While many will say that Glacier Bay is a “must see,” I think the Hubbard Glacier is a close second. We visited Glacier Bay many years ago on one of our HAL cruises and it is impressive. However, after our last cruise on HAL in 2019, we decided the ships were too big for us. After 18 cruises on HAL, we are no longer Halfans (see our cruise critic nickname).
Last summer we booked an Alaska cruise on the Silver Muse and loved it so much that we booked a three week cruise on the Silver Dawn in the Caribbean which we took last month. I was afraid that I might be disappointed by not going to Glacier Bay on the Alaska cruise, but Hubbard Glacier is quite a sight. The ship sails up a smaller bay and circles around in front of the glacier for an hour or so – similar to what they do in Glacier Bay but for a shorter time frame.
Given that you enjoy luxury cruising, I would recommend taking the Silver Nova especially after you mentioned that HAL would cost more. Although it’s been several years since we were on HAL, the food, service and amenities were never at a level with Silversea. We were in a Neptune Suite once, and while there is a concierge in the Neptune Lounge, they never provided the level of service that you receive from your butler on Silversea.
If you do take a cruise to or from Seward, I would recommend staying there an extra day and taking the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. The one we took was about 6 hours and we saw glaciers, whales, puffins and lots of other amazing scenery and wildlife.