Just back and dissapointed in Glacier Bay

I am just back from an Alaska cruise - northbound "Voyage of the Glaciers" on the Island Princess. Glacier Bay is so highly touted, and it seemed there was little to view. It was a beautiful day - hardly had to bundle up, but not much in glaciers to view. Most had receeded and were were so disappointed. the day was anti-clamatic. College Fjord was better.

What does everyone else think???

What does everyone else think???

I know we had a spectacular time last Tuesday at Hubbard Glacier. Take a look at this video I took and you tell me how it compared to your adventure:

Sneak peak video of Hubbard Glacier 7-4-2006

I agree that the hype is there for quite a build-up of expectation, but we did find Glacier Bay to be beautiful. However, like you, I found College Fjord to be just as fabulous. We enjoyed Aialik glacier on the Kenai Fjords cruise, also.

I have to say after visiting all of those this year, my favorite glacial area is Tracy Arm, where we visited last year via small boat excursion. The Sawyer Glaciers themselves aren't as dramatic as some of the above mentioned, but WoW, the whole fjord with the gorgeous huge blue icebergs calved by the Sawyer glaciers more than make up for smaller glaciers.

Next cruise I'm looking for an intinerary that includes Hubbard and enough port time in Juneau to go back to Tracy Arm on a small boat tour.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with Glacier Bay. There are two things I've read over and over on this board: Glacier Bay is not to be missed, and HAL and Princess are superior to other cruiselines when it comes to Alaskan cruises. I originally booked a Royal Caribbean Alaska cruise for next June. Once Princess and HAL released their 2007 schedules and prices, I decided to switch to the Pacific Princess for the itinerary (3 port towns and 3 glaciers - although still no Glacier Bay!) and the small size of the ship. I'd like to go to Glacier Bay some day, and I'm hoping I'll like how Princess "does Alaska"!

We were at Glacier Bay only two weeks ago and found it to be spectacularly

beautiful. We went to College Fjord before that and actually loved it as

much. Initially my comment to my husband was "Is that it?" about Glacier

Bay (referring go Magerie Glacier) but upon drawing much closer, we

were able to get within a quarter mile of Margerie, and the views

were spectacular.

I thought Hubbard was larger and more dramatic, but Glacier Bay itself,

if you take the totality of the large mountains in the background, the

emerald color of the water, the glaciers, all told it was one of the

most magestic places I've ever visited, and Princess does it the BEST!

I haven't seen any of the other places mentioned, but we were on the Star (our first cruise) a few weeks ago in Glacier Bay. It wasn't so much the glaciers themselves that I found amazing (maybe because I overslept and was in our cabin on the wrong side of the ship drying my hair when the only calving took place:) ), but just the overall look of the place. I'd seen pictures of the Bay in sunlight that looked beautiful, and at first I was disappointed that we had a misty day, but actually, in the mist, I felt like I was on another planet. Even now, looking at my pictures, there's an amazing contrast between the bright colors of the Star's pool deck and the swirls of mist around the mountains and the gray/green of the water with all the chunks of ice in it.

On my next trip (and I'm determined that there WILL be another trip) I hope to see Tracy Arm.

I am just back from an Alaska cruise - northbound "Voyage of the Glaciers" on the Island Princess. Glacier Bay is so highly touted, and it seemed there was little to view. It was a beautiful day - hardly had to bundle up, but not much in glaciers to view. Most had receeded and were were so disappointed. the day was anti-clamatic. College Fjord was better.

 

What does everyone else think???

I am so sorry you did not find Glacier Bay to be spectacular. We were there Sept. 2004 on HAL Zaandam and got so close that the seal pups were out basking in the sun on the ice chunks. The glaciers were fabulously blue with huge snow covered mountains behind them, a bright blue sky and every few minutes we would hear the roar of white thunder and watch the glaciers calve. Last year we went on Diamond Princess and were so disappointed in Tracy Arm. The trip to the glaciers was really beautiful, waterfalls, etc., but when we "arrived" the moderator told us to look to our right and we could see way in the distance what looked like a glacier, then as our ship turned, we saw another glacier way off to our left. I could not believe that was it. Maybe because the Z is smaller, it can get up closer to the glaciers - I really don't know. We took pics of Glacier Bay with a disposable throw away camera and they pics look like picture postcards - so perfect. Sooo, to say the least, we were awed by G.B. gg

I love Glacier Bay - the whole day getting there and leaving is incredible! I like it better than College Fiords but I can see why people like CF better. I am still in awe when I look at my pictures. I am amazed at the number of people who just go outside when the ship reaches the main glacier - they are missing out big time.

The experience wouldn't be any different being on the Zaandam. When on a cruise ship, you can only get so close. The difference would be when in a boat.

I agree with sym1966 -Tracy Arm by small boat is incredible. Though I understand it is not the same when on a cruise ship.

Coral, I agree! The whole day sailing in and out was incredible! I saw so many whales, seals, sea lions on the way in that I thought I was going to fall overboard with excitement :D

The glaciers were awesome and we had some calving activity in early June...but the sound of the whales blowing and the wildlife sightings were the best part ;)

garden4cook,

What do you mean the glaciers had receded? Were they not calving at the shore? When we went in 1999 the glaciers didn't look like anything special at first, but as we sat and watched and the calving started, it

was an awesome power. All they are is a river of ice, until they start calving. That's the only time the glaciers are spectacular. I was more worried about all the ice in the bay. I was fearful we would hit a chunk and do damage to the ship. Maybe a flight over and to land on the glacier would have been more exciting to you. The scenic beauty of the Bay is what is so spectacular, and to realize the bay was actually created by those glaciers over the years. The bay didn't used to be there at all, so yes, the glaciers have receded over the years, but they say all of the ice is receding. Hope yo enjoyed the rest of your trip.:p

I've sailed all the glacier areas, and Glacier Bay is still my favorite. I've also done many boat tours of glaciers, all are different and unique at the time. To each his own in preferences. :)

I agree that the hype is there for quite a build-up of expectation, but we did find Glacier Bay to be beautiful. However, like you, I found College Fjord to be just as fabulous. We enjoyed Aialik glacier on the Kenai Fjords cruise, also.

 

I have to say after visiting all of those this year, my favorite glacial area is Tracy Arm, where we visited last year via small boat excursion. The Sawyer Glaciers themselves aren't as dramatic as some of the above mentioned, but WoW, the whole fjord with the gorgeous huge blue icebergs calved by the Sawyer glaciers more than make up for smaller glaciers.

 

Next cruise I'm looking for an intinerary that includes Hubbard and enough port time in Juneau to go back to Tracy Arm on a small boat tour.

If you don't mind sharing, can you tell me the small boat excursion that you took to Tracy Arm? If you have a link, I would appreciate that also. Thanks much.

A few years ago we did Glacier Bay after it being hyped up to us, we were very dissapointed. We read in brochures etc about 13 tide water glaciers but you only see a few of them & of what you do see, only the Margerie glacier is worth looking at in my humble opinion. The Ranger selling logo items in the observation lounge actually said to someone "if the brochures told it like it is no one would come" I kid you not! Perhaps we were more dissapointed as we had previously done the inside passage to North Cape of Norway, no glaciers but more scenic in our opinion. Since then we have done the Chilean fjords & enjoyed those glaciers much more than glacier bay Alaska.

If you don't mind sharing, can you tell me the small boat excursion that you took to Tracy Arm? If you have a link, I would appreciate that also. Thanks much.

Here is the tour that sym and I went on (at seperate times): http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

Only a few cruise ships have the time required to book this trip as it requires a full day in Juneau.

If you don't mind sharing, can you tell me the small boat excursion that you took to Tracy Arm? If you have a link, I would appreciate that also. Thanks much.

Coral got the link to you!;) It really is a most amazing trip. Very long day, and we were exhausted by the time we made it back to Juneau, but very worthwhile! I know Coral and I both agree on that.:)

Page 2 and 3 are my Tracy Arm photos if you like to see some beautiful icebergs/scenery!

http://sym1966.mysharedphotos.com/alaska%202005/layout2/12.htm

Coral got the link to you!;) It really is a most amazing trip. Very long day, and we were exhausted by the time we made it back to Juneau, but very worthwhile! I know Coral and I both agree on that.:)

 

 

Page 2 and 3 are my Tracy Arm photos if you like to see some beautiful icebergs/scenery!

http://sym1966.mysharedphotos.com/alaska%202005/layout2/12.htm

 

Pictures are breathtaking. Great job!!! What kind of camera did you use ??? Thanks, gg

Pictures are breathtaking. Great job!!! What kind of camera did you use ??? Thanks, gg

Thank you! :) I loved that excursion!!!

My camera is a Kodak EasyShare 5.0MP with a 10x zoom, a couple of years old now. Nothing fancy, not the most expensive, but one I can use without spending a week reading a manual to figure out.

Glacier Bay is great but as I did not really know what to expect.

I assumed there would be more to it then marjorie glacier. I suppose I thought there would be a series of similar glaciers. None the less we both really enjoyed it but I can see how you could be a little let down if your expectations were different.

The calving was better at marjorie then at college fjords so in my view that made it better.

Next trip I think I'll try hubbard and maybe one of the small boat excursions that take you close in.

SYME:

YOur pictures are spectacular!

I really enjoyed seeing them.

Coral got the link to you!;) It really is a most amazing trip. Very long day, and we were exhausted by the time we made it back to Juneau, but very worthwhile! I know Coral and I both agree on that.:)

 

 

Page 2 and 3 are my Tracy Arm photos if you like to see some beautiful icebergs/scenery!

http://sym1966.mysharedphotos.com/alaska%202005/layout2/12.htm

 

Thanks for responding to my post, appreciate the help.

Glacier Bay was the reason we chose the July 5 Holland America cruise on the Volendam and we weren’t disappointed. Budget Queen was right on when she recommended port side cabins. The narration is given while going in with the view on the port side. We had great views of Margerie Glacier from our veranda, it was so convenient having the lenses I wanted to use spread out on the bed where I could quickly pop in and grab the one I wanted. The sun was out and the veranda was quite pleasant temperature wise. The glacier was very active with many instances of calving. Using continuous mode on my camera I was able to get two great sequences of very large blocks of ice falling off the glacier face. Glacier Bay was everything we had hoped it to be.

We were in Glacier Bay in September 2004 and fortunately for us they had opened up the arm to John Hopkins Glacier to traffic just 2 weeks before. We parked there for an hour to watch the calving. I guess that was a bonus for going late in the season....the seal breeding season was over and more areas were opened up. By the time we got to Margerie Glacier and the Grand Pacific most people were back inside in the warm. Glacier Bay was great for us but having said that, Glacier Bay doesn't even come close to our trip to Columbia Glacier (out of Valdez) in a small boat. That was awesome.

I was at Glacier Bay earlier this month with Princess. I thought it was great. Certainly it meant being outside much of the day in order to see the beautiful scenery. I could have been on my balcony in my stateroom and the ship turned around 180 degrees in order to let both sides of the ship see Marjerie Glacier. But I wanted to be outside and at the front so I could move quickly from one side to another.

I had my camera out and to my eye for the better part of 1-1/2 hours and was able to see a large chunk of the glacier calving. Incredible. Besides that we just enjoyed the incredible serenity of the area.

On the way out of Glacier Bay we saw Johns Hopkins glacier from a distance. Our weather was absolutely beautiful though it was a bit windy at times. Gloves were a nice thing to have earlier in the day.

I would definitely go to Glacier Bay again. If possible, I think going on a smaller boat from near Gustavus would be great too. But that takes some advance planning and it is not easy to get to Gustavus.

Sometimes it is hard - for me at least - to stop and smell the roses. I often want to be "going" or "doing" and Glacier Bay is not a place for that. It is a place to absorb the tremendous natural beauty. I am glad that Princess spent an entire day there.

"fti" is correct. Glacier Bay needs to be enjoyed from the moment the ship enters the area until she leaves. We just returned from two weeks in Alaska with one week being on the Coral Princess. We absorbed Glacier Bay out on the "unknown" front balcony from 5:30 am until 1:30 pm. We even took the chairs from our balcony and took turns making "runs" to Horizon Court to bring back breakfast and lunch...we were determined not to miss a moment. We were not disappointed. There is so much to be enjoyed, experienced, and be brought to your knees by...a pleasure that was made even more meaningful by our naturalist "Barabra" who pointed out and enhanced everything special detail. She kept saying "Be at peace and let the land talk to you." We decovered, with her help, that the glacier experience is more than sitting in front of one waiting for it to calf. Granted, at College Fjord the Harvard Galcier calved a chuck that was bigger than a school bus but that spectacle did not detract from Glacier Bay. We departed Alaska appreciating and loving the non-tidewater glaciers as much as those whose feet were underwater.

For you cruisers who plan to stay on your balcony to watch the passage or to observe the glaciers...you are missing so very much. Go to an area that has no walls, windows, or roof and stay out there. The majesty of the sight is far greater than the pleasure of a balcony can provide. It can be compared to watching a movie on the big screen in a theater versus watching the same movie on your 52 inch flat screen...no contest! (We had a balcony on the starboard side and used it extensively, but for the best viewing we abondoned it for the open skies of that front balcony under the bridge.)

We have been on many cruises but this is the only one where we missed every ship production because the passing landscape offered the greatest show.

Go to an area that has no walls, windows, or roof and stay out there.

 

...this is the only one [cruise] where we missed every ship production because the passing landscape offered the greatest show.

You hit on 2 incredibly important key points to fully enjoying the majestic beauty of Alaska while cruising, in my opinion!

I hope to someday afford the small ship experience where Alaska IS the highlight.