Table Of Content
The Windjammer buffet can be an excellent place to enjoy dinner in Alaska, as the buffet has floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the venue, in addition to outdoor seating on select ships. Search for shore excursions on websites like GetYourGuide.com and ShoreExcursionsGroup.com, and compare them to what you see on Royal Caribbean’s Cruise Planner. If prices are lower, or if there’s availability on a tour that’s sold out on the Cruise Planner, there’s no harm in booking through a third party. Speaking of excursions, it isn’t necessary to book excursions through Royal Caribbean.
Trip Planning Help
We still recommend planning ahead though, as an increasing number of tourists have been booking cruises each year in September. The warming weather even allows cruise ships to penetrate Arctic waters, giving you the opportunity to see polar bears on Wrangel Island. That’s a never-ending debate among veteran cruisers, but if there’s any destination that seems tailor-made for balcony staterooms, it’s Alaska. A significant portion of the time spent cruising in Alaskan waters is incredibly scenic. Book on the starboard (right) side of the ship for northbound itineraries, and on the port (left) side of the ship for southbound itineraries. Alaska is a dream destination for many travelers, and a majority of the state’s annual visitors arrive on a cruise ship.
Temperature & Daylight Hours
The Best Time to Cruise Alaska 2024: A Month-by-Month Guide - Condé Nast Traveler
The Best Time to Cruise Alaska 2024: A Month-by-Month Guide.
Posted: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
After combining all that information, we came up with this guide to the best Alaska cruises. Whether you're traveling as a couple, a family or solo, we've found the best Alaska cruises just for you. Nonetheless, it’s helpful to know the basic rules of photography before setting sail.
Alaska cruise in June: Summer without the biggest crowds
If you're hoping to see the northern lights, booking a cruisetour in September might be your best bet to see the aurora on a cruise vacation. Alaska has humpback whales, gray whales, killer whales, and a small population of belugas. Though it’s species-dependent, the best time to go whale watching in Alaska is in high summer, when the days are long and the feeding is plentiful. And it all depends on what species you intend to see—humpbacks are in the area year-round, while others like gray whales migrate to Alaska in summer. These months are also incredibly popular times for Alaskan cruises, which is why there is some debate over which period is the best between the two.
No matter which itineraries you choose to sail on from Seattle or Vancouver, the best way to maximize your Alaska cruise is with a CruiseTour. Added onto the beginning or end of your sailing, CruiseTours let you dive deeper into the Last Frontier with a few days spent on land under the midnight sun. It’s also home to the towering Denali, part of the Alaska Range and the tallest peak in America. You’ll enjoy wildlife viewing, warmer temperatures, and daylight returns to more typical hours. However, the dry season has ended, so rainfall will begin to increase as the month progresses. The cruise season beefs up in June, with the number of ships growing and the season in full swing by the end of the month.
Juneau
Due to the popularity of excursions on an Alaska cruise, they can fill up quickly, so it’s important to book excursions well ahead of time. If you have not yet booked excursions for your 2024 Alaska cruise, book them as soon as possible. Whether you’re confused about what to pack or overwhelmed with the dozens of shore excursion offerings, the planning process can quickly seem more stressful than enjoyable. For all your Alaska shore excursions, you’ll want to dress in layers, as the weather can change quickly.
June to August
Should your cruise encounter rough seas, an itinerary change, or another unforeseen circumstance, there’s a chance a showtime could get canceled or rescheduled. Booking reservations for earlier in the week ensures you have wiggle room in case of an unanticipated schedule change. When booking entertainment reservations, we recommend sticking to shows earlier in the week. If, for instance, a show is offered on the second, fifth, and last evening of the cruise, try to book the first day available. When packing for an Alaska cruise, we recommend bringing a pair of sneakers that are water resistant. Unless you plan on doing some serious trekking in each port, there’s no need to bring hefty hiking boots or rain boots.
Alaska is a beauty for all seasons, discover which season is right for you.
For both cruising and land-based tours, May and September are the “shoulder” seasons in Alaska, with better deals and fewer crowds. Cruise prices during those times may be lower, perhaps by a couple hundred dollars per person. With the school year coming to a close, many families take advantage of the opportunity to travel together during the summer months.
Cruise to Alaska from April to October for an Incomparable Life Experience
Volume peaks in June and July, with most destinations seeing the fewest crowds before Memorial Day or later in August. No one enjoys navigating crowds, but it’s almost inevitable when cruising to Alaska. If you want to avoid the highest crowds, we recommend disembarking your ship early on each port day.
Going on a cruise to Alaska is an extremely popular kind of cruise, because it offers an easy way to see so much in a compact amount of time. You can also look for a last-minute Alaska cruise deal, though keep in mind that with Alaska's cruise season growing longer, interest in Alaska September cruises is rising. You will find local asparagus on some menus in southeast towns later in the month, and fiddlehead season also begins in Alaska in May. However, most of Alaska's tastiest fruits and vegetables aren't on offer until later in the summer. Cruising in September will give you the highest chance of viewing the Aurora Borealis on an Alaskan cruise.
More often than not, flight prices will increase significantly as your travel date approaches. Waiting to see if the price drops almost always results in paying more for your flight, so it’s important to get your flights booked to avoid wasting money. Hopefully, if you have an Alaska cruise booked this summer, you’ve already booked your airfare to and from the cruise port. If you have not done so yet, we recommend booking flights as soon as possible.
September also increases your wildlife sighting opportunities, as animals across the state begin migrating, foraging for hibernation and engaging in courtship rituals. To find the best Alaska cruises, we followed expert recommendations and read hundreds of user reviews and ratings. Because I’ve been on several Alaska cruises alone, with my family and with my husband, I also based my choices on my own personal experiences.
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. With that in mind, Alaska is still a dynamic destination—no one snapshot of time during the year is guaranteed to encompass all this state has to offer. As the school season begins and fall approaches, cruise prices start to dip, affording the opportunity to snag a last-minute bargain for Alaska.
Alaska’s location at the far northwestern corner of North America and its two-season weather of long, cold winters and short, intense summers make it a unique cruise destination. Cruise ships have a short window in which to safely navigate through the ice that may still be present in Alaska’s waterways during the first part of the cruise season. 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. Most Alaska itineraries include some "scenic cruising," where your ship sails past incredible natural sights.
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. Started in 2010, Royal Caribbean Blog offers daily coverage of news and information related to the Royal Caribbean cruise line along with other relevant topics of cruising, such as entertainment, news, photo updates and more. The average temperature for an Alaska cruise in September is in the mid-50s and lows in the low-40s. It's also very likely to encounter rain, as September is an even rainier month than August. Of course, temperatures during September will be lower than other times of the year, but the opportunity to see the Northern Lights is a real treat.
On average, more than half the days in the month of August experience rain. This may seem like a reason to skip an Alaska cruise in August, but it's still a great time to take in lots of activities around the state. One downside to July is the price of your cruise will be higher than other months of the year. It's the very peak of the Alaska cruise season, which makes July expensive. The median months will see higher temperatures and longer days for touring, and it represents the limited summer that Alaska enjoys. Uncruise’s 12-night “Inside Passage” itinerary departs April 15 with rates starting at $6,300 per person, and Alaska Dream Cruises’ seven-night “Last Frontier Adventure” has starting rates from $3,995 per person.
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