How Cold In April For Alaska Cruise??

[cruiser-be-me]

"How cold is it, Johnny?"

 

"It's so cold", (smiles knowingly, plays with cuffs and puts one hand inside his tweed jacket, turns to look at Ed, then back to the cue card), "it's so cold, that when you turn on the shower - it snows!"

 

Ah, those were the days.

 

LOL! Thanks for sharing that laugh...Johnny was my hero...

 

Joni

[cruiser-be-me]

Here is an EXCELLENT thread for Alaska Weather info...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=751727

 

Joni

[Seahorse44]

I promised to get back to you after our first cruise of the season to Alaska(Infinity 4/28), but we were on a trip after that, too, so this is a little late....

The weather surprised us. Yes it was cold (varying from mid 30's to 60's). But we didn't have much rain at all, not even in Ketchikan, which is the rain capital I hear.

The captain (Demetrious Kafetzis) was able to get within a mile of Hubbarb Glacier which surprised everyone. He is a great captain by-the-way -youngest in the fleet, a great sense of humor, too. It was cold there, but it was cold when we went in June, too - I think it always is.

The spring flowers were gorgeous in Victoria's Butchart Gardens- so unlike the flora here in Florida!!

Layers worked extremely well -turtlenecks, a sweater or sweatshirt, winter jacket, hat, gloves, scarf and warm socks are a must.

We saw lots of animals, as they are just coming out to play after the winter.

All in all it was a great trip, and I would recommend it heartily.

 

Happy Cruising:)

[chachabell]

So much depends on the weather you are used to. If you are from Florida or Arizona you may think it is cold. We were on the same cruise as Seahorse44. We are from the Washington DC area and found that a windbreaker with sweatshirt to be sufficient except for the Hubbard Glacier where we wore gloves and used the hood on our windbreaker. Never did we worry about warm socks, nor did we pack a heavy winter coat. We did find the scenery to be superb with more snow on the mountains than when we visited Alaska in July '03.

[Shirley C]

Thank you all so much for your kind responses. We really aren't too thrilled with making the trip the end of April; but for the first time, Celebrity is offering a 14 day sailing to Alaska from L.A. roundtrip. This is something we had been hoping for; but unfortunately, it is scheduled for early in the season. We live in Arizona, moved from Staten Island, N.Y. 8 years ago and left all our winter clothing back East. I guess we will need boots too since there is a good chance of snow. I never even thought of that.:eek: WE may need to re-think this trip.:cool: To purchase all these winter clothes, never to wear them again, seems quite silly.

 

Hi Gina

 

Where in Arizona are you from? We are also in Arizona, and we did the 4/28 cruise on the Infinity with Chachabell, PSBCAP, and Seahorse44 -- it definitely was one of the best cruises we have ever been on.

 

The weather is definhitely different than Arizona. However, while we thought it was very very cold, it didn't stop us from doing anything or having a great time. We did wear heavy jackets a few of the days, and dressed warmly ~~ maybe we just weren't use to the cold after being in dry Arizona.

 

Have fun -- you will love it!!

 

Shirley

[Putterdude]

The end of April would not be my first choice. You certainly won't freeze but odds are that it is going to be quite wet and very cool. With that kind of weather you run the risk of low cloud and fog and therefore may not get to see the scenery that you have come to see. However having said that, that is what Alaska is like for 8 to 9 months a year...you are seeing the real Alaska.

[Leela]

My mom & I went on the Infinity cruise that departed from Seattle on May 9th. It was foggy and rainy with gale-force winds. Frankly, we found it depressing -- the ship was tossing so much that people were very subdued and pretty much kept to their cabins for the three worst days. Neither of us ever get sea sick, so we were fine and had a decent time, but we couldn't use the T-pool because it was so cold in the pool area and we couldn't use the gym because we'd fall off the equipment! And then there was all the baggage we had to carry, with boots, parkas, and so on!

 

After the storm blew out, we had one amazingly gorgeous day in Victoria, so that capped off the trip nicely.

 

Mom's final verdict: I'm glad I did it, but I don't want to do it again.

 

This was my second Alaska cruise, my first was the week after Labor Day about 10 years ago. It was also misty and foggy, and we also got caught in gale-force winds after leaving Seward. The ship was slamming up and down and half the waiters were in their cabin sick. So now I'm two for two on crazy Alaska weather :)

 

I think it's well worth it to go to Alaska at least once, even if the weather is bad, but just keep in mind it's a very different kind of trip than sailing in the Caribbean!