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Walking Shoes for Alaska


baltodave

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We have an Alaskan cruise in 10 months (can't start too early to plan).  Anyway, I've been reading about what to bring and one of the most common suggestions is water-proof shoes.  We won't be doing serious hiking so I'm not looking for boots (plus they can be so bulky to pack).  What recommendations to folks have?  I'm looking for something that won't break the bank and are as comfortable as my athletic sneakers.

Thanks!

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In 2018, wife and I both bought inexpensive lightweight hiking boots from Amazon that looked more like sneakers... and we spent 10 days on land before our cruise and did quite a bit of hiking including in Denali, on a glacier, as well as dog sledding up on another glacier in the mountains. Plenty of walking around various towns on concrete, trails, etc. Wore them on the ship as well.

They were basically sneakers with extra tread (waterproof of course) and it looked just like we were wearing sneakers with jeans. Wore them for all 18 days of the trip.

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4 hours ago, baltodave said:

We have an Alaskan cruise in 10 months (can't start too early to plan).  Anyway, I've been reading about what to bring and one of the most common suggestions is water-proof shoes.  We won't be doing serious hiking so I'm not looking for boots (plus they can be so bulky to pack).  What recommendations to folks have?  I'm looking for something that won't break the bank and are as comfortable as my athletic sneakers.

Thanks!

We bought waterproof hiking boots and while we wore them I do not think we needed them.  Even walking about Ketchikan in the rain really didn't require hiking boots.  It is really a function of your excursions.  We were either on a bus, a train or a boat cabin (whale watching) for most of the time we spent on excursions.  If you are planning some serious hiking then yes, boots would be good. 

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15 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

It rained most of our entire trip to Seattle and Alaska.  Never found the need for "rain" shoes.  We walked approximately 18,000 steps per day.  We did moderate hiking.  Its just additional luggage that we felt unnecessary. 

In what month was your cruise to Alaska?

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18 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I basically purchased a pair of shoes like these for Alaska: https://www.academy.com/p/magellan-outdoors-womens-sonora-pass-low-hiker-shoes

They were reasonably priced, comfortable and did the trick.  I still wear them when we go camping.

They are inexpensive!   Now I need to find similar ones for Men.

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Look for something that is in a price range you feel comfortable with.  On Amazon, you have 30 days to return with full refund including shipping, so if you don't like the fit or feel, you can send them back. I look for shoes with lots (in the thousands or at least high hundreds) of reviews and then read the reviews and see the questions page.  You can tell if they are true to size or have a "weakness" in the design. Then get them weeks if not months before and start breaking them in. 

I have a pair of hiking shoes that I really like but they are bulky. I will wear them on the plane, so I don't have to pack them. I will pack some Top-Sider type shoes that I can slip on and walk around the ship. They will work with most anything including my Khaki, golf shirt, sports coat (will also wear it on the plane) for formal night.

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We went to REI and asked them to help us find something we could use both in Alaska and here at home in South Texas in the chillier months. We all opted for waterproof but the days we were in Alaska, waterproof was not really needed but we didn’t want to take any chances.  I have found them of more use here walking across my wet lawn at home, lol. As others have said, it could depend on your excursions. We did Neets Bay Bear Watch, Endicott Arm Glacier Tour and Pilot’s Choice Glacier Tour. My wife and daughter both chose a mid but I went with a low (my preference). We did see folks wearing sandals on our bear watch tour and do not recommend that should you choose an excursion with trails.  

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I am going to Alaska next summer as well. I'm not much of a hiker but I love to walk & my regular sneakers are definitely not waterproof. 

I ordered these from Amazon, they were on sale & had lots of good reviews. I'm also able to return them if they don't work out. Figured I'd break them in this fall/winter.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HEH30LM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

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I'm not looking for boots like the one in your link (too bulky for me).  I'm looking for something as comfortable as my sneakers (that are also waterproof).

Which cruise are you taking?  We are taking Radiance on June 16 2023.  It will by my 11th cruise!  The first 9 were all in the Caribbean and the 10th was Greek/Adriatic.  So, it will be our first time in Alaska.  Can't wait!

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I like having the ankle support, I'm kind of a klutz! I'll definitely have to wear them on the plane.

We're also on Radiance, but the July 14th sailing - Vancouver to Seward. It's the 3rd cruise for hubby & I (first non Caribbean) but we are traveling with family that has never cruised before.

We are so overwhelmed with planning. Too early for flights but we have an Airbnb booked in Vancouver.  Now to figure out what to do and where to stay in Alaska for a few days. Group of 6 all in our early to late 50's.

We are very excited, I'll be watching this board like crazy till we cruise!

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10 minutes ago, NJCruisers said:

I like having the ankle support, I'm kind of a klutz! I'll definitely have to wear them on the plane.

We're also on Radiance, but the July 14th sailing - Vancouver to Seward. It's the 3rd cruise for hubby & I (first non Caribbean) but we are traveling with family that has never cruised before.

We are so overwhelmed with planning. Too early for flights but we have an Airbnb booked in Vancouver.  Now to figure out what to do and where to stay in Alaska for a few days. Group of 6 all in our early to late 50's.

We are very excited, I'll be watching this board like crazy till we cruise!

Awesome.  We have the same itinerary (Vancouver to Seward).  We booked flights through RCL's Air2Sea (Air Canada via Montreal and American Airlines on the return from Seward).   We are going to book a 3 day land-tour afterwards that will end up in Anchorage.   It appears that Jenna DeLaurentis went on the same cruise recently and has also written a great guide. Here's a link to her guide: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/alaska-cruises  and here's the link to the beginning of her vlog: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/08/27/radiance-of-the-seas-live-blog-day-1-embarkation-vancouver.  Both are full of good info. 

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Will definitely check those out. I have a ton of reading to do this weekend. My daughter keeps telling me to stop printing the internet, lol. I just need time away from a computer screen so sometimes that helps.

Do you know if Air2Sea allows you to arrive 2 days before? 4 of us are traveling from NJ/NY and 2 from PA. Air2Sea is on my list to research. We normally fly Jet Blue but they only have 1 flight per day to Vancouver, at night & only from JFK which is a hike for us so I need to figure out what to do.

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Yes!  It's a Friday-Friday cruise.  We are arriving the day before in Vancouver (Saturday) and leaving the Monday night afterwards. Here's the Air2Sea link:  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/flights/bookFlights.  After entering your booking number (and other info) , you can change the dates.  One thing to keep in mind:  AA allowed us to select seats (even though the flights aren't paid for yet).  However, Air Canada did not.  We plan on paying for the flights in a couple weeks.  I also looked at Alaska Air but the return flights all leave Anchorage after midnight!    Since we are working with a TA (MEI), after I reserved the flights, she got notified and I'll handle the payment through her.  

I don't know if Air2Sea works with JetBlue but if you are near NY, you have choices (JFK, LGA and Newark).  And if you're in South Jersey, there's always PHL.

FWIW, since we live near BWI, for cruises leaving Florida or Galveston I book flights (on SWA) on my own.  However, for our recent European cruise and this one, it was better to use Air2Sea.

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37 minutes ago, baltodave said:

Yes!  It's a Friday-Friday cruise.  We are arriving the day before in Vancouver (Saturday) and leaving the Monday night afterwards. Here's the Air2Sea link:  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/flights/bookFlights.  After entering your booking number (and other info) , you can change the dates.  One thing to keep in mind:  AA allowed us to select seats (even though the flights aren't paid for yet).  However, Air Canada did not.  We plan on paying for the flights in a couple weeks.  I also looked at Alaska Air but the return flights all leave Anchorage after midnight!    Since we are working with a TA (MEI), after I reserved the flights, she got notified and I'll handle the payment through her.  

I don't know if Air2Sea works with JetBlue but if you are near NY, you have choices (JFK, LGA and Newark).  And if you're in South Jersey, there's always PHL.

FWIW, since we live near BWI, for cruises leaving Florida or Galveston I book flights (on SWA) on my own.  However, for our recent European cruise and this one, it was better to use Air2Sea.

I put in my cruise information and got an error message that they don't support my cruise. 🤔 I too am working with an MEI TA so I'm sure I can have her look as well. 

I need to medicate to fly (I've also never flown this far), as much as my husband would love to have me sit with someone else unfortunately we need seats together, lol. 

Jet Blue only flies to Vancouver from JFK. I have a spreadsheet of flights for United & Air Canada out of Newark, I have to add Philly. We are only about 45 minutes from Newark and 1 hour and 45 from Philly so we definitely prefer Newark and flights will have to be a good amount less for us to adjust for that. Plus we would have to leave our car in Philly as opposed to getting a friend who drives for Uber to take us to Newark. I've been watching them on Hopper as well. Hoping for them to all go down a bit.

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11 minutes ago, NJCruisers said:

I put in my cruise information and got an error message that they don't support my cruise. 🤔 I too am working with an MEI TA so I'm sure I can have her look as well. 

I need to medicate to fly (I've also never flown this far), as much as my husband would love to have me sit with someone else unfortunately we need seats together, lol. 

Jet Blue only flies to Vancouver from JFK. I have a spreadsheet of flights for United & Air Canada out of Newark, I have to add Philly. We are only about 45 minutes from Newark and 1 hour and 45 from Philly so we definitely prefer Newark and flights will have to be a good amount less for us to adjust for that. Plus we would have to leave our car in Philly as opposed to getting a friend who drives for Uber to take us to Newark. I've been watching them on Hopper as well. Hoping for them to all go down a bit.

That's crazy.  I don't understand why your cruise is not supported by Air2Sea.  We had our MEI TA do the Air2Sea reservations for us on our recent Rhapsody cruise in Greece but we did Air2Sea ourselves for the Alaska cruise.  It was very nice of her (to handle the Greece flights) since I don't think the MEI TA's make any commission off of the Air2Sea reservations. 

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17 minutes ago, baltodave said:

That's crazy.  I don't understand why your cruise is not supported by Air2Sea.  We had our MEI TA do the Air2Sea reservations for us on our recent Rhapsody cruise in Greece but we did Air2Sea ourselves for the Alaska cruise.  It was very nice of her (to handle the Greece flights) since I don't think the MEI TA's make any commission off of the Air2Sea reservations. 

I thought so too, I triple checked that my information was correct too. I tried the I'm browsing option and it only offered round trip which obviously doesn't work for this cruise.

air2sea.png

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On 8/29/2022 at 1:22 PM, AshleyDillo said:

I basically purchased a pair of shoes like these for Alaska: https://www.academy.com/p/magellan-outdoors-womens-sonora-pass-low-hiker-shoes

They were reasonably priced, comfortable and did the trick.  I still wear them when we go camping.

thanks for this!! I need new sneaks. 

I'd like to add if it is rainy season bring wool socks to wear with your sneaks.  

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7 hours ago, baltodave said:

I'm not looking for boots like the one in your link (too bulky for me).  I'm looking for something as comfortable as my sneakers (that are also waterproof).

Which cruise are you taking?  We are taking Radiance on June 16 2023.  It will by my 11th cruise!  The first 9 were all in the Caribbean and the 10th was Greek/Adriatic.  So, it will be our first time in Alaska.  Can't wait!

Get some Keens in a low hiker model they are super comfy, the downside is that they don't last forever. Nothing is perfect. My Oboz's  will last and they are comfortable but bulky and hard to get on and off.  

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