What to wear on board?

[katolb90]

Hi all. First cruise, sailing on Sapphire Princess, late May. I need to have some idea of what to wear on deck. My goal is to be as casual and comfortable as possible without standing out as the tackiest person on board! Also I'm doing anytime dining so I don't know how this effects 'dinnerwear'.

[CC Help Michell]

Hi all. First cruise, sailing on Sapphire Princess, late May. I need to have some idea of what to wear on deck. My goal is to be as casual and comfortable as possible without standing out as the tackiest person on board! Also I'm doing anytime dining so I don't know how this effects 'dinnerwear'.

 

For dinnerwear, Anytime dining shouldn't affect the dress code for the evening. You might want to check out the Princess boards here at CC for more information on formal nights on Princess. I expect that the answer will be the same as for most cruiselines these days -- a certain percentage of people will wear tuxes or ballgowns, a certain percentage (hopefully a SMALL one) will be the "tackiest people on board" ;), and everyone else will be in between -- ties and jackets, or dark suits, for the men, and cocktail dresses or dressy/sparkly pants suits for the ladies.

 

What to wear on deck? Anything that keeps you warm and comfortable while you drink in the amazing sights is my vote (and plan, for our first Alaskan cruise this summer). The typical advice here is layer, layer, layer, and have something waterproof as the outer layer when needed. I wouldn't worry about "tacky" on deck during the days, etc. I'm not cold-natured (rather the opposite at my time of life ;) ) but if I were prone to cold I still wouldn't give a flip if I were wearing a down parka with a NFL logo, some mismatched gloves, boots and scarf, and a blanket from our cabin wrapped around me -- if someone thinks that's tacky, too bad. I'm on deck, looking at amazing scenery, and I'm warm enough not to miss it. I have the REALLY important stuff -- binoculars and camera, and that's all I need to know. :) That's an extreme example, though -- I do think that if you layer you will likely be appropriately dressed for the weather (and thus able to experience the magnificent views, etc.). Those who are unprepared/inappropriately dressed will have to stay in the interior spaces of the ship -- if you aren't one of those, you should be good to go.

[kellywhitehills]

Hi all. First cruise, sailing on Sapphire Princess, late May. I need to have some idea of what to wear on deck. My goal is to be as casual and comfortable as possible without standing out as the tackiest person on board! Also I'm doing anytime dining so I don't know how this effects 'dinnerwear'.

 

Follow the dress code for the dining room...But other than that dress for comfort..Its your vacation wear what you want..:)

 

Kelly

[gg3]

Hi all. First cruise, sailing on Sapphire Princess, late May. I need to have some idea of what to wear on deck. My goal is to be as casual and comfortable as possible without standing out as the tackiest person on board! Also I'm doing anytime dining so I don't know how this effects 'dinnerwear'.

 

My favorite on deck clothes for Alaskan trips: jogging suits with tees, or jeans, tees and flannel shirts, or comfy corduroy pants with tees. Add a light wt. fleece jacket when needed. On Glacier days, you will need warm hat and gloves. A must: rain jacket with hood. The shoes: jogging/walking shoes like Nike, or I love to wear Crocs with warm socks......comfy, waterproof, excellent. gg

[karatemom2]

We have been on two Princess cruises and I will say that it seems that Princess cruisers do tend to dress up a bit more for formal night compared to other lines we have been on, even on the Alaska cruise. The Anytime Dining rooms observe the same dress code as the Traditional Dining room on both formal and smart casual evenings. The only places where the dress code doesn't apply is at the Horizon Court buffet and the grills by the pool.

 

The Anytime Dining rooms are actually pretty busy on formal nights. I would encourage you to make a reservation on those evenings to save yourself a wait. On other evenings we never experienced more than a 10-15 minute wait for a table in the Anytime Dining venues.

 

On our Alaska cruise the daywear was very casual with jeans, sweats, trousers and sweaters seeming to be the popular choices. One thing that I really used a great deal was my fleece pullover. I found it just right for most of my deck time. In a few instances it was cool enough that I added my gloves and hat.

 

I know some people hate them, but I must say my Uggs were the best thing I brought with me on both of our Alaska cruises. Totally comfortable for walking, but my feet were always toasty warm!

[ellbon]

I lucked out with weather. went in July. I found fleese jacket worked all the time. could wear jeans most days.

 

Only wore my gloves dog sleding

 

also at night wore dress black pants with cute tops. took lots of tops... formla night i wore a long dress.

[CowPrincess]

From what I recall, daytime clothing for Alaska is quite casual. Indoors I wore Dockers and shirt, with a blazer, and was overdressed in comparison to most. Out on deck, though, whatever is suitable for the weather is JUST FINE :) On Glacier Bay cruising day, being fashionable was not the criterion -- being warm was. Anyone who could score a deck blanket did, so many of us were in plaid blankets in addition to our warm clothing.

 

If your clothes are clean and more or less coordinated, you'll be fine. Last trip we saw lots of people in jeans and t-shirts for day wear.

 

For evenings, I'm taking formal wear for the two "formal" evenings and black pants and several dressy tops (one red silk blouse, one ivory shell, one black velour top, one black with multicolors button up jacket, one gold metallic shell) for the "casual" evenings. HAL no longer has "informal", just "casual". I migh feel a bit overdressed, but using what I own is cheaper than worrying about being that!

[Putterdude]

For deck wear and excursions, expect the worst, I would recommend somehting like a Gortex jacket or a good waterproof nylon jacket, perhaps some nylon wind pants, a fleece or sweater,warm dry shoes and a hat. Dockers or jeans are quite acceptable. As other posters have said, layering is a good thing.

[orchid72]

Hubbie and I will be going on our 4th Alaskan cruise this May. The three we've done were all in early September, and 2 of them were with Princess.

 

For daytime and wandering around on deck and in the ports, I've always just packed the basics: jeans/cords/khakis, t-shirts, sweater or hoodie, fleece jacket, goretex shell, hiking boots and/or trainers, toque (or a hat), gloves, and scarf (optional). I really only needed the boots when we went for hikes up the mountain; the toque, gloves, and scarf when we were on deck for glacier bay and college fjord. When inside the ship, I think jeans and sweaters/hoodies/t-shirts were totally fine.

 

As far as dinner attire goes, just follow what Princess has outlined on their website and you'll be fine. During non-formal nights, I was fine just wearing a wrap dress. On formal nights, I wore a little black dress, or a satin skirt with a nice top and some pearls. While I saw some people decked out to the nines, most were just wearing suits and simple cocktail dresses.