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Tracy Arm Questions


LilacCruiser
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Hello!

We visited Alaska once via cruise ship and had an amazing time. I would like to go back, but really want to see the Tracy Arm on my next trip. In this sense, is booking a cruise on a ship that has a Tracy Arm excursion safe? Or is it better to spend a week in Juneau, and book a small boat tour during the week we are there. Either way, it would be in August. I've heard that these excursions get cancelled a lot due to weather and ice in the passage. My thought process is that a week in Juneau would allow for six or seven days to allow for the excursion to happen, as opposed to "one and done" with a cruise ship excursion. Any thoughts? Thanks!!

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I'm a huge fan of the Adventure Bound our out of Juneau and have done it a half dozen times. They really don't aim at the cruise ship passengers and most ships are not in port long enough to allow it. The tour is worth doing, I've had an excellent time each trip and will repeat again in the future. This is far better than viewing from the cruise ship, as that will never get anywhere near as close or miss Tracy Arm entirely.

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We've done cruises that included Tracy Arm twice (2014, 2015) and did the small boat add-on each time. We went into TA both times and both times the small boat tour was fantastic. I do believe if ice conditions are poor, the ship goes to Endicott Arm instead, and so does the small boat. I think I've heard of the cruise ship not going to either glacier but the small boat tour still operating as scheduled, but I don't think I've ever heard of the cruise ship going to a glacier but the small boat tour being cancelled.

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We just went to Juneau yesterday by cruise ship and did Endicott Arm. They said they haven't been able to get down Tracy Arm at all this year. I heard this was pretty common. And we were on the small boat tour too.

 

 

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If you book a cruise with port times of Juneau of 8-7 or something similar, you can do Adventure Bound to Tracy Arm. There is still a chance that you can go to Endicott Arm but that is a small chance and earlier in the season.

 

Princess North Bound cruises allow people to do this private excursion. I believe there are 1 or 2 other routes on other lines that have enough time in Juneau for this.

 

Though - I have to say spending a week in Juneau sounds amazing also.

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NCL, and in the past, Princess had itineraries that allowed for Adventure Bound. I was able to also include Adventure Bound on RCI northbound, Radiance.

 

IF Tracy Arm is truly the priority, then an alternative idea is to do a b2b giving you 2 opportunities.

 

Does Juneau have overall interest to occupy your time for a week?

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We just went to Juneau yesterday by cruise ship and did Endicott Arm. They said they haven't been able to get down Tracy Arm at all this year. I heard this was pretty common. And we were on the small boat tour too.

 

 

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Surely, conditions can vary from day to day, but during the July 3rd sailing of the Amsterdam, we sailed into Tracy Arm and got rather close to Sawyer Glacier. Great weather: sunny, cool day with a cold breeze blowing off the glacier while the ship was surrounded by bergie bits.

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If you book a cruise with port times of Juneau of 8-7 or something similar, you can do Adventure Bound to Tracy Arm. There is still a chance that you can go to Endicott Arm but that is a small chance and earlier in the season.

 

Princess North Bound cruises allow people to do this private excursion. I believe there are 1 or 2 other routes on other lines that have enough time in Juneau for this.

 

Though - I have to say spending a week in Juneau sounds amazing also.

 

 

 

Celebrity Infinity this year had a long day in Juneau and we did the Adventure Bound trip. We were the only cruise passengers that day, and the last to board, but they knew we were coming so all was well. It was an incredible day, highly recommend.

 

 

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Celebrity Infinity this year had a long day in Juneau and we did the Adventure Bound trip. We were the only cruise passengers that day, and the last to board, but they knew we were coming so all was well. It was an incredible day, highly recommend.

 

 

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They are great working with people.

 

I have received so many emails from people who have Tracy Arm on their schedule and miss it and email me their disappointment. They wish they had gone with Glacier Bay as that was their only trip to Alaska. IMO - a good glacier day should be strongly considered. Most people in the US may never see a glacier and this is their only chance. I always try to get 2-3 glaciers on a cruise.

 

I do strongly recommend AdventureBound but there is even a chance with them that you will be redirected. It probably only happens a few times per year.

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Tracy Arm was a priority this year for us. So I looked for a cruise that I would be in port long enough to go with Adventure Bound so we booked a north bound cruise with Princess we was in port from 8 am till 9:15 pm that gave us plenty of time to go. I LOVED it!! We already decided when go back we will definitely go on this tour again with Adventure Bound

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  • 11 months later...
When you did this Tracy Arm excursion from the ship how many people were on the tour?

My booking showed 12 available spots, but now it seems there may be 100+ people on the catamaran.

 

 

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I suggest you start your own questions. This tread has Adventure Bound info/

 

The add on cruise ship excursion uses Allen Marine which can hold 200+ passengers. They have multiple boats.

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When you did this Tracy Arm excursion from the ship how many people were on the tour?

We took the excursion that meet the cruise ship at Tracy Arm inlet. There were about 40-50 people aboard.

 

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

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Hello!

We visited Alaska once via cruise ship and had an amazing time. I would like to go back, but really want to see the Tracy Arm on my next trip. In this sense, is booking a cruise on a ship that has a Tracy Arm excursion safe? Or is it better to spend a week in Juneau, and book a small boat tour during the week we are there.

 

A couple of summers ago we flew up and spent a week in Juneau. We didn't do that specifically for the Tracy Arm excursion, but I have to say it was cool being there for multiple days, waking up in Alaska, getting to stroll the town when it's quiet and no cruise ships are there. It was quite an experience, and yes you'd have multiple opportunities to do Tracy Arm, as well as more time to visit everything else there too.

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We cruised to Alaska on the Emerald Princess in early June this year. We got all the way into Tracy Arm. We got real close to North Sawyer Glacier. It was a beautiful day. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. They even sent photographers out in a tender to take pictures of the ship. We got two great pictures of us standing on the deck with North Sawyer in the background.

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