topic Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear in Travel

Alaskan Cruise Wear

Dobilyn — Sat, 22 Jul 2017 23:55:25 GMT

Booked on a 7 day cruise out of Seattle to the inside pasage in Alaska August 13-20. Would like suggestions on clothes. Will it be warm enough on land for capris and sandals? I will be taking warmer clothes, vest, jeans, jacket with hood. Just wondering what to wear in ports.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

SXMGirl — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 00:07:02 GMT

We went mid-May and the one item that I wore quite a bit was my raincoat. I took clothes for cooler weather, but luckily packed some capris. You will probably be buying a tee shirt or two, which might become handy.

Our first stop, and probably yours, is Ketchikan. It was 80 degrees and sunny. Same for Victoria and Seattle (Seattle was actually closer to 90). Sitka was sunny and about 65. The other ports, Juneau and Skagway, required sweaters. Unless it is really warm, wear jeans. In other words, prepare for different kinds of weather, but you do not need to over-pack, which we did. Ports are casual and everyone will be wearing what you are wearing.

I find that on our ship that we did not need to dress up for the entertainment. It was very casual. You should have an umbrella in your cabin. I took sneakers and one pair of flats. For excursions, make sure that you have a sweater. I took mittens and a hat. Did not need either. If you get cold, you will always have some place to buy a sweatshirt. Again, no need to over-pack.

Have a wonderful trip. You will love Alaska.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Kachina624 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 00:14:01 GMT

You won't need to dress like Nanook of the North. It's gets chilly on the deck of a ship that's underway but you won't need more than a sweatshirt and jacket. You'll need a poncho for rain. One nice outfit for "formal" night at dinner, maybe pants and a glittery top. Gloves for use on the ship deck and binoculars. Otherwise just pants of any length and tees.

On my last Alaskan cruise, the ship left from Seattle and headed out to the open sea. Most of us on board got very seasick. Get something for it and take in your purse. The inside passage is calm as a bathtub but first you've got to get there.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

FrostyBabe1 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 00:12:33 GMT

When I went to Alaska it was at the end of June/early July and I signed up for all of the "active" excursions that I could. I took shorts, but only wore them a couple of times. I mostly wore jeans, long sleeved t-shirts and sometimes a lightweight fleece. No sandals. I either wore my Keen hiking shoes or running shoes. I suggest you take things to layer. For example, on the day that the ship was in Glacier Bay and the day that I was on Mendenhall Glacier, I started out with a silk cami, topped with an UnderArmour Cold Gear mock neck, a lightweight fleece and then a Gortex wind breaker. On the bottom I had tights, jeans and wool socks. With a hat and gloves, I was very toasty warm outside and those things took up very little room in my luggage. If you're going to participate in more sedentary activities, you should be fine in jeans, a t-shirt and a wind proof jacket.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Jaspersmom — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 01:01:59 GMT

@Dobilyn wrote:
Booked on a 7 day cruise out of Seattle to the inside pasage in Alaska August 13-20. Would like suggestions on clothes. Will it be warm enough on land for capris and sandals? I will be taking warmer clothes, vest, jeans, jacket with hood. Just wondering what to wear in ports.

Friends just returned from cruise. Eighty degrees on land. Can get cooler on ship when you are out to sea. I went in early June of last year. Temps were in the sixties. I would look at daily temps as you get closer to your vacation dates. Alaska is unpredictable.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

World Traveler — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 06:52:27 GMT

@Dobilyn My sister and i took our father on the Alaskan cruise around 12 years ago, and it was in June. We wore casual clothes that were layered so we could just add on or take off as the weather changed. We most enjoyed wearing something that was thin enough to dry out quickly because it rained off and on at the various stops, like Skagway. Good rain jacket with hood, and an umbrella, were musts for us at that time.

Some excursions, like kayaking, provided long ponchos to wear as it was raining during that time.

When I went dogsledding, the helicopter had ponchos available, but we did not need them. Clear as a bell with no rain, but once the helicopter brought us back to the little airport, they were needed again.

Such a great place to visit!

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Kachina624 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 07:16:39 GMT

@Dobilyn There have been a couple of other Alaska cruise threads in the past couple of weeks. You might want to look them up they have additional information.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Meowingkitty — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 13:01:29 GMT

We went inearly September and I bought a heavy coat (never needed a coat because I live in Arizona) and only really wore it on the deck of the ship. I did wear it when we went to the dog sledding camp. Other times I took it with me and ended up taking it off. No capris or sandals. Just jeans and long sleeved shirts.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

missy1 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 12:34:01 GMT

I went in June (a long time ago) and no need for heavy coats. I had wished I had packed summer clothes. I don't get cold easily. In August it may be cooler.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

nyc1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 11:12:05 GMT

Just got back a week ago! Was away for 16 days, the first 9 on land and then a 7 day cruise with land stops. You will definitely not need a lot of warm clothing. You will probably need a jacket when you walk the outside decks in the evening, and you may need a little something for AC on the ship. Other than that, tee shirts were enough for the day and maybe a little more in the evening. We both had Merrills for walking, but I wore my Birki sandles during the day when we had a solid day of cruising.

It was probably on average 55-65 in the evening and 70-80 during the day. We were very lucky with GORGEOUS weather. The entire time we were there, we had only one day where it was misty. ENJOY YOUR TRIP.

Oh ... if you do a jet boat excursion, you may want to bring a light jacket. It can get chilly, and I'm sure there are other adventures where you may want some warmer clothing.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Dobilyn — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 23:18:48 GMT

Thanks for the info. Glad you had good weather. I keep checking the weather in Juneau and it looks chilly and rainy. I hope we are as fortunate as you were.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Elbelle — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 21:58:51 GMT

I just came back from what sounds like the same cruise. I too had been very confused as to what to bring. Everyone kept saying "layers". In other words, you had to bring one of everything, because the weather was so unpredictable! I did not bring any capris or shorts. I was very comfortable in my Denin & Co. active french terry long or ankle length pants. Took three lands end supima polos (short sleeve), 2 cotton turtlenecks, and a couple light weight long sleeve dressier tops to wear to dinner and the shows. Took the Susan Graver pants, which I had bought specifically for the cruise, and yes, they were great for packing. Also had a few of her tunics and jackets, but ended up not wearing them. It didn't matter, since they took up so little space. I went on the most active excursions, ie. helicopter to the top of the glacier, whale watching, and other wildlife sighting boatrides. If you go on the helicopter to the glacier, think winter - hat, gloves, scarf, etc. You will only be there for a short time, but it is freezing cold! The boatrides we went on all had indoor areas where you wouldn''t get wet, and they were heated, but we wanted to be outside as much as possible, so again the hats and gloves came in handy. I was wearing a lightweight Lands End Squall Parker with a cotton turtleneck, and my husband had something similar. A hood will come in very handy if you don't happen to have your hat. We each took a backpack when we left the ship. I had a small Jansport, and my husband took a larger one, and if we were too warm we could put our jackets in them. We also were able to put the souveniers we bought in them. We both wore lightweight hiking shoes at all the ports. Again, we did a lot of walking, but if you don't plan to, you can just wear sneakers. I preferred the hiking shoes since a lot of the towns were wet and drizzly. Since this was my first cruise, I researched what to pack. One of the best tips was to buy a cheap over the door shoe holder to store all your toiletries in. I didn't use it for packing. I didn't unwrap it until we got there, and then I hung it up on the bathroom door. While the cabin was very well planned out and make optimal use of the space, I felt it was much easier having everything in front of me in one area. I even put things like the hats and gloves in there. If you're interested, let me know and I will post of picture of it. I got it in Walmart for under $5. I also read that all the walls on a ship are made of metal, so you can bring magnetic hooks for extra storage. I did buy a few "clips" I saw in the dollar store, and used them to hang up papers like the daily schedule, etc. Harmonds had little toothbrush holders with suction cups on them, so you could hang your toothbrushes right on the mirror. I found the closet space was fine, but I was glad I made extra storage for the bathroom. We lucked out and didn't have any rain, but you have to be prepared for anything. Oh, and they sell lots of jackets, hoodies, and fleece vests on the ship, and a lot of people bought them. We lucked out with the weather. Hope you do too. Enjoy!

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

yellowrose — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 18:58:50 GMT

Last September we went on the last Alaskan cruise of the season.

Ship had lots of onboard sales going on.

I never needed a heavy coat, gloves and hat.

A fleece jacket and jeans was enough for me. Had to buy

a rain jacket and hood since I didn't bring that. The ship

had umbrellas available, but I wanted my hands free.

My favorite excursion was taking the boat out to

see the whales. The train ride up into the mountains was

almost a waste of money since it was foggy and drizzling,

but scenery I was able to see was beautiful.

It was a wonderful trip. Wishing you a safe and fun journey.

Re: Alaskan Cruise Wear

Dobilyn — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:12:30 GMT

Thanks so much! Your info is very helpful. I wondered if I should take a turtleneck, you answered my question. I am taking a couple of vests, one is quilted but very light weight. I do have a cosmetic bag that i can hang on the door. i did not know about the metal walls, I can see where magnets would be useful. I even have the Susan Graver Milano knit pants., and I have D&C french terry pants too. I plan to take jeans as well. I don't have a packback, but might have to get one. A couple of people advised taking one. We are looking forward to our trip and I hope the weather is as good for us as it was for you.