be something to consider.

We kept on watching and eventually ended up booking when we spotted a nice closeout price drop.

The following year HAL cut back the number of 14 night cruises offered and the balcony prices did not drop, so we took another cruise instead.

I became hopeful again upon finding out they have changed the ship, but see that current asking prices for balcony cabins on the Statendam are every bit as bad as they were on the Amsterdam.

Unless the prices come down, we will likely book a one-way cruise out of Vancouver on another ship and rent a car in Anchorage to do our own Kenai Peninsula land tour, enabling us to see a lot more that way.

• Anchor Point
  
  
• Cooper Landing
  
• Halibut Cove
  
• Homer
  
• Hope
  
• Kasilof
  
• Kenai
  
• Moose Pass
  
• Nikiski
  
• Ninilchik
  
• Seldovia
  
• Seward
  
• Soldotna
  
• Sterling
  

HAL offers a 14 day itinerary (roundtrip Seattle) on the Statendam next year, which includes no repeat ports, making it a true 14 day sailing. Includes little visited-by-cruise-ship ports of Kodiak, Homer and the port of Anchorage itself. It offers two glacier sailing days - Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier, and provides for a full day in Victoria, BC. Port times are quite good. I've done this trip three times (albeit on the Amsterdam) and just loved it! If your goal is more Alaska ports - this may be something to consider.

That sounds like a wonderful cruise, but out of our budget unfortunately. Coupled with airfare from Australia it would just make our trip too expensive. But a great suggestions nonetheless.