MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

Getting ready to book a cruise to Alaska. I did a search on UH for best times to go but the results were not clear. We want to go between May and Sept. of 2018. We have decided to travel on Princess Lines and are taking the 10 day cruise that includes the Denali coach and train ride. Is the Tundra excursion from Denali worth the price.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Later in the season, after mosquitoes have died off for the year is better. And most definitely, the Tundra excursion from Denali is worth the price.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Don't expect sunny. warm weather. Been to AK in June, July and currently in Alaska now with pouring rain. Been out in it most of day with good rain gear and warm clothes. Other times had about same type of weather. Using my backup camera that fits in my rain coat pocket. Glad I left my 100-400 lens at home last minute with forecast for rain whole trip. Love the train ride. /George

BJW

We did the Alaska cruise and were lucky enough to have spectacular weather. The train ride is a must do. Be sure to spend some time in the section to the rear of the train which is outside of the car so you can get some great shots of the train going around curves with awesome surrounding scenery.

garyesampson

We went at the end of May thru 1st of June (10 days) perfect weather. We took the inside passage cruise. We were told if we came back do not expect the perfect weather. 67 to 70 degrees and no rain.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

We go on their last Cruise of the year, they give stuff away and the towns try to sell out for the season ending cruise. And the weather is great.

sumo Loc: Houston suburb

We went first part of June. 8 days on land, 7 day cruise. Train travel is fantastic. Fairbanks to Seward Denali was great but must travel in one of the park service school buses. Only one morning did we have rain Stop in Talkeetna and saw Mount McKennely ? Only 30% of visitors get to see it due to it always in clouds. Inside passage was hyped a lot. Went thru it at night. Didn't see much of
anything. Alaska is a bucket list trip. Fantastic and worth the cost

LisaMMatt

We just returned from the 14 land sea Princess Cruise. Did the land portion first. Dates were July 2 -15. It never rained an entire day, except for the train fro. TALKKENA to Whitter, where we picked up the ship. The temperature varied, but we needed clothes for warm weather on the land portion and warmer clothes for the sea portion.
The coach into Denali was fantastic, but beacuse it was in the warm side, the wild life was limited. If you stop in Juneau, it is a must to see mendenhall glacier then mendenhall gardens. The rest is a matter of your preferences. Did a photo shoot in Skagway that was not what I expected. Not worth the money. It was a trip of a lifetime for us.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Early in the season you can get cold rain. More variable later in the season. We were there in early July and did not have a bad insect problem - just lucky, I imagine. It is an awesome place!

Two Feathers

Don't miss the Tundra excursion it will always be a great memory and I agree with all of the comments the train and coach rides are great. It will be an adventure every minute.

SonyBug

Several years ago, I drove up (in my motor-home) the Alcan, starting from Glacier, then toured AK, and flew a private flight over McKinley, then went to Haines and took the ferry MS Matanuska, down the inside passage. All in all, the trip was 10K miles driving and all of it was a bucket trip. I also have a picture standing in front of the window of my former barracks in Ft Richardson (formerly Ladd AFB) that I was stationed in in 1959/60. Nostalgic, all of it. Difference was more people and in 1959, I boated in, and flew out.

DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

The 'Normally' driest summer period in Alaska is May thru mid-June. The pan handle is a temperate rain forest, so expect some rain there. If you can work it into your schedule, go to Katmai and Kenai Fjords NP's, they are WOW. Misty Fjords NP and Glacier Bay NP are spectacular if you catch them with blue skies. Tracy Arm is awesome!
Sorry, but having driven to Alaska, I don't think I could personally 'do' a cruise there now, knowing all the places we would miss by not driving! Chilkat, Chilkoot, Kulane NP Canada. Drive into Valdez, Kenai Peninsula, Top of the World...

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I did that Princess cruise/land tour in 2005. Loved every minute of it. The coach ride is fabulous. During the ride I went to the last car, my wife holding onto me, leaned out the side and caught the train going around a bend. One of my more memorable photos, a canvas print, hangs on a wall. I've attached the original (unedited).

The weather varies greatly. You'll need layers to accommodate the changes in temperature.
Enjoy the experience.
Mark

(Download)

Caribou Loc: St. Louis, MO

There's always a trade-off. We went in the early part of May, 2013. The plus was that it was much less crowded on the ship and on the train we took for part of it. They say many of the towns you may see such as Talkeetna, Skagway, Juneau, etc can be literally wall-to-wall with people during the peak travel times. When we went there were far fewer tourists. The restaurants weren't packed. We were actually able to spend time with the locals in the towns and shops and hotels and learn about life up there. They weren't in a hurry because things hadn't gotten busy yet. That was one of the things we enjoyed the most. The downside was that we had a few cold days. Nothing terrible but it kind of limited things a bit on those days. I remember freezing my butt off on Icy Strait Point. And we couldn't get all the way into Denali on the day scheduled because a late snow had blocked the road further in. So, we didn't see as much wildlife in Denali as we had hoped. The ship had outdoor amenities but it was usually too cold when we were sailing to enjoy them. But most of the days on shore were very pleasant.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

We went on the Princess cruise in August, 2011. We had great weather except for the day we went on the whale watch trip an that was fortunate for us.
Seems that whales don't like the sun so that allowed a whole pod to do "bubble-netting." We followed the pod doing this for over an hour. It was amazing.
The two other couples we were with continued on to Denali & Mount McKinley. They saw no animals in the wild.
BTW, meals weren't included in the lodges there so bear that in mind.