What month to travel Alaska?

[redmustanggt89]

I am in the process of trying to coordinate an Alaskian cruise for approximate 10 couples. I need advice. They are retired, so which is the best month to travel and the best ports to see?

 

Most of the couples are senior citizens, so I want them to have a wonderful time. My father has been taking cancer treatments so I want him to have a ball.

 

Any help or advice will be appreciated.

[SourDoughSteve]

My favorite time is the last week of May or the first week or so of June. Especially if you're going to enjoy a land tour as well. McKinley has a better average number of days being seen during this time of year than any other time. (Nat. Parks Dept)

 

As to the itinerary, Glacier Bay is a must in my opinion. The others are pretty standard.

[laurelgrove]

I just returned home from Alaska today (aug 1st) and we had quite a bit of rain. When I asked the locals, they also recommended late May to mid June. They said by the middle of July, rain is pretty typical. Keep in mind though, that I have heard Alaska weather is unpredictable, so plan for anything. But I did have a friend who went in early June this year and had better weather than we did. Hope this helps.

[Coral]

My favorite week is the last week of May or first week of June - though I would sail anytime from mid-May to mid-June.

 

My cruise the first week of July had tons of rain. I have friends who sailed that same time this year and it rained quite a bit for them also.

[Budget Queen]

Yes, late May, June is a great time. But I like mid to late August. Excellent wildlife viewing and full salmon runs. I would look at anytime, through August. Sept is just too iffy in my opinion so perhaps avoid then. Maybe consider tours of interest and go from there??

[slomotion]

The weather is a total crap-shoot.

 

while the above posts are correct, we were on the 7/15-7/22 cruise of the Summit. We had near perfect weather everyday. On 7/21 (thursday) we cruised through maybe 1 hour of rain. In each port Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Point etc we found a perfect day. the crew mentioend the the previous week it had rained every day.

 

Al