Alaska north bound cruise mid June or late July?

[wsp2205]

Hesitating between the option of mid June north bound itinerary with Princess vs a late July similar itinerary with HollandAmerica. Itinerary-wise Princess and HA are similar at similar price point (for interior staterooms), but the later has an option of choosing larger interior which has more space. I would think mid June is slightly better as it's less busy and less likely to run into bad weather than late July, but so sure. Is this right? In other words, it is worth giving up a bit more space for better chance of dry weather, just by a little bit I assume? Thanks much!

[Northern Aurora]

Even though we live in Alaska we do Alaska itineraries periodically since they give us the excuse to visit a very different part of our huge state.  

 

I think you will be fine with either choice.  Mid-June will provide longer days of daylight with late July possibly offering more chances for rain.  But late July is very different than late August when southeast Alaska is approaching historically the start of the rainy season.  And as soon as school is out for the summer multi-generational families will start to travel to Alaska, so I am not so confident that mid-June is less busy.

 

The deciding factor may be the hours in port each itinerary offers.

[Coral]

I personally like mid-June, longer days.

 

Late July will have more bears out as the salmon are running. 

 

Both are good dates. Technically odds are better for better weather in June but one never knows.

Edited January 22 by Coral