September?????

[minner80]

Thinking of cruising Alaska in September. My husband and myself always do a September trip to Jasper Canada. We enjoy the wildlife in abundance and the elk mating season. Would we see bears and wildlife in September. We could also go in May. We are looking for a bargain and have been on an Alaska cruise in July. Hoping to get a great deal on a suite in May or September. Thanks

[mr green]

I have just one word for you. DON'T.

We did a b2b few years ago in Sept., and had only one day without rain. Also there was less daylight.

By contrast over 50 days in May, or early June, with just 2 days of rain.

 

john

[gertz]

Weather is a crap shoot IMO. And good luck on finding a bargain anytime.

[Goldiedog]

We did holland America this September in a suite, 14 day cruise tour, we had 1 day of rain, it was not cold, just a light jacket required, saw lots of wildlife in Denali, whales, sea otters, eagles etc. We were probably lucky with the weather bu friends of ours went in June and had quite a bit of rain, we were told they had had a bad August, so it really is down to luck.

[Budget Queen]

there can be big differences in weather potential each week of Sept. by second week you have the worse potential weather of the season. Dusk is by 7pm, which significantly impacts scenic sailing and touring. It used to be that these trips were given away- I picked up several as the second yearly (one year went three times) trip. I am talking about $300 fares. Now the discounts are minimal.

 

If you continue in this timeframe, you have better weather potential going northbound, including more daylight. Then follow with Denali park- you will see bears. But going the last week of August could also be better overall, if available to you.

[Keith1010]

Yes, the down side in September are shorter daylight hours and higher probability of rain. The amount of daylight will occur. You never know about rain. Like many other places around the world rain and weather patterns are changing so no one can guarantee what weather you will have.

 

Keith

[Putterdude]

We have done it twice in September over the past 3 years. One year the weather was pretty lousy...the next is was great, we probably had only 2 or 3 bad days over the 14 day b/b. Weather is totally unpredictable in Alaska.

[mooremiller]

We did it in 2002 in september, I can say that we were lucky with the weather it was not bad at all, about wild life yes that is a right place to see bears....

[mapleleaves]

if your bear viewing is an excursion from a cruise port, you should check the success rate in May and Sept. For the most part, brown bears are seen more frequently during salmon runs which are later in the summer. Altho black bears are frequently seen early summer when they're munching on the emerging greenery.

If your bear viewing is at Denali, be sure to check the Park's web site to see when the shuttle buses start. I don't think the road opens to Wonder Lake until the 2nd week of June. Eielson is earlier tho. Sept is a great time for viewing the moose in Denali because it's rutting season.