Alaska in Sept?

[MsWitty1]

Hi everyone! I just booked my first NCL cruise for next September to Alaska. I am on the Star. I have seen a few reviews, but should we be afraid of the weather that late?

 

Also - had the option to book a GTD Balcony. Anyone done that and issues with it?

 

Thanks ev1!

[SOOKIENY]

Cruised Alaska this past September (7th-14th) on the Pearl. We had great weather, cloudy, but not too cold. One day of drizzle on and off in Skagway, but all in all not bad at all. Less crowded, lots of sales in the stores. I would not hesitate to sail in September again.

 

Book it and enjoy!

[texascat]

We cruised on the Star this year in Sept. last cruise of the year. It was cold and rainy, but absolutely beautiful! I loved it. Also, if you are into souvenirs, they are on sale at that time, since everyone is closing down for the season, they are selling things cheap!

 

The one thing that I was not happy with was the catamaran that goes out to the glacier was not operating at that time since they had shut down for the season.

[terrymtex01]

There are some negatives going to Alaska at the time of year you have booked. Some have already been stated. One of the biggest negatives, just IMHO, is the daylight. One thing I LOVED about going end of May, first week of June was there was daylight until 11PM or Midnight and daylight again at 4AM or 5AM. With that much daylight you could see the beautiful surroundings pretty much all day long. There are some people who love going in September, we just will stick with May/June because of how dark it gets so early in September. That is one reason some of the excursions are not offered that late in the year.

 

You will love going to Alaska on the Star. We love that ship and we loved it's itinenary for Alaska.

[mylesf]

You already live in that part of the country so given that, IMO, the best time to see Alaska is in the fall. Weather is great and the wildlife is very activce.

[ute_fan]

There are some negatives going to Alaska at the time of year you have booked. Some have already been stated. One of the biggest negatives, just IMHO, is the daylight. One thing I LOVED about going end of May, first week of June was there was daylight until 11PM or Midnight and daylight again at 4AM or 5AM. With that much daylight you could see the beautiful surroundings pretty much all day long. There are some people who love going in September, we just will stick with May/June because of how dark it gets so early in September. That is one reason some of the excursions are not offered that late in the year.

 

You will love going to Alaska on the Star. We love that ship and we loved it's itinenary for Alaska.

 

My feelings exactly! I love the long daylight hours and can't imagine going when there's so much less time to watch the scenery. We're probably going to break down, at least once, and go later in the year when the "bear watching" tours are available, but other than that, I'd rather stick with May or June.

[uppitycats]

We've cruised Alaska both in mid-June, when the daylight was the longest (very weird, arriving in Fairbanks at 3:30 in the morning and it still light, seeming like a late afternoon!),

 

and in early September. While early September was nice -- cool and crisp, and downright chilly on glacier tours, and we got to see "termination dust" -- snow in Anchorage! --

 

I'd opt for June again any time. Crowded and full of tourists, but if you get off the beaten path (we rarely do ship tours), you can see some amazing sights, like huge veggies and flowers (they grow them BIG in Alaska!), and the long long days...

 

But I'd do Alaska whenever I could. I love that State!

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

We've sailed Alaska 4 times in September and twice in July. While leaving Texas in July for cooler weather is always a bonus, we really prefer September. We have had some rocky weather in September with high winds and high seas - but we prefer that time of year and the repositioning cruise that lasts 11-14 days and takes us down the coast. Last year, after Alaska, we stopped in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and disembarked in LA. It was wonderful! I know there is a reposition cruise TO Alaska but the other contributing factor is my birthday is in September and Alaska is my gift!

[AFT_LOVER]

September is 75% off time for stores clearing out everything to close after last cruise of the year. If you can land the last cruise you can save 90%.

[nancyfancy40]

September is 75% off time for stores clearing out everything to close after last cruise of the year. If you can land the last cruise you can save 90%.

 

Great to hear. Exactly why we opted for the last cruise of 09 in sept The shopper in just could not resist. :eek:

Nancy

[Toyz711]

Great to hear. Exactly why we opted for the last cruise of 09 in sept The shopper in just could not resist. :eek:

Nancy

 

the problem is the shelves get bare...we went (NCL star '06) sept 17 to 24..that was too late, as far as i was concerned. we were prepared and knew what to expect...had a great cruise, BTW. but we had rain in juneau (with sleet/ice) and it was COLD on our whale watch. skagway was nice, chilly and foggy..but warmed up to nice. ketchikan was very heavy rain, gave up and went back to the ship. glacier bay (at that time the star did the route the pearl is doing, now) was great, sunny and the warmest day.

most nights the ship was running with it's fog horns blaring, you could hear the fog horns from the other ship. after midnight, you couldn't see one star..in fact, you couldn't see past the balcony railing..it was thick fog.

sun goes down by 7pm..i have been to alaska with the sun going down after midnight, the long days give you so much more time to enjoy the views. many of the morning flightseeing had to be cancelled due to the fog, the bear season was over and (at that time) the main car rental agency (in skagway) quit renting cars after sept 15 (they stay open longer now).

in juneau, at the shops, the line were so long...people were rude. one person would stand in line, holding that spot for the other 5 that were shopping. this was in the t-shirt shops, not the locally owned shops.

the GOOD stores (locals) didn't have that much of a discount. the t-shirt shops selling out of that's years styles. some of the local stores were closed for the season or packing up to close.

we did our shopping in ketchikan, less discounts...but better selection (at that time of the year), less lines.

my photos (including the weather) are in my link (in signature) for alaska.

[cod]

We were on the Sky a few years ago...the last week she sailed in September. The weather was perfect. Sunny, clear and we never needed more than a wind breaker. Vendor's in every port said it was the best weather of the cruise season.

 

You never know but, from our experience, I would not worry. Have fun...we loved that cruise!!

[Addictedtwo]

Hi everyone! I just booked my first NCL cruise for next September to Alaska. I am on the Star. I have seen a few reviews, but should we be afraid of the weather that late?

 

Also - had the option to book a GTD Balcony. Anyone done that and issues with it?

 

Thanks ev1!

 

We cruised Alaska the last week of the season which was mid Sept 2007 had absolutely perfect weather, enough so that we got more use out of the balcony than we ever thought we would.

The key to this trip is to layer your clothing so that you can peel off as the day warms up. And for the women shop a holics all the stores are 40 to 50% off

[MsWitty1]

Thanks for all the good advice. I think we are going to go ahead and give it a try. Appreciate all the help!

[garycarla]

Great advice by all. Make sure you spend some time on the Alaska boards for tons of information. click on BOARDS at top of this page, then PORTS OF CALL.

 

More NCL info here

[IWORK2CRUISE]

We were on the Sun 09/14/08. This was the last voyage of the season and did not go as far up as some since we were repositioning to San Francisco.

We were fortunate to have had great weather.

People tell us that it always rains in Vancouver but we had one perfect day pre-cruise and were in bathing suits at the pool for sailaway.

We got sunburned on the inside passage day as we couldn't leave our spot long enough to go get sunscreen.

Ketchikan day was a little foggy in the am but by the afternoon we took off our jackets.

We had some rain in Juneau. But that can(and does) happen in any month.

I agree with some posters that it would be nice to have the extended daylight and we already know that we want to return to Alaska we will keep our options open.