TRACY ARM FJORD & GLACIER EXPLORER - Holland America excursion

[DaveOKC]

Has anyone done this?  How was it and please provide details.  It is a 7 hour excursion (1 -8 PM), so I want to be sure it is worthwhile (it will take up all of our time in Juneau).  We have done Tracy arm in a cruise ship, so have some idea of the scenery.

 

[rwmiller]

We took this excursion in July 2021 when we cruised on Nieuw Amsterdam. We loved the trip. The smaller boat can run close to the shoreline and ice bergs giving you close up views of bears, goats and otters. It also lets you get very close to the glaciers and experience their majesty first hand. We recommend this trip. 
 

Bob

[BigMattT]

Heresay:

 

I researched this a lot recently for our Eurodam Alaska cruise in August. Consensus from scouring posts and blogs (which I can’t link to, ridiculously) is it’s a long time on a boat, but totally worth it. Reasonably accommodating inside area to warm up and sit down. Spectacular scenery and they go to great lengths to show you “something” even when the waters/ice don’t allow up-close with the bigger glaciers. (Only rare reports of it.)

 

Only disappointment people cite is that they weren’t able to do a “big ship drops you off at the fjord then travel by smaller boat to Juneau”, which carves a few hours off the travel time of this long but worthwhile excursion. 

[ColonyGirl2]

We did this in 2014 on our first cruise.  Expensive but definitely worth it!  I don't remember it taking a long time to get there but maybe because of the beauty of the place.

[QueenofEverything]

51 minutes ago, BigMattT said:

Only disappointment people cite is that they weren’t able to do a “big ship drops you off at the fjord then travel by smaller boat to Juneau”, which carves a few hours off the travel time of this long but worthwhile excursion. 

We are doing this excursion in August on the Zuiderdam and we are getting dropped off.  Total time of excursion is 6 hours, beginning at 9:15.  We will still have plenty of time in Juneau

[QueenofEverything]

59 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Has anyone done this?  How was it and please provide details.  It is a 7 hour excursion (1 -8 PM), so I want to be sure it is worthwhile (it will take up all of our time in Juneau).  We have done Tracy arm in a cruise ship, so have some idea of the scenery.

 

What ship are you on?

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, QueenofEverything said:

What ship are you on?

Eurodam.  End of August.

[QueenofEverything]

Interesting that Zuiderdam is stopping to let passengers off and the Eurodam is not.

 

[LarsenPNP]

This is the excursion I am most looking forward to taking.  We'll be on Eurodam in June. Colonygirl2, I love your pictures!!

[crx]

Zuiderdam starts in Vancouver and Eurodam in seattle. That is probably the reason. The Zuiderdam out of Vancouver travels up the inside passage and can be at Tracy arm earlier.

[Miss Vickie]

We did this excursion in 2017, when we were on Volendam. We got transferred to the excursion boat near the fiord, and met up with Volendam in Juneau. We loved it.

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, crx said:

Zuiderdam starts in Vancouver and Eurodam in seattle. That is probably the reason. The Zuiderdam out of Vancouver travels up the inside passage and can be at Tracy arm earlier.

Thats what I figure also - they approach Juneau from different directions.

[Dancing Shoes]

Did this excursion off of the Volendam August 2018.  We had zero rain, beautiful day.  

Edited May 14, 2022 by Dancing Shoes

[rostbp]

We are on Koningsdam out of Vancouver the end of June and doing this excursion and booked an evening whale watch afterwards with Holland.

[YOWzers]

We have this booked in June. Just wondering if people who have taken this could say whether there is the potential to see whales. I didn't book this as a whale watching tour so it is not a dealbreaker for me but it might make it more exciting for my kid. 

[quack2]

You may see whales, but more likely harbor seals and pups and bald eagles on the ice floes.  Like someone else is doing, I've booked an early evening whale watching excursion (Harv and Marv) after returning from Tracy Arm excursion.  Going to be a long day.

[oakridger]

This excursion was the favorite HAL excursion I have done.  We went July 2018 and did see a few whales as well as all the other animals mentioned above!  The boat crew was great and inside was warm and there are a couple decent "heads".  They had some snacks for sale and on our excursion, sandwich wraps and I think chips and soft drink(?) were included.  I bought a beer and other special cocktail which was reasonably priced. Very nice!

 

~Nancy

[kochleffel]

I haven't taken the Holland America excursion, but I've visited Tracy Arm Fjord from Juneau in an all-day trip with Adventure Bound, and I think it would be my top-rated tour from Juneau.