Alaska Preference Month

I was wondering if people could give me their opinoin on taking a Inside Passage cruise to Alaska, if the beginning of June or the beginning of August would be best?

I was wondering if people could give me their opinoin on taking a Inside Passage cruise to Alaska, if the beginning of June or the beginning of August would be best?

I suggest you visit the Alaska port of call board here on CC and ask your question there. Well, better yet, just do a search on the Alaska board and you'll find lots of opinions. What's "best" will depend on your preferences. What are your priorities? If it's fishing then the best month may be different than if it's seeing bears....

I was wondering if people could give me their opinoin on taking a Inside Passage cruise to Alaska, if the beginning of June or the beginning of August would be best?

We like end May if that's an option you may not have considered.

We prefer earlier in the season. There is more snow on the mountains.

I was wondering if people could give me their opinoin on taking a Inside Passage cruise to Alaska, if the beginning of June or the beginning of August would be best?

Preferred based on what? Weather? Crowds? Fares? Snow on the mountains?

Agree, some reading on the Alaska board would be beneficial.

Either one is fine.

You will see more snow on the mountains by going in June.

Weather is a crapshoot so you just need know.

I find it a little less crowded in early June with more children still in school.

If my schedule was flexible I would likely go with June but either way would be fine with me.

Keith

I was wondering if people could give me their opinoin on taking a Inside Passage cruise to Alaska, if the beginning of June or the beginning of August would be best?

You will have more hours of daylight in June.

We have cruised from the second week of May through the second week of September.

JMO -- but we loved Alaska the best from the third week of June through the first week of August. Had much better weather during that time.

Have been early (2nd week of May) and late (toward the end of August). Am leaving next Saturday for my third Alaska cruise, so will soon have an idea about mid-June.

My experience was that the wildlife was more active in May. We saw a lot more whales then than August. But, we went in August the second time to see the salmon spawning.

On our May trip, we had sunny, warm weather. Wore shorts and got sunburns. The crew/staff told us the week before was miserable (rolling waves and a lot of seasick passengers).

In August we had pretty much the same weather, though it did rain (mist really) in Ketchikan.

In May, we cruised Glacier Bay. It was cool, but a sweater was plenty standing outside watching the scenery roll by.

In August, we cruised Tracy Arm. Was beyond cool to almost cold. We wore coats, gloves and hats on deck to take in the views AND drank hot chocolate.

Not sure there's any way to predict the weather much, but you may not notice it if you focus on your surroundings :-}

Responding to this makes me realize I'll have to go again...just to see July.

Know you'll have a great time!

Thank you all for your opinions, not really worried to much about price. We wont be going fishing or doing any major actives, just wondering how nice the visit would be during those different times.

I have been middle and end of August, and really all we did was enjoy the scenery from the ship and take the train ride in Skagway, Mendenhall in Juneau as well as Roberts Tram Ride, and walked to Creek Street in Ketchikan. So I guess I was mostly wondering about the weather, and if we would see more whales during one period or the other (not that we go on whale watching trips), as well as the crowds and are stores open for the little bit of shopping we do.