Larger Sizes: Boots and Parkas

We are wondering how many sizes of boots and parkas ships such as the Adademik Ioffe have for passengers. In looking at a possible cruise itinerary, we see that the cruise includes a parka and use of loaner boots.

Question: Are these types of cruises typically able to provide people of "larger" proportions with these or are they limited in the sizes they can provide? Will they be able to tell us before embarking whether we need to worry about obtaining sizes that fit?

Thanks.

Dennis and Kathy. (MacWiz)

Provo, Utah

We were on the Marco Polo, in January, 06.

We took our own boots; not expensive ones and we left them on the ship.

Boots were on board for passengers.

However, most passengers had their own.

From what we saw, the Marco Polo had jackets for every one.

No problem with "larger' proportions

Great trip:)

If the operator of Akademik Ioffe operates like Quark, you should be sent a form to complete in advance to fill out your boot size and select the parka size. I know our parkas ran really, really big. I ended up getting a small and should probably have gone with an XS (originally requested a medium - normally wear a size 10). Our form suggested measuring an existing jacket and comparing the measurements to the information that was provided on the form for the jackets. Large boots were not a problem; small ones more difficult to come by.

You might also contact the company you booked the cruise through and see if they have some answers for you.

From your mobility post, I see that you are indeed going with Quark (Akademik Ioffe was not one of the ships they operated in the past). In that case, my information about the form, etc. should be spot on. Our agent at Quark was very informative about the parkas when we called with questions, so you might consider calling or emailing them with your questions about the sizes - they might even be able to send you the form now, so you can see the measurements they use as samples.

Thanks for the responses! We're still evaluating Antarctic cruise options. As far as boots, I think the option we'd go for is to buy some before we leave that we KNOW fit (hopefully not too expensive) and leave them behind when we come home. As far as parka sizes, we'll confirm with whichever tour operator we go with as to sizing and assume they'll be able to provide what we need.

Those boots tend to be very heavy; a lot of dead weight to carry if your operator is one that provides boots. Unless you need size 5-6 boots, there should be no problem finding the right size. You could do what we did to figure sizes - go to a store that sells Wellington boots, try them on with two pairs of socks, and provide that size to your operator if boots are being provided. On our ship, there was a big closet-full of boots so exchanging boot sizes once on board was not an issue. Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks for the responses! We're still evaluating Antarctic cruise options. As far as boots, I think the option we'd go for is to buy some before we leave that we KNOW fit (hopefully not too expensive) and leave them behind when we come home .

We bought our boots, on sale, at Dick's Sporting Goods for $20.00.

Granted we only had three Zodiac landings. + One sail-around.

They had heavy soles; thin sides. But, sufficed.

Yes, wear woolen socks when trying them on.