Preparing, Shopping and Packing for Alaska

[Grumpymom73]

Just booked a cruise to Alaska for next June. I know it's early but I'm an obsessive planner.
So here are a few questions for all you lucky folks who sailed the Wonder this past season to Alaska....

What did you forget to bring that you wished you had?

What are you so glad you had with you?

How important was waterproof stuff? (Jacket, pants, hiking boots)

These questions apply to everything: clothes, cameras, things for the cabin, etc.

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[Mineu]

Binoculars came in very handy-especially to look for wildlife on our Tracy Arm day. Our weather was perfect (June 14th cruise) so, we really did not need all of the heavy rain gear-a small umbrella and hooded rain jacket is all we'll pack this year (June 11th)! I found the dining room less dressy-fewer people in bathing suits & shorts during the day-so, jeans/pants seemed to be more apparent. We did purchase the insulated Alaska mugs for our tea and hot chocolate while on deck. Some of the excursions were long-we'll pack more snacks this time

 

[Grumpymom73]

Hi Mineu!
We are also sailing on June 11! Hope our weather is as good as yours was last year.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mineu]

I'll have to sign up on our meet thread! We returned via Seattle last year-great city-very easy to navigate. Since this is a repeat trip-we'll probably just stay near the airport on the way in and fly out on the 18th. Flights for us are still pretty high-so, we'll probably play the waiting game a little longer...

 

[msnoble]

I was on the mid-August Alaska cruise this summer. As far as waterproof stuff, we were extremely glad we had ours. I watched the forecast pretty obsessively a couple weeks before we left, and when the extended forecast for the Ports showed rainy and mid 50s, I decided to invest in waterproof rain pants from REI to go along with our lightweight waterproof jackets. We used them in both Juneau and Ketchikan--could have used them in Skagway but it was less rainy that day. I was lucky--we have an REI store in our town, and they had rain gear in the sizes we needed, in stock and ready to go (I literally bought them the day before we left!). So...YMMV, but we were very glad to have them, as well as the water-resistant hiking boots we took (we did outdoor excursions in the ports: white pass & suspension bridge; glacier & whale watching; zip lining). For the weather our week the daytime dress code was jeans and long sleeve shirts/fleece if we were out on deck, jeans and short sleeves if we were staying indoors. I packed enough long sleeve shirts for everyone but myself, so I had to buy a long sleeve DCL Alaska tshirt while onboard

The rule for Alaska weather seems to be unpredictability, so my best advice would be to plan to pack layers and to also watch the extended weather forecast and change your packing plans if need be at the last minute. And even if it doesn't rain, unless you live somewhere that is always dry, the rain gear will come in handy in the future

I agree that binoculars were very useful on Tracy Arm day, but we didn't use them other than that.

The one thing I didn't have but wished I did was a waterproof bag/cover for my dSLR camera. Our whale watching excursion was rainy, and I spent a lot of time stressing that the rain was going to ruin my camera (it didn't, but I was obsessive about drying it off).

HTH!

Maureen

 

[flexsmom]

We used our binoculars nearly every day from our veranda in addition to on Tracey Arm day. They were great for whale watching on the sea days, and we saw quite a few.

We also used our waterproof gear. Had we not had the pants as well as the jackets, we would have had a miserable day in Juneau. Our excursion (helicopter to the glacier) was cancelled, so we hopped a cab to the Mendelhall Visitor's Center and then hiked out to the falls. It was raining the whole time, but all four us dealt with it in our gear and had one of our best days. It was about 52 degrees, so had we gotten wet, it would have been horrible. We also used the jackets on about 3 other days just because it was damp, even if it wasn't flat out raining.

Best piece of clothing other than that - jeans. We wore jeans just about every day.

 

[finkerbell]

I was so happy I packed my rain boots. Although the rain was minimal they still helped to keep my feet dry - and when it's cold,there's nothing like dry feet. When I was on the boat I wore my UGGS almost 90% of the time (whenever I wasn't in a dress) an they were fantastic - kept the feet toasty warm. I'm also really glad I brought my warm hat for Tracy Arm Ford day and for port days...it was cold!!! Layering is the best thing to do...just make sure you have those items that will keep you very warm like gloves, hats, boots and you'll be fine The only think I wish I had brought (that I didn't due to suitcase space) was my pirate costume.