If you like to dress up, by all means do so for dinner on your Alaskan cruise. Although I normally do not dress up, I did take a formal outfit and a less formal but still dressy outfit for dinner, and was glad I did. Although the general atmosphere is casual in Alaska, the cruise experience is something else. The difference for Alaska is that you don't have to dress as formally to still be "cruise formal."

When on shore, though, that's a different thing altogether.

Different cruise ships have different policies for "formal" nights, and some don't even have them at all, any more, but a watered-down version called something slightly different.

You can check Cruise Critic for general policies here
http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=545

as well as looking at the particular cruise that you've booked.

Andrea and ileen -

You can definitely still dress up when not on an excursion! We cruised Alaska about six years ago (hopefully not too much changed since then) on Celebrity.
I agree the general atmosphere was more casual than some other itineraries, but there were plenty of people who dressed for dinner just like any other cruise - if you have the clothes and enjoy dressing up, by all means, do it! I like to dress up a little more, and while I had athletic clothes for some excursions, if we were just wandering around town or spending a sea day on the ship, I was perfectly happy in a casual dress and sweater. So don't feel like you have to live in fleece if that isn't you - you will see a little bit of everything and definitely not feel out of place.

Moosey--Thanks for your reply. This helps me a lot. I like to be slightly dressed up for dinner time everyday.

Using only a carry-on suitcase and will take whatever I can fit---casual, athletic and some dress up too.

Now counting days.

>>Using only a carry-on suitcase and will take whatever I can fit---casual, athletic and some dress up too.<<

I always travel carry-on only - when my cousin and I did an Alaska cruise we were just about the only people on board who didn't have ginormous bags. A big advantage -- you can disembark when ever you want and not have to wait for your group. Just walk off when you are ready.

We managed to be very dressy whenever we wanted. We dressed up (as opposed to just semi-dressy) three different nights. I used a pair of Eileeen Fisher wide legged 'floaty' pants w/ very dressy tops and my cousin used a short black skirt and long culottes. All fit in our carry ons.

Janisj--Truly appreciate your reply. Glad you approve of my ideas about packing as well as wearing some dressy sort of outfits.

Really do not like to look totally casual even on vacation.

Good to know that with carry on bag only we will be able to disembark easily. I am sure it will be very,very helpful as I am hearing that disembarking can be a chaotic experience.

You and your cousin could have won the "Best Dressed Ladies" if there was a mini contest.

Anyway, we want to have fun and dressing up is I think part of it all. Looking forward to my trip.

Have a great day.

The last Celebrity cruise we were on (to New Zealand) referred to the so-called formal night as one in which folks were asked to "dress to impress." There was nothing about "formal" mentioned.