is Alaska cruise better in June or May?

I have to choose a cruise from the following three dates on Norwegian Star from Seattle:

May 26, June 9 or June 16

Will there be a bid difference in weather or other factors?

Is it less croweded in May?

This is my first Alaska cruise and any other recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

is Alaska cruise better in June or May?

It will be a little less crowded in May. Some tour operaters may not be running yet. Daylight hours will be longer in June but not enough to base your choice on. Weather is alway hit or miss.

Dress in layers and enjoy!

is Alaska cruise better in June or May?

Hi ewap, Glad to have you visit our fine state! By late May, the cruise season will be in full swing, so that all of the ship setups will be in place and ready, and of course the real stuff will be getting better, like our flowers are running rampant by mid-June, usually, and the salmon fishing is usually coming on by late May, here in Skagway, and that lasts well through the summer if you are into fishing.

The only reason that any of my clients come early in May for is the snow! There are a bunch of Australians who come on the first ships in early May, so that I can relay them up the pass to the summit of White Pass so that they can play in the snow! It seems that they don%26#39;t get a lot of that stuff back home, so even though most of them ride the train, they also want to go back up on the road for a frolic in the white stuff!?!

As far as crowds are concerned, it is always crowded on the trinket alleys of any of the towns where you will call in, when the ships are in. You just have to be brave and venture a block over to see my sisters garden where the people live, and you will hardly see a soul over in the real town!?! It won%26#39;t cost you anything either, so come have a real visit!

My husband %26amp; I went in May 4 years ago %26amp; it was amazing - the weather was great (80 degrees %26amp; sunny while sailing through glacier bay - we were drinking frozen drinks in our bathing suits while watching the glaciers)

All the tours were running %26amp; there were some that were only offered in May (like snowshoeing).

Also - it wasn%26#39;t that crowded, so you really got to enjoy all the towns

Overall - we thought May was a great time to go

have fun - its a great cruise!

We went this past June 4-11 and had 6 of 7 sunny days. I understand we were very lucky to get all that sunny weather. Side tour operators kept saving we had a perfect day weatger wise. Were on NCL Star and loved every minute. Temps were chilly at night and mild days. Slept with slider open every night. Make sure to go for the balcony and not inside cabin. You WILL NOT regret it.

Last year the Star was out of Seattle and stopped in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican, AK and Victoria, BC. Also did day of Glacier Bay.

You%26#39;ll love it!!!!

We sailed on June 6 from Vancouver, did the Insiade Passage cruise on Royal Caribbean. The only rain we had was when we were in Juneau, which isn%26#39;t all that unusual. While in ports, we usually wore shorts with a sweatshirt, boots, light windbreaker and were quite comfortable with the layers. I didn%26#39;t think the crowds were bad at all. We had plenty of daylight. It was fun to flip on the closed circuit TV and see the view from the bridge at all hours....it never really got ';dark'; like we%26#39;re used to. I would guess that the May date is less expensive than the June dates.

Be sure to plan your shore excursions! The excursions we took MADE our whole trip.

for djf_in_nh: how did you work glacier bay into that itinerary you listed? thanks.

To jamimi...

Last year the Norwegian Star went out of Seattle. Exact itinerary follows:

Sun Jun 4.....depart Seattle

Mon Jun 5.....cruise Inside Passage at sea all day

Tues Jun 6...Juneau arr 2pm depart 10pm

Wed Jun 7.....Skagway arr 7am depart 8pm

Thurs Jun 8...Cruise Glacier Bay then head South

Fri Jun 9.........Ketchikan arr 6am dep 1:30pm

Sat Jun 10.....Victoria, BC arr6pm depart 11:59pm

Sun Jun 11....Arr Seattle

I see from the 2007 Norwegian Cruise Lines Cruise book that they have the same stops plus Glacier Bay available but it%26#39;s on the NCL Pearl. Check out: http://www.ncl.com