Making our Disney Alaska cruise packing list caused me tons of anxiety when planning this long anticipated family vacation. I spent hours contemplating versatile clothes, debating the need for waterproof items, and obsessing over every detail. I’m here to share our complete printable Disney Alaska Cruise packing list to save you from stress and make your packing experience easier.
- Disney Alaska Packing Tips
- Vancouver Packing List
- Packing An Embarkation Day Bag
- Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise Packing List
- Semi-Formal, Formal, and Frozen Night
- Cold Weather and Waterproof Gear
- Toiletries
- Medical Supplies
- Miscellaneous Packing List
- Printable Disney Alaska Cruise Packing List
Disney Alaska Cruise Packing Tips
Pack Coordinating Colors
Disney Alaska cruises tend to be long vacations with most Disney Wonder sailings seven or more nights long. Add on a couple days pre- or post-cruise in Vancouver and that’s a lot of clothes and sometimes wildly different climates.
To simplify packing we chose clothes in similar color schemes to make mixing and matching easier. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a long trip and finding the pieces that are still clean don’t look right together.
Accessories Help Transform An Outfit
A pair of jeans and a plain shirt can get an elevated look with a few accessories. Switch tennis shoes to boots, add a belt and jewelry, and top it with a jacket or cardigan for a surprisingly different outfit.
You Really Need Waterproof Gear When Disney Alaskan Cruise Packing
Deciding what waterproof gear to pack for our Disney Alaska cruise was my biggest internal debate. Would we really need waterproof hiking boots and raincoats?
Ultimately I bought waterproof boots, pants, and rain jackets for each of us and it was totally worth it.
We used our waterproof gear at least half of the days we were on our Disney Alaska cruise. It poured on us in Ketchikan, it rained on our glacier viewing day, and thin waterproof pants made our Juneau Mendenhall Glacier Dog Sledding excursion more comfortable.
It’ll Seem Like Overpacking, But It Isn’t
We routinely travel for up to six nights in a carry-on only. While making our packing list and gathering items I thought for sure I would regret bringing as much as we did.
As we prepared to go home, I was shocked how little was left unused. There were only a handful of unworn items, like a couple shirts, one nice dinner outfit, some socks, and undergarments.
Despite over packing a little, having the right variety of clothes regardless of the weather was fabulous. I felt like our Disney Alaskan cruise packing list worked perfectly for us.
If you really want to trim this packing list I would suggest reducing the number of cruise casual dinner outfits or formal wear. Everything else is essential in our experience.
Packing Cubes Keep Everything Organized
I am a huge fan of packing cubes even when packing light for Disney World. Using them to compress clothes saves space and keeps me organized.
For example, I packed all of our Frozen night clothes and accessories in one cube, pajamas in another and so on. Packing cubes make finding what you need faster and are easily stackable in the Disney stateroom closets.
In Case Of Emergency Use Onboard Laundry
There are laundry rooms onboard Disney Wonder in case you need to launder some clothes while on your Alaska cruise. However, the machines were almost always full when we would go to iron our clothes.
Disney Alaska Cruise Packing List
Although it’s tempting to jump straight to our free printable Disney Alaska cruise packing list at the end of this article I encourage you to read these sections first. It’s best to understand how the clothes are used and our specific recommendations for brands or styles which makes the list even more useful.
I’m including a quick summary of Disney Alaska cruise items to pack under each subsection. If I mention something under a section, for example comfortable shoes, I won’t repeat that item again in another section. The complete list is included in the free Disney Alaska packing list printable.
We packed everything on this list for three people in a large checked bag, a medium checked bag, three carry-on bags, and two personal items with the help of compression packing cubes (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon).
Vancouver Clothes
Disney Wonder embarks and disembarks from Canada Place in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. We are unsure if, or when, we will make it back to BC which is why we decided to spend three days pre-cruise exploring the best of Vancouver.
The Disney Alaska cruise season runs from May through September each year. Weather varies widely depending on the month, and sometimes even by the day.
Expect Vancouver highs in the low 60’s in May, mid-60’s in June, low 70’s in July and August, and September dipping back into the mid-60’s. Vancouver nighttime lows for Alaska cruise season are relatively consistent from high 40’s to high 50’s.
Researching the 10 day forecast is helpful, but anytime a vacation lasts a week or longer it isn’t unusual for the forecasted weather to change once you’ve left home. That’s why packing a variety of clothes is so important on this kind of trip.
Imagine our surprise when upon arrival in Vancouver the forecast had dramatically shifted. Instead of expected temps in the low 70’s our mid-July trip had days of 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
This unexpected heat wave made me grateful I packed a pair of shorts last minute. They only took up a little space, but made hiking and exploring in Vancouver more comfortable.
After two unseasonably warm days the temperatures shifted to more average Vancouver weather. In fact, our Vancouver embarkation day was quite cool with clouds and a high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
We also packed jeans, short and long sleeve shirts, extra layers for chilly nights like a fleece jacket, and one casual chic outfit for dinner. While these items work for Vancouver many are also crucial for the cruise.
3 nights in Vancouver:
- 1 pair of shorts
- 1 pair of pants
- 2 short sleeve shirts
- 2 long sleeve shirts
- 1 layer (sweatshirt, sweater, shacket, fleece)
- Dinner outfit with dress shoes (optional)
- Comfortable walking shoes
- Pajamas and slippers
- Socks and undergarments (1 for every night plus 2 extra in case of flight delays)
Embarkation Day Bag
Guests must drop off all luggage in a central location before embarking on Disney Wonder. However, you are allowed to carry on a personal item for embarkation day.
Packing your embarkation day bag is important since this will be the only luggage you’ll have access to for several hours. All important documents, passports, IDs, and prescription medications must be in the day bag.
We also packed swimsuits, cover ups, and swim shoes in case we wanted to take advantage of a relatively empty pool and waterslide. Embarkation day was also the warmest day we had on this ship so it was the only time our kids used their suits.
Pro Tip: Planning to swim on embarkation day? Pack essential cosmetics for touch-ups in case your luggage arrives late.
The adults in our group used swimsuits to take advantage of the adult only hot tub a couple times during our Alaska cruise.
Embarkation Day Bag:
- Passports and IDs
- Travel documents
- Prescription and OTC medications
- Swimsuits, cover-ups, pool shoes
- Dry bag for wet swim gear
- Basic makeup for touch ups in case luggage arrives late
Disney Alaska Cruise Clothes
Daytime Outfits
We cruised in mid-July and used almost exclusively long sleeve shirts, extra layers, and long pants. Those cruising at the beginning or end of the season should bring less short sleeve shirts and more long sleeves to combat the cooler temperatures.
Most days on our Disney cruise we wore jeans, long sleeve shirts, and layers like a sweater, flannel, fleece, or sweatshirt. Inside the ship is kept a comfortable temperature, but when heading out to the decks we often needed a jacket, too.
In general these same clothes are perfect for port days, but often require adding waterproof shoes and rain jackets.
Some guests also bring special clothes, for example red and black buffalo checked flannel shirts, to match Disney character outfits exclusive to Alaska cruises.
Cruise Casual Dinner Attire
Except for Frozen, formal, and semi-formal nights my daughter and I switched from our casual clothes into simple dresses at dinnertime. My husband usually changed into a dress shirt or a sweater.
Cruise casual dinner attire on Disney Cruise Line simply means “no swimwear or tank tops” at dinner. In our experience most guests wore casual, but not sloppy, clothes to dinners.
Palo, the adult only restaurant on Disney Wonder, has a dress code. Pack polished casual clothing, like dresses, dress pants and a blouse/collared shirt, or jeans in good condition with nice shoes.
T-shirts, swimwear, sports attire, and other similar casual clothing is not allowed when dining at Palo.
We reused our Palo brunch outfits for dinner another night. This kept us from having to pack an additional polished casual look.
Some guests opt to stay in casual clothes for dinners other than formal and semi-formal. If you do this you won’t look out of place. This worked in our favor because our luggage arrived too late to change for dinner on our embarkation day.
Purses and Backpacks
I used a backpack as my embarkation day bag and then used this same packable backpack for some port adventures.
For walking around the ship, or casual excursions like the Ketchikan Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, I used a small purse or lululemon belt bag. These smaller bags worked well to hold basics like our Key To The World card, IDs, credit cards, and other essential items.
7 nights on Disney Alaska Cruise:
- 3 or 4 pair of pants
- 2 short sleeve shirts
- 7 long sleeve shirts
- 3 layers (sweatshirt, flannel, sweater, shacket)
- 3 or 4 Dinner/Palo outfits (optional)
- If you opt out of Frozen, formal, and semi-formal night I would pack and additional pair of pants and a couple sweaters in case you want fresh clothes at dinner
- Backpack and/or purse
Disney Cruise Line Semi-Formal, Formal, and Frozen Night Attire
Disney Cruise Line has three special nights during an Alaskan cruise: semi-formal, formal, and Frozen night. All three are optional and you’ll see people very dressed up while others are wearing cruise casual during these special dinners. Do what makes you feel most comfortable!
Frozen Night
Frozen night takes place on the same day as your glacier viewing. Find a special Frozen inspired menu, a short deck show between the dinner seatings, and some cute snowy photo backgrounds.
My daughter and I opted to Disneybound for Frozen night. I wore a simple blue dress (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon), did a side braid, and wore some snowflake jewelry to represent Elsa.
Elizabeth Disneybounded as Anna with a magenta cardigan, black mock turtleneck, a royal blue skirt and black boots. It was comfortable, cute, and everyone immediately knew she was Anna.
My husband opted for a dark blue shirt and ice blue tie with nice slacks to coordinate with our outfits. Some of our group wore a full set of Lederhosen while others opted for cute après ski style sweaters. However, lots of guests wore normal dinner attire during Frozen night.
Formal and Semi-Formal Nights
We pre-purchased unlimited photos for our Disney Alaska cruise which gave us dozens of fun memories from staged portraits to character meet and greets.
Disney Cruise Line recommends “dress pants with a jacket or a suit for men, and dress or pantsuit for women” as suggested formal wear.
My husband wore dress pants, a dress shirt, and tie on these nights. I chose a simple off-the-shoulder black dress and a dressy jumpsuit while my daughter did some cute dresses.
Some people got glam with sequins and tuxes while others wore jeans. I felt great in our slightly dressed up outfits, got a couple family pictures, and happily changed to jeans after dinner. Again, do what makes you happy.
Frozen night, Semi-Formal, Formal Nights:
- Frozen inspired clothes like our Disneybound Anna and Elsa
- 2 formal or semi-formal outfits
Waterproof and Cold Weather Gear For Disney Alaska Cruises
Everyone recommends waterproof boots and rain jackets for a reason, you really do need them on an Alaskan cruise. If for some reason you have dry weather and blue skies rejoice in your good fortune instead of cursing that you packed waterproof gear.
Warm And Waterproof Jackets
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on our waterproof shoes, pants, and rain jackets since I wasn’t sure how much we’d use them. Waiting until late January and early February let me snag some discounted items, but not too late that sizes ran out.
My first investment was NorthFace Tri-Climate jackets for each of us. The flexibility of using the thin down coat and rain jacket separately, or zippered together for added warmth, made this the perfect Disney Alaska cruise coat for us.
Now that I invested in the TriClimate I find myself reaching for it often in spring, fall, and not-so-cold winter days. Here’s a link to my NorthFace TriClimate (Affiliate link: Buy on Amazon) in the same style, but different color.
Waterproof Shoes
When picking waterproof boots I wanted something stylish, but functional. I found these white Sorel waterproof hiking boots that kept my feet warm and dry, but also looked edgy with my Alaska uniform of jeans, t-shirts, and shackets. Now that I invested in these boots I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worn them which makes me super happy about the purchase (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon).
My husband ordered a different style of Sorel boots to protect him from the elements, but they don’t look like most traditional waterproof hiking boots. He can pair them with super casual clothes and even nice jeans with a sweater (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon).
Elizabeth ended up with adorable Hunter boots which worked well especially with wool socks.
Hat and Gloves
A hat and gloves are easy to pack, work well to keep you warm, and we used them a lot on our Alaskan cruise. We chose a flannel lined cable knit beanie and inexpensive knit gloves which worked perfect for our mid-summer cruise.
Guests at the beginning or end of Alaska cruise season should swap our thinner knit gloves for something warmer to combat the extra chill.
Waterproof Pants
I didn’t order waterproof pants until a couple of weeks before our trip. I struggled to justify the extra cost not knowing how much we’d actually use them. On our Alaska cruise the waterproof pants got used two times on port excursions, but we should have also worn them walking around Ketchikan in the rain.
The pants I finally bought were thin and easily slipped over what we were wearing which made them easy to pack.
The first time we used them we took a tender for close up glacier viewing where most of the viewing platforms are outside. It was steadily raining as we started our journey and I was glad to have all our waterproof gear.
We also used them to keep our pants dry when dogsledding on Mendehall Glacier. While I’m glad we had the waterproof pants, I am grateful they weren’t too expensive since we only used them twice.
Waterproof Gear:
- Packable down coat (or combination warm, waterproof jacket)
- Rain jacket
- Waterproof hiking boot or shoe
- Hat and gloves
- Waterproof pants
Toiletries
This is a very personal list, but I’ll suggest all the basics including items we skip for completeness. Disney Cruise Line provides large multi-use bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bolted into the shower.
Disney Wonder has a split bathroom with two sinks. One sink has liquid hand soap and the other has bar soap provided.
Although we don’t love the provided toiletries they work fine and save us from having to pack extra items. However, I always pack lotion because it isn’t always provided.
Bring basics like toothpaste, a toothbrush, deodorant, hair products, face serums, lip balm, razors, shave gel, make-up, make-up remover. We also bring hair tools like a straightener and curling iron, but there is a hair dryer provided in the room.
Although Alaska is quite rainy, there are days in Vancouver and Alaska full of sunshine. Be ready for slightly overcast and sunny days by packing sunscreen.
Pack electric shavers, but if they need to be plugged in there is only one special outlet in Disney Cruise Line staterooms.
Other nice to have toiletries are perfume or cologne, nail polish, nail polish remover pads, nail clippers, nail files, and tweezers.
For certain guests, packing menstrual products from home makes the trip more comfortable than grabbing one of the limited options onboard.
Disney Alaska Cruise Toiletries:
- Shampoo, conditioner, body wash (optional)
- Lotion
- Sunscreen
- Toothpaste and toothbrush
- Deodorant
- Face wash and serums
- Hair products
- Lip balm
- Razors and shave gel
- Make-up and make-up remover
- Straightener and/or curling iron
- Electric shaver
- Perfume or cologne
- Nail polish and nail polish remover pads
- Nail clippers and files
- Tweezers
- Menstrual products
Disney Alaska Cruise Medical Supplies
When packing, always bring all prescription medications in labeled containers with enough to last an extra few days in case of emergency. And don’t assume you can buy your usual over the counter medications in Vancouver or at the Alaska ports.
Alaska ports of call usually have small, poorly stocked pharmacies which don’t have a large selection of medications. And because Vancouver is in Canada the over the counter medications available can vary wildly from what you can buy at home.
For example, one of us forgot Astelin, an intranasal antihistamine for allergies. Since Astelin and similar medications are not available over the counter in Canada, it was a couple of rough days of allergy symptoms that could have been avoided.
There are sharps containers provided in Disney Cruise Line bathrooms which means you won’t need to bring a large container unless you spend a lot of time in Vancouver pre- or post-cruise.
Sea sickness is always a concern on cruises. Thankfully Disney Alaska cruises follow the inside passage which is relatively protected from large waves.
We always pack Sea Bands, a non-medication option that uses pressure points to reduce sea sickness symptoms. I also pack over the counter Dramamine All Day Less Drowsy Motion Sickness Relief for adults and used to pack a kid’s version when Elizabeth was younger.
Elizabeth and I often get seasick on Bahamian cruises, but didn’t need to use any of our usual treatments for Alaska. However, I still recommend packing sea sickness treatments to be safe.
It’s a good idea to pack some adult and children’s pain relievers like Tylenol and Advil, some cough and cold meds, and a thermometer. We also bring our own band-aids and hydrocortisone cream to manage small issues without needing onboard care.
Disney Alaska Cruise Medical Items:
- Prescription medications
- Over the counter medications
- Sea sickness treatments (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon)
- Adult and children’s pain relievers
- Thermometer
- Cough and cold medications
- Band-aids
- Hydrocortisone cream
Miscellaneous Disney Alaska Cruise Items
This final section is full of random seeming items that are really important on a Disney Alaska cruise.
While you use phones less on a Disney cruise than at the theme parks, phones are still needed for the Navigator, a list of the day’s activities, and onboard texting.
Pack phone chargers for nightly recharges. Since outlets are limited we used this charging block (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon) which plugs into one outlet, but simultaneously charges up to six devices.
Pack a camera to document this once-in-a-lifetime experience. More adventurous guests should bring a GoPro for hands-free action shots perfect for active shore excursions.
Binoculars are helpful for scouting the shoreline for animals or finding whales in the water. Some animal sighting excursions also recommend packing binoculars. We found this pair (affiliate link: Buy on Amazon) that are relatively compact, but worked well for this trip and also one to Maine.
Since the weather swings from rainy to overcast to sunny by the moment we were glad to have our sunglasses with us. Sunglasses are crucial if dogsledding on Mendenhall Glacier, too.
Disney characters are everywhere on Disney Alaska cruises and packing supplies makes for the perfect opportunity to collect autographs. While we used to use autograph books they just sat around after our trips.
Over the last few years we have started making Disney autograph pillowcases and Disney autograph ornaments instead. These autograph items get a lot more use and remind us of the fun we’ve had at Disney.
Bug spray is another easily overlooked, but essential item to pack for a Disney Alaska cruise. In July there were a shocking amount of bugs despite relatively cool weather. We were grateful to have bug repellent which kept us comfortable during several port adventures.
Lastly, the days are very long during an Alaskan cruise. During our July cruise the sunrise was around 4 am and sunset around 11 pm, with some variations by day and location.
We were grateful for the blackout curtains, but packed sleep masks for additional help blocking light that still filtered in around the edges. I always pack ear plugs, too, but thankfully didn’t need them on this particular trip.
Disney Alaska Cruise Miscellaneous Items
- Phone charges
- Camera and GoPro
- Disney character autograph supplies
- Binoculars
- Sunglasses
- Bug spray
- Sleep mask and ear plugs
Final Thoughts On Our Free Printable Disney Alaska Cruise Packing List
Thanks for hanging in there! I know that was a lot to cover, but packing well for an Alaska cruise is extremely important. Between starting in a foreign country to only stopping in very small ports of call, having essentials on hand keeps everyone comfortable.
Ready to pack or start buying essentials? Here’s a link to our free printable Disney Alaska Cruise packing list to keep you organized and get ready for your trip.
For more tips on taking your first Disney Alaska cruise use our full planning guide which has more details about this amazing vacation.
