How cold is it onboard the Alaskan cruises?

[beaucat]

Am packing for our Alaskan cruise. I noticed the weather in Alaska is cool right now. How cold is it in the dining room / in the cabins on the ship?

I tend to be cold natured... I'm packing fleece, jacket, gloves for off the ship but was wondering what to pack for on the ship.

It is 98 degrees here today; it will be quite the change!

Thanks!
Angela

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Am packing for our Alaskan cruise. I noticed the weather in Alaska is cool right now. How cold is it in the dining room / in the cabins on the ship?

I tend to be cold natured... I'm packing fleece, jacket, gloves for off the ship but was wondering what to pack for on the ship.

It is 98 degrees here today; it will be quite the change!

Thanks!
Angela

I, also, don't do well in cold. For our Alaska cruise, I purchased a long down parka with hood for the excursions.

Most days on board, I wore a turtleneck, shirt, pants, socks and walking shoes. I also had a light jacket that I carried, because some areas on the ship are colder than others. When we did Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay, I added a thermal underlayer and wore my parka on the outside decks.

The weather is quite variable, so it's best to wear layers, so you can add or subtract as your comfort dictates.

 

[Gilland18]

I found the dining rooms fairly warm, altho' my hormones are keeping me warmer that usual. I was sorry the one nite I wore a sweater to dinner.

 

[mmouse37]

For sure it will different packing than for our caribbean cruises.

I know for sure I will pack waterproof boots (ankle height), one puffy vest, 1 pair of jeans, 1 or 2 turtlenecks, thin fleece, raincoat. AFter that I am not sure.....

We are going mid-August and I hear it will be more damp than cold.

MJ

 

[mammamouse]

Great question! I am bringing a sweatshirt/cardigan for everyone to wear. I wasn't planning on bringing such warm coats for the excursions. I was bringing a fall type coat that I was planning on layering with. I am wondering if I should change the type of coat we are bringing.

 

[ilovepumba]

We were on the June 21st sailing. I found inside the ship to be warm. I was fine in short sleeves inside. Outside on deck was breezy and cool most days. But some days it was in the 70s during the day. I found that a rain jacket layered with a fleece vest and long sleeve shirt worked great. On Tracy Arm day I did wear gloves. The weather changed constantly and I peeled off layers a lot! You are in for a trip of a lifetime! The scenery is just fabulous!!

 

[HiMagicFan]

We go in august and I was planning on wearing a t shirt and yoga pants inside the ship with slippers or my fuzzy socks and a sweater.

For dinner I was planning on capri, nice top and bringing a shawl. Formal/semi were dresses with the shawl.

For tracy arm and off ship I was gonna use long underwear under my jeans and a short sleeve long underwear, long sleeve t-shirt, short sleeve t-shirt and my fleece jacket. Was hoping I could get away with this and not have to lug those bulky sweatshirts! Then I can peel if I get too hot.

I will have my gloves and found my hat and scarf (thanks to another poster I nearly forgot to pull this out). For the raingear I am using the Disney World rain jacket.

So I am thinking I should be okay. Do ya think I am on target or should I change it up?

 

[ldeglian]

We are cruising on the 2nd. I've planned pretty much the same as most here. Trying to avoid anything too bulky. Jeans/leggings and layers on top for most days. I have a rain jacket that has a liner. Figured that along with fleece or light sweaters underneath will make it easy to adjust to the temp. For dinners, I'm thinking black or grey slacks (with shirts and sweaters!) and a couple of dresses to mix in. I'm frankly having more issues with shoes! The thought of packing boots is not appealing because I'm not sure I will ever wear them. More likely to wear athletic shoes. Then I need shoes for dresses and slacks for dinners and brunch, etc. For all the shoes I have, it should be easier to find some that would multi-task!

I guess I have until Sunday to decide! I might be the one walking around in New Balance at dinner!

 

[Disney Dreams]

We went to Alaska on the Wonder from May 17 - 24th. (A-MAZING week, btw)

Inside, on the ship, I wore capris, tshirts, 3/4 sleeved shirts, and button-down shirts with a tank top underneath. Think of it as being inside a hotel. The first day I had a sweatshirt, carried it around for an hour and ended up running up to the stateroom to get rid of it.

Out on deck, while at sea it a chillier. This is where it got a little tricky. If you are just walking from A to B and passing outside, we did not need a jacket. It wasn't long enough to put it on and take it off.

However, when we were outside trying to spot whales (which I never saw! ), I was happy to have had my jacket with me still from our recent excursion. (We had not made it back to our stateroom yet.) It got a bit chilly out there after a little while.

NOW... Tracy Arm day... The ship is moving and we were at the very front of the ship. It was C-C-C-O-L-D. As in: jeans, 3/4 sleeved shirt, warm fuzzy wintery wait-length coat. However, we were out there for 6 hours. They had hot chocolate, thankfully, but it was cold. Again, front of the ship and moving.

As for excursions and ports: We did steam train, a boat excursion, and a dog-training camp. Inside the steam train, no jacket was needed: jeans and 3/4 sleeved shirt. Top deck of catamaran on boat excursion: a little chilly, jeans and a jacket. Dog training camp: jeans, 3/4 sleeved shirt, jacket, gloves, hiking boots with thick socks, and a winter cap. When that sled got moving, it was chilly.

We had amazing weather with no rain.

Hope this helps,
Dreams

 

[Buzzster]

and found it surprisingly warm. My fleece over a t-shirt was fine. With the exception of a glacier excursion, I could have made it sans heavy coat. Lavers are key.

 

[Tinksfriend2006]

Just got off the Alaskan cruise on Tuesday. The inside of the ship is warmer than on the other cruises. I normally need a sweater at dinner but not in Alaska. They have the heaters on. One exception was Wave Bands at night. It was quite cold in there.

Our weather was perfect. No rain on excursion days. We were prepared but wore only half of the outer wear we took. My suggestion would also be to pack layers and have enough just in case it is cold. It was in the 70's for us, but the week before us it was cold.

Have fun! It is an awesome trip!

 

[HiMagicFan]

Want to shout out to all you who have recently been on and have given some great information!

I so appreciate it and will be adjusting accordingly. So capri for dinner it is!
I am going to go as little as possible and do laundry.

thank you

 

[mm126]

I too was on the July 12 cruise and I have to say layers are key. Most days I wore jeans, short sleeve shirt and a light polar fleece. The only day I have to say I was cold and glad to have knit gloves was the Tracey Arms Fjord day - it was misty and cold. I would also suggest a good rain jacket that blocks the wind. Inside the ship was comfortable and I wore summer dresses and capri's for dinner with cartigans.

We certainly lucked out on weather...my 14 year old son wore shorts most days!

Enjoy

 

[kgsmith]

Want to shout out to all you who have recently been on and have given some great information!

Yes, I agree! Your information is very helpful to those of us who still need to pack.

 

[Elfinjojo]

Thanks so much to the OP for starting this thread and to the folks that have replied. We seail in two weeks and I was going to post the same question.

Great advice peeps

 

[texasteacher]

We just returned from the July 18-25 trip to Alaska. The inside of the ship was quite warm--we never needed a second layer indoors. Tracy Arm day was the only day we needed a jacket or sweatshirt. We had sunshine for all our excursion days and didn't even carry a jacket--wore short sleeves, wished we had worn shorts. Slight amount of drizzle in Ketchikan, but found our rain jackets to be warm, so we just let the mist fall on us--it was actually wonderful since we haven't seen rain at home all summer!

 

[mmouse37]

bumping up for some more weather updates!!

MJ

 

[disneyochem]

We were on the June 14th cruise. I am a person who is always cold! I found the inside of the ship warm. I wore a light jacket inside and never needed anything heavier than that (even at night and in the theatres). Wore my sandals indoors. Had to dress a little warmer for on deck--polar fleece on the Tracy Arm day. There were also blankets available on deck. We even slept with the veranda opened a bit for some cool air (I know, I know--you're not suppose to!).

Wore layers on excursions--not too cold just a little drizzly. Didn't pack a heavy jacket and I'm glad I didn't! Didn't need the gloves or hats that I packed either!

That being said, I am glad that I had my heavy clothes 'just in case!' I would rather be warm than not.

 

[Bullseyebaby]

I was on the July 12th sailing..... I am also the one in our group who is always pretty cold (it gets over 100 here in the summer, so 70-75 is still kind of cold to me). I brought a big heavy jacket,a pullover sweatshirt and a few sweaters. In my opinion.... the heavy jacket was great for excursions but too hot over my sweater. The sweatshirt was not enough, and over the sweater....it became bulky and confining (didn't like it). So, I did have trouble with getting comfortable. I did bring a lightweight pair of long underwear which was perfect under my jeans (so thin you couldn't feel them).

So.... if I had to do it again, I would definitely bring (in addition to what I brought):
fleece zip up jacket
long sleeve shirts (I packed all short sleeve and a sweatshirt wasn't exactly what I wanted to wear to dinner but it wasn't too cold in the dining room so I could manage)
long pair of socks.

There is an art to layering..... and I learned my lesson the hard way!

 

[beaucat]

Thank you so much for all the replies!