Tracy Arm Fjord or Glacier Bay?

I am in the process of booking an Alaska cruise in July 2017.

Both the Emerald and Ruby are sailing out of Seattle with one going to Tracy Arm Fjord and one to Glacier Bay.

Is one better than the other? The Emerald is going to the Tracy Arm Fjord and the cost is lower than the Ruby's itinerary.

I am in the process of booking an Alaska cruise in July 2017.

 

Both the Emerald and Ruby are sailing out of Seattle with one going to Tracy Arm Fjord and one to Glacier Bay.

 

Is one better than the other? The Emerald is going to the Tracy Arm Fjord and the cost is lower than the Ruby's itinerary.

Based upon my cruises to both places, this is my opinion.....

Cruising up the Tracy Arm fjord was spectacular. It is narrow with steep mountains on both sides and we saw some wildlife. When we got to the glacier we could not get as close as you can in Glacier Bay.

The glacier at Glacier Bay is the better of the two.

The scenery sailing in Tracy Arm impressed me more than the scenery in Glacier Bay.

Most people find that once they have taken an Alaskan cruise, they will want to take another one in the future. I am sure that you will feel the same way once you have been there so take the less expensive cruise first and then save up for the next cruise and maybe include a land tour along with the cruise.

We live in WA state on go on an alaska cruise about every other year. Done both itineraries several times. Glacier bay is more beautiful with many cascading glaciers but Tracy Arm is pretty too. If I had to pick, I would choose glacier bay if you plan on this being a once in a lifetime cruise. If you plan on seeing alaska every other year like we do and the fare is much lower, I would choose Tracy Arm. You can't go wrong with either IMO.

I have been on one cruise to Alaska and went to Glacier Bay. I will be going on another in May 2016 Tracy Arm. My understanding with Tracy Arm, you need to take a small boat excursion because the ship cannot get close enough.

I have been to both and would choose Tracy Arm to revisit. The ship offered a shore excursion in Tracy Arm that was expensive but really nice. Nothing was offered in Glacier Bay, which was disappointing.

Thank you for all of your advice. Not sure yet if this will be a one time cruise, or if we will do it again. DS is a teacher so can only cruise in the summer.

I think I will go ahead and book the Emerald itinerary to Tracy Arm Fjord and then it will be a good excuse to go back again.

Glacier Bay is pretty much a sure thing.

Tracy Arm is not a sure thing and is often missed. I have attempted it 4x, 2x on a small boat and have not seen it yet (saw part of it once, but not the glacier at the end). So even small boats won't always go there if there is lots of ice (mostly due to time).

I would do Glacier Bay. My first cruise missed the glacier and it was very disappointing.

OK, now I have to rethink my first decision. As this might be our only cruise to Alaska I want to make sure that we see the glaciers.:)

OK, now I have to rethink my first decision. As this might be our only cruise to Alaska I want to make sure that we see the glaciers.:)

Glacier Bay is a National Park and restricts only 2 cruise ships per day. Only certain lines have access to Glacier Bay (RCCL and Celebrity do not and would love to have access to it). Park Rangers board the ship that day and have informational sessions. This doesn't happen for Tracy Arm or Hubbard Glacier.

Glacier Bay cruises are in more of a demand compared to Tracy Arm.

Glacier Bay is a National Park for a reason. Most of my trips to Tracy Arm have ended up at Endicott Arm as Tracy Arm was not accessible.

Love Glacier Bay. That's what I would pick

Hands down, glacier bay. Tracy arm was good, and it was a good sail in but nothing compares to getting up close and personal with the glaciers

One of my favorite things are the waters as we approach/leave Glacier Bay Park because we usually have good luck with animal sightings there (have seen whale, seals - or were those sea lions? - sea otters, and a few puffins the last time). Fun to watch the Park Rangers as the board from the transfer boats, and their programs are very interesting. Alaska cruising has so much beautiful scenery - make sure you bring binoculars!

I have been on one cruise to Alaska and went to Glacier Bay. I will be going on another in May 2016 Tracy Arm. My understanding with Tracy Arm, you need to take a small boat excursion because the ship cannot get close enough.

Correct. From the ship, Tracy Arm is a scenic fiord without nearby glaciers. Depending on you itenerary, it may be just a service call for the excursion. You will need the excursion to get close to Sawyer Glacier. Depending on time of year (August for us), South Sawyer can look like a harbor seal nursery. It gets trickier. The noonish arrival into Juneau affects your Juneau excursions. As the name implies, Glacier Bay is full of glaciers visible from the ship. The northbound 7 day cruise used to do both. But that opens up another can of worms, which is better northbound with Tracy Arm or southbound with Hubbard Glacier. Decisions, decisions.

Another vote for Glacier Bay. You will not be disappointed.

I've been to Tracy Arm twice but never to Glacier Bay. Tracy Arm is breathtaking going up the fiord. The first cruise we took there was in very late September. We cruised all the way to Sawyer glacier and stayed there a couple of hours with the ship very slowly rotating so good views were visable from balconies on both sides if you wished to stay at your room. We got about 1/4 mile from the glacier and it was an experience to see and hear the ice calving from the glacier. You could see seal lions on icebergs get tumbled around when it happened. Also, the blue color of the glacier is a remarkable sight.

The next time I cruised there, was in July and we didn't get far enough to even see the glacier from a distance. It was still a great experience going up the fiord, we say mountain goats too. But No glacier.

So if you're not going very late in the season, you likely won't get very close to Sawyer Glacier.

Our first two cruises to Alaska went to Tracy Arm. We thought the scenery was spectacular. Our last one went to Glacier Bay. The glaciers there are more impressive--and the ship was able to get a lot closer. But I wouldn't base my whole decision on that one itinerary point. I'd look at the times in the other port stops as well before deciding.

Our first cruise which was northbound we visited Glacier Bay. Our second cruise out of Seattle we visited Tracy Arm. What a disappointment and never again. We were definitely not impressed at all.

If you are taking the time and expense to travel from Windsor to Alaska why gyp yourself sailing the round trip Inside Passage and not the Voyage of the Glaciers between Vancouver and Whittier? You can get both Glacier Bay and either College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier on the same cruise, plus the first and last days are not redundant days at sea (that contrary to the moniker do NOT go through the Inside Passage but are on the dreary open Pacific).

I agree with Glacier Bay. When we went to Tracys Arm we didn't get very close to the glacier was really hard to see.

Our first Alaska cruise stopped at Tracy Arm. Are next two were to Glacier Bay. IMHO, both were beautiful and we loved Tracy Arm -- until we decided to go back and saw Glacier Bay. As Coral mentioned, the number of ships in Glacier Bay is limited plus the on-board Park Rangers = the extra cost. As others have said, Tracy Arm can be hit or miss, particularly later in the season (we were there in early June and just barely made it up the channel -- later cruises could not get as close because of all of the broken-off ice in the water).

I would say you can't go wrong with either, but all other things being equal, Glacier Bay is definitely worth the extra cost.

I spoke to DS and told him the difference in pricing and all of the information I have received here. We have decided to take the Ruby out of Seattle and do the Glacial Bay itinerary. He lives in Alberta Canada, so we will drive out and pick him up before heading down to Seattle. This will be his first cruise and as I mentioned before he is a teacher so he can only cruise in the summer. Hopefully he will want to go again and we can take one of the other cruises next time. As always, thanks for all of your advice and information in helping me make this decision.

We HAVE enjoyed both many times.

You can't go wrong with either.....IMO. :)

Thanks everyone. I just booked our first suite for our Alaska Cruise. DS decided it was better to sleep on the sofa bed than to have to pay twice as much for a solo cabin. We are really looking forward to this cruise.:D

Thanks everyone. I just booked our first suite for our Alaska Cruise. DS decided it was better to sleep on the sofa bed than to have to pay twice as much for a solo cabin. We are really looking forward to this cruise.:D

Enjoy your SUITE!