Cathy,
I sailed this past August on the Summit to Alaska. After doing so, I would suggest sailing Alaska in June or early July. It was pouring rain every day except one and I have since been told that although there is never a guarantee that the weather will be good, you have a much better chance of good weather during this period. The downside to traveling during June and early July is that the ships will have many more children than late August and early September.......
D~

Cathy,
We cruise Alaska, on Celebrity, Mercury, last September, the first week or september, it was fantastic!! The weather was very nice, lots of sunny days , some cloudy mornings, and a little bit of rain one day, heavy rain,(for a very short time, may be one hour, and after that the sun shining!) which was beautiful, we were at sea during the storm looking through the big windows from the Navigator Club.
One night we saw the most beautiful Northen Light! they lasted for hours, moving, changing shape and colour , it was really the highlight of the tip. We had a balcony, which we used and enjoyed a lot!! I recomend it to everyone!
I wish you a great time on your cruise too!
A.

Since Cathy said "any info would be helpful" ... may I add a question here? Re: clothes. We'll be sailing on the Summit in late June. How 'formal' are the formal nights? I'm a jeans-and-teeshirt person, and buying fancy duds will not be my favorite part of trip planning? Thanks

So eat at the Lido those nights or get room service.

Why join others when what they enjoy is what you do not enjoy.

Anna, I'm with you!
If the World Explorer line gets back on it's feet {see Charlie's post below}, I definitely want to book with them - very informal!

I sailed on Celebrity Galaxy and Princess Regal to Alaska in Sept and the weather was surprising nice on both occasions. Whale watching is great in Sept plus the Salmon run. Celebrity is more formal than on Princess. Optional dining areas are available for people who do not like to wear formal attire on both ships.

We sailed last week of June/first week of July and it poured every day but Ketchikan which not surprisingly looked like it was going to pour. We also had a cold wind and I wore my winter jacket (along with everyone else) every day.

Weather is very unpredictable in Alaska. I am going mid June this year.

You can not wear tshirts and jeans in the dining room of most cruiselines (RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, Carnival)

Hello All,

My 22 year old daughter and I were going to go on a May 12th Celebrity Cruise to Alaska the inside passage from vancouver. We are wondering if anyone has done it in May and any tips or what is it like? We are also looking into September, which month is better for less rain? Any advice is welcome. Thanks
Dawn

September historically gets more rain than May.

We did September, 2011 on Princess and had the most awesome weather, which is a rarity. The week after us, they got horrid weather. We just booked what was better for us and hoped. Luckily, it turned out well.

I know someone who cruised there in Sept. and he said it got pretty cold then too. It was a repo cruise however so I suppose ideal weather could not be expected.

How did you find a 10 yr. old post?

Weather being weather, it is unpredictable at best but you can always count on historical data for an average to get an idea as long as you do not take it as gospel.

September traditioanlly has more precipitation than May.

You can count on 66.6% chance on a daily basis that you will get some sort of precipitation on an Alaskan cruise in May or September. You can almost count on 99.9% chance that you will get a cloudy day and rained on over the course of your Alaskan cruise. I've been there through May, June, August and September (never July yet) and have yet to have one that saw no rain or clouds. An Alaskan cruise with 7 days of "perfect" weather is very rare.

Best advise I can give to anyone planning Alaskan cruise: bring rain gear and warm clothing. You will need both. If you plan to be on the open deck catching the scenery while the ship is sailing toward the fjords, it will be "windy" and cold, even on very sunny and "warm" days.

We did Seattle round trip on Princess in 2010. Weather was generally good in the 50's most days and party sunny except for Ketchican, where is poured all day.

In Skagway we rented an Avis car in town and drove up the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake in the Yukon (the famous train is pretty lame).

In Ketchican we took a kayak trip with Southeast Sea Kayaks into Orca cove.

In Juneau we took a helicopter with TEMSCO to a glacier and rode dogsleds. Very cool...and also had time for a whale watch with Capt Jack's Scania catamaran.

Stay away from overpriced ship tours and plan DIY excursions which are less crowded and more personal.
Have fun, Alaska is beautiful..and btw you cannot see Russia.