What To Pack
Layers Beat Parkas. Every Time.
A normal Juneau summer day at Mendenhall: mist, the 50s, and worth every layer.
Alaska in summer isn’t the Arctic. Port afternoons can hit the 60s and feel like a fall football game; a glacier morning on deck can feel like January. The trick isn’t warm clothes: it’s adjustable clothes.
The System
- Base layers you’d wear at home in October, not expedition gear.
- A real rain jacket with a hood. Southeast Alaska is a rainforest. This is the non-negotiable item, and an umbrella is not a substitute.
- A warm mid-layer (fleece or a packable puffer) for glacier days on deck.
- Waterproof-ish walking shoes. Nobody needs hiking boots for Juneau unless you’re actually hiking.
- Binoculars: one pair per person. The most underrated item on this list. Whales, bears, and calving glaciers all happen at a distance, and sharing one pair starts arguments.
- A sleep mask. June nights barely get dark, and your body will notice.
- Motion-sickness backup if your route crosses the Gulf of Alaska. It’s open ocean for a night.
- The documents. Seattle round trips are “closed-loop” cruises that stop in Canada by law. U.S. citizens can technically sail on a birth certificate and photo ID, but bring the passport anyway: emergencies fly home through Canada, and Skagway’s Yukon excursions won’t cross the border without one.
What to leave home: the formal wardrobe you’d bring to the Caribbean. Alaska ships run noticeably more casual, and nobody has ever regretted trading a suit bag for a second fleece.
Packing Is the Easy Part.
Get the route, month, and ship right first. The suitcase follows. That first part is what we do.
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