Rain gear for Alask cruise

[Shellyred8]

We are cruising on the Wonder for the Sept 4th Alaska cruise. I keep hearing recommendations to bring rain gear. What type of rain gear did you bring and use? What did you wish you brought, but didn't? I'm not sure if just a rain coat will be sufficient or if I will need more substantial gear. TIA!!!

 

[jdb in AZ]

We are cruising on the Wonder for the Sept 4th Alaska cruise. I keep hearing recommendations to bring rain gear. What type of rain gear did you bring and use? What did you wish you brought, but didn't? I'm not sure if just a rain coat will be sufficient or if I will need more substantial gear. TIA!!!

Waterproof jackets and an umbrella should be fine, unless you're on a shore excursion where you need both hands free. Then you might want to take some kind of a hat. Or a jacket with a hood.

 

[jetskigrl]

We use a combination of short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts. fleece jackets and pack-able rain shells. We use the other clothes for warmth, layering as needed. The pack-able rain shells just stay in our backpack unless we need them (on excursions).

I also appreciated having waterproof shoes. We walked all day in the rain in Juneau last time and our feet stayed dry

 

[erionm]

I've been fortunate as I've been on 2 alaska cruises and didn't need (nor take) any rain gear.

 

[havaneselover]

I am not going until next summer but dd and I got north face triclimate jackets. We live in va so will get a lot of use out of them. The shell is waterproof. I also am taking waterproof hiking boots and dd will be packing bean boots.

 

[carrielouhoo]

I am not going until next summer but dd and I got north face triclimate jackets. We live in va so will get a lot of use out of them. The shell is waterproof. I also am taking waterproof hiking boots and dd will be packing bean boots.

We are in Virginia too and hoping to do Alaska in 2019. Have you decided what airport you're using? Do you plan to fly directly into Vancouver?

 

[mathgeek]

Waterproof shoes, and I used the Disney Parks poncho they were handing out as we left for the excursion. I have a great pic of me in my poncho in front of Mendenhall Glacier.

 

[havaneselover]

We are in Virginia too and hoping to do Alaska in 2019. Have you decided what airport you're using? Do you plan to fly directly into Vancouver?

We're in Richmond and Richmond to Vancouver tickets seem to be reasonable so that's my current plan. We'd go up to D.C. Or bwi if necessary. Hoping to have enough chase ultimate reward points to cover three plane tickets. Staying in Vancouver on Marriott points It seemed to cost just as much to fly to Seattle.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

My husband is from Anchorage, Alaska so we head to Anchorage to visit family every summer. I've climbed glaciers in sneakers and shorts and a sweatshirt in the pouring rain (pop up rain - I certainly didn't dress that way knowing that it would rain)... it's never really "that cold" in Alaska during the summer so even when you're wet from rain you're not freezing.

When doing things outdoors in Alaska it's best to always have your hands free (just in case ) so I'd recommend rain coats with hoods and good climbing/walking shoes or sneakers with good tread. If all else fails put baggies inside of your shoes to keep your feet and from getting wet. (That's an old trick from growing up in Pennsylvania and playing outside is snowsuits and boots!) Above all, enjoy! Alaska is beautiful and majestic!

 

[Kontos]

Does DCL still give out the ponchos when it's raining?

 

[Luckymommatoo]

We just got off the Wonder yesterday (sob!). All four of us brought waterproof shoes or boots, waterproof rain shell with hood, and waterproof pants (inexpensive ones that you pull over jeans). We ended up using all of them more than once. It was raining pretty hard in Juneau. And steady rain in Skagway. Since we had outdoor excursions in both of those cities, we wore all our gear and stayed dry and comfortable. (I have two kids and I really didn't want to hear whining about being cold/wet!). Of course, YMMV. I think the cruise the week before us had beautiful weather.

Does DCL still give out the ponchos when it's raining?

I did not see anyone wearing or giving out Disney ponchos, so I'm guessing that's a thing of the past.

 

[GPaLarry]

We live in Portland, Oregon and went on a DCL Alaska cruise a month ago. I took a Columbia (local) heavy duty coat with removable hooded shell...I wore it once. Having something for rain with a hood is a must. How heavy the coat is underneath is up to you. The temps for our excursions at all ports were 60ish. Juneau got up to 70 with sun. I also wore Nike (local) sneakers for our excursions which I knew would not need boots...they worked well in the light rain we had. No matter what coat combo you take be sure to include binoculars and attend or view on stateroom TV the naturalist presentations. Awesome cruise with the mouse!!

 

[AussieNSW]

Disney rain ponchos were available in the main atrium on a small table. I think it was level three. They were kind of hidden and not in the main walk ways. My children spotted them when we were going to our excision in ketichan. It rained all day. I was very grateful that I had read up and purchased some wet weather boots sorel online in Australia and a Columbia jacket with an inner heat shell and the outsell being water proof. I absolutely hate the cold.

 

[marerockcity]

We brought ponchos to put over our heavier coats but didn't even use them when it rained - it was a light mist. Depending on the order you visit the ports, you will have a lot of opportunities to buy warmer gear & rain gear if it is absolutely necessary. Ketchikan and Juneau especially have a lot of shops with affordable jackets.

 

[ludari]

I brought some low top hiking shoes that had Gor-tex on my Alaskan Cruise and a rain jacket with hoodie. Luckily I needed both since I did several active excursions. The one thing I wish had brought was rain pants but that's only because on one of my excursions I went mountain biking and my pants I wore where just covered in rain and mud afterwards.

 

[carrielouhoo]

We're in Richmond and Richmond to Vancouver tickets seem to be reasonable so that's my current plan. We'd go up to D.C. Or bwi if necessary. Hoping to have enough chase ultimate reward points to cover three plane tickets. Staying in Vancouver on Marriott points It seemed to cost just as much to fly to Seattle.

We are just west of Charlottesville and consider the Richmond airport to be our "home" airport as well. That's great to hear that there seem to be reasonable ticket prices from there to Vancouver!

 

[RebelHawk]

We packed up our "Disney Ponchos" AKA Helly Hanson jackets we bought in Epcot Norway pavilion and took those. We ended up with only two days that we worn them. One was at the Tracey Arms Fjord and it was more an extra layer of warmth than to keep us dry. The other day was a bike tour we did that went rain or shine and of course we went in the rain. By the time we were finished we were soaked through and through so it made no difference for us.

 

[DisneyConvert]

We're in Richmond and Richmond to Vancouver tickets seem to be reasonable so that's my current plan. We'd go up to D.C. Or bwi if necessary. Hoping to have enough chase ultimate reward points to cover three plane tickets. Staying in Vancouver on Marriott points It seemed to cost just as much to fly to Seattle.

That's interesting, because the Vancouver airport YVR, is actually in the town of Richmond. We are staying before/after w. Marriott points as well!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

it's never really "that cold" in Alaska during the summer so even when you're wet from rain you're not freezing.

That's a matter of opinion. I don't do cold well, and anything under 74 is cold to me. And, if I'm wet, I'm going to be colder than whatever the actual temperature is.

Anyway, to answer the question: We take rain pants (I find they are a great 2d layer on my legs), rain jacket (with hood) and waterproof shoes. That's usually sufficient over layers when it's rainy.

I wouldn't bring an umbrella. Couple of reasons - in a crowd it can be a weapon (those metal points on the end of the ribs can poke an eye), and you'll really want to have two hands free when out and about.

 

[over50visits]

My husband is from Anchorage, Alaska so we head to Anchorage to visit family every summer. I've climbed glaciers in sneakers and shorts and a sweatshirt in the pouring rain (pop up rain - I certainly didn't dress that way knowing that it would rain)... it's never really "that cold" in Alaska during the summer so even when you're wet from rain you're not freezing.

When doing things outdoors in Alaska it's best to always have your hands free (just in case ) so I'd recommend rain coats with hoods and good climbing/walking shoes or sneakers with good tread. If all else fails put baggies inside of your shoes to keep your feet and from getting wet. (That's an old trick from growing up in Pennsylvania and playing outside is snowsuits and boots!) Above all, enjoy! Alaska is beautiful and majestic!

Spot on. Folks who aren't familiar with low humidity cold think they'll be cold if it get in the 50s or 60s. There is a world of difference between humid cold and dry cold. Alaska is very comfortable during the summer months, as your experience demonstrates. I agree with the rain coat/hood recommendation for rainy days.