Alaska 5/2020

[Aquamom]

What's the best clothing to bring? anyone done Disney excursions on this trip? Any advice would be great!
Never been to Alaska

 

[disneyfaninaz]

The secret to dressing for an Alaskan cruise is layering! It may be warm, it may be raining, it may be cold. Just bring clothes to layer and you'll be fine. When we cruised in Alaska in May, it was cool most days, but we were fine with Jeans, light shirt, fleece and rain jacket.

 

[brianvdb]

What's the best clothing to bring? anyone done Disney excursions on this trip? Any advice would be great!
Never been to Alaska

I agree... layer. Some days are mild, others are very cold. Bring one heavy coat, although you may or may not need it.

 

[dclpluto]

I was on Disney’s very first Alaska cruise. May 3 2011. Weather wasn’t that bad. Disney doesn’t go to Alaska in early May anymore. So you are going later which means it should be warmer when I went. Remember you are going to southern Alaska in late spring. We bought way too many clothes. You will need to bring some layers thou. Just remember once again you are going to southern. Alaska

you don’t want to miss the train ride forget what port it is in. Been way too long since we have been to Alaska going back next year in late August. Got to remind my wife we are going to southern Alaska in the summer time no need for so many warm outfits.
Enjoy

 

[88golf88]

What's the best clothing to bring? anyone done Disney excursions on this trip? Any advice would be great!
Never been to Alaska

We are going on the 5/25 sailing and have been asking all of the same questions!! Seems like we need to be content wearing different things while on the ship, but if its cold/rainy/etc, we will be taking pictures in the same clothes/jackets at every port!!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What's the best clothing to bring? anyone done Disney excursions on this trip? Any advice would be great!
Never been to Alaska

The weather in Alaska is extremely variable. It can range from mid 50s to low 80s. Within minutes.

As noted, layering is the way to go, at any time of the year.

 

[EmilyS92003]

We were in Alaska on the June 24 cruise this summer and it was HOT. Like upper 80s and low 90s.
Bring a mix of clothing types if possible

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Assume it is going to rain. It rained 5 of 7 days for us in August and that seemed to be the norm based on online histories. Have waterproof shoes, and a raincoat. DW found a cheap long raincoat (duster length) that had a hood. Fit easily into the daypack and were used quite often.

 

[mmmears]

Layers, layers, layers. That way you will be prepared for anything. We went in early June and it was cold most days. Make sure to bring a waterproof shell to keep you dry.

 

[auntlynne]

Ditto the layers, that basic rule of outdoorsmen.

We had a late May sailing and it was cold! Principally on the fjord day. Definitely needed the hat and gloves.

As you see, cold and warmth is subjective. The two most bundled are the ones who get hot the easiest. Go figure. DCL did provide the blue blankets.

DCL excursions we did:
Skagway - Some of us Railroad & then helicopter to glacier. Others did bike and raft.
Ketchikan - kayaking or non-DCL floatplane to glacial lake
Juneau - all did Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. (On a subsequent Princess Cruise, we did the whale watch + Mendenhall photo safari and enjoyed it more)

We enjoy cruising to Alaska so much, some combination of us have done it five times. My niece chose DCL Alaska for her honeymoon.

 

[watergal]

You can expect a little bit of everything in Alaska. The summer of 2019 was unusually warm and we spent as much time as possible in shorts. Normally the weather is wet and slightly chilly. Be sure you have a good rain jacket and a variety of layers. Don't bother with an umbrella, Bring a jacket with a hood.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We just went on this cruise in May. This is what I packed for my 2 boys (DH under packed and wound up buying more layers in port). We did this trip with 3 carryon suitcases and one checked bag (mostly for souvenirs I wanted to get, like the Ulu knife)

One pair of long underwear each
Wool socks
Underwear/PJs
One packable rainjacket
One packable down jacket (Uniqlo makes one for adults, but I got the kids theirs from North Face/H&M)
One fleece hoodie
A pair of water-repellant zip-off pants/shorts
One pair of jeans
One pair of sweatpants/joggers (for sea days)
One pair of waterproof hiking boots each
One pair of sneakers each
One pair of hiking sandals each (Keens)
One beanie hat
One pair of fleece convertible gloves/mittens each
One swimsuit
A button up shirt
T shirts

For myself I packed similarly except I included two dresses and a pair of nicer shoes, and leggings instead of the zip-off pants. I did laundry onboard twice because we spent two days in Vancouver before the cruise.

We wore all the layers on deck on glacier day, on the glacier helicopter tour in Skagway, and on the whale watching tour in Juneau (the coldest we were the whole trip was on the water that day!) Vancouver and Ketchikan were warm. With the exception of the small-boat glacier excursion that you can only book through Disney, all of our excursions were booked independently. We rented a Green Jeep and flew with Temsco to the glacier in Skagway, went whale watching with Captain Alan on the Scania in Juneau, and went flight seeing to the Misty Fjords in Skagway.

Hope that helps and hope you have an amazing trip!

 

[Aquamom]

Thank you ALL soooo much!!!! This was all great information!