Alaska cruise in early May! things to do + 50 pictures you need to see before you do one! Best time to cruise?!

Hi there!

Is early May a good time for an Alaska cruise?!

As with all things… it depends…

Lame…

But it does depend on what your priorities are for your Alaska cruise.

In general, YES, you can have a FABULOUS Alaska cruise by going in early May! But, there are some things that may put YOU off from doing one at this time.

 

 

I did an Alaska cruise in early May.

The cruise actually started in Vancouver at the end of April, but by the time the cruise ship actually made it to Alaska, it was May.

I was on the Sapphire Princess, and it was one of the first Alaska cruises of the Princess Alaska cruise season. I think there was only one other Princess cruise ship that had an earlier start date by like a day, and I think that was the Discovery Princess.

Here first are the top things you need to know about doing an Alaska cruise in May, followed by what it actually LOOKS like in early May… in pictures!

 

Top 7 reasons why early May is a good time for a cruise to Alaska… or NOT!

Early May can be a good time for an Alaska cruise (see the pictures!), but there are few reasons why YOU might not want to go at this time… and why you might want to!

 

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1. BAD: It’s cold.

If you’re doing an Alaska cruise in early May, you need to pack as if you’re going on winter vacation. You’ll especially feel it on the glacier scenic cruising days when you’re out and about on the open deck on the cruise ship with the cold wind blowing.

 

2. GOOD: You can see snowy mountains!

Now, no northerner is going to do an Alaska cruise in early May for the reason of wanting to experience cold weather!

But the cold weather means that one of the best reasons to do an Alaska cruise in early May is for the beautiful snowy mountain landscapes!

 

3. GOOD: There’s a better chance for less rain.

According to the National Park Service, May is one of the driest months of the year for Glacier Bay National Park, along with April and June. This means that early May can be great for an Alaska cruise to see Glacier Bay with clear skies!

 

4. BAD: Wildlife viewing opportunities are less.

Prime wildlife watching time in Alaska is the summer. This means that in early May, you have a chance to see a lot less wildlife (land and sea).

If wildlife is a top priority for you, whether that is whales, sea otters, bears, salmon, among others, you should NOT do an Alaska cruise in early May. Or, you will need to adjust your expectations. And those expectations should be that you will see minimal wildlife… and then if you do, you will be so happy!

 

5. BAD: Wilderness glacier excursions aren’t offered on scenic cruising days.

Hubbard Glacier, Tracy Arm, and Endicott Arm are common destinations for “scenic cruising days” on Alaska cruises. These scenic cruising days offer “wilderness excursions”… if you go during regular season!

Early May is not that time.

Each of these excursions cost around $300 per person, so this might not be a factor for you if you don’t want to spend extra money on an excursion on a glacier sea day. While you can see the glacier from the cruise ship (as long as the weather is good enough!), getting closer to a glacier is quite the magical experience. So a glacier tour is something you should consider, whether it’s on a scenic cruising day or in an Alaska cruise port.

See details on the wilderness excursions during scenic cruising sea days:

• Hubbard Glacier wilderness excursion
• Tracy Arm wilderness excursion
• Endicott Arm wilderness excursion

These wilderness excursions are typically offered from late May to early September.

The other thing to note is that these wilderness excursions can sell out quickly. So if you’re booking a last minute cruise, then it might not be available, even if you go on a cruise in which it’s offered. This excursion should be the first thing you book after you book your cruise!

 

6. BAD and GOOD: Not all epic excursions will be available… but some are!

So the wilderness glacier excursions are some of the excursions that won’t be available during an early May cruise. There are other excursions that also may not be available in early May.

Most notably, glacier dog sledding excursions don’t start until mid to end of May. If dog sledding on a glacier is at the top of your priority list, you shouldn’t do an early May Alaska cruise!

While not all excursions may be available, there are some epic Alaska excursions that you can do in early May, like flightseeing tours in Juneau and Skagway to see glaciers from above!

Again, if you are doing an Alaska cruise, you should REALLY consider at least some sort of glacier-related tour! The best ports for glacier tours are Juneau, Skagway, Whittier, and Seward. (Or if you will spend a few days on land, you can do glacier tours in Anchorage or Denali.)

 

7. GOOD: You’ll find cheaper cruises.

Finally, one of the biggest reasons for an Alaska cruise in May is because it’s when you’ll find some of the cheapest Alaska cruises.

So one of the easiest ways to save money on your Alaska cruise is to go in May!

Because school is still in session, there will also be few kids onboard a cruise ship in early May, if that is a factor for you.

 

I also did a cruise at one of the worst times to do an Alaska cruise: the end of October! But actually, as it goes with unexpected Alaska weather, I didn’t get the miserable weather that was expected! You can see what my experience was like at Juneau cruise port in October!

 

 

PICTURES of Alaska in early May!

• May 2: Hubbard Glacier scenic cruising sea day
• May 3: Icy Strait Point
• May 4: Juneau
• May 5: Skagway
• May 6: Glacier Bay National Park scenic cruising sea day
• May 7: Sitka
• May 8: Ketchikan

 

This was an 11-day round trip cruise out of Vancouver starting on April 29.

Day 1 was embarkation day (aka first day of the cruise) in Vancouver Canada.

Days 2 and 3 were sea days.

On day 4 was the first real Alaska experience!

Day 11 was the day after the last port day (Ketchikan) and it was a sea day.

When it comes to cruise itineraries, an “11-day cruise” is an 11-night cruise, so day 12 was the arrival back to Vancouver.

 

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Day 4: May 2 (Hubbard Glacier scenic cruising sea day: 11am to 4pm)

Going to Hubbard Glacier means that you will be sailing through Yakutat Bay and Disenchantment Bay.

Alaska cruises that are at least 7 days will have at least 1 “scenic cruising day,” and the vast majority of the time this scenic cruising day includes at least 1 glacier! (When you are looking at which Alaska cruise itinerary to choose, look for where the ship will be going for scenic cruising days!)

Hubbard Glacier is a part of Wrangell – St Elias National Park, and it is the largest tidewater glacier in North America. A tidewater glacier is a glacier that touches the ocean.

You will not physically be within the boundaries of the national park, but you will be able to SEE a national park in Alaska.

According to the National Park Service, Hubbard Glacier is 76 miles long (!!), 7 miles wide (!!) and 600 feet tall at its terminal face, with 350 feet exposed above the waterline and 250 feet below the waterline.

Apparently, at the start of this scenic cruising day, they (captain and crew) didn’t even know if we would be able to go all the way to Hubbard Glacier. Since there were no “ice reports” from other cruise ships, they weren’t sure of the conditions. So it sounded like they thought it could have been a possibility that there was too much ice and not able to safely navigate the cruise ship back to Hubbard Glacier.

So if you cruise in early May, this is something to keep in mind. A really early season Alaska cruise might mean your Hubbard Glacier day might get canceled due to ice.

But luckily on this cruise, ice did not prevent the captain from sailing to Hubbard Glacier!

There actually were lots of chunks of ice on the way to the glacier which made it really pretty! So on the flip side, as long as your scenic cruising day doesn’t get canceled altogether, early May may give you a chance to see lots of ice on your way to Hubbard Glacier!

Princess has “naturalists” onboard Alaska cruises, and these are Alaska nature experts. In addition to giving talks about Alaska’s glaciers and wildlife, they also come on the public speaker during scenic cruising days to give tips and general information. If you’re enjoying the views from the comfort of your own balcony, you can still hear what’s being said by turning on your TV to the bridge cam channel.

And now, here are a few pictures from Hubbard Glacier day in early May! The weather was not the best, but I was still able to get a view of Hubbard Glacier.

I must say though, I recently saw pictures of Hubbard Glacier with clear skies taken by a cruise ship passenger… and WOW what a difference!! (It looked amazing!) But you don’t know what you don’t know. So don’t go looking for pictures of Hubbard Glacier with clear skies and you won’t be disappointed when you see it in overcast conditions. 🤣

 

 

The itinerary had the cruise ship in Yakutat Bay from 11am. At around 2pm is when we saw Hubbard Glacier from the cruise ship. Being on a cruise ship, you really don’t get the scale of the glacier!

Also, phone cameras are pretty amazing nowadays. (Not mine since it’s old. 🤣) On glacier days I was noticing just how well people were able to zoom in on the glaciers. If you’re planning on buying a new phone in the coming year, buy one before your cruise!

 

 

I brought along a thermometer on my cruise, and it was showing that it was 41F on my balcony when we were at Hubbard Glacier. (The time in the picture below is not correct. It was around 2:30pm.)

 

 

In this next picture, the cruise ship is sailing away from Hubbard Glacier at around 3:15pm.

 

 

Now back to before the cruise ship arrived at Hubbard Glacier! Part of the fun was before even getting to the glacier! That’s when we saw the most ice in the water! This next picture is around 12:30pm.

 

 

The next 2 pictures are around 1:15pm and 1:30pm.

 

 

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Day 5: May 3 (Icy Strait Point cruise port: 8am to 6pm)

Icy Strait Point was developed specifically for the purposes of being a cruise port so it’s easy to dismiss it. There may not be any one specific thing that stands out, but, Icy Strait Point can be really great for nature.

You walk off the cruise ship and within a few minutes you’re either at the the shoreline or in the forest!

 

 

There is the iconic orca statue of Icy Strait Point!

 

 

Icy Strait Point is one of the best cruise ports to do a whale watching tour. So that’s what I did. Early May is not prime whale watching season, but I did get one good sighting of a whale’s tail as it was getting ready to do a deep dive! It felt like it was right there in front of the boat!

 

 

The Icy Strait Point kayaking tour is available to do in early May.

 

 

After the whale watching tour, I walked to downtown Hoonah. This is a nice coastal walk along a paved path. You can do this any time of year. If you don’t want to walk, there’s also a $5 shuttle.

 

 

Near the cruise port, I also walked the Icy Strait Point nature trail through the forest. This is a relatively quick activity you can also do any time of year… as long as it doesn’t get closed due to bear sightings!

 

 

I was approaching the end of the trail when a staff worker of Icy Strait Point was urging me to get off the trail. I was a bit confused because I was basically at the end so I didn’t know why he was telling me to get off. Well, it was then that they closed the trail due to a bear!

Icy Strait Point is on Chichagof Island, and this island is said to have the highest densities of coastal brown bears in the world. And so, there are bear viewing tours in Icy Strait Point. Early May is still a little early for bear viewing, but you can still do a bear tour. Just manage your expectations. If you decide to do your Alaska cruise in the summer, this is a spot to do a bear tour.

 

 

There was also the gondola that was in operation during my early May cruise. There’s a free gondola that will take you a little bit up, and then there’s another gondola that you pay for to go up further. There’s a zipline at the top.

You can also walk the nature trail to the same area that the free gondola will take you. So you can make it a gondola ride or a walk through the forest… or both!

The natural trail also connects to a path along the beach. This is something you can do even if you don’t have much time because it’s right near the cruise ship pier.

 

 

During this early May cruise, I didn’t know to look for sea life in Icy Strait Point. But I did when I went back on another visit to Icy Strait Point! I’m not sure what it is like specifically in early May, but I thought the walk along the Icy Strait Point beach was fun when I did it! This is something you can do on your own, and you might see jellyfish, starfish, and shells!

 

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Day 6: May 4 (Juneau cruise port: 8am to 9:15pm)

One of the epic excursions that’s available in early May is a seaplane tour over the massive Juneau icefield to see several glaciers.

The thing about any sort of flightseeing tour in Alaska is that it’s weather dependent, and there is a chance for it to get canceled on short notice. (Be mentally prepared for that!)

So this actually means that you probably have a lesser chance of cancellation if you go when there’s a better chance for better weather. So although weather can vary at any time, you may have a lesser chance of cancellation if you go in May. Plus, the views are just better when it’s not overcast! (You will still be wowed even if it’s not perfect weather, though!)

The best Juneau seaplane tour to do is the Taku Lodge excursion. With this, you not only get a glacier flightseeing tour, but you get a landing at a remote lodge in the Alaska wilderness where you can have a classic Alaskan meal in the form of a salmon bake feast! It is also possible to do the glacier flightseeing tour without a landing. Both of these excursions are through Wings Airways and you can look for the excursion through the cruise line.

 

👆 You can do a salmon bake excursion in a cozy lodge in the Alaskan wilderness!

 

👆 Get to Taku Lodge Alaska-style: A seaplane tour across the Juneau icefield!

 

👆 The flightseeing tour will take you across Tongass National Forest and the Juneau icefield to get to the Taku Lodge salmon bake!

 

👆 The seaplane tour starts in downtown Juneau. Seaplanes are also called float planes.

 

👆 The inside of the seaplane.

 

👆 10:14am: Flying across Alaska glaciers and seeing blue ice. 😍

 

👆 10:15am: More of Alaska glaciers and blue ice.

 

👆 10:20am: Here is a glacier that probably used to touch the water (and be a tidewater glacier!) but has since retreated to no longer be touching the water.

 

👆 10:21am: Yet another glacier! Here you can also see that in early May the water is still frozen over a bit in places.

 

👆 10:22am: You’ll also see the trees of Tongass National Forest during your flightseeing tour!

 

👆 Once you get to Taku Lodge, you’ll have some free time. You can have a seat on the bench with a view of a glacier, or you can go for a walk through the forest!

 

👆 Be sure to go and check out the grill so you can see the salmon that you’ll be eating!

 

👆 You can get a seat with a view of a glacier!

 

👆 This is the dining area of the lodge. Nowadays, the lodge only operates as a day trip excursion.

 

After the salmon bake meal, it’s back on the seaplane for more Juneau icefield views!

 

👆 View of the seaplane from Taku Lodge.

 

👆 12:42pm: More of the Juneau icefield and blue ice.

 

After the Taku Lodge excursion, I went to the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area visitor center in Tongass National Forest to go to Nugget Falls and Photo Point.

The Mendenhall Glacier is the most famous and most popular glacier to visit on land during an Alaska cruise. You can do different types of Mendenhall Glacier tours, or you can go on your own. On this early May cruise, I went by bus on my own.

 

👆 This is the trail to Photo Point, which is an easy walk from the visitor center.

 

👆 This is Nugget Falls, another thing you can walk to from the visitor center.

 

On the following cruise I did the Mendenhall Glacier ice adventure tour and LOVED it! You don’t actually get to touch the glacier, but you will get much closer than most people do. (The most popular way to see the glacier is from the visitor center, and it’s the glacier view is from across the lake.) On a later cruise, I also did the West Glacier Trail which was another great way to get a closer view of the glacier.

 

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See more about things to do in Juneau.

 

Day 7: May 5 (Skagway cruise port: 7am to 8:30pm)

Another epic excursion that’s available in early May is a helicopter tour with a glacier landing. This is another glacier flightseeing tour that you can do… AND you can walk on a glacier! It is so cool to do a wilderness landing on a glacier in the middle of nowhere! You might see blue ice too.

 

👆 Skagway is a perfect port to do a flightseeing tour with a glacier landing so you can walk across a glacier!

 

👆 It’s a flightseeing tour in Skagway in early May! You will see glaciers during your helicopter ride!

 

👆 The helicopter makes a wilderness landing on the glacier!

 

👆 It’s blue ice on the glacier!

 

My helicopter tour was in the afternoon. In the morning, I did the most famous train ride of an Alaska cruise, which is the White Pass train. Most people book this through the cruise line.

In early May, there’s still a chance the snow hasn’t melted so the winter snowy landscape through the mountains is beautiful.

 

 

You can book a train ride only, or you can book combination tours that include the train ride. I think it’s better to book a combo tour! That way it’s not just a 3-hour train ride. You do need a passport for a combo tour.

 

👆 This is the White Pass train at the Fraser depot in Canada. Since I did a combo tour that included walking on land in Canada, I needed a passport.

 

A combo tour will be a train ride one way and a bus ride on the Klondike Highway the other way. There are different types of train/bus tour combos, and if you want to do it all, then you’ll want to choose a tour that goes all the way to the Yukon. But if you do a really early May tour, a tour may not be available to go to the Yukon. Chilkoot Tours gets recommended a lot in Alaska cruise facebook groups for this type of tour. You can book different types of White Pass train excursions through your cruise line.

For this early May cruise, I did one that included the shorter version of the Klondike Highway.

 

👆 Klondike Highway in early May.

 

👆 This is the Klondike Highway. The jeep was not a part of the tour, but there are many people who rent a car in Skagway.

 

Skagway is the former Klondike Gold Rush town with historical significance, which you can explore by going to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park visitor center in downtown Skagway. Be sure to watch the free film so you can get a background and appreciation for the historical town that you’re in!  If your cruise is starting in Seattle, there’s also a national park visitor center in Seattle so you can get a head start on your Klondike Gold Rush knowledge.

 

👆 A walk through downtown Skagway is a walk through a historic district!

 

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See more about things to do in Skagway.

 

Day 8: May 6 (Glacier Bay National Park scenic cruising sea day: 6:15am to 3:30pm)

For some, Glacier Bay is the highlight of the cruise! And in early May, Glacier Bay National Park can look beautiful with the snow-covered mountains!

 

 

On Glacier Bay day, park rangers will board the cruise ship from a small boat as the cruise ship is moving. They will be onboard all day long to provide you with an educational experience in the national park! They will come on the public speakers to teach you about glaciers and Alaska wilderness.

Sailing through Glacier Bay in early May, you’ll likely have snow-covered mountains all around you.

The “final destination” of a Glacier Bay day is sailing as far as possible into the Tarr Inlet. There is where you will see Margerie Glacier. The cruise ship will spend some time there. Everyone wants to see Margerie Glacier “calving,” that is, huge chunks of ice falling off into the water from the glacier.

 

👆 The premier glacier in Glacier Bay National Park: Margerie Glacier.

 

 

I had a temperature reading in the low 50s at Margerie Glacier in the late morning around 11:30am.

 

 

The temperature at the start of the day when we first entered Glacier Bay National Park around 6am was in the low 40s.

 

 

There are also a few other glaciers that you will pass by on your way to Margerie Glacier. The other “main” inlet of Glacier Bay is the Johns Hopkins Inlet. Most likely the cruise ship will go in just a little, if at all. One of the reasons the cruise ship doesn’t go all the way is said to be to not disturb the wildlife who make Johns Hopkins Inlet their home.

 

👆 8:13am in Glacier Bay National Park.

 

👆 Glacier Bay National Park from the balcony around 9am.

 

👆 Your cruise ship might go into Johns Hopkins Inlet where you can see Lamplugh Glacier.

👆 Lamplugh Glacier at 9:20am.

 

👆 Closer look at Lamplugh Glacier.

 

👆 The cruise ship did not get very close to Johns Hopkins Glacier, but you could see it. 9:35am.

 

👆 As you are sailing through Glacier Bay, park rangers will be around helping to spot wildlife. (Bring binoculars!)

 

 

The entire day in Glacier Bay National Park you will have views all around you!

 

👆 Towards the end of Glacier Bay day, at 2:54pm.

 

Another thing you might want to do on Glacier Bay day is watch the park rangers arrive and leave the cruise ship! I wanted to watch them arrive (which is why I was up at 6am), but I missed them. When I walked out of my cabin, I saw the park rangers right by the elevators! Catching a view of them leaving is easier because right before they leave they will announce what side of the ship they will be leaving from. They don’t know this information until pretty close to the time they leave.

Then, you will want to be on the deck that will allow you to see outside down below!

 

👆 A small boat pulls up to the cruise ship, and the park rangers get off the cruise ship and step onto the small boat as both are moving! Wave goodbye to the park rangers! This was at 3:22pm, but your time in Glacier Bay may vary.

 

👆 Park rangers head back home to Bartlett Cove!

 

The evening before Glacier Bay National Park, you will get national park brochures delivered to your stateroom, so you will really feel like you’re going to a national park! There will be a map included, but you might also want to have the Glacier Bay National Park map downloaded to your phone. This way, when you hear the park ranger talk about different glaciers over the public speakers, you can visualize where exactly you are in the park! Here is the Glacier Bay National Park pdf from nps.gov.

 

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Day 9: May 7 (Sitka cruise port: 8am to 5pm)

As I was searching for excursions in Sitka, it seems like there were a lot of tours with a focus on sea otters… which I took to mean that there must be a good chance to see sea otters in Sitka!

So I did a wildlife watching tour through Sitka Sound tours on a 6-passenger small boat. (I was actually the only one signed up, so I was happy the captain still even took me out!)

Sea otters look SO cute in pictures (google “sea otters alaska”!) but unfortunately I did not get to see any. I’m guessing it being early season had something to do with it.

I did see sea lions hanging out on a buoy though (a common way to see sea lions in Alaska in general!) and a sea lion even came up to the boat! The captain said he had never seen a sea lion do that before and theorized that maybe people have fed it in the past. (Don’t do that! Feeding wildlife can change their behaviors and it’s bad for them to become dependent on humans for food.)

The boat ride also turned interesting where there was another boat that was in need of rescuing. As is protocol, all boats in the area that are able go to assist. (Our boat headed in that direction but did not end up doing anything as they got enough assistance.)

So overall, it was mostly just a nice day out on the water. Small boats are a way of life in Alaska, so you can think of a small boat tour as experiencing the Alaska lifestyle!

 

 

After the boat ride, which was from the harbor in downtown Sitka, I walked to the relatively nearby Sitka National Historical Park to walk the totem trail. This is something you can do any time of year.

 

 

Day 10: May 8 (Ketchikan cruise port: 9am to 6pm)

Early May means that you’ll be too early for bears and salmon in Ketchikan, 2 of the things that Ketchikan is best known for.

The epic excursion I did in Ketchikan during this cruise that was available in early May is a Misty Fjords seaplane tour, another thing Ketchikan is known for.

The Misty Fjords National Monument wilderness is a part of Tongass National Forest, which covers the vast majority of Southeast Alaska, which is where most cruise ships spend most if not all of their time during Alaska cruises. So, by doing a seaplane tour, you’ll be flying across the largest national forest in America!

A seaplane tour is one of the worthy excursions to do in Alaska because you can also think of it as a way to experience the Alaska lifestyle! Small planes are one of the common ways to get around Alaska’s remote wilderness. You can really feel the wild and remote Alaska when you do a seaplane tour in Ketchikan.

In early May, there were snow-capped mountains, and could see some water that was still frozen over.

 

 

I did a Misty Fjords seaplane tour with a wilderness landing. We landed in the middle of vast wilderness! It was super awesome.

 

 

Ketchikan is also best known for its totem poles, and you can see that any time of year. You can see totem poles in Ketchikan on your own, or you can do a totem tour. Tours that include totem poles are usually a combination tour of going to a totem park along with another very Ketchikan activity.

I went to Totem Bight State Historical Park to do a totem walk on my own before my excursion. I went there by bus.

 

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See more about things to do in Ketchikan.

 

HAPPY CRUISING IN EARLY MAY!