Schadenfreudean

We were on Norwegian, so no formal night. On past cruises with formal nights, I've gone with all-black ensembles (either shirt/pants/cardigan or a wrinkle-resistant shift dress/cardigan), a bold scarf and long earrings.

As for the layers, although we grew up in Florida and live there now, we spent seven years in North Dakota. It toughened us up. ;) We wore our shorts much more than we thought we would and often had our jackets tied around our waists.

Enjoy your fifth Alaskan adventure. I am green with envy. :)

You mentioned doing laundry - I'll assume this was on the ship? Some posts mentioned restrictions on self service laundry - what was your experience?

We did it the old-fashioned way: agitate in the stateroom sink, wring out, roll up in a towel, stomp the towel repeatedly to get most of the water out of the garment, then hang to dry. Since most everything we brought was quick-drying, that process went off without a hitch.

So did you have a great trip! Did the kids enjoy it? What did you do for the land portion?

I've never used the word "amazing" more times than I have since the trip. The kids had a blast (as did we) and thanked us profusely at many point along the trip and afterward.

We flew into Fairbanks (spent the night there but didn't have time to do much else) before making our way to Denali in a rental car.

In our two days at Denali, we did Denali Outdoor Center's Canyon Run oar raft whitewater trip (great!) and the Wilderness Tour bus ride (big thumbs-up!) through the park. We lucked out and saw five grizzlies (including a mama and two cubs) right next to the bus. We stayed at McKinley Creekside Cabins — fantastic service and an on-site cafe that served us the best blueberry pancakes we've ever tasted — and ran into a moose (and swiftly retreated) while hiking in the woods behind the place.

We then made our way to Wasilla, where we visited the Iditarod Trail Race Headquarters museum. The kids had wanted to see sled dogs, and we weren't willing to fork out $600 to do the ship excursion. Our visit here was underwhelming, but the kids did get to pet a pair of puppies and take a quick sled ride ($10 per rider).

We spent that night at the Comfort Inn Ship Creek in Anchorage, which I highly recommend to anyone who is planning to ride the Alaska Railroad. It was clean and comfortable, and the location couldn't be more convenient — within a few easy steps of the train depot. (Then again, all of our bags were on our backs...)

We woke up the next morning, hopped the train to Whittier and enjoyed a leisurely trip to our departure port.

Most of what we did in ports was off-the-beaten-path exploration:

• Whittier — We walked around town and attempted to find the Horsetail Falls hike, ultimately giving up at the top of a big hill that afforded really nice views in and of itself.
  
• Icy Strait Point — We fueled up on maple-frosted doughnuts with bacon bit toppings (don't knock it until you've tried it!) at Oh So Good Doughnuts before taking the paved path to Hoonah. Along that path, we saw bald eagles, otters and black-tailed deer. When we returned, we walked around by the water under the pier and saw all kinds of colorful starfish. Very cool! This was our favorite port by far.
  
• Juneau — We caught a shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier and took the walk to Nugget Falls. After missing our shuttle by a minute or two, we took the extra time to explore the trails that branch out from the bus drop-off parking lot and were rewarded with a sighting of a black bear.
  
• Skagway — Our original intent was to hike Lower Dewey Lake, but since my son was being crabby, we opted instead for what we were told was the easier Yakutania Point/Smuggler's Cove hike. The hikes branch in different directions, and we did both. We preferred the longer Smuggler's Cove part, particularly climbing around on the rocks around the water. It was so pretty there. Plus, the footbridge that leads over there is right next to the little airport, and we were able to watch a plane take off over our heads. (The boys are aeroheads, so that was a bonus.)
  
• Ketchikan — This was the only day we had bad weather, and we dodged raindrops (unsuccessfully) as we scurried around town. We enjoyed riding the funicular up to the Cape Fox Lodge and walking down Married Men's Trail. This was also our favorite shopping port and the place where we found the best prices.
  
• Vancouver — Our adventure ended here (waaaah!), and this was the only place where we took an excursion. The ship offered a Vancouver city tour that dropped us off at the airport. It wasn't my favorite part of the trip, but we had time to kill and it met our needs.

The only huge thumbs-down of the trip goes to United Airlines, which managed to turn our one-stop flight back to the Sunshine State into a nightmare with a bonus leg to Cleveland. Fly the Friendly Skies, my butt. Our flight up with Delta was head and shoulders above that!

I can't wait to go back to Alaska, and I'm envious of those whose adventure is still ahead of them.

We — mom, dad, 12-year-old twin girls, 11-year-old boy — got back from a 12-day Alaska trip (DIY land leg, followed by a 7-day southbound cruise) a couple of weeks ago. We made the trip with nothing but carry-ons: two large duffel/backpacks and three standard backpacks (the ones the kids use at school).

In case there are other minimalists out there, here's our packing list:

Clothing (per person)

• 1 long-sleeve dri-fit T-shirt
  
• 3 short-sleeve dri-fit T-shirts
  
• 2 "dressier" shirts (e.g., polos for the boys, drapey tops for the girls)
  
• 1 pair jeans
  
• 1 pair athletic pants (quick-drying)
  
• 1 pair shorts
  
• Week's worth of undergarments (standard undies, not long underwear)
  
• 6 pairs of non-cotton socks (two lightweight, four heavier)
  
• Scarves (two each for the girls)
  
• Jacket (windbreaker weight)
  
• 1 pair PJs
  
• Hiking shoes or sneakers
  
• Sandals or boat shoes
  
• Costume jewelry (earrings and necklaces)

Toiletries

• Makeup
  
• Makeup remover
  
• Cotton swabs
  
• Deodorant
  
• Razor
  
• Toothbrush
  
• Toothpaste
  
• Floss
  
• Brush
  
• Comb
  
• Hair elastics
  
• Hand sanitizer
  
• Motion sickness medication
  
• Allergy medication
  
• Ibuprofin
  
• Vitamins
  
• Woolite
  
• Tide Pen

Other

• Emergency rain ponchos
  
• Sunglasses
  
• Sunscreen sticks
  
• Bug wipes
  
• Reading glasses
  
• 4 pairs binoculars (one large, three small)
  
• 5 phones/chargers/earbuds
  
• 12 clothespins
  
• 2 plastic over-door hooks (primarily for drying clothes)
  
• 2 drawstring backpacks
  
• Ziploc bags (snack and quart size)
  
• Three-plug outlet splitter (in lieu of space-hogging power strip)
  
• Travel wallets
  
• Travel documents (e.g., reservations, itinerary)
  
• Passports
  
• Driver licenses
  
• Cash (including an envelope stuffed with $1s)
  
• Credit cards
  
• Deck of cards
  
• Liars Dice (a favorite easy-to-pack family game)
  
• Puzzle book
  
• Pens
  
• Highlighter (for marking cruise dailies)

Things we packed but didn't need

• Ear warmers/headbands
  
• Gloves
  
• Clothesline (would have been handy, but there was no place to string it)

Things we didn't pack but wished we had

• Cardigan sweater, which would have given the girls more outfit options — and kept us warmer — in the dining room

None of the girls brought a purse — or missed having one. We did have to do laundry a few times along the way, but it took very little time/effort and was worth it to us in that we were able to travel lightly and didn't have to pay baggage fees.

Hope this is useful to someone.

Wolfie11, you answered another question I thought about but didn't bother to ask. I had wondered whether an Alaska Walmart would adhere to the same seasonal stock as stores in the Lower 48. In the past 15 years, I've lived in both North Dakota and Florida — I guess we like extremes — and always thought it ridiculous that I couldn't replace a kid's outgrown coat in North Dakota in February or a pair of shorts in Florida in November.

And now, thanks to you, I know the same holds true in Alaska. Gah.

Thanks for reading my mind!

I'll be flying into Fairbanks with my family of Floridians on May 29. We don't own much in the way of winterwear and would like to pick up anything we may need when we arrive.

Where is a good place in Fairbanks to pick up fleece, gloves, etc., if it's cold enough that we feel we will need them? Budget is key, as we don't want to spend a lot on clothing we will rarely wear after our trip. We're not above a stop at Walmart if that's our best bet, but we're open to all suggestions!

Many thanks for your input!

For those who have hiked in Whittier, which trail do you prefer: Portage Pass or Horsetail Falls? Also, are both easily accessible on foot from the Alaska Railroad stop?

Since we will arrive in Whittier via train at 12:05 and depart for our cruise at 9, we'd like to make the most of that time in between.

Thanks in advance!