Alaska Coat

[Rambler5678]

We will be traveling to Alaska in Mid - July to take a Disney cruise. What kind of warm water proof coat would you recommend and were would you purchase it? Since we live in the south and our winters are milder we don't want to invest a lot of money on a coat we would wear a few times.

Thanks,

 

[jdb in AZ]

We will be traveling to Alaska in Mid - July to take a Disney cruise. What kind of warm water proof coat would you recommend and were would you purchase it? Since we live in the south and our winters are milder we don't want to invest a lot of money on a coat we would wear a few times.

Thanks,

We don't wear heavy coats around here either. When we cruise Alaska we wear layers. I've never needed more than a leather jacket over a pull-over sweater, which is quite a bit, actually. A knit cap also helps. If your head is warm, the rest of your body will feel a lot more comfortable.

 

[rwjx2kahaj]

I recommend the LL Bean PrimaLoft Packaway line. I bought the hooded jacket for the July I spent in Alaska. It was warm, wind and water resistant, and perfect for layering. It packs into its own pocket so I could carry it everywhere.

 

[dclpluto]

Remember you are going to southern Alaska in the summer. I was on disneys first Alaska cruise may 3 2011 I believe it was and didn't need a coat.

 

[steves100]

We went July 14th week....

Only need a light fleece when we went dog sledding, brink so sort of rain gear though....

Coldest part of trip was at Mendenhall Glacier, very windy at front of shop

 

[DisSarahK]

I wore a North Face fleece that zipped into a North Face rain jacket. The layers were great for the trip. Some days I wore one of the layers and some days I wore the other the layer. On Tracy Arm day I wore both days and on our private whale watching trip I wore both layers with a warm sweatshirt underneath.

 

[bumbershoot]

A "3 in 1" coat is my advice. Knit cap and good gloves, too. And a scarf. And some warm socks.

And a backpack to put the layers in IF it's warmer than expected.

 

[Shelley Chiarats]

If you are willing to take your chances until your first port stop then there are many good choices at good prices there.
Many of the shopping locations had nice water resistant jackets like you would need there on sale. Something that I would pay $60-80 back home was on sale for $20-30 including big person sizes.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

The only day that was cold was Tracy Arm day, and that was due to the wind. Layers, scarf, gloves and hats were all needed. We had a rainy day in Juneau, but it wasn't cold. This was in June. We didn't bring heavy coats, but lots of layers.

 

[MunFam]

I wore a North Face fleece that zipped into a North Face rain jacket. The layers were great for the trip. Some days I wore one of the layers and some days I wore the other the layer. On Tracy Arm day I wore both days and on our private whale watching trip I wore both layers with a warm sweatshirt underneath.

A "3 in 1" coat is my advice. Knit cap and good gloves, too. And a scarf. And some warm socks.

And a backpack to put the layers in IF it's warmer than expected.

We have North Face All in Ones...which are 3 in 1 jackets. There is a rain layer and you can choose between a puffer or a fleece. We chose the puffer because puffers are more expensive than fleece and the coats were the same price. They zip apart and can be worn separately, or together. I have worn it in -20 in Chicago and all winter long in San Diego. I bought it end of season for about 60% off...

 

[psac]

We have North Face All in Ones...which are 3 in 1 jackets. There is a rain layer and you can choose between a puffer or a fleece. We chose the puffer because puffers are more expensive than fleece and the coats were the same price. They zip apart and can be worn separately, or together. I have worn it in -20 in Chicago and all winter long in San Diego. I bought it end of season for about 60% off...

Thanks for this thread and the advice. We're going at the end of May/beginning of June next year. We just ordered two of those 3-in-1s for our trip!

 

[bumbershoot]

And it's so much easier now to get coats out of season. We finally started looking for ours back in spring/summer of '03, before our wedding-then-honeymoon in August, and we had to search and search. It's easier to find stuff like that nowadays!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Well, most people don't wear heavy coats in Southern California, either. But I do (those football games at night can get really cold). So this is what I got for our Alaskan cruises:


And, yes, I wore it most every day we were off the ship. As well as Glacier Bay day and Tracy Arm day.

 

[kid-at-heart]

I recommend the LL Bean PrimaLoft Packaway line. I bought the hooded jacket for the July I spent in Alaska. It was warm, wind and water resistant, and perfect for layering. It packs into its own pocket so I could carry it everywhere.

I agree. We layered this coat with a fleece and were super comfortable.

Kate

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, most people don't wear heavy coats in Southern California, either.

I don't know about that... My sis in law would wear something like that on a Winter night at Disneyland. And she is from Chicago! She's just been in San Diego too long.

And going to DLR in the winter, I see people bundled up like that quite often.


Our Alaska cruise was the last of the season that year, and although there were some warmer days, we definitely needed even MORE warmth on the glacier day (though on Royal you can go out on the helicopter pad on the bow, unlike on Disney ships), and we wore the coats on Skagway day and for part of Juneau day. The weather was very variable. That's why the layers were so good!

 

[cruisehopeful]

Well, most people don't wear heavy coats in Southern California, either. But I do (those football games at night can get really cold). So this is what I got for our Alaskan cruises:
.

Where did you get that?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Where did you get that?

I bought it from Land's End (online). They don't still have this same one, but there are others. The first one I got was too small, and I returned it at Sears (they work with Land's End), and ordered another a size larger. I wanted one that was long and would keep me warm.

 

[MunFam]

I don't know about that... My sis in law would wear something like that on a Winter night at Disneyland. And she is from Chicago! She's just been in San Diego too long.

And going to DLR in the winter, I see people bundled up like that quite often.

Its funny you mention San Diego....that is where I live and I wear heavy winter coats from November til March here. The same ones I wear skiing in Jackson Hole or in Chicago for work in January. Maybe San Diego is just really cold. Heehee.

 

[Sir William]

On my 3 trips to Alaska (only once on a cruise), I usually wore a long-sleeved twill shirt with a polar fleece vest most days. Upgraded to a lightweight polar fleece jacket or sweater sometimes. When it rained I wore a Gore-tex jacket from LL Bean. Layered as necessary for glacier visits, etc.

 

[jetskigrl]

I followed the advice of everyone on the DIS and used layers (and it worked perfectly). I had t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, Polartec fleece jacket and then a packable rain shell. The fleece jacket worked fine to keep me warm and still be able to take it off when it wasn't needed. The packable rain shell stayed in the backpack (in its own little carry case) until it was needed. It was great to be able to have the waterproof cover that was still light enough to carry in the backpack. The only day we wore all the layers was Tracy Arm day (along with hats/gloves). The other days were easy to manage with a couple of layers.