Packing Advice for a 2-Week Land+Cruise Tour to Alaska

by Janis on April 29, 2014

We love questions from readers. Last week we got this one:

I’m going on a train tour and then Royal Caribbean cruise May 31 to June 14. I’m at a loss for what to pack and how much to pack for two weeks. Can you advise me where to turn for advice? Thank you, — Nancy.

While Nancy did not specify her itinerary it’s probably something like this one from Royal Caribbean:

TOUR #8B: 13 Night Alaska Cruisetour

This trip involves flying to Fairbanks, then taking the domed rail cars to Denali where you stay two nights while enjoying North America’s highest mountain, then onto Talkeetna for an overnight, followed by another train ride to Anchorage, Alaska, where you stay one night before heading onto Seward to board the Radiance of the Seas for a 7-night inside passage cruise to Vancouver.

While this may not be Nancy’s actual itinerary (there are hundreds if not thousands of Alaska cruise tour itineraries), we do have some packing advice to share for this Alaska land + cruise trip.

You want to travel as lightly as possible, but also have the right clothes to be comfortable, regardless of the weather. You also want to keep bags under 50 pounds to avoid airline surcharges, and only check one bag per person if possible.

For this trip, we’d pack enough clothes for 7 days, and plan on sending in a bag of laundry while on the cruise portion of the trip. (Some ships have self-serve laundry, but not all.)

While we’ve previously posted general packing tips in this post: Visiting Alaska This Summer? 10 Tips on What to Pack, here we will give advice on what we would pack if we were taking this 14 Day Alaska Cruisetour.

Here’s our packing list for a 14-Day Land + Cruise Alaska Adventure:

First, the bags we’d take:

1. Two extra-large wheeled duffel bags, one each. Ours are from Patagonia and Eddie Bauer — we’ve traveled with these all over the world. They hold a ton of stuff, are easy to maneuver, and are light but tough. We would check these bags on flights, and also check them during train travel, filling them with things we don’t need until the cruise.

2. Two carry-on size roller-bags. Mr. Jones’ is from Briggs & Riley, mine is from American Tourister. Each of them expand, if we get crazy buying stuff and need to check them on the flight home.

3. Our carry-on bag/briefcase to hold our computers, tablets, phones, charger cords, key travel documents, medicine, and for Mrs. Jones, her make-up in quart-size plastic bag and a small cross-body purse. Mr. Jones’ Briggs & Riley Expandable Briefcase slides over the handle of his roller bag for easy of carrying through airports.

4. To help packing in these bags, we use a number of packing cubes, mesh bags, quart-size plastic bags, and a portable scale that weighs our bags. (We don’t like paying overweight baggage fees.)

5. A lightweight, fold-up backpack or day-pack for carrying camera, water bottle, maps, etc. during day trips and shore excursions. (You don’t want to carry a purse most places.)

For packing, we think about the clothing and shoes we will need by how we will be spending our days. In this case, there are four main categories:

1. Day-time active wear: clothes to wear each day as we are traveling and/or exploring Alaska.

The number one rule for Alaska: “Dress like an onion – in lots of layers so you can add-on or peel off as the weather of the moment dictates.”

We plan for four layers:

1. A t-shirt or light top (take 7)

2. A sweater, sweatshirt or heavier button-down type shirt (take 5-7)

3. A layer for warmth: a down vest or fleece jacket or other jacket (take 1-3)

4. A waterproof jacket, shell or raincoat with a hood (take 1)

With these toppers we wear jeans, khakis, or other comfortable, casual pants. Some people like to take a pair of waterproof pants to Alaska. (We’d take 4-5 pairs each, including what we’d wear to fly)

2. Evening dinner wear:

For myself, I would take 6-7 dresses and 1-2 pair of black dress slacks. These would be rotated during the 14 days, with the emphasis on the cruise portion of the trip. On the land tour, we might not change for dinner, depending on our surroundings.

- 1 wrinkle-free black formal cocktail dress
- 1 dressy pair of black slacks with 2 different sparkly tops/sweaters (to wear for formal and/or other nights)
- 2 casual-active-wear dresses (mine are from Eddie Bauer, and I wear everywhere from formal dinners to exploring ports with tights and comfy flats.)
- 3-4 dinner dresses – ranging from very casual to dressy with emphasis on low-wrinkle factor. (My dresses are from Boden because they are fun and come in long lengths.)
- 1 pair of more casual black slacks that can match up with day-time tops.

For Mr. Jones, we would pack a dark suit, dress shirts and ties, dress slacks, and other button-down shirts. These would be rotated during the 14 days, with the emphasis on the cruise portion of the trip.

- 1 dark suit
- 2 dress shirts
- 2 ties
- 3-4 pairs of dress slacks (wool, from Eddie Bauer to avoid wrinkles)
- 2-3 other button-down shirts (which he would wear in the daytime, on occasion, as well)

3. Other Clothing/Toiletries/Electronics/Misc.:

- - Exercise wear for workout on the ship
  - Underwear for 14 days (can always take old and toss as you wear), plus any special garments for formal wear
  - Hose, tights, and light long underwear such as Cuddl Duds
  - Nightwear for sleeping
  - Several clothespins or binder clips (you are visiting Alaska at the lightest time of the year; these are to close the curtains tight for better sleeping. Unless you grew up in Alaska like Mr. Jones, and you automatically use a pillow to shade the light from your eyes when sleeping.)
  - 2 swimming suits, a cover-up and flip-flops or other shoes to wear to the pool/hot tub. (I like to take 2 suits because I don’t like putting on a wet one; this may not be your issue.)
  - 1 pair of shorts (you never know when it might be really warm)
  - A stocking cap or warm cap and scarf. (Keep your head and neck warm)

- - A light pair of gloves (fingers are the first to get cold out by the glaciers)
  - Sunglasses (the glare can be bright)
  - Packets of sunscreen, bug dope, hand sanitizer (by carrying the kind in foil packets, they are lighter and don’t count as liquids in your flight carry-on bag)
  - Foil packets of Shout Stain Remover Wipes-we use these to clean up spots and spills
  - A portable plug-in charger cord (Alaska hotel rooms and cruise ships may not have enough plugs to charge your phones and other devices)

- A Collapsible Travel Tray (we each have one to keep our keys, jewelry, etc. organized in one place.)
- A pair of binoculars (for up-close viewing of wildlife)
- Travel size packets of tissue
- Out laptop computers, mouse, computer power cord, iPad and iPhone and dual charge cord. (We tend to keep up on work even when traveling.)
- We mainly use our iPhones, but you may want a camera with a better telephoto lens for capturing Alaska wildlife
- A journal/note pad
- Pre-addressed address stickers for those we want to send a postcard
- We used to carry books, puzzle books, DVDs for entertainment on flights, buses and trains. Now, it is all on our iPads. We load them up with movies/television shows from iTunes and add books from Amazon our Kindle app.
- We each carry two sets of tiny inexpensive, in-ear headphones. (We find this item easy to lose or misplace so we keep one with our phone and one spare packed in our carry-on bag.)
- We carry a lightweight plastic wine corkscrew with us – you never know where you might want to drink a bottle of wine.

4. Shoes

For myself, I have a hard time limiting my shoes.

1 pair formal dress heels (black)
1 pair of dress shoes (flats)
1 pair of workout sneakers
1 pair of shoes suitable for hiking (mine are mesh tennis shoes that dry quickly if wet)
1 – 2 pairs of daytime shoes with emphasis on comfort for walking
1 pair of flip-flops (to wear to spa, pools, hot tubs)

If either of our bags weighs more than 50 pounds, this is where I will edit.

Mr. Jones is a shoe minimalist.

1 pair of Rockport World Tour Classic Walking Shoes – he wears these everywhere – from hiking to casual dinners
1 pair black slip-on dress shoes – he wears his Bruno Magli Mens Pivetto when flying and for most evenings including formal dinners
1 pair of sandals (pool, warm days with shorts)

Other miscellaneous packing tips:

- Determine a set place in your luggage/bags to always carry your passport, ID, boarding pass, credit card and money – and always use those places as to not lose and/or have to spend time hunting for important stuff. For example, I always put my house/car keys in the same spot (clipped-in) in my carry-on bag for every trip I take.
- Scan your passport and email to yourself and someone else that you can easily contact if you lose it. (This doesn’t replace the passport, but it helps the replacement process.) It’s also a good idea to keep a photographed copy somewhere separate from your passport.
- It’s also good to carry a list of prescription medicines. (We have a list in our iPhones, along with the numbers of our pharmacies and doctors.)
- Take two credit cards (and be sure to notify your credit card company before you travel.) If one doesn’t work for some reason, you have a spare.
- Many U.S. cell phones work in Alaska while on land (at least near cities) without a roaming fee. (Check with your carrier.) However, when you are on the ship and in or near Canada, you will want to keep the phone on airplane mode as Canadian roaming charges can be quite expensive for phone and/or data, as are the ship charges. When in Canada, if we need to get in touch we look for places with Wi-Fi, then use Skype for calls and emails for staying in touch.

Have visited Alaska via a cruise land + sea tour? What do you wish you had taken or left at home?

Other posts on Alaska that you might enjoy:

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