With the only a minor exception. our crowd of males packed light and females packed like they were leaving for 6 mos.
Binoculars- I enjoyed having them to watch the whales, dolphins and birds. By the way, it was in the 80’s the year we cruised from Seward. I was glad to have a pair of shorts!
Just passed a bald eagle sitting on a light post. Not something you see every day.
So far we have really lucked out with the weather. Don’t want to jinx it, but so far not a drop of rain. Even in the rainforest in Juneau.
Weather has been very comfortable.
My daughter is up there for the summer. She was so excited that the temperature was near 70 that she went swimming in the ocean! Water temperature was 56. I don’t think she and her friends stayed in for long.
Awful - a husband killed his wife on an Alaskan cruise a few days ago!! And because of it the cancelled the tour of the fjord to get straight to Juneau. That guy should be fried for many reasons!
Assuming you mean this story:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-killed-wife-aboard-cruise-ship-stop-laughing/story?id=48883288
Well, ummm… not thinking there are too many murders occurring on an Alaskan cruise this week… so, yes.
That was the very ship I was on last week! Same cruise/itinerary.
Did you have a good time? What was your favorite port?
We loved seeing the glaciers and being in the fjord (but did not get up to glacier bay and its supposed to be as beautiful). Loved the whale watching/mendenhall glacier tour in Juneau.
And what did you mostly wear?
We got back from the Alaskan cruise part of our vacation one week ago. Long pants, real shoes (living in FL 5 years now- mostly sandals) and summer weight jacket outdoors on the ship. It wasn’t as cold as expected near the Mendenhall glacier but a hat was nice. We were just as casual as at home as were most others. Two dress up nights- not formal wear for most of us. The cruise was to see Alaska, not be fancy. Temps typically were in the 60’s with a breeze. We got lucky- no rain (SE Alaska has a lot of temperate rain forest). Juneau had the first sunny, no rain day in a week our day (total of 5 cruise ships in port that day).
Our trip began a few days before and ended a few days after the cruise. No self service laundry on ship so having two weeks worth of clothes (including socks and underwear) was good- did not want to do laundry just 3 days into vacation or 2 days before home.
The cruise before us had some cases of norovirus so they did extra cleaning before we could board (an hour later than scheduled), had staff with Purell hand sanitizer standing near the dining areas along with the stand alone dispensers. They put plastic wrap below sneeze guards, handed us everything instead of letting us use tongs, fill glasses… the first few days. Then they determined no virus onboard and went to usual ways. They also waited to open the ship library a few days- hard to disinfect books, including paperbacks.
Binoculars were a good idea. Camera, too. Sunglasses also. We did not pay the 75 cents/minute for slow internet. Even our T-Mobile pay per minute cell phone plans worked in ports- Alaska is part of the US after all. Some free Wifi spots there too. There were analog clocks near stairs et al and on the in room but a travel clock and watch were very useful- we forget how often we use car and cell phones for time. The ship did local time- Alaska is one hour behind Pacific and BC Canada time, changed at 2 am.
Caught up on many movies from recent years instead of getting them from the library. Some CNN, BBC World, Fox, sports, other news channels on the room TV. All electric outlets near desk- bring your extension cord to extend to your bed (eg CPAP) and charging. USB chargers there. European outlets as well- the hair dryer had that plug. Room safe fit 13" laptop diagonally. No need to carry purse, wallet, cell phone…only a watch and the ship card.
Could take one bottle of wine per person in our carry on, wish I had known Holland America allowed carry on soda- I like diet Mt Dew and not Coke products. So many things you should research as it is different than being on land.
Did not see stars as I had expected to- too cloudy, foggy at sea every day and night. Ditto for sunsets, sunrises for early folks. Took a long time for the light to fade after sunset and true darkness. Much further north than Seattle!
Well, just got back today. Thanks for all of your suggestions. They helped.
The whole layering thing is true. On ship I mostly wore long pants, like jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a fleece vest. If going on the outdoor promenade deck to either jog or walk, you might need a jacket or windbreaker.
We were lucky and had sunny and warm weather for most of the cruise. The Alaskan folk were in very good moods because the weather was unusual.
Our land portion into interior Alaska and Denali had spotty weather. We never saw the Denali mountain very clearly. Apparently only 30% of visitors do. But the whole land portion of the trip was worth it. Denali is probably one of the most natural and uncommercialized areas in the USA. Saw caribou up close and Moose from afar.
The days were still too long to see the northern lightts. But overall, all scenenery, ship and land , was beautiful. A wonderful experience.