The cruiseline brochures all have gorgeous pix for Alaska - dont be fooled by that. 95% of the time, you will NOT see such gorgeous scenes mainly because 95% of the time you would be rained on.
One way to realize it is, if you go to photo sites online communities, such as Webshot, then search for Alaska photos - you probably would find tens of thousands - but you would hardly find good ones - most of them were taken under grey weather, heavy sky, foggy around...
Otherwise, if you really must go Alaska, then pay attention to what Wonderlust said, and my added comments below:
1) Alaska cruise season is between Mid May to Mid Sept.
There is no telling which month is best simply because Alaska weather is totally unpredictable and each year is different. Contrary to many's belief, May actually has least rainfall, in a "normal" year.
At this late stage, the hard part is to find airline seats to Alaska - think about this, a ship can take 2000 - 3000 passengers, there are probably 7 to 10 ships prying Alaska water. When you compare it to the daily flights to Alaska (and to Vancouver in the same token) - you can see that airline seats are at a premium. Very often you can see cheap cruises, but you cannot find airline tickets. Sometimes the cruiselines would book the air if they still have unsold bulk seats. So check that.
2) Only Princess and Holland America have permission to go into Glacier Bay National Park. If that is on the top of your list, choose your cruise accordingly. Hint, Holland America cater mostly for seniors while Princess is more like a family line.
3) The Northbound or Southbound (between Alaska and Vancouver) sailings are thru the Inside Passage with no open sea - so is a calmer route. Because of the tide table when entering the Vancouver Island, the NB & SB have very different time passing the College Fjords and Prince William Sounds at Alaska. Choose accordingly.
Ships sail from Seattle will have to go thru open sea in its first day, and then again the last day. It can be very rough. Sometimes they cannot dock at Victoria BC due to high wind. Though logistically, roundtrip from Seattle is easier to handle than the one-way cruise. Because the departure/arrival points in Alaska - Whittier is 2+ hr drive from Anchorage, and you have the Tunnel timetable to deal with. Seward is 4+ hr affair. Cruiselines have transportation (additional charges of course) but you still need to adhere to a strict schedule. Hotels in Anchorage during cruising season are at a high premium and have very little vacancy. Most families plan their Alaska cruises a year in advance, only add to the logistic nightmare. That said, you sometimes get lucky for late August/early Sept trip.
4) Unless your parents are very fond of wilderness and wildlife. Otherwise, they may not enjoy the trip into Denali NP - it is a whole day 8 hours affair on a schoolbus type transportation. You need to bring your own foods and drinks - there are no concessions in the park after you pass the first visitor center at the beginning of the trip.
Fairbank really has nothing to see, but is a base for folks take flight-seeing to see the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska pipeline, and North Pole.
A Caribbean cruise generally would be full of blue sky and sunshine, not much wilderness but generally very pleasant to look at.
One way to realize it is, if you go to photo sites online communities, such as Webshot, then search for Alaska photos - you probably would find tens of thousands - but you would hardly find good ones - most of them were taken under grey weather, heavy sky, foggy around...
Otherwise, if you really must go Alaska, then pay attention to what Wonderlust said, and my added comments below:
1) Alaska cruise season is between Mid May to Mid Sept.
There is no telling which month is best simply because Alaska weather is totally unpredictable and each year is different. Contrary to many's belief, May actually has least rainfall, in a "normal" year.
At this late stage, the hard part is to find airline seats to Alaska - think about this, a ship can take 2000 - 3000 passengers, there are probably 7 to 10 ships prying Alaska water. When you compare it to the daily flights to Alaska (and to Vancouver in the same token) - you can see that airline seats are at a premium. Very often you can see cheap cruises, but you cannot find airline tickets. Sometimes the cruiselines would book the air if they still have unsold bulk seats. So check that.
2) Only Princess and Holland America have permission to go into Glacier Bay National Park. If that is on the top of your list, choose your cruise accordingly. Hint, Holland America cater mostly for seniors while Princess is more like a family line.
3) The Northbound or Southbound (between Alaska and Vancouver) sailings are thru the Inside Passage with no open sea - so is a calmer route. Because of the tide table when entering the Vancouver Island, the NB & SB have very different time passing the College Fjords and Prince William Sounds at Alaska. Choose accordingly.
Ships sail from Seattle will have to go thru open sea in its first day, and then again the last day. It can be very rough. Sometimes they cannot dock at Victoria BC due to high wind. Though logistically, roundtrip from Seattle is easier to handle than the one-way cruise. Because the departure/arrival points in Alaska - Whittier is 2+ hr drive from Anchorage, and you have the Tunnel timetable to deal with. Seward is 4+ hr affair. Cruiselines have transportation (additional charges of course) but you still need to adhere to a strict schedule. Hotels in Anchorage during cruising season are at a high premium and have very little vacancy. Most families plan their Alaska cruises a year in advance, only add to the logistic nightmare. That said, you sometimes get lucky for late August/early Sept trip.
4) Unless your parents are very fond of wilderness and wildlife. Otherwise, they may not enjoy the trip into Denali NP - it is a whole day 8 hours affair on a schoolbus type transportation. You need to bring your own foods and drinks - there are no concessions in the park after you pass the first visitor center at the beginning of the trip.
Fairbank really has nothing to see, but is a base for folks take flight-seeing to see the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska pipeline, and North Pole.
A Caribbean cruise generally would be full of blue sky and sunshine, not much wilderness but generally very pleasant to look at.
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