Cruising Alaska in mid-September

[tjcletzgo]

Hello, we’ll be sailing to Alaska from 9/14-9/24 this year. Can those of you who has cruised Alaska in mid-September tell me what it’s like? Weather? Northern Lights? Wildlife?

 

Thanks so much🛳️🐳

[Thrak]

Our first cruise ever was 10 days round trip Alaska out of San Francisco. It was September 7 - 17. The only cold day we had was in Glacier Bay. I ended up wearing a tee shirt in Ketchikan where the locals seemed amazed that the sun had come out. It's just not possible to predict the weather. Take layers.

[Potstech]

lived in Alaska for a year and also made 3 Alaska cruises. The only thing you can count on is it can change hour to hour. Bring layers and some rain gear. Enjoy your cruise.

[Outerdog]

All of my cruises to Alaska (10 so far) have been in mid-September. As stated, layers. In port: t-shirt, button down, hoodie, raincoat, jeans, boots. Weather will vary from sunny 70F to rainy 55F.

 

Northern Lights: nah, not really in Southeast Alaska. I've seen them once, at 4AM, in Skagway, and they were very faint. If your itinerary takes you to Whittier, Anchorage, Denali, etc., then the likelihood of seeing the lights goes up a little bit. Check this out: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast

 

Wildlife: from the ship, or? From the ship, you are likely to see migrating whales, eagles, sea lions. There are any number of excursions promising wildlife experiences viewing whales, eagles, and bears.

 

Random photos from around Sep 19, 2023:

 

Endicott Arm (bright and sunny all day)

 

Skagway (a little wet)

 

Juneau (rainy day, many tours/excursions cancelled this day)

 

Ketchikan (dry enough for the lumberjack nonsense)

[cr8tiv1]

Pros:

 

Weather can be iffy any time.

Days are shorter...but you might...might get a glimpse of the Northern Lights.  We had 2 chances at 2 AM

Close out sales galore

Less crowds

[rj59]

I sailed a day before Princess leaving Seattle on Sept 22 or so. Our ship had sunny weather, whereas Princess spent the first day in Seattle, because of severe storms off Vancouver Island. On the way home, my ship returned 4 hours late because of rough seas, but just missed hurricane-force winds. September has the most rain of May-Sept, but it can change by the day, or even hour. Rivers are full of rotting salmon, so there were bear warnings posted at a park in Sitka. On the way back, I've seen many whales as soon as you near the WA coast and enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca--outside aft areas on deck 8 on Discovery are good for seeing whales up close. Uncovered pool decks are going to be cold, wet, and miserable, which means more people crowded inside. 

[dockman]

As many have said...weather changes a lot.  My last mid sept alaska was pretty bad with pouring rain in ketchikan and juneau to the point that very few got off the ship as was miserable....we had bad weather about 4 of 7 days to include absolute downpour all day when we docked back in vancouver and had all day to kill waiting for evening flight...no fun at all. 

 

I had been to all the ports many times so no big deal for me but i did feel sorry for first timers who basically missed several ports and much of the inside passage scenery as it was rainy foggy and just generally miserable out on the decks.  One of few sunny days was glacier bay.

 

Odds of less rain and bad weather are better in mid summer but mid summer can bring it's own challenges with too many ships/people in the ports.  To be fair i have also had mid september weather that was near perfect, fewer crowds at end of season, lots of end of season sales of t shirts coats etc etc if that is of interest...lots of dead salmon and a few still alive clogging lots of streams and while interesting to see the smell can be pretty bad.

[BamaVol]

13 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Pros:

 

Weather can be iffy any time.

Days are shorter...but you might...might get a glimpse of the Northern Lights.  We had 2 chances at 2 AM

Close out sales galore

Less crowds

That’s right. Tables of $5 t-shirts in the Piazza.