I am planning a 7day Alaska cruise in late August, and also plan for kayaking and doing helicopter tour. I was told mostly for the cruise, I'd need short sleeve shirts with sweat jackets since it's cold and rains sometimes. Long pants and windbreaker jacket & pants(like ski jacket & pants) are highly recommended. I guess swim suit and shorts should be left at home? Any recommendation? Thanks

We cruised Alaska in 2001 in August and the temperatures were in the 70s -- very comfortable for us, and no rain. Check your local weathermap or weather.com for projected temperatures a day or two before you leave and you'll get an idea of the forecast.
A light fleece jacket layered over short or long sleeved shirts is fine. Take a rainjacket to wear over it all and you should be set. Bring extra sneakers or hiking boots if rain is in the forecast. Everyone went swimming on the cruise. There were two pools-- an indoor and outdoor on the ship so if the weather was chilly, we went indoors. The kids wore shorts most of the time. Didn't kayak or helicopter tho, so can't help you there, although the ocean water IS in Alaska, so I suspect it will be cold.

We sailed in May and it was sunny and warm. We wore shorts and went swimming. It was gorgeous!

We sailed once in July and it poured all week and was cold - no shorts or swimming for us that week.

Be prepared for both.

Anything can happen. We went mid-August. I never got to wear shorts and was glad I brought sweaters. Gloves are good to have too for glacier viewing day.

I'd like some help on this one too. We're doing the Inside Passage for a week in August, and I don't want to overpack, but don't want to get stuck with the wrong clothes. Do I really need to bring hiking boots? Guess I'm not familiar with the types of excursions offered. Any more advice out there re: how much to pack? Thanks.

We completed an Inside Passage the first week of August.
If you enjoy relaxing in a heated pool, take your swim wear. The pools were crowded on our ship, even though the air was cool. Shorts you can probably leave behind, although it's in the 70s in parts of Alaska this week.
Definitely bring some sort of windbreaker. The air is cold up on deck from the movement of the ship. It is also cold if you go rafting, whale watching or glacier walking. Take gloves, too.
Also, bring something waterproof. The odds are that you will need it sometime during your trip.
Overall, you have to plan on layering. It can start off cold, warm up, and start raining all in one afternoon excursion.
On the glacier helicopter ride and walk, and on our rafting trip, boots were provided.

Hi. Just got back from alaska on celebrity mercury ... we weren't sure what to bring, and therefore brought everything (and needed very little of it). We had what they called historically gorgeous weather while we were up there (8/3-8/10) ... no rain, and high 60s to mid 70s every day....even had sun in Juneau and Sitka! I hate being cold and brought enough layers that I could have duplicated the michelin man's look if need be ... barely needed anything. Our coldest day was cruising Hubbard Glacier - I wore a pair of tights under a pair of sweats on bottom, an undershirt, light turtleneck and light fleece pullover, and was fine. (i did wear thin gloves too). Had the same thing with me to go on the glacier/dogsled excursion and ended up taking off the fleece, too hot. Had it been less sunny, I would have needed a hat and an extra layer of fleece, and thicker gloves - that's it. However, we were warned about how miserable and how much colder it can be if it rains - if you bring all of the above, and a good rain jacket (we actually bought rain pants at REI for $18, which we never needed but would have been great had it been wet!) .. you'll be fine. We did spend a day or two on deck in shorts, and did bring two bathing suits - one for on deck (again, if the sun shines, it's warm enough out of the wind), and one for the thalassotherapy pool. As to hiking boots, we did a hike and were out on the glacier, and we were both glad we had them... but we didn't HAVE to have them.

Enjoy - it was our favorite trip ever!

Went in June of 2000. Loved seeing Alaska, and the Regal Princess was a lovely ship. But... if I had it to do over again, I'd start up north and go south everyday so I'd get a little bit warmer each day. I though it was cold in June when I went. I had to buy a jacket on the ship. We had lots of rain and chilly temps, I thought.