Cruisin' Alaska - Part Two
So, the 7-day Princess Emerald cruise has two days at sea. These days can be whatever you make them. These days are when you're out of touch, unless you purchased the internet package or international plan with your cellphone provider. We did neither. It was nice to be out of touch until it wasn't. I was up on deck at the crack of east coast dawn to see if I had a signal, and was so happy like I'd finally found some water after being in the desert.
We didn't take many pictures those days at sea. Here's a quick picture story...
1st Formal Night
2nd Formal Night with our friends along with the servers Rocia and Miriam that we had each night for dinner.
2nd Formal Night - Me ignoring the camera because I wasn't ready to be nice.
2nd Formal Night - Mustering a fake smile, while still mad at Papa Bear. We got lost on our way to dinner and he rushed me in my wedges, and I wasn't the one who made us late.
What to Wear
Me in my Mama Bear shirt that I bought the day before I left, which made me take an additional pair of shoes and crop jeans that I never wore again (at least 2 pounds of clothing)
What to pack is what stressed me out the most leading up to the trip.
I had purchased a dress and packed a skirt for dinner and didn't wear either one.
I was disappointed that less than half of those dining, seemed to adhere to the "dress code". But I wasn't disappointed to bring back a dress with tags still attached.
People did their own thing. I personally would rather be dressed casually me than Kenya in a cocktail dress not me.
"Formal" Shoes
For our formal nights, I had two tops and then wore the same pair of flowy pants. I paired my "formal" outfits with shiny jewelry and black patent leather wedges.
Casual Shoes
For the casual dining, I had a pair of black linen pants, cream linen pants, and dressy denim pants. I wore the black linen pants twice and missed one dinner so I never had to wear my skirt.
It was only cold cold in the mornings. I had packed a scarf and gloves, but not a hat. I don't usually need a hat in North Carolina. The one time I could have used gloves, I was up so early that I was the only one on the top deck.
Souvenirs
The ship had a gift shop where I purchased this hat and scarf because I "needed" them, but I really got them because they were my favorite color. They both are branded inconspicuously with "Alaska".
*The best souvenir shops branding Alaska, were at the first port stop in Ketchikan.
The Perfect Accessory
I LOVE THIS SCARF!!!
And it's even prettier in person.
I'm not an accessory scarf wearer. I've tried really hard to be one. I have a bunch of scarves that just don't work for me. Somehow the size and the way I styled them just made my boobs look bigger. But this scarf was huge; definitely something to hide behind if you wanted to wrap it around a bathing suit. I used it as a wrap on one dining night and wore it nearly everyday on and off of the ship. If I can cover my neck, I'm usually warm enough no matter what else I have on.
“Travel tip: Don’t pack anything that only goes with one thing except for walking shoes.”
— Sporadically Yours
So I slightly overpacked. I weighed my suitcase at home and it was 42 pounds. However, the wheels must have been touching the floor because at the airport it weighed 55 pounds. Ooops. I was able to split things up between two suitcases for the return.
All I Needed to Pack
Best scarf ever
Best no show socks ever
Best shoes ever, until I wore them for 20,000 steps in Seattle
Jeans that can be cropped
Several mix & match shirts to dress up and down
A light jacket. One time it warmed up enough that I took my jacket off and tied it around my waist.
A rain jacket with a hood (didn't need it, but we were told we had nice weather like it's rare)
Flowy pants and two dress tops - good enough for "formal"
Three pair of pants that can be dressed up or down.
This concludes part two!