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Forgot to pack but Wish you did for Alaska Cruise


floridian1
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While buying waterproof shoes isn't a bad idea, you can really save a lot of money by waterproofing shoes yourself. Get a good can of waterproof spray and treat your shoes at least 3 times initially and maybe once or twice per year thereafter.

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In point of fact, it is not easy to find a pharmacy in Alaska necessarily! We caught bad colds and wanted to pick up some cold medicine while in port in Skagway. There was no independent drug store/pharmacy, just a section in the lone grocery store. The shelves were completely empty of almost all the various cold medications. Remember some of these towns are very, very small and don't get shipments of supplies as often as in the lower 48. Ever since then I bring along my 'cold kit' on all cruises, even Alaska.

 

Don't know if this was stated yet, but an extra pair of shoes. It rains a lot and if your walking shoes get wet you will wish you had them.

The post from shetravels was about a lack of pharmacies in Anchorage and that is what we were commenting on.

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I don’t travel for another week, and don’t sail until 2 weeks, but in usual style, with my long list of items checked off, I’m pretty much packed already. Only last minute items to throw in cases before we leave.

 

Over the years I’ve become quite adept at my packing skills and I used to take various things already mentioned on this thread, just in case: decongestant for colds, analgesics, and so on. Extra clothing for this and that.. In recent years I haven’t bothered because I would buy what I needed in my destination if I needed them. I’ve spent the last few years travelling mostly to USA, Canada and Japan and I can always get what I need. In fact I love Walgreens! (I tend to buy up a supply of Shout stain removal wipes when I visit Walgreens; I’ll bring half a dozen boxes home). Side note, and more on topic, stain remover of some kind is something I never travel without these days. I’m always dropping something on my clothes, mostly food related, and I wouldn’t be without them.

 

Anyway, this cruising malarky is a new experience to us both so I’m back to my old ways - antihistamines, check, seasickness pills, check, paracetamol and ibuprofen, check, and so on. Long list. Stuff for insect bites too.

 

I’m really looking forward to this trip, this experience, and have high hopes so hope I won’t be disappointed! Happy travels all.

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  • 3 weeks later...
This post made me chuckle. We always leave a little room in our cases for shopping plus I pack an extra fold away bag in case that shopping goes a bit mad. However, one year, on a visit to Victoria & Vancouver, we had to buy an extra case because I really shopped! Mostly gifts, I might add. Other times, and I can think of San Francisco 2 years ago especially, I again had to buy another case as the spare bag wasn’t big enough. I’d hit Macy’s pretty hard that trip and almost had a new wardrobe when I’d finished!

 

So, my first cruise coming up in May on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska and I’m really excited, I’ve been learning a lot about what to pack and think I’ve got everything covered thanks to lots of research and time spent skimming through CC.

 

Happy cruising everyone.

 

What did you buy in Victoria? We’re only going to be there 7-11pm, so shopping sounds good.

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We leave tomorrow - for pants I am only packing jeans....black, blue, regular and capri. Am I making a huge mistake? Unfortunately all the jeans in the stores these days seem to be "skinny" jeans - even if they are not skinny, they seem skinny - so much so that I don't think I will be able to wear long underwear under them. We are going an ATV tour - but they provide suits to wear. I do have sweats and leggings that I could wear together but I wouldn't want too - they are more for lounging around the house. I have many top layers. I have waterproof hiking shoes. Should I run out tonight and buy a different type of pant?

 

Kathy

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We leave tomorrow - for pants I am only packing jeans....black, blue, regular and capri. Am I making a huge mistake? Unfortunately all the jeans in the stores these days seem to be "skinny" jeans - even if they are not skinny, they seem skinny - so much so that I don't think I will be able to wear long underwear under them. We are going an ATV tour - but they provide suits to wear. I do have sweats and leggings that I could wear together but I wouldn't want too - they are more for lounging around the house. I have many top layers. I have waterproof hiking shoes. Should I run out tonight and buy a different type of pant?

 

Kathy

 

Kathy, I have silk long underwear pants that are almost as sheer as hose but baggier. They are a nice extra layer that doesn’t add bulk. But I don’t know if you can find them at this time of year; a sporting goods store would be where I’d start calling. Mine work under my corduroy leggings though the two fabric kinda catch each other so takes some patience to put on but once there, just fine and comfortable.

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Kathy, I have silk long underwear pants that are almost as sheer as hose but baggier. They are a nice extra layer that doesn’t add bulk. But I don’t know if you can find them at this time of year; a sporting goods store would be where I’d start calling. Mine work under my corduroy leggings though the two fabric kinda catch each other so takes some patience to put on but once there, just fine and comfortable.

 

LL Bean this time of year?

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I’m a proud Minnesotan, who gets cold kinda easy, so I’m really angsting over what to pack... I think for excursions I’ll do jeans with long johns, an underarmour short sleeve shirt and long sleeve shirt, then a Columbia rainproof lighter coat with removal fleece liner and hood. For sea days, I’m doing leggings, long sleeve shirt, and Columbia jacket as needed...

 

 

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You've got the right idea---layers!! That's the best way to dress in the Northwest/Alaska!! Have fun!

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Jeans are not good in the rain. You’ll be warm in dry weather, but do you have anything for rain? Any kind of quick dry pants do well. Quick dry pants aren’t good for warmth, but they are great on the rain if you don’t want to wear rain pants.

 

 

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What did you buy in Victoria? We’re only going to be there 7-11pm, so shopping sounds good.

Trinkets, a native design blanket, some glass pieces, couple of wood carvings from the traders in the harbour, a few t-shirts etc. Enough to need an extra carry on case on top of the space we had in our luggage.

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Last year as the ship sailed into Glacier Bay I started out wearing a top jacket with a hood. However, the hood restricted my vision. So, I used the wool knit cap that I had picked up at one of the mandatory $10.00 sales in the dinning room. clear.png?emoji-grin-1677

 

I put on my ball cap and then pulled the wool knit cap down over the top to cover my ears. This kept the wind from blowing off my ball cap and also kept my ears warm. And, the bill of the cap helped provide some shade from the sun for my eyes.

 

At that time the ship was moving forward at 13 knots and the wind was coming across the bow gusting between 10 and 20 knots. It was Brrr out on the open deck so being dressed in layers with my improvised hat system I stayed fairly warm.

 

Bob

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For those of you considering the low cost shoe covers to keep your shoes dry, they do keep them dry but I did not find them easy to walk in. Make sure you order early and check the sizing with the shoes that will be covered. Walk around and make sure the covers are comfortable enough for your trip. I found the 'ankle' area to be irritating when walking around with the covers.

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For those of you considering the low cost shoe covers to keep your shoes dry, they do keep them dry but I did not find them easy to walk in. Make sure you order early and check the sizing with the shoes that will be covered. Walk around and make sure the covers are comfortable enough for your trip. I found the 'ankle' area to be irritating when walking around with the covers.

 

We leave in a month; so the waterproofing thing seems economical; Will do both pairs of sneakers this month to prep for it;

I have a really warm winter hat, but I may opt for the lighter one since I don't think it will get to -20F; Will definitely pack the scarf

 

Great tips; keep em coming

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Just got off a 14-day Alaska cruise. It was rainy most days and overcast and cold almost all the time except the last day. I wore jeans and didn't have any issue with them getting wet. It generally wasn't that windy so my waterproof shell ( which covered most of my hips) kept the water off.

 

I don't like to later anything under my pants because it is too hard to adjust if the layer is too hot. So, I concentrate on layers for the torso and head to keep the core warm. That worked fine for me.

 

I wore wool socks and waterproof low top hiking shoes.

 

The cruise line provided waterproof pants (that go over regular pants) for their zodiac & kayak excursions. That was the only time I needed the waterproof lower layer.

 

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While buying waterproof shoes isn't a bad idea, you can really save a lot of money by waterproofing shoes yourself. Get a good can of waterproof spray and treat your shoes at least 3 times initially and maybe once or twice per year thereafter.

We are booked for our 5th cruise to Alaska. Our last cruise was the wettest ever. Saying that, we have used the waterproof Scotchgard we have gotten at Walmart on our tennis shoes and have always had completely dry feet.

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We are booked for our 5th cruise to Alaska. Our last cruise was the wettest ever. Saying that, we have used the waterproof Scotchgard we have gotten at Walmart on our tennis shoes and have always had completely dry feet.
That is Atsko Silicon Waterguard. Great product!

 

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If you are going to SE Alaska, take raingear. Even if its an inexpensive poncho. Its a rainforest; odds are you will get rained on. We were in Ketchikan on a rainy day last week, with 3 ships in port, and couldn’t believe how many people didn’t have rain gear, and were carrying umbrellas. Narrow boardwalks, packed with people looking all around and taking photos while brandishing umbrellas made for quite an eye-level-hazard obstacle course.

 

If you are going on an excursion that will take you into the woods, take footwear that you don’t mind getting muddy. There were plenty of street puddles on the way back to the ship to stomp through and wash the mud off ;)

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  • 11 months later...

If you are doing a land portion, take skin lotion.  I always travel with some as I use it daily but the air is very dry so my husband ended up using a lot as well!  The Princess Lodges did not have any in the rooms as Princess usually does on the ship, and really couldn't find anything but butter bars until we found some in a small store in Talkeetna!

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On 6/9/2018 at 12:55 AM, Sailin Gal said:

If you are going to SE Alaska, take raingear. Even if its an inexpensive poncho. Its a rainforest; odds are you will get rained on. We were in Ketchikan on a rainy day last week, with 3 ships in port, and couldn’t believe how many people didn’t have rain gear, and were carrying umbrellas. Narrow boardwalks, packed with people looking all around and taking photos while brandishing umbrellas made for quite an eye-level-hazard obstacle course.

 

If you are going on an excursion that will take you into the woods, take footwear that you don’t mind getting muddy. There were plenty of street puddles on the way back to the ship to stomp through and wash the mud off 😉

A friend told us to pack layers and we did.  The outside layer was a lightweight water and wind proof light jacket.  Glad I had the waterproof jacket in Ketchikan, it is a rain forest area

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1 minute ago, tetleytea said:

Honorable mention goes to:   your passports.   We haven't forgotten yet, but we've come closer to forgetting than I care to, and we did have them stolen out of our hotel room once in Canada.

I always have a list of what to pack, passport is the only thing on the list twice.  First and last

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