Help With Packing!!!

i am prepaing to pack for cruise. was planning on taking my summer clothes ....white pants ,capri pants ,light tops ,slide type open shoes. linen slacks and shirts for evening and of course,sneakers. for my husband ,short sleeve polos ,tee shirts, shorts, kackis, boat shoes , sneakers,etc .for evening , slacks ,short sleeve shirts .then we would add waterproof parka type jacket ala lands end, one fleece top each and one pair of fleece pants each. two sweatshirts. gloves and a scarf for each. baseball caps for hats. maybe jeans and then our evening outfits. will all my summer clothing be out of place? i am talking open shoes etc. in the past for formal nights my husband has taken either a tux or a suit. do many men take a tux on alaska cruise? alot of people have posted that it is more casual...i don't want him to feel out of place. when i look at my stack of summer clothing...the stuff i am wearing right now in new york...i am beginning to worry that i am taking all the wrong things. hope i don't end up not wearing my clothes on board and just wearing the same fleece top and pants each day because they will be the only warm things we have. PLEASE HELP.

I am from western mass and so I am accustomed to the same weather as you. We just got off the ship on weds and I can tell you that I wore capris every single day. I only needed warm pants during the times I was viewing glaciers while on deck. One pair of heavy pants will do. It sounds like you are way overpacking. I did not wear half of what I brought. I would suggest a winter knit hat. We needed it while out on deck when viewing glaciers and passing thru certain areas.

I have a very long wite up in the Radisson Seven Seas Cruises board that might help with your packing. Coming from the northeast, when it hits 70 out, we are in shorts and Ts, as I expect you are as well. The weather in each of our ports was between 78-85 every day and when you add the sun to that, felt even warmer.

As for tuxes, our ship did not have a formal night and I do not believe I ever saw anyone in a tux. For that matter, I believe only about half the men wore jackets to diner, most wore khakis and a golf shirt or dress shirt no ties, but again, I was on Radisson, which states country club casual all the time. Personally, I would nopt bring a tux on any ship to alaska.

On formal nights do most of the ladies wear summer sleeveless with shawl or jackets or are they wearing winter style long sleeve/velvet type gowns? We'll be sailing on Celebrity Mercury towards end of July. Thanks! Karen

The weather in each of our ports was between 78-85 every day and when you add the sun to that, felt even warmer.

I'm glad you had such beautiful weather :) You sure can't count on it up here though. Right now it's in the mid 50's, It's only 9:30 in the morning, so it will probably warm up some. But we have cooler temps and overcast skies with some rain in the forecast for this next week. You really do need to be prepared for some big temp variances (50 and overcast/rainy to 85 and sunny).

Enjoy your cruise! :D

yes, I realize we had exceptionally good weather, but even 10 degrees cooler and where I come from, it is still shorts weather. The rain and wind is the only factor that would have changed my clothing choices. My sister lives in FL and to her, she would have been wearing pants on a 70 degree day. So it really depends what you are accustomed to.

Eeniemeenie, I share your problem..... I fly out on Thursday and the spare room bed is covered with clothing because I don't know what to pack!:eek: :D I have an abundance of cute summer clothing and I just returned from Bermuda last week so the summer things are handy, but I am just not sure what to expect from the weather gods in Alaska. I believe I am going to be a bit more conservative in packing for this trip. I've nearly decided to go with a basic rule of 3..... long pants, capris, and shorts.. 3 pair of each.... in black, khaki, and jean material (with a pair of black tuxedo type pants for evening wear when I am not wearing a dress). Three t-shirts, 3 light sweaters, 3 sweatshirts, 3 short dresses and 3 formals (one as back-up... memories of having the red wine sorbet platter slip out the waiter's hands into my lap on a previous cruise stay with me and I always take one more than I need as a result!:eek: :D ) Three items for glacier viewing.... water repellant jacket, gloves, and hat. NOW, if I could only get it down to three pair of shoes! LOL! I think it may be more like 3 pairs of dress, 3 pairs of sandals, 3 pair of kickabout/walking shoes...... IT MAY END UP BEING 3 SUITCASES BEFORE I AM FINISHED! LOL! Good luck with your packing and enjoy your cruise!:) What ship will you be sailing?

I am going to tell you exactly how to pack. I am very cold natured and I overpacked terribly with summer clothes. I needed all winter type clothes and rain gear. I am so embarrassed that I pack Lily Pulitzer outfits! Too funny! Leave the Fresh Produce stuff at home also! I just got home from the cruise this weekend. Here is what I wore and what you should consider:

Best Investment I made before the trip: Pink North Face Rain Jacket with a hood. I wore this jacket the entire week, on and off the ship. Second best investment: Tiny, lightweight travel umbrellas at Target that snap on to a backpack or purse. Hands Free!

You will want to wear blue jeans when touring unless it is really warm. It is wet and dirty on some excursions.

You will need warm day layers and cool day layers.

Touring on Warmer Day Layers= polo type t-shirt/short sleeve, light sweatshirt or cardigan with rain jacket

Touring on Cool Day Layers = Long sleeve shirt or turtle neck with sweatshirt or cardigan and rain jacket

For deck viewing of scenery you will need fleece type jackets, turtle neck, and hat/gloves. It is cold and breezy.

The air conditioning on the ship was freezing in the public rooms, but comfortable in the cabins. My flannel pajamas saved my life. So much for the cute, sexy PJ's I brought. They never got worn.

During sea days I would suggest capri pants with top or a sweatsuit/yoga type outfit. Something comfortable to lounge in.

In the evening on the ship you can wear whatever you are comfortable in, but it doesn't feel like summer in Alaska. I wore khaki capris with long sleeve Chico (the store) shirts. On port days, we ate off the ship for dinner(best fish ever) or wore our blue jeans to dinner because we were too worn out to change clothes. I would only bring three outfits for the evening because some nights you won't feel like changing clothes.

I never wore shorts or a bathing suit. I can't believe I brought three pairs of shorts! One pair of shorts is plenty. One bathing suit is more than enough. It was dang cold!

I brought nine pairs of shoes. BIG mistake. You need sneakers for touring or some type of closed toe hiking sandal. I wore designer thongs around the ship. We don't dress for formal night, so I didn't have any strappy sandals. A couple pairs of comfort sandals and sneakers would be perfect.

We did laundry half way through the cruise and that was great because I hate putting dirty clothes back in the luggage. I washed one load of jeans/darks and one load of t-shirts/whites.

Don't bring more than one or two t-shirts. You can start buying souvenir t-shirts at the first port. We brought home seven t-shirts. There are coupon books that give you t-shirts in every store/port for $1.99. We also bought a sweatshirt. My husband did not bring a sweatshirt because we knew we would buy one. He did, however, wear a lightweight fleece Nike pullover everyday when he got cool. I also bought him a North Face rain jacket and he loved it.

I never really understood when people said to dress in layers exactly what that meant. I hope this helps you a little bit. I take over eighteen leisure trips a year and I still can't get the packing right. UGH!

I am going to write a review "The Girls Guide to Alaska". Happy Cruising!

Sungirl

KCSungirl, a big thanks! I am adding the turtlenecks to my list and cutting back on the shorts! The travel umbrella is on my list to buy tomorrow! I'll let you know how I do in getting it all in the suitcase! :D :)

Some of the guys at our table wore tuxes , the rest wore suits. It was the same for the other tables. We enjoy the dessing up, we don't get to do that much at home. Yes, the gals wore shawls and jackets. Some, including myself wore sleeveless sometimes. It wasn't cold in the dining room, only if you went out on deck after dinner. We were on RCCLines.

I do agree, we bought some Columbia rainproof, breathable jackets at Dick's Sportinggoods which were great. A little more money, but worth it.

We never wore shorts, but some Alaskans did. Like the idea of using your new t-shirts and sweatshirts, and taking less.

Our group wore jeans, seems like most people did. We also wore capris some.

I agree also try and pack lighter, it's a lot of work carrying all that luggage.

we learned from our first Alaska cruise 5 years ago to take some kind of coat, gloves, hats, etc- we were also on Diamond Princess this week- got home early this morning- never even considered using the swimsuits we'd brought-my husband started one day in shorts but quickly changed to jeans- it was pretty cold- at least 4 days it never got to 60- Juneau was the nicest and it was 70- it was sunny and nice when we left Seattle last Sat, but the next day (at sea) it was misty and cold, Mon (Juneau was nice), Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday and Sat morning arrival in Seattle were all misty, foggy days, very little sun! Our brief stop Friday night in Victoria was pleasant but mostly cloudy.

We started out packing 3 suitcases for the 2 of us but it quickly grew to 4 because of the coats, raincoats, waterproof jackets, etc.I wore all my pants and had about 3 tops I never wore- my husband came home with only one clean shirt.We ate every night in a dining room and my church dress and Chico's pants/jacket were just right- we saw very few in formal wear- we were Anytime dining- maybe it was more formal in the main dining room for those who had a set seating time.

We got soaked in Ketchikan- fortunately the laundromat was just across the hall from our room- it took 2 tries to get husband's jeans dry after our little walk!

I'm also thinking every family member should have one pair of those water-resistant, nylon or whatever slip on pants for kayaking, rain days. Waterlogged jeans are no fun. Thanks for the Target umbrella tip.

Where did you buy your North Face jackets from?

Thanks for all your helpful tips.:)

thanks fior all your help...we will be on the serenade of he seas, july 24.....if i can figure out the packing. keep thinking summer clothes...since that's what we are in now..but guess i have to rethink that , and in a hurry.

I know this may sound lazy, but is there a definitive LIST somewhere? I keep writing all these notes down, and then I'll read another post that says something different...

We're from Florida, so 70 degrees actually is cold weather clothing (at least long pants) for us, but we're also limited to how much we can schlep along with us since we have lots of transfers (planes trains and automobiles) on the trip. And since we have a 6 year old, we have to carry his bags also. As we get closer, I just want someone to tell me 3 t-shirts, 2 sweatshirts, etc...

In the interest of suitcase space we won't be doing formal nights (first time ever!), and since its a vacation, I WON'T be doing laundry.

It's always so much easier to just hop on a ship from our home ports of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. This is the first time we're actually flying to a cruise.

Lynnber,

You might find some helpful suggestions on ***************

We also live in the warmer climate and know what you mean when it drops down to 70. I wish it was that cool today instead of 100+.

Good Luck on you search!!:)

Lynnber,

 

You might find some helpful suggestions on ***************

We also live in the warmer climate and know what you mean when it drops down to 70. I wish it was that cool today instead of 100+.

Good Luck on you search!!:)

Looks like the board is not allowing me to post the name. Sorry I tried.

jpres - I ordered our North Face Jackets from BackCountry.com a great outer wear company out of SLC.

I just got an email from a friend who is cruising the inside passage right now; she's got rain, fog, cool. Said she wishes she had packed bedroom slippers and a lighted travel clock.

Thanks for the info. Was the raincoat sufficient or did you also need a fleece jacket?:)

Sungirl, I agree with your list. I never wore the shorts I packed once we departed Vancouver for Alaska although that's all I wore in Vancouver. 1 pair of shorts is plenty. If you have a fleece pullover (again, one is plenty), you do not need a turtleneck. Wear a short sleeve, light weight tshirt underneath the fleece. If it becomes warm, tie the fleece around your waist. If it is chilly, windy, or rainy, add on a raincoat. Mine was the $99 LL Bean version which seemed to be a popular choice. I brought one pair of jeans, but wished I had one more. For evening wear, make sure your outfits are interchangable. Don't worry about rewearing your clothes. Everybody does it and if they need washing, do a load of laundry (or pay your cablin steward $15 and the ship will do it for you). I did not overpack. I wore everything except one pair of shorts. Shoes? One pair of running shoes, one pair flipflops, ONE evening sandle -- wore with everything (gold strappy sandle), and one pair of sneakers. I brought hiking boots and wore them twice, but only because I brought them. I could have worn my running shoes instead. I wore the swimsuit once, in the jacuzzi, just to say I did it, but really I didn't need it. What did I wear all the time? A fleece hoodie that I bought on REI website on sale. Check their cool weather gear for great prices on "Alaska" wear. Nice long sleeve henley and long sleeve UVA resistant technical shirt. Also, we wore a hat and all-weather gloves alot on deck, dogsledding, and whalewatching. Sun Princess 6/20-27. Oh, yes, a baseball hat is nice to have. The brim cut the glare from above when sightseeing on deck. Remember, there are lots of hours when the sun is high in the sky.

lynnber - here is my ideal packing list

1 pair regular jeans

2 pair capri jeans

2 capri pants (khaki and Pink)

1 short (never wore them)

1 bathing suit (If you are crazy!)

1 turtle neck

3 long sleeve tops

3 short sleeve tops

1 sweatsuit/lounge type outfit

2 lighter weight sweatshirts (Pink and floral)

1 twin set (cardigan/tank)

Flannel PJ's for me, but I am very cold natured

Hiking sneakers or closed toe something for touring. It is wet and dirty

sandals or thongs for evening

I wore my PoloSport mule sneakers everyday on the ship

My husbands list:

2 pair of jeans for touring

1 pair of designer jeans for evening

1 pair of khakis

2 shorts (crazy shorts and old navy khaki)

1 bathing suit (never wore it)

Workout clothes

1 Tommy Bahama golf shirt

1 long sleeve collar shirt

2 polo shirts

2 t-shirts

1 turtleneck (didn't wear, but good to have)

Nike Fleece pullover (wore everyday)

Hiking Sneakers (Grey/black)

Tevas

Skeechers

Both of us had:

Rain jacket with hood

Fleece vest or jacket

Hat/gloves/scarf

Travel Umbrella

Non clothing items:

Travel Alarm clock

Deep Woods OFF in the travel packets depending on your excursion (Target)

Travel First Aid Kit (Target)

Folger Coffee Singles and Swiss Miss Packets ( Cruise Coffee is undrinkable to me)

2 bottles of your favorite wine

Backpacks for touring so you can put excess clothing in them. My husband and I both carried backpacks and we filled them up.

Passports if you drive to Yukon Territory

We don't dress for formal nights, so my list would be different if I were packing dresses, suits, etc. We were so worn out on port days that we didn't change clothes to go to dinner. We ate on shore, checked out the buffet for dessert, and headed to bed.

Happy Packing. Sungirl ;-)

I wanted to let you know the umbrellas that I bought at Target are called Backpack Umbrella made by Clipper Mist/London Fog. They are awesome for travel. I thought if Target didn't have them you might be able to find them somewhere else if you knew the brand name. Good luck, Sungirl ;-)

Speaking of umbrellas - one thing I found out by chance and to be very useful is - pack a lightweight denim or nylon bookbag (either shoulder strap with a zippered top, or backpack style) that will lay flat in your suitcase. On shore excursions, we brought our coin purse with credit cards and cash, fold up umbrellas, tour books, sunglasses etc in the bag. It was useful carrying bottled water and any small purchases. When we returned to ship, we'd transfer coin purse to regular purse, and keep the bookbag packed ready for the next shore trip.