Alaska in August - Tips Please!

[JVD85]

We're sailing to Alaska on the Wonder in August with our 4 year old, 2 year old, my DH and my mother. We've been on other cruises but always in the Caribbean and Hawaii. I'm wondering what the weather is like on Alaskan cruises and what people brought as far as clothing and outerwear.

 

Any other tips would be great too!

 

Thanks in advance!

[Shmoo here]

We're sailing to Alaska on the Wonder in August with our 4 year old, 2 year old, my DH and my mother. We've been on other cruises but always in the Caribbean and Hawaii. I'm wondering what the weather is like on Alaskan cruises and what people brought as far as clothing and outerwear.

 

Any other tips would be great too!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

The secret for Alaska is bring stuff you can layer. The weather can be quite changeable on an almost hourly basis, at any time of year.

 

T-shirt with a shirt, fleece, light weight jacket. You can put on and take whatever is necessary.

 

Some sort of rain gear is also a good idea.

 

:)

[chipmaster]

As another poster said, prepare for rain and 50-60s and sunshine and 70's all within 30' of each other.

 

Thus dress in layers with the outer one being gortex, yet also have sunglasses and suncreen there with your cap and gloves.

[mollyeilis]

Our cruise was towards the end of August, and the weather was already getting a little colder. The day we went cruised up to the glacier (this was on RCCL, inside passage cruise, cannot recall the name of the glacier, sorry) we stood on the bow for far too long, and it was SO COLD.

 

On other days, it was so hot we were sweating.

 

Layers and those nice 3-in-1 coats that are their own layering system on their own. And wool socks.

[Lemur]

We're sailing to Alaska on the Wonder in August with our 4 year old, 2 year old, my DH and my mother. We've been on other cruises but always in the Caribbean and Hawaii. I'm wondering what the weather is like on Alaskan cruises and what people brought as far as clothing and outerwear.

 

Any other tips would be great too!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Dear JVD85,

 

I agree with previous posters regarding the layering. When you're out walking around off the ship, you may want to carry a small backpack to hold those extra layers when it gets too hot or stays dry.

 

Also, BINOCULARS are essential. Bring the best pair you can afford or borrow, there's plenty to see. If you can, bring a pair for each adult.

 

Walking shoes that are waterproof are best in Alaska, even on the dry days.

 

Any cruising around glaciers will be very cold, so hats and gloves for those days are also crucial.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Best,

[TXgrl79]

These are good tips! Have any of you been on excursions up to the glaciers and can you advise if the outfitters provide blankets/covers or if we need to bring heavy jackets? Or would we be fine with the layers since we aren't up there for long?

[cyclenut]

Layers ... layers ... layers.

 

I know it has been said ... but maybe not enough ... so I said it again.

 

That is a good rule for excursions too. We were there in early August last year and had a great time. Look in the cruise reviews section. We sailed on the Wonder and I wrote a review here. Don't just read mine, read others too. Those are a good source of information.

 

I also recommend a good sturdy set of shoes or boots. Waterproof is preferred but not essential. You can spray them if you like with a waterproof spray and that should be sufficient. Many of the excursions in Alaska include a walk or hike that may be a bit muddy or wet. Keeping your feet comfortable is important to enjoying the experience.

 

I also picked up a few of those packable space bags. The ones that you fill, seal and then roll up to push out the excess air. Don't use the ones that require a vacuum or you will never get them home. They really helped shrink down the bulky clothing, especially the fleece, so it would fit in a reasonable space in our luggage.

 

I have heard from people that overpack for Alaska because they don't know what to expect. In our party, everyone had their own bag with clothes and things and then we had a shared garment bag for coats and dresses for formal nights and then we had another duffel bag that had shoes, boots and other footwear, extra things for pirate night, outerwear including gloves and things and stuff like that. Everyone also had the traditional carry-on backpack/purse/camera bag. There were 7 in our party but the youngest was 16. We actually faired pretty well as two of the bags that we took were smaller roll-aways that we used as carry on. Most airlines still allow one carry on bag and one personal item (backpack, laptop bag, camera bag, purse ... all count as personal item) so we only had to check 7 bags (1 per person). None of our bags exceeded weight or size restrictions.

 

I second the recommendation for binoculars, but I chose to go out and purchase a digital SLR camera, since I didn't have one. I purchased the lower end Canon T2i kit with two lenses. The 18-55 and the 55-250. I highly recommend doing this if you don't have a good camera already. I left it on the ship for most excursions but I was able to capture some excellent memories with this camera including some great shots in Tracy Arm. If you are not much of a camera buff, then the binoculars will be fine. I found a the zoom lens on my camera to be as good as most of the binoculars people were using so I often used that even when I wasn't taking pictures.

 

The pools on the Wonder are heated so kids do swim in them. While there won't be any "sunning" going on, expect that you might find yourself in the pool.

 

Temperature for our early August trip was in the high 60s to low 70s most of the days and would dip into the low 60s at night. It rained (well drizzled) for about a day and a half of the 7 day cruise. Other than that it was pretty clear (we were lucky ... it rains a lot there ... which is why it is so green).

 

Hope this helps and hope you enjoy your trip.

[alinnj]

Go on a cruise line where the ship actually goes to the glaciers! Its a once in a life time experience ! YOU will be amazed :D

[scottcaps]

As others have posted, bring long sleeve t-shirts with short sleeve t-shirts to layer over them, a fleece jacket and the top layer should be a waterproof lined jacket with hood. We brought wool caps and gloves, but luckily our excursion days and Tracy's Arm day were sunny and fairly warm per Alaska standards and we did not have to use these. Waterproof shoes with good tread is good to keep your feet dry and not worry about any mud if you take excursions that you may be out on pathways or if it rains. We brought flip flops/athletic sandals and wore them around the ship during at sea days. And, yes, don't forget your bathing suits as the pools are heated to 90 degrees and always had kids in them and hot tubs are open. The problem is getting out of the water, and Disney does not supply bathrobes, so bring something warm to wrap yourself into and wear on your wet feet for the dash back to your cabin. If you have any of the water resistant hiking pants, those do better than jeans if there is rain, and you (the females, at least) can even wear leggings under the hiking pants if it does get really cold. I used my leggings to then also wear for dinner with a nice top and dressy shoes. There is one "formal" night and one "semi-formal" night, but on Disney there is quite a range of dress on these nights from men in tuxedos and women in long dresses to men in golf shirts/slacks and women in nice dresses/skirts. Our kids (ages 6 and 8) wore khaki style pants and collared shirts every night to dinner. The temperature on the ship is quite comfortable, though the females in our group always brought light jackets to the theaters and dining rooms. Binoculars are certianly a must bring and pirate attire is fun for Pirate Night.