College Fjord and Glacier Bay excursions

[phubli]

Hello,

 

We are on the inside passage from Vancouver to Whittier on July 5th Dawn Princess. I am pretty clear on what to do in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Whittier but I am confused about Glacier Bay and College Fjord days. It looks like the ship docks for about half a day at both of these places. However, there are no excursions in the Princess book and none that I could find on the net. Is it just sightseeing from the ship?

[hooked-on-travel]

I'm betting you don't dock so much as spend part of your day cruising the water, looking at glaciers. We went down College Fjord on Carnival last year and we got to the Harvard Glacier at the end and watched the seals sunning themselves on icebergs and the glacier calving. If you don't have a balcony I recommend staking out a place on a public deck with windows that open. (Like maybe the pool deck) We camped out early enough in the afternoon that we had full access to pictures out the window without freezing to death up top. Of course we shared our window with people that just wanted a couple pictures, but we had good access.

[Coral]

You don't get off the ship in these places. It is purely a viewing day and the view is fantastic!

[phubli]

Thanks so much....I think we would rather dress warmly and be on deck. The closer the better.

 

will we see glaciers calving? Also, how is whale watching...will we see any just off the ship or do you only see them if you book special whale watching cruises?

[Budget Queen]

As mentioned these are cruising days. Best views are from the front open decks- be certain to dress warmer than you think you'll need- a lot of people are under prepared. For any whale watching you really do need a tour. IF you see one from the cruise ship- you need a good pair of wide angle binoculars and also need to invest a considerable amount of time parking yourself again at a front facing open deck. Your views when you do see them will at most be a few minutes- the ship may slow but the ship and animal are on the move.

[santaharry]

In 2001 while in Skagway on a northbound princess cruise, I saw a lady that was carring a lot of merchandise from the stores. I told her that she better get it all done now as the next stop for shopping was Anchorage. She politely informed me that "we are going to be at the Glacier Bay Outlet store tomorrow" and she would complete her Christmas shopping there.

I told her that Glacier Bay was to view the beautiful glaciers and there was no shopping. It really upset her and then she snippity said "well I guess I will have to finish at the College Fjord store on Subday".

The ships do stop but only to view the glaciers and it one of the highlights of the trip.

Enjoy as I am sitting this year out.

Daughter Graduates from Nursuing school tomorrow.

[Budget Queen]

Reminds me of a women asking me what city the ship had visited- as we were leaving- Sitka!! And last year a family insisting that it was only a 3 hour drive to Denali Park- from Seward- because their TA had told them. No use talking to some people.