Matanuska Glacier or Prince William Sound

[warriorprincess]

We are taking a Princess Cruise in July 2013. We are spending several days pre-cruise DIY land tours. We are trying to decide if we should explore Matanuska Glacier with MICA guides or do a Prince William Sound Glacier cruise with Major Marine or both if they are different enough. I would be grateful for any input.

[cruisin'mama]

They are different...Matanuska you are ON the glacier exploring it and in Prince William Sound you are on a boat going thru beautiful scenery, going up close to the face of glacier and watching them calving, and viewing some wildlife. I've done both and they both are awesome! I loved each experience for different reasons. So I'd say, do BOTH if you can!

[Glaciers]

These are very different and both are excellent choices. We go to Matanuska Glacier each year to trek. Been with MICA once and they are good. The longer the trek the better. The 3 hour trek goes by very fast. We did the Blackstone Glacier trip with Major this year and although the weather was marginal, we were able to see numerous hanging and tide water glaciers. Great photo ops at both locations. If you are planning to do this on the same day it might be difficult due to the driving distances. Around 4 hours one way from Whittier to the Glacier. The obvious difference is that you will be viewing the glaciers in PWS from the boat and at Mat Glacier you’ll be walking on the glacier.

[Budget Queen]

Both

[cruisin'mama]

I have added some pictures to show a comparison of the two. These first ones are from our hike on the Matanuska Glacier.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last picture, you can see how small the people are that are standing in front of the face of the glacier.

[cruisin'mama]

These are from the Prince William Sound....

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisin'mama]

Here are a few more from Prince William Sound....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[warriorprincess]

I have added some pictures to show a comparison of the two. These first ones are from our hike on the Matanuska Glacier.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last picture' date=' you can see how small the people are that are standing in front of the face of the glacier.[/quote']

 

Cruisingmama-Thanks so much for taking the time to post those fantastic pictures. Now, I am definitely going to have to go to both!!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The Matanuska glacier is 102.5 miles from Anchorage (east). It is a beautiful drive on the Glen Highway--a designated scenic byway. There are a number of photo ops along the way.

 

 

You can see this glacier from the road. This is a view from the Long Rifle Roadhouse. I would suggest it for lunch. Good food, a great view and the place is filled with taxidermy animals. (whole bear and buffalo--very cool)

 

 

 

The dark gray area in the foreground is part of the glacier. By August the silt comes to the surface.

 

On the way thee or back you can take the 19 mie (each way) trip to the Independence gold mine. It was closed while we were there.

[oratheeexplorer]

thank you so much for posting the pictures.....I will have to add these places to our bucket list for going back to Alaska!

[olemissreb]

I have added some pictures to show a comparison of the two. These first ones are from our hike on the Matanuska Glacier.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last picture' date=' you can see how small the people are that are standing in front of the face of the glacier.[/quote']

 

Thank you for posting these pictures! We are planning a Matanuska Glacier hike and now I'm looking forward to it even more! I can't wait to get there! We're not doing a tour in Prince William Sound though. We're going with Major Marine (or maybe Kenai Tours) in Seward since that is where we'll be sailing from.

[pdmlynek]

Our kids loved the Matanuska Glacier. We brought some rope with us so that we could climb up some steeper parts of the glacier. Out of everything that we’ve seen, my oldest one put her climbing a glacier on her cover photo of her FB page.

[Budget Queen]

Thank you for posting these pictures! We are planning a Matanuska Glacier hike and now I'm looking forward to it even more! I can't wait to get there! We're not doing a tour in Prince William Sound though. We're going with Major Marine (or maybe Kenai Tours) in Seward since that is where we'll be sailing from.

 

It is simple to include a Prince Willaim Sound boat tour, from Anchorage if you have an extra day. Easy to take advantage of both top notch tours and usually have discounts available to both in the purchased coupon books.

[olemissreb]

It is simple to include a Prince Willaim Sound boat tour, from Anchorage if you have an extra day. Easy to take advantage of both top notch tours and usually have discounts available to both in the purchased coupon books.

 

Right now, it doesn't look like we'll have that extra day. If we didn't have to be back in Anchorage to get my mom at the airport the day before departing for Seward, then I might add this to the list. We could probably fit it in between leaving Palmer and picking her up, but I think that would be just too much for one day. While we will be active on our DIY tour, I don't want to be so active that we turn into zombies on the cruise!