alaska About This Page:

[bsblady01]

we are planning a cruisetour on princess to alaska for the summer of 2015 when is the best time during the summer to go and what should we plan on doing while in alaska we are planning to go for two weeks.

[bsblady01]

we are also planning to go to vancover on the way home for four days.

[Teresa]

I can't answer your questions, but I just wanted to say: Yippee! for you!

My DDs Samantha and Lauren, along with Samantha's DH and MiL went last year in late June on a Disney Cruise and they all agreed: it may be June, but it was chilly and sometimes downright cold. Remember, you're not just in Alaska, but on the water and traveling at a decent speed.

[bsblady01]

we are very excited about this trip

[Jude60795]

I really recommend going to Denali and taking any of the bus tours through the park or outside tours to Kantishna. If going to Juneau take a whale watching trip with Harv and Marv Alaska Whale Watching. They do small groups of no more than six to a boat. I love Vancouver. There is so much to do.
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[bsblady01]

thanks for the help

[bsblady01]

we are planning to take a train from vancover to seattle and spend a few days in seattle and then flying home. our trip is going to be for three weeks can't wait to book our trip next summer. we are planning to fly out of new jersey because it is much cheaper then flying out of new york.

[HollyH]

We went on our Alaskan cruise in early August and found the weather to be quite nice -not too hot nor too cold (except, or course, near the glacier, which was rather chilly). Keep in mind that "not too cold" doesn't mean you won't need jackets -we did wear our fleece jackets and windbreakers at times. Also, we did not notice many mosquitos at that time which I have heard can be an issue at some times.

As to "don't miss", well I really, really regret not doing a bear watch trip. I kept putting it off, debating about the $ and by the time I decided to go ahead and do it, it was fully booked . Many other things, however, are really dependent on weather. People rave about the White Pass RR trip in Skagwag but the day we took it there was so much cloud cover and fog that it was worthless. We saw next to nothing. Ditto Mt Roberts Tramway in Juneau. We had a beautiful day and had amazing views, but others might be disappointed if the weather wasn't right. It's all about the view in each of those excursions, and if there's no view........ Also, keep in mind that many of the flight plane and helicopter excursions might not run if the weather isn't right. My sister and brother in law had the one and only excursion they booked (which involved a helicopter flight) cancelled that morning. I guess my point is to be flexible and have some alternate plans. Know that the weather can make or break some things.

We also spent several days pre cruise in Vancouver. Don't miss Stanley Park! We also loved Granville Island and the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Something to keep in mind -we did our whale watching in Vancouver as we were most interested in seeing Orcas. We have whale watches here at home (New England) where we can see humpbacks so that wasn't a huge draw for us. You have a better chance of seeing Orcas in Vancouver as there are "local" pods of Orcas and the trips go out specifically to see them.

Hope some of this info helps .

[shazza]

We haven't been to Alaska yet, but are going this summer (mid-May to mid-June).

I've been reading a lot about Alaska options at cruisecritic.com. There are lots of threads there about Princess Cruisetours, and tours in general. Some of the more experienced folks say to make sure you understand what is involved if Denali is on your tour. They say to make sure you go for at least two nights so you can do one of the longer bus/shuttle rides into the park. That's just an example of one of the things I saw mentioned (over and over).

As for when is the best time to go - part of it depends on what you want to see. July and August seem to be very popular months, especially for people who want to see bears fishing for salmon. May can have less rain, but it may also be a little colder - and not everything is open in early May. September can be nice because of fall colors, but this is the end of the tourist season. I think the key is, be prepared for rain whenever you go!

Like Holly said, the Harv & Marv whale watching tour in Juneau is very popular.

Have fun planning!

[DrDolphin]

We did our own cruisetour using the train and cruised on Princess from Whittier... Here is a link to my TR.

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...17-2013-a.html

[bsblady01]

thanks for the tips

[Pris]

We were there in June in 2011 and had wonderful weather, but I think it was unusual. The locals were talking about the heat wave they were having the day DH and I came out of our jackets. It was still chilly in my opinion. I think the temps were around 60 for us most days and the sun was out. We got very lucky. We are going back this summer and doing a cruise tour with Celebrity. We are spending 6 nights going from Fairbanks to Seward with a stop in Denali along the way. This will be followed by the southbound cruise to Vancouver. I hope we are as lucky with the weather this time as well.

[bsblady01]

what books should we get to help plan our trip.

[jimmymac]

We've done 3 Alaska cruises (4th coming up shortly) and we love doing whale watching, bear watching, just about anything that gets us out close to nature. A glacier flightseeing tour is expensive, but owrth doing once, even with the expense

[bsblady01]

this is going to be a once in a lifetime trip so we want to be able to do as much as we can do on this trip