So Many Choices! What to Do?

[Mrs Charmin]

We're looking at some roundtrip Alaska cruises from San Francisco for 2010. So far there are only two that I've found and one isn't really posted yet (looking at this year's). One is mid May and I'm concerned that is really too cold and the seas would be rough between SF and AK. Or, should we pay more and go late June, which is when we had originally planned?

 

Help? We can save money by going early, but will we be disappointed if it's really cold? If this doesn't work out cost-wise, we will stick to a 7 day roundtrip from Vancouver. However, there isn't much selection on those for next year.

 

Looking forward to all your helpful comments. Thanks in advance.

[Yukon]

"Mid-May" is a time of huge changes in a normal year. That's about when summer normally arrives - if we get a late summer it'll be cold, if we get an early summer it'll be beautiful. I use May 20 as my cut-off date for Alaska cruising (Vancouver-Seattle departure date) because of that and have had 3 great cruises out of 3 in late May and the first few days of June.

 

Murray

[sae019]

I haven't cruised to AK before, but I lived in Anchorage for 9 years and can tell you that May was my favorite month. It's not too busy and usually pretty sunny compared to the wetter June and July. Unless there is some lucky hot streak later in the season, May should be just as warm.

[judyf]

"Mid-May" is a time of huge changes in a normal year. That's about when summer normally arrives - if we get a late summer it'll be cold, if we get an early summer it'll be beautiful. I use May 20 as my cut-off date for Alaska cruising (Vancouver-Seattle departure date) because of that and have had 3 great cruises out of 3 in late May and the first few days of June.

 

Murray

 

I hope this continues for us this year. :D

 

I have also read May is a drier month. I decided to go end of May and wish for the best. Hope it works out. We saved a lot of money going then. I was able to take that extra money and get a balcony plus book the excursions we wanted.