I have been fortunate to visit Alaska twice. Both times it was through a cruise (Carnival & Princess). If this is how you plan to see Alaska, I highly recommend you do a land tour prior to the cruise. This is the only way you will get to see inner Alaska, away from the commercialized cruise ports. While you can certainly book excursions on the cruise, due to time restraints, none of these excursions will let you see what land tours offer. But if you are just not able to do a land excursion, it will be worth your while to pick the excursions that you really want (even if $$$) if this is likely a once in a lifetime opportunity. Many of the sights are just breathtaking. As a Florida boy, I would definitely like to spend several months exploring Alaska’s beauty. An RV trip to Alaska is definitely on the bucket list.
I had a third trip planned in October of 2020, but COVID changed those plans among many other travel plans. This was going to be the first time where I was just going to fly there and meet up with a friend and experience Alaska from a different perspective. Hopefully, things get back to normal in 2021, so I can reschedule that trip.
When Is The Best Time To Visit Alaska
As a travel photographer, the answer is anytime I can get there. But the reality for most people is during the “tourist season” which is basically when cruise ships are traveling to Alaska. This season is from May through September and regardless of what you hear about the weather, take a jacket and clothing to be warm during your travels. I have been in Alaska’s Inside Passage area (cruise destinations) and experienced 80 °F and 46 °F. Being from Florida, I am putting on a jacket when it gets into the mid 60’s °F. The other type of weather you need to consider is rain. During the season (May-September), there is an average of 17 rainy days per month. You might think why would anyone want to go somewhere it could be cold and rainy? Well, one trip to Alaska, you will get the answer. It’s absolutely beautiful!
Alaska can be divided into four regions with each one offering a different experience. This table can help you first decide what you want to see and experience on your Alaskan journey.
During the season, the average regional temperatures can vary significantly but you can actually feel warmer because of the direct sunlight from the long days of daylight during the summer. However, to give you an idea of what to potentially expect, this table provides average typical temperatures.
Average Temperatures (H°F / L°F)
Some other considerations for planning your trip might center around what you might want to see. This table will give you a general idea for best viewing opportunities.
Cruising To Alaska
Cruising to Alaska is probably the most popular way that most people get to see Alaska. As previously mentioned, the tourist season and cruise season are May through September. Usually, all cruise ships have left by the second week of October. As a side cruise tip, if you should book yourself on the last cruise of the season, for whichever cruise line you should chose, you may want to look at booking on the same ship as it transitions out of Alaska. When doing back to back cruises on the same ship, you normally can keep the same cabin and often get a good deal on the cruise depending on it’s outgoing itinerary.
If you are new to cruising, you may ask which is the best cruise line to book? That is pretty much like asking what is the best car to drive. It’s all personal taste and depends on your budget. There are family “budget” friendly cruises and much higher premium cruise lines. As a ballpark starting point, you can expect to pay between $700-$800 for an interior room (no window) per person and $1100-$1300 per person for a room with a balcony. These prices do not include taxes and port fees nor any air travel necessary to get to your departure city. There are 4 ports that most Alaska cruises depart from: Seattle, Vancouver, Seward, and Whittier. Celebrity and Princess cruise lines usually offer extended cruises leaving from San Francisco.
If you are an experienced cruiser, you probably have your preferred cruise line. There can be many benefits and cost savings by staying with your preferred cruise line’s loyalty program. The lower cost cruises will be in May and September with July and August typically being the highest. Regardless of what cruise line you choose, I highly recommend that you use a travel agent. Contrary to what most people think, you do not pay for the travel agent’s services. They receive their commissions from the cruise lines. A travel agent will be aware of the latest deals and best values for your cruise. I always booked my own cruises directly online until I worked as an independent travel agent for Expedia Cruises for two years. I did it as something to do in retirement and take advantage of some travel perks (like a couple free cruises). I learned a lot! The two main things I learned is I will always use a travel agent and I will always buy travel insurance.
The value of using a travel agent is they can see the best prices and if a better deal comes along after you book, they can usually rebook the cruise at the new price by working directly with their contacts from the cruise line. If you book it online yourself, that is usually going to be the final pricing. When I was a travel agent, I would always look at the new promotional offers and see if any of my clients would benefit from the new promotion.
On travel insurance, I use to think it just covered me in case I had to cancel my trip. But that is only part of it. The insurance also covers medical. When traveling outside the country, most personal health insurance will not cover you outside the United States. I could write about countless situations where the client was fortunate to have the insurance and expensive situations when they didn’t have the insurance. But to give you an example of one situation involving a family member, I booked their cruise, quoted them the insurance (about $130 for three people), and tried to convince them to get it but they declined. A member of their party got sick and had to see the medical staff. When they got back from their cruise, they had a $6,000 medical bill from the cruise line. If they had purchased the insurance, it would have been covered.
While I no longer sell travel as an agent, I will recommend a friend (I get no compensation if you use her) that I use for my personal travel. Whether it be a land, sea, or air vacation, I recommend Betty Camp with Expedia Cruises. I will tell you that unless the air travel is booked in conjunction with your cruise or land vacation, you will probably be better off booking just air travel on your own because the airlines do not offer discounts or commissions to the travel agent. If booking a cruise, there are usually a few benefits to booking air through the cruise line (via your travel agent). Many cruise lines will guarantee to get you onboard the ship at the next port if you should miss your departure due to a late flight. But another travel pro tip is to fly out a day early and get a hotel in your departure city. Why spend all your money and be stressed out with late flights and trying to rush to the cruise port.
What If Cruising Is Not Your Thing?
You can definitely see Alaska without doing a cruise. There are many land tour options available from local operators and you can even book the land tour that you would do on a cruise without doing the cruise. In 2021, Princess and Holland America Cruise Lines, which have their own lodges and rail cars (train) are committed to keeping hotels and lodges open in Fairbanks, Kenai, and Denali this year if cruises are still shut down in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The companies said the decision will allow them “to support land vacations in Alaska’s magnificent interior.”
Whether you want to schedule a land tour or do your own thing with a rental car, one of the best websites I have seen to help with planning is Alaska.org. I highly recommend that you start there to do some research and also check with a travel agent if you are overwhelmed with options.
RVing To Alaska
This is definitely on my bucket list with the hopes to be in Alaska with my RV for an entire “season” (May- September). If you are planning an RV trip yourself, there are many resources out there. Everything from professionally led caravan tours, to groups on Facebook. There is usually a new “RVing to Alaska” group listed by year that provides up to date information. Another of my favorite resources to get an in-depth look at RVing in Alaska is watching two of my favorite YouTube Channels, Keep Your Daydream and Less Junk More Journey. On the link, I provided for Keep Your Daydream, they have a great blog article about planning your trip and you can watch their complete Season 5 playlist of RVing in Alaska. Less Junk More Journey also offers a course for $37 about planning your trip to Alaska. The price of the course will certainly save you more than what the course costs. But if you are not ready to buy a course, you can watch their YouTube playlist for Alaska.
Start Planning Your Trip
Whether Alaska or some other place is on your bucket list, pick a date or a year and work towards that goal. If it’s something you feel passionate about or maybe you just want to say “been there done that”, start planning it. You never know what life will bring you. But if you are reading this article, then you probably have an interest in Alaska. So, here are some photos that I took in 2004 and in 2019 and Click this link for a wealth of information on the state of Alaska from 1keydata.com.
