Packing For Alaska

[alaud]

Same old question. We know what to pack for the port days and the cruise daytimes- layers, etc. But-what are people wearing in the evenings on board? We are trying not to pack too much for the plane.Is formal night as formal as a Caribbean cruise? Are jackets , for men, needed more than one or two nights. What are the ladies wearing? What do others think.
Also, on sea days, is the pool used ( open or closed)?

Ryndam July 22 Vancouver to Seward, then cruisetour.

[barbiedoll54]

I had asked my tour agent about this. We are booked on the 7-13 Voldendam cruise. Other than formal nights (two) you can be very casual for dinner. They will even allow jeans. No shorts, tank tops, swimsuits though. Tour operator said it is a very casual type of cruise. We have done formal nights on the ships before and with all the layers and the fact that we are doing a land tour(14 days total) we have opted to not pack formal clothes and will either eat at the Lido or order roomseverice for the formal nights. This vacation is for us, not the cruse line and my thinking is that we wish to be comfortable. Personally we will probabaly not wear jeans to dinner on the casual night unless our land excursion gets back too late for our dinner seating. I am going to be wearing slacks, top and jacket and DH will don Casual slacks and shirt and maybe a sweater in case we need it. I was checking the temps and they are ranging from 46 to 54 degrees F in the ports.
When are you leaving and onboard what ship?
Barb

[RuthC]

Formal is formal---destination has nothing to do with it.

For men the minimal acceptable level of dress is sport coat w/tie and dress shirt. A suit (although not formal) meets the requirement and, of course, a tux or dinner jacket is formal. If a man doesn't want to carry something for formal night he can rent a tux through cruiselineformals.
The other nights are "smart casual". HAL lists out several, but not all, things which do not meet that level.

For women formal evening clothes need not take up any more luggage space/weight than smart casual does. A long black skirt in a soft fabric, or black fly-away pants and a couple of beaded tops do the trick.

[alaud]

Leaving on 7/22 on the Ryndam Vancouver to Seward- then on to Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks.

[aliaschief]

Barbie Doll,

Not sure who your TA has been sailing with but on our recent Alaska Volendam cruise we did not see jeans in the dining room on casual nights. Men had nice slacks, collared shirts or sweater combos and ladies had nice dresses, slacks, pant suits in combo with nice blouses/sweaters. Quite a few men still wore sport jackets with/without tie.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have also done several Alaskan cruises -- no jeans in the dining room for dinner.

Nice slacks for both men and women on smart casual nights. Skirts are great.

Have seen a lot of tuxedos on Alaskan cruises on both formal nights.

[hikergirl]

We sailed on the Ryndam doing almost the same itinerary as you. In the dining room, other than formal night, there was a wide range of outfits, including jeans. I bought "smart casual" clothes and wore them only once. We actually liked eating at the Lido better than the dining room as it took forever getting food in the dining room and I never got iced tea when ordered. Our Lobster came out raw and the waiter was not pleasant. At the Lido you could pick and choose your entree, vegetables, etc. and you can eat when you want. The staff came by often to fill out coffee and tea cups. We didn't want to wait until 8:15 everynight for dinner so the Lido worked best for us.

[Roz]

I wear the same formal gowns in Alaska that I wear in the Caribbean. Not sure why some think Alaska is more casual. Cruising is cruising. Maybe because there were more older folks on both of the Alaskan cruises, a lot of the gentlemen wore tuxes. If men knew how good they look in tuxes and how it makes us ladies feel when we look at them ;) , more men would wear tuxes more often.

Roz

[bepsf]

Formal is formal---destination has nothing to do with it.

You mean the dress code doesn't have an "Except Alaska" clause?!?!
:eek: ;)