Tell me about your Alaskan cruise

We took one in mid June last year and it was cold and *really* rainy. Personally, if I could do it all over again I would wait until later in the summer, probably August, when the weather is more likely to be warmer and nicer to be outside. 

Sorry, I forgot to talk about excursions.

We did whale watching (great), a duck boat ride (just OK), a training day with Alaskan Huskies (Great), and a ride on the Deadliest Catch boat (Really fun).

I'd go again in a heartbeat!

We went in August and the weather was definitely not better  . We almost drowned at Mendenhall Glacier it rained so hard...it was crazy!  The Inside Passage is a temperate rainforest so sunny days are more the exception than the rule.

I forgot to say--the balcony room was the best. 2 of my sisters went on the cruise along with us. We had an inside room, one had a room with window and one had a balcony. We spent alot of time in the balcony room as the ship moved along.
The room with a window was a big disappointment. One had to stand up to see anything, and ignore the sofa. Sister had envisioned sitting on sofa watching scenery, but that was impossible.

It's hard to predict when the best time to go is, it rains a lot. That said, I still swear there is no place more beautiful than Sitka Alaska on a sunny day!

When we went we did an incredible hike up Deer Mountain in Ketchican. You go thru so many climate zones and the views are spectacular. Should you opt for something like this, I will recommend that you hire a taxi to come pick you up at a specific time to take you back to the ship. We had that foresight thankfully. We only had like 5 hours in Ketchican and we knew the bike was long. There are only a couple of taxis on the island. When we got to the parking lot there were loads of people trying to call taxis to come get them. When our scheduled taxi arrived, the poor guy was absolutely swarmed. Dh and I pushed thru and the driver unlocked the doors for us to get in. People were losing it and screaming at us, trying to pull us back as we were getting in. The taxi driver very calmly told everyone that we had reserved the taxi and paid ahead. There was room for two more people, so we let a much older couple get in with us. It took several minutes before people moved out of the way for us to leave. We got to the ship in the nick of time. The couple with us were on a different ship and just made it. All of the other people that were left up there missed their ships. Dh and I let the powers that be on our ship know that there were a couple of dozen people still at the parking lot for the hike. Our ship notified the other ships as to where their missing people were. Those islands are small, so there isn't typically a need for more than 2 or 3 taxis. This was before Uber and Lyft, which has probably changed things somewhat.

In Juneau we took a helicopter to the top of a glacier. They outfitted us in parkas, gloves and crampon boots. We hiked all over with a guide pointing out all of the various features. They also have us empty water bottles to fill with icey cold water. We loved this excursion and often talk of doing another Alaska cruise to do it again.

We took the kids 4 years ago on an Alaskan cruise. We sailed on Norweigan out of Seattle at the end of July. It was a 7 day cruise. Dh and I had cabin with a balcony and the kids had an inside cabin right across the hall. We had a great time and had really good weather. If you sail in May or early June just be prepared for colder temps and more rain.

I have been on two.

About 18 years ago we went on Princess (inside passage mid-July)--all adults.  Last summer we went on NCL (Seattle to Seattle-mid June) with the kids.

Weather was better in July. Both were seven days with two days at sea and one day Glacier Bay.  Depending on what you enjoy and budget, there are a lot of awesome excursions.  Princess and NCL both have pluses and minuses.  Same with RC, but I haven't sailed with them.

What kinds of things do you like to do (active, history, etc...)?  Who is going?  HAve you cruised before?

The next time I cruise to Alaska, it will be the longer version.

From what I learned after the fact, May and June tend to be rainier than the rest of the summer. I want to say we were nearly rained out almost every day that we were in port, as in TORRENTIAL downpour rain. That part of the vacation really kind of sucked because it made being outside not very fun especially for our 9yo. It wasn’t just one sucky day. The one day it was nicer was when we were in Victoria which might have been our last port of call.

One of our excursions included a van tour and the windows of the van were so steamed up and it was raining so hard the whole time we couldn’t see anything outside. 

If I had known then what I know now, we would have booked for late July or August instead. Just saying.

Whatever works for you.  I was just telling you our experience in August.  I hope it works out for you if you go again.

it was wonderful! we went late in the season because we like it cooler and ports less crowded with tourists.  it was very relaxing and we even had a pod of killer wales swimming next to the ship.  that was amazing!  we also saw dolphins along the way. 

since we went later in the season, i believe we were one of the last ships to dock in front of the glaciers.  we watched giant sheets slide off and come crashing into the water.  the ship sat there for a while and we had a corner suite in the back of the ship so we were able to enjoy the view for some time.  the sights and sounds were amazing.

we are doing 7-day on the Disney Wonder in June and I can't wait! 

If you are looking at 9 - 12 days, it will probably be a 7 night cruise and then a land package in Alaska interior.