Best time for Alaskan Cruise

[mert461]

I'm planning a family reunion cruise to Alaska. Please tell me what month or week is best to see wild life, whales, and glaciers.

 

Thank you!

Donna

[mitaxi]

I am so glad you asked...as I am looking at 2008 cruises...and need some input...

[Toyz711]

humpbacks are up there from may to sept, you might have to take a whale watching tour to see them...sometimes folks get lucky and see them from the ship. they are feeding 24/7 (as the locals say) during their time up there.

just from a cruise or are you going on a 1-way with a land tour of the mainland alaska? round-trips out of either seattle or vancouver offer several glacier cruisings.

you might want to do a search of this board for "bears"..special tours usually needed to see them.

read down a few pages of this board, you will get a lot of answers to these questions.

to start your research, here are a few pages to look at

http://www.traveljuneau.com/

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/

http://www.skagway.com/

http://www.alaskacruises.com/alaska_glacier_viewing.asp

there's just not a perfect time to go, just when it suits you best.:)

we only had 7 family members, but we did a round-trip out of seattle for the ease of it.

[Budget Queen]

Are you planning an interior Alaska visit with a one way cruise. Best opportunites and the bargain of Alaska is a visit to Denali park and riding the park SHUTTLE buses to at least Fish Creek. Another must do is a Kenai fjords boat tour of at least 6 hours on the water out of Seward. Both these are top wildlife tours.

 

Tours are necessary in my opinion if wildlife is a priority. If you are just looking at a cruise, humpbacks are a given out of Juneau and Hoonah all cruise season. Bears are excellent with fly ins out of Ketchikan from July, through beg of Sept. Earlier out of Juneau to Pack Creek. Sitka is excellent for varied wildlife via boat tours. Independents are superior for more personal attention and routings.

 

 

Glaciers are superb via boat tours out of Whittier, far superior to anything seen via a cruise ship.

 

In your cruise selection, if going one way, be certain to choose an itinerary that includes 2 glacier visits. Either, Glacier Bay and College Fjords or Hubbard Glacier and College Fjords.

 

If looking at a round trip cruise, consider HAL with the only itinerary that has 2 glacier sailings Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm. (Tracy Arm is NOT a given for glacier viewing, but does offer very scenic sailing)