Y1L20 luggage help

[ILoveDottie]

Hi everyone,

We are taking the 20 day Yukon Triple Denali cruise on The Noordam 5/24/16 (land portion first). We fly Air North from Vancouver BC to Whitehorse and Dawson to Fairbanks. On our air notification it states 2 checked bags w/a max. combined wt. of 50# and 1 carry-on item under 13# per person. I am having trouble figuring out how to pack heavy clothes for a 12 day Yukon and Alaska land trip and a 7 day cruise in this amount of luggage. I called Holland America and they said you can't pay extra for extra baggage and they don't send any luggage ahead to the cruise ship. I do plan on doing laundry on our land part. Has anyone had experience with this issue or any suggestions about shipping a suitcase to the Westmark in Anchorage (our last hotel before cruise)? Any suggestions appreciated.

[CowPrincess]

My first suggestion is wear your coat and boots (or other heavy footwear) on the plane. Those are usually the heaviest items. Don't take heavy cotton or wool sweaters, find a couple of fleecies to take instead. Warmer and lighter weight than most sweaters. Investigate the USPS flat rate boxes if you want to mail something to your Anchorage hotel. If you decide to do that, make sure that somewhere on the box you write "Your Name, Arriving Guest, Date, HAL tour". Think layers for warmth and dryness.

[1of4]

I can't comment on the mailing luggage, but warm clothes do not have to be heavy. In fact some of the warmest clothes I own weigh next to nothing. Technology for fabric has come a long way in the last few years. Keeping your feet dry will be a priority so I recommend wool socks. Look into SmartWool brand which are lighter than cotton. Silk long underwear is very thin, light, and great for layering.

 

I hope you enjoy your vacation. It sounds wonderful.

[Shmoo here]

Hi everyone,

We are taking the 20 day Yukon Triple Denali cruise on The Noordam 5/24/16 (land portion first). We fly Air North from Vancouver BC to Whitehorse and Dawson to Fairbanks. On our air notification it states 2 checked bags w/a max. combined wt. of 50# and 1 carry-on item under 13# per person. I am having trouble figuring out how to pack heavy clothes for a 12 day Yukon and Alaska land trip and a 7 day cruise in this amount of luggage. I called Holland America and they said you can't pay extra for extra baggage and they don't send any luggage ahead to the cruise ship. I do plan on doing laundry on our land part. Has anyone had experience with this issue or any suggestions about shipping a suitcase to the Westmark in Anchorage (our last hotel before cruise)? Any suggestions appreciated.

 

We did this same trip a few years ago. Between us we had 2 checked bags and each hand a backpack for our carry on.

 

We pretty much pack the same for all trips, so there wasn't anything we packed that was strictly for either the "land" or "cruise" portions of our trip, except for my husbands suit and my dress for formal night. We did laundry in Whitehorse, Dawson City, Fairbanks and Anchorage before getting on the ship.

 

When we were in Fairbanks and everyone had to designate one bag (plus carry on) to go to Denali and any other bags to go directly to the ship, we were the only ones who didn't have that issue. I was surprised at the number of people who couldn't pack enough for 3 days in one suitcase.

 

As noted, wear your biggest/heaviest shoes, pants, jackets on the plane, don't pack them.

[RMLincoln]

What a great trip! Loved those places, but didn't get to all of them.

 

Nutshell answer: We take items that do as much double-duty as possible and as lightweight as possible. Even down to our ExOfficio underwear and DH's tee shirts - looked for sales on Amazon. Great also to wash in the sink, really dries overnight. Almost everything we pack for long complex multi-climate trips has to be quick drying for hand washing in the hotel sink. Hard to find time to find laundries although you might be able to do laundry on the ship or pay for laundry service. I hadn't realized how much DH's cotton tee shirts weighed and impossible to wash and dry overnight. Now we only take 3 sets of underwear each - one to wear, two in case.

 

HAL now does not require gentlemen to wear a suit on Gala nights; DH used to always have his suit but adapted to wear a black cardigan (doubles as a warm layer) last cruise on Gala nights with dress shirt and tie, black slacks and his black hiking sneakers (Merrell) instead of dress leather shoes. He's been wearing Merrells for years so just getting black ones last time he needed to replace his was a no-brainer. Our last touring/cruise trips was a long European trip which was a Med cruise after a Switzerland tour, time in Italy, time in England etc. Layers is the best way to go.

 

I had a black crepe skirt, shell(s) and shawl, little sandals for Gala nights and MDR dinners.

 

For warmth we had fleece jackets plus rain jackets with deployable hoods for wind/water proof. Silk under layers were excellent, thin and warm (check out Winter Silks, especially for their sales). I used a funnel neck thin silk layer under a thin knit crew-neck long sleeve top, then a fleece and a rain jacket was most all I needed; the one time I needed more for warmth (17F and 40 mph wind) I had a t-shirt weight hooded long sleeve top to add. A gauzy scarf was perfect to wrap around my neck/face if it was windy or a polypropylene balaclava very thin but very warm. Headband and polypropylene knit or fleece hat.

 

For bottoms I had Merino wool leggings (Costco dot com $15) under my usual LL Bean lightweight hiking pants with zippered cargo pockets. Shoes were LL Bean waterproof suede slip-on mocs with grippy soles. Also had Propet oxfords but sounds like you may only have weight for one pair of shoes, may have to wear them on flights. I didn't need boots, I think the weight is not worth it, I can keep my legs warm with leggings and silk as long as I can keep my feet dry. I had one pair of Fox quick dry socks plus my regular socks - the Fox were warmer and fast drying, glad I had them. Instead of heavy boots I'd consider knit gaiters, very light weight, ankle to knee. That's what I wear when using our snow-blower just to keep the snow from building up directly on my pants.

 

May into June is not going to be that cold as you will have such long sunlight hours so far north. Rain is something to be prepared for with good waterproof layers that will dry rapidly. Being from Portland you probably have that covered.

 

13# carry-on is not uncommon for European flights - most European and Australian/New Zealand flights we've had allowed only 1 carry-on item and that was weight restricted. 25# for a luggage bag is packing pretty light but you get one each right? Balance it out and minimize shoes (DH has size 14 and they weight a ton!), plan on buying any extra toiletries or over the counter med items before you board the ship (for us it's bags of cough drops that weighs a lot).

 

If you have major camera equipment, one time we just wore them around our necks and they didn't get weighed. We filled our pockets with everything heavy we could think of - DH had almost a pound of coins! Both our rain jackets and fleeces have zippered pockets, so much easier to fill and not have stuff falling out if you take it off on the flights or the bus. Found fleeces on sale on Amazon for around $25 each.

 

Last but not least, we bought a small luggage scale in WalMart to make sure we weren't overweight and to help us balance things out.

 

Yes it may be a bit different but it's an expedition type tour which you will love for a life-time! Nobody really pays attention to what you wear or if you wore it yesterday. And all of you on the tour will have the same issue. You can find packing-light tips on Rick Steves' website and I'm sure many others.

 

Ask questions and we'll give you what ideas we can. Happy planning. Sounds fabulous. m--

[towhee]

I noticed that you're from Portland, OR. ; we're just north of you in Clark County. We did the land tour in July one year and found that jeans or jeans plus tights were plenty comfortable. Alaskan summers are warmer than Oregon winters.

Think layers and don't forget to bring shorts and t-shirts; it can be in the 70's during the day just as easily as in the 40's and 50's. Bring sunscreen and insect repellent, also.

If you are buying new clothing for the trip go to West Marine, REI or Cabella's and look in the sailing/backpacking section. Sailors and backpackers want clothing that is light weight, but handles the expected weather.