On the rail of a ship in the Inside Passage, your breath hangs in the cool air while a mountainside slides past, dark with spruce and streaked with white. Long evening light keeps people on deck well past dinner. May is the month when that picture starts to take shape for travelers choosing when to go, and the choice comes down to which ports you want to stand in and which cruise line’s route suits you.
What is an Alaska cruise like in May?
An Alaska cruise in May is a cool-weather voyage along the Inside Passage, with long days of light and an itinerary that depends on the line you choose. The Inside Passage is a sheltered sea route stretching more than 1,000 miles from Seattle northwest to Skagway, and cruise ships follow its waters past forested islands, narrow channels and small harbor towns.
Alaska’s own portion of that route reaches 500 miles from north to south. That is a lot of coastline to watch from a deck chair, and it explains why the days at sea feel less like transit and more like the main event. Each line below builds its week or two around different departure ports and stops.
Princess Cruises
Princess offers roundtrip Alaska cruises from Vancouver, so you can begin and end in the same city without arranging a separate flight home from somewhere else. Its Voyage of the Glaciers itinerary runs seven days or more, and the name tells you where the emphasis falls: ice and the fjords that hold it.
The line also sells Alaska Cruisetours of ten days or more, which combine the ship with time on land. Princess has been voted Best Cruise Line in Alaska 22 times by the readers of Travel Weekly. If a cruisetour appeals, the line’s lodges are part of the picture, and the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge sits one mile from the entrance to Denali National Park.
Holland America Line
Holland America’s Alaska cruises range from one week to four weeks, and they depart from Seattle, Vancouver, Whittier or San Diego. That spread of ports lets you pick a starting point that fits where you live or where you are already flying.
Its cruisetours run from nine to seventeen days and leave from Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage or Fairbanks. The line also promises a Future Cruise Credit if your Alaska cruise does not include a glacier visit, which is a rare thing to see written into a cruise contract and tells you how central the ice is to the trip.
Norwegian and Royal Caribbean
Norwegian’s Alaska cruises depart from Seward, Vancouver and Seattle. Its ports of call include Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Sitka, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, Victoria and Astoria, a list that mixes Alaska’s gold-rush and Tlingit-rooted towns with stops in British Columbia and Oregon.
Royal Caribbean pairs a seven-night cruise with a land journey into Denali National Park in its Alaska Cruisetours, with two to six nights on the land side. Its seven-night Alaska Adventure sails roundtrip from Seattle from June through August and visits Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier, so that particular itinerary belongs to the months after May.
What is the weather in May?
May weather at Alaska’s cruise ports is cool, with afternoons in the mid-50s and chilly nights, and the amount of rain depends heavily on the port. Four places on a typical cruise or cruisetour map give a good range: Juneau, Ketchikan, Anchorage and Seward.
| Place | Average high (°F) | Average low (°F) | Precipitation (inches) | Days with precipitation | Daylight on May 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juneau | 57.6 | 40.3 | 3.51 | 9.0 | 16 h 42 min |
| Ketchikan | 56.9 | 43.3 | 8.68 | 11.6 | 16 h 09 min |
| Anchorage | 56.3 | 40.0 | 0.65 | 2.0 | 17 h 22 min |
| Seward | 53.4 | 39.2 | 3.50 | 7.6 | 17 h 06 min |
Juneau and Ketchikan: the Inside Passage ports
Juneau is cool in May, and rain falls on roughly one day in three. Afternoons are comfortable for walking if you are dressed in layers, and the evenings stay light for a very long time. The airport records no snow in an average May, so the town itself is generally past its winter.
Ketchikan is the wetter of the two by a wide margin. It gets more than twice the precipitation of Juneau, spread over more days, and nights run a little milder. A day there is more likely to be a gray one with showers drifting in off the water than a dry one, which suits the rain-forest look of the place.
Anchorage and Seward: the cruisetour ends
Anchorage is the dry surprise of the four, with only a couple of days of precipitation in a typical May and very little total. A trace of snow does show up in the airport’s average, so it is not a month of full spring everywhere. Daylight is the longest of these places, which gives the evenings an unhurried feel.
Seward, where Norwegian’s cruises depart, is the coolest of the four in the afternoon. It sits between the other ports for rain, with showers on a bit under every third day. Its long evening light means a late walk along the waterfront is a real option after boarding or before a flight.
What wildlife and scenery can you see in May?
In May you may see whales, forested shorelines and glacier country from the ship, though wildlife is always a chance and never a promise. The scenery is the more dependable part, because the Inside Passage itself is the show: channels, islands and mountains that unfold slowly from the deck.
Whales from the deck
Humpback whales are the species whale watchers talk about most, known for breaching and other behavior at the surface. Adults reach between 46 and 56 feet, which gives you an idea of how a single animal can change the mood on a crowded deck. They migrate between feeding areas toward the poles and breeding areas near the equator, so the chance of seeing one depends on where they are in that cycle.
Orcas are found in all oceans and most seas, including the waters off Alaska, and the west coast of North America from California to Alaska is a major place for studying them. Transient orcas have been recorded near Unimak Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands, which is far from the usual cruise route, but the species’ wide range is a reason to keep scanning the water.
Glaciers and fjords
Glaciers are what several lines build their itineraries around, from Princess’s Voyage of the Glaciers to Holland America’s glacier guarantee. Royal Caribbean’s Alaska Adventure names Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier as a stop, although that sailing runs in summer rather than in May. What you see in May on any glacier route depends on the ship’s path and the weather that day.
Rain and low cloud are part of the scenery at some ports, especially Ketchikan, where mist on the hillsides can be as striking as a clear view. Where the sky does open, the long daylight gives you time to catch the light on the water from the rail before dinner.
Small towns and ports
Beyond the ice, the ports are part of the scenery. Skagway, where the Inside Passage ends, is a small town with a gold-rush past, Sitka carries Russian and Tlingit history, and Icy Strait Point sits in a landscape of forest and water. Norwegian’s list of calls gives you a sense of how varied a week can be.
Is May a good month for an Alaska cruise?
May is a good month for travelers who like cool air and long evenings and who accept that some ports, Ketchikan above all, will bring rain. The case for it rests on the light and on the choice of routes, and the case against is the chill and the damp.
Who May suits
If you want the whole Inside Passage story, a roundtrip from Vancouver or Seattle keeps the logistics simple and the daylight generous. The Anchorage side of a cruisetour is the dry one, with little rain in a typical May, which matters if you are pairing a ship with time on land.
If you are drawn to ice, the glacier guarantee from Holland America adds some comfort, since a cruise without a glacier visit earns a credit equal to 15% of your fare. Whale watchers can keep hopes up without promises, because the animals are in these waters and the long days give you more hours to look.
Who might choose another month
Travelers who dislike gray days should think hard about Ketchikan, where May brings the most rain of the four ports in the table. Those set on Royal Caribbean’s Alaska Adventure, which sails from June through August, would need to look beyond May for that route.
A cruisetour that adds Denali is a bigger commitment of time. Princess’s Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is 40 miles from Mt. McKinley and two hours south of the entrance to Denali National Park, a reminder that the land side of these trips covers real distances.
Good to know before you go
Some travelers combine a cruise with a ferry leg, and the Alaska Marine Highway System offers a Sailing Calendar that shows ferry schedules in a monthly view, sortable by month, port or vessel. If the calendar does not answer your question, the Sailing Search tool lets you enter a port and a travel date.
Ports differ a lot in weather, so the table in the weather section is worth a second look when you compare itineraries. Long daylight in May means evenings stay bright at every one of the ports named here.
Sources
- Princess Cruises, Alaska cruise tips (https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/alaska-cruise-tips), checked October 11, 2026
- Princess Cruises, Alaska cruises (https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises), checked October 11, 2026
- Holland America Line, Alaska cruises (https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises), checked October 11, 2026
- NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USW00025309), station Juneau Intl Ap, elevation 16 feet, checked October 11, 2026
- Computed from the date and the latitude of the place (sunrise equation, solar elevation -0.833 degrees), October 11, 2026
- NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USW00025325), station Ketchikan Intl Ap, elevation 76 feet, checked October 11, 2026
- NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USW00026451), station Anchorage Intl Ap, elevation 120 feet, checked October 11, 2026
- NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USW00026438), station Seward Ap, elevation 22 feet, checked October 11, 2026
- Alaska Department of Transportation, Alaska Marine Highway System, Schedules (https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/schedules.shtml), checked October 11, 2026
- Norwegian Cruise Line, Alaska cruises (https://www.ncl.com/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises), checked October 11, 2026
- Royal Caribbean, Alaska cruises (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Humpback whale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Orca (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Inside Passage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage), checked October 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Which Side of the Ship for an Alaska Cruise: Glacier Bay, Inside Passage Routes and Balcony Choices
- Alaska Cruise Ports: Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka, Icy Strait Point and Where Cruises Start
- How Much Does an Alaska Cruise Cost?: Cruise Lengths, What's Included and Extras
- Alaska Cruise Excursions: Glaciers, Floatplanes, Whale Watching and Wildlife Tours