*APRIL-Early May/Late SEPT-OCTOBER CRUISERS*

[AKStafford]

Below was  taken from a recent Facebook post in a group for advice for Alaska travel. I thought it was worth placing here as well:

"Hola Travelers,

As someone *very* active in the Alaska business & tourism field (and local to Juneau/Skagway since 2009), many of you chose to NOT book thru a travel agent and do not get the information I'm about to post; and the cruise lines and online booking sites don't know (or don't WANT you to know) this timeline of how business operates in Alaska.

This includes TOURS, shops, TRANSPORTATION (including the TRAIN), etc).

Our season has *always* been May 15 - September 15th. This is etched in STONE. Almost everything is open during this time period.

Here's how they staff:

April - workers start showing up, training commences.

April 15 - maybe 25% of all tours/shops/excursions are open

May 1 - 60%ish of businesses are open

May 15 - 80% of businessses are open. Alaska Railroad opens.

May 23/24thish: 100% of businesses are open

September 4/5ish: We lose 25% of our staff and businesses

September 15: About 50% of tours/businesses closed (including the Alaska Railroad)

October 1st: We are probably at 20-25% of businesses and tours open

Last Cruise: 5-10% of businesses are open (except for locals).

Keep this in mind when you book your cruise if you are NOT going to book thru an Alaska-based agency or someone who has been up here a lot.

In Skagway, it was rough on October 1st when we had only *** 2 *** full service restaurants open in town. JUST TWO. Yet we had 5,000 passenger ships still coming in. Most of our tours had already closed, except for a few ran by Skagway Tours, Southeast, and the railroad. I think Alaska X had a few still going. But it was NOT pretty for how the tourists were treating us (I even closed my shop due to how rude some of them were, and went on my own cruise in Florida). We had ships skipping ports due to horrible weather starting in late September, and every day I was getting an email from Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, or Sitka advising of another ship skipping a port that day or heavily delayed.

There's a reason the cruise lines drop the prices SSSOOO low in our off-season - please keep this in mind when booking. If you are perfectly fine in NCL's Thermal Spa or doing onboard activities, then fantastic. You'll have a wonderful time."

[wolfie11]

I left Alaska September 26 this last summer and it was already cold and stormy.  It only got worse after that.  DO NOT cruise Alaska in October unless you like lots of rain and wind and are happy tossing around in a ship rather than stopping at ports.  Of course, people will jump on saying they were here in October and it was beautiful.  Lucky you.  That’s not normally the case.  Thanks to AKStafford for telling like it is.

[CruiserBruce]

This ought to be a "pinned" post...but does anybody actually read those? 

[nini]

The OP has excellent points. The cruise lines are doing a disservice to their customers (especially newbies to Alaska) and leading them to believe that they could cruise beginning at the end of April through end of September and have a full tourist experience.

 

I hope people will notice this thread.

[cdld10210]

Hi there - very helpful information. Am I crazy to take a sailing leaving Seattle on 9/14?

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, cdld10210 said:

Hi there - very helpful information. Am I crazy to take a sailing leaving Seattle on 9/14?

"Crazy"? No, but for the reasons detailed very well above, the experience might be less than the most comprehensive.

 

We had sleet in Alaska on Labor Day a number of years ago. There has been damage to ships due to very windy storms in mid September. Others have reported good weather.

[jean87510]

I have a 6b tour booked for Radiance of the Seas starting September 8, 2024 land and 9/13/24 sea.  I am celebrating my 60th birthday on September 9.  My husband said anywhere in the world.  I chose Alaska because I loved it May 2022.  

I appreciate the post but I was born in September which is also hurricane season.  I plan on having an awesome time.  And I truthfully do not care if it rains.  Spending this time with my husband and celebrating a milestone is more important than being negative about excursions not being available.  Many of us go on our own anyway as the prices are insane.  Some people who choose AK in those months do so because they can only afford that cruise fare.  And they will probably not care if the $800 helicopter dogsled ride is not available.

[AKStafford]

41 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

I plan on having an awesome time.

I don't think the point of the post is to not go... I think it's to go with proper expectations of the season you are visiting in.

[wolfie11]

3 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I have a 6b tour booked for Radiance of the Seas starting September 8, 2024 land and 9/13/24 sea.  I am celebrating my 60th birthday on September 9.  My husband said anywhere in the world.  I chose Alaska because I loved it May 2022.  

I appreciate the post but I was born in September which is also hurricane season.  I plan on having an awesome time.  And I truthfully do not care if it rains.  Spending this time with my husband and celebrating a milestone is more important than being negative about excursions not being available.  Many of us go on our own anyway as the prices are insane.  Some people who choose AK in those months do so because they can only afford that cruise fare.  And they will probably not care if the $800 helicopter dogsled ride is not available.

Mid-September can be quite nice although not very warm (40’s-50’s mostly), as you normally have beautiful, sunny days interspersed with the first of the fall storms. There’s a big difference between mid-September and mid- to late-October though.

[aussielozzie18]

Newbies to Alaska and had no idea.  We are booked to depart 30th April from Vancouver.  I guess the option is to book ship tours or do due diligence on checking tours/places are open before we plan our day.  Hopefully this won’t impact our cruise too much as the cruise was definitely not a bargain price…

[wolfie11]

1 hour ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Newbies to Alaska and had no idea.  We are booked to depart 30th April from Vancouver.  I guess the option is to book ship tours or do due diligence on checking tours/places are open before we plan our day.  Hopefully this won’t impact our cruise too much as the cruise was definitely not a bargain price…

Your odds of good weather go up considerably in early May and more tours should be running than in mid-April.  

[aussielozzie18]

2 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

Your odds of good weather go up considerably in early May and more tours should be running than in mid-April.  

Thank you.  Good to hear that Just checked and the Raptor Centre that I want to visit Sitka opens for the season on the 1st May.  So that’s a good start.

[buellblaster]

I am not sure when the OP posted this but according the White Pass Railroad website, they even offer the 8 hour trips until September 14. I am grateful to the poster for a heads up because I am not going to reschedule my cruise. It is worth more $$ and to have peace of mind that we can do the train excursion.

[KruisinKath]

Bump