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From emerging wildlife to lasting sunlight, early June through late August welcomes some of the most iconic moments known to the Great Land. Wildlife tours, for example, popularly sell out of their early morning slots early, as this is an ideal time to see the wildlife before it gets exasperated with the streams of tourist buses and boats. Alaska’s summer cruise season is a spectacular window of opportunity, with peak popularity between June and August. During these months, the Last Frontier comes alive in all its glory, offering an array of options for visitors. The sheer variety of cruise choices, routes, schedules, itineraries, vessel sizes, cruise lines, on-ship amenities, and price points will make you happy and satisfied. Below, we have outlined why summer is the best time of the year for an Alaska cruise.
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Increase your chances of seeing fall foliage on an Alaska Southbound Glacier Cruise itinerary that sails from Seward, Alaska down to British Columbia. Summer break, which is peak cruising season, is an ideal time for families to go on an Alaska cruise. Depending on your family’s interests, you’ll want to decide whether to book earlier or later in the season, since there can be a difference in weather and activities between the end of June and mid-August. Most big-ship and luxury cruise lines send at least one cruise ship to Alaska every summer.
The best time to cruise to Alaska if you want to avoid crowds
To maximize your chance of witnessing the northern lights, get off the boat and join a land excursion to Fairbanks. The aurora season in Fairbanks lasts from the end of August to April and the lights can be seen four out of five nights if the sky is clear. If you’re hunting the northern lights, then include a land trip to Fairbanks, where you can enjoy Denali Park and hopefully catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis. Down south, the waters around the southwestern and southcentral regions of Alaska teem with ships visiting Kodiak Island, the Aleutian Islands, Prince William Sound and Katmai National Park. Along the way, you’ll stop in the Alaskan port towns of Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, as well as Victoria, British Columbia.
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Salmon runs in Alaska start in early May until September, with different species of salmon running at different times of year. As the day winds down, be treated to an absolute summer delight—the deep orange glow of the sunset, a brief interlude before the sun rises high in the sky once more. Whether you cruise multiple times per year or you're new to cruising, the goal of Royal Caribbean Blog is for it to be a useful resource for keeping up to date with what's new and exciting with Royal Caribbean.
After a long winter, Alaska begins to wake up in April, and that includes the wildlife. Small-ship cruise lines such as Lindblad Expeditions and UnCruise Adventures have sailings into the wilderness, where you might spot bears emerging from their slumber and admire huge waterfalls fueled by the snowmelt. A few big ships, such as the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Bliss out of Seattle, begin their season this month with discounted early season pricing. Although you’ll find the highest number of travelers visiting Alaska during the peak cruising (and fishing) months of July and August, the ideal time for your Alaskan cruise depends most on your personal priorities. We’ve broken the seasons down for you, including the highlights of each, as well as the best cruise lines and cruise ships to consider so you can make your bucket list dreams come true. This is but one of the incredible experiences that may be had when visiting Alaska in the “secret season”—springtime.
Top scenic cruising destinations in Alaska include Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Hubbard Glacier, Tracy Arm (Twin Sawyer Glaciers), Dawes Glacier at Endicott Arm and College Fjord. Ketchikan is where folks go to see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, with athletes wielding axes and saws in traditional lumbering activities. Book a fishing trip to try your hand at catching salmon or halibut, or go out crab fishing for a glimpse into that type of work. Look to UnCruise Adventures, Alaskan Dream Cruises, Hurtigruten and Lindblad Expeditions for the best adventure cruises. When they’re fully mature, millions take a harrowing upstream journey from the ocean to the rivers where they were born.
The best time to book an Alaska cruise is when a cruise line first opens bookings on that sailing, often more than a year in advance. You'll have your pick of itineraries and cabins — balcony cabins are popular in this scenic destination — and often the best fares. The best Alaska cruise ports are also the most crowded because no matter which type of itinerary and cruise line you select, you'll likely visit a mix of the same ports. If you want to see nature at its finest, you must book a tour or venture farther afield. Floatplane and helicopter tours take you around scenic areas like Misty Fjords or land you on a glacier, perhaps for a dog-sledding or hiking adventure on the ice. If you prefer to stay grounded, you can find informative trolley tours of ports like Skagway.
6 best Alaska cruises for families - The Points Guy
6 best Alaska cruises for families.
Posted: Thu, 19 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Aim for the week right after school ends or the week before school begins if you’d like to get there just ahead of the most crowded part of peak season. A cruise to Alaska is an unforgettable summer family vacation experience your kids will cherish forever. Schools are still in session in May and September, so fewer families are traveling.
Alaska cruise in May: Cheap prices when you cruise in May
Not only do they feature the most Glacier Bay itineraries, but they’re also the only way to see the Yukon in combination with a cruise. You’ll get to stay at Holland America’s Westmark Hotels and their beautiful McKinley Chalet Resort at the entrance to Denali National Park, enabling you to get closer to wildlife and explore more of Alaska on land. Cruising has traditionally been a bit of a challenge for solo travelers because of the single supplement that basically makes them pay the same price for a room as two people sharing a room would pay in total. The first cruise line to build staterooms and common areas specifically for solo travelers, they’ve made it easy for singles to cruise to Alaska comfortably and affordably.
Juneau averages 15 days of rain in June, reaching 21 days of rain by October. In Anchorage and the northern part of the state, the rain often turns to “termination dust”—i.e. With more than 75 years of experience in Alaska—the longest of any cruise line—Holland America knows the state inside and out and presents you with lots of ways to enjoy it, from both the sea and land.
Summer is the height of the Alaska cruise season, which means crowds in port towns, especially when several ships are in port at the same time. You might have to wait hours for a table at Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau. Temperatures are pleasant — in the 60s and sometimes higher, with wildflowers in bloom and glaciers calving. Anglers will find opportunities to reel in halibut along with king and sockeye salmon and rainbow trout. In addition to humpbacks, you might also spot belugas and seals with their pups as you sail.
This breath of fresh air yields longer days and more time to explore forested canopies and coastal waterways. In fact, June brings maximal daylight with over 18 hours of golden sunshine in the Southeast and Inside Passage regions. Princess travels to Alaska during this season so guests can maximize their time on shore and enjoy the beautiful scenery from their ship. Take a relaxing ride on Mount Roberts Tramway for an unparalleled view of Juneau’s exquisite features, or journey into the vast waters for a chance to observe 50-foot humpback whales in their natural habitat.
Attractions and shops will switch to peak-season hours at the end of the month; Denali National Park & Preserve switches into summer mode in May. You'll find those who work in tourism excited to be back in business, considering that many people in southeast Alaska earn their income from out-of-state visitors. Cruise lines will offer the opportunity to extend your cruise with land tours, which include accommodations, transportation and some meals. The peak season to view the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis is between late August and late April, which unfortunately doesn’t overlap much with the Alaskan cruise season. If the Northern Lights experience is high on your Alaska bucket list, consider a September cruise with more dark nighttime hours and increased solar activity. In this post, I share a month-by-month guide about the best time of year for an Alaskan cruise.
There’s no right or wrong time to cruise to Alaska, but having an idea of the pros and cons of each season should help decide which time of year works best for you. More hours of daylight on an Alaska cruise means more time to sightsee, whether in port or when sailing through the Inside Passage. Juneau, for example, sees around 18 hours of daylight in June compared to just 12 in September.
As you sail through Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier, relax on your private veranda and admire the stunning landscapes. Celebrity Cruises has roundtrip Alaska cruise itineraries that depart from Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia, and one-way cruises (northbound and southbound) to and from Seward, Alaska. Many of Alaska’s most popular activities can be done anytime from May through September, depending on the port of call. Shoulder season is also the best time to go on an Alaska cruise if you prefer fewer crowds while exploring the historical and cultural aspects of Alaskan cities and towns. Ships in all price ranges sail a variety of itineraries, so don't let budget stop you from visiting. If luxury is what you're after, you can find lines that will go overboard pampering you on your journey north.
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