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Tracy Arm viewing perspective - Small boat vs. cruise ship


Aviendah
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We will be sailing Tracy Arm on July 19th this summer and I'm reading numerous reviews that recommend taking the small boat Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer (tender from the ship) excursion for the best glacier viewing experience. I chose this cruise after watching videos and I fell in love with the scenery of the fjord. When viewing this area, do you prefer the small boat experience or higher views from the ship? I'm leaning towards taking the excursion but I don't want to feel like I missed out on the sweeping cruise ship views. I do understand that the ship may not be able to get near Sawyer Glacier for optimal viewing. I read a few posts that state the tender back to the ship may be after the ship has left the fjord. Thanks in advance!

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Always, you have superior views from the add on boat tour. Being as close to the water is what this transit is about. Having close shoreline views, ability to see the details of the ice, wildlife and mobility of a small boat are all superior. It is not about any "sweeping cruise ship views"??? Which are difficult to even get on a cruise ship. Way too few low, open, unobstructed areas.

 

You want "sweeping" views, that really show the vastness, then book yourself on flights. The superior way for those.

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No question the small boat is better. Being up close and personal at water level is a way different experience than from the top deck of the cruise ship. Being next to the ice in the water and hearing the snap, crackle pop and having the ability to be close to wildlife is a huge advantage. The cruise ship will be lucky to offer you a view of the Glacier from miles away while the small boat is right there.

 

Here are photos from one of my trips into Tracy Arm.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1283269&highlight=blue+album

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Does Princess offer the small boat tour? We will be cruising Tracy Arm in August and can’t find it on the excursion section. Thank you.

 

 

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Yes they do offer this tour. You are sailing on a ship that has, Tracy Arm on the itinerary? https://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.page?t=A&exType=S&tourCode=TA1-660

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Yes they do offer this tour. You are sailing on a ship that has, Tracy Arm on the itinerary? https://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.page?t=A&exType=S&tourCode=TA1-660

 

 

 

Thank you Budget Queen but so far it isn’t being offered on my sailing. August 24 from San Francisco. Perhaps because they sail Tracy only a half day. I didn’t notice the time when I booked. Hopefully they may add it later. I need to be more observant when booking princess as they tend to have strange or shortened hours in some ports compared to other cruise lines.

 

 

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Thank you Budget Queen but so far it isn’t being offered on my sailing. August 24 from San Francisco. Perhaps because they sail Tracy only a half day. I didn’t notice the time when I booked. Hopefully they may add it later. I need to be more observant when booking princess as they tend to have strange or shortened hours in some ports compared to other cruise lines.

 

 

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The small boat excursion is on cruises that go to Tracy Arm and Juneau in the same day. People transfer from the ship to the boat and the boat brings them to Juneau where they rejoin the ship (or vice versa). The Princess San Francisco round trips that visit Tracy Arm go to Juneau on a different day so they won't have the boat excursion.

 

You can go to the Alaska port schedule site to find the schedules for Tracy Arm (even though it isn't a port) and see how long your ship is scheduled to be there:

http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Tracy-Arm-%E2%80%93-TA-2018.pdf

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The small boat excursion is on cruises that go to Tracy Arm and Juneau in the same day. People transfer from the ship to the boat and the boat brings them to Juneau where they rejoin the ship (or vice versa). The Princess San Francisco round trips that visit Tracy Arm go to Juneau on a different day so they won't have the boat excursion.

 

You can go to the Alaska port schedule site to find the schedules for Tracy Arm (even though it isn't a port) and see how long your ship is scheduled to be there:

http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Tracy-Arm-%E2%80%93-TA-2018.pdf

 

This looks to be the case with the Princess. Grand, but, Carnival DOES offer this tour with not porting Juneau the same day. So it's not accurate to say, it's only for itineraries with Juneau and Tracy Arm the same day.

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Does Princess offer the small boat tour? We will be cruising Tracy Arm in August and can’t find it on the excursion section. Thank you.

 

 

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Looks like it’s going to be an early rise for us on that morning of glacier viewing (according to the link posted by BQ - 5am :o)!

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I booked the boat excursion last night. I really hope we can make the Tracy Arm route in mid July.

 

They've detoured at least some of July, for every year of the past several. It appears less and less entered by cruise ships. Some itineraries, are changing as well to have Endicott, listed. It's more consistently entered, with Adventure Bound and probably Allen Marine on their round trip tours.

 

It needs to be accepting of not getting in, for anyone booking the cruise ship add ons.

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We have been waiting for the Celebrity Solstice to offer this excursion. I have called and been told they are not going to offer this. I don't believe that is correct but it's more than frustrating trying to talk to them. I think the Solstice is the only ship that doesn't have this excursion listed :confused:

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We have been waiting for the Celebrity Solstice to offer this excursion. I have called and been told they are not going to offer this. I don't believe that is correct but it's more than frustrating trying to talk to them. I think the Solstice is the only ship that doesn't have this excursion listed :confused:

 

 

Verify with Allen Marine-= direct. They certainly, know if they have the contract.

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Verify with Allen Marine-= direct. They certainly, know if they have the contract.

Hi Budget Queen. Yes I did check with them and they do have a contract so don't know what Celebrity is doing. Guess they just haven't put it in their system yet :confused:

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Hi Budget Queen. Yes I did check with them and they do have a contract so don't know what Celebrity is doing. Guess they just haven't put it in their system yet :confused:

 

We are sailing the Solstice in July, and that excursion was just made available for us to book yesterday.

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We did ours through Carnival and ended up in Endicott, like so many others. While the Carnival ship follows the small boat tour down the arm, it's still not the same experience. We were on the small boat, maybe 1/2 mile from the glacier. And when it calved, Whoa!! The boat was rocking! It was crazy! But a great time and experience.

 

This was one of the many calving moments...

27958324594_5ab4412016.jpg

Waves coming by Cindy, on Flickr

 

And this is the view from the ship once we got back on board...

27960158123_e915fd9e28.jpg

Dawes glacier by Cindy, on Flickr

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We took Princess one year that did the Tracy Arm area instead of Glacier Bay. It was gorgeous and we got to see a lot of seals and a ton of iceburgs! We were there towards the end of June and the ship couldn't get very close to the glacier due to the ice. The little boats (I didn't do one) got much closer than we could on the big ship due to all the ice. However, even if you can't do the small boats, the area is absolutely gorgeous!

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Cindy your photos are just stunning!! Thank you for sharing.

 

We did ours through Carnival and ended up in Endicott, like so many others. While the Carnival ship follows the small boat tour down the arm, it's still not the same experience. We were on the small boat, maybe 1/2 mile from the glacier. And when it calved, Whoa!! The boat was rocking! It was crazy! But a great time and experience.

 

This was one of the many calving moments...

27958324594_5ab4412016.jpg

Waves coming by Cindy, on Flickr

 

And this is the view from the ship once we got back on board...

27960158123_e915fd9e28.jpg

Dawes glacier by Cindy, on Flickr

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We have been waiting for the Celebrity Solstice to offer this excursion. I have called and been told they are not going to offer this. I don't believe that is correct but it's more than frustrating trying to talk to them. I think the Solstice is the only ship that doesn't have this excursion listed :confused:

 

What cruise are you booked on ? I booked the June 15th and found this excursion on their website, under " cruise planner". I booked 4 tickets for this tour

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What cruise are you booked on ? I booked the June 15th and found this excursion on their website, under " cruise planner". I booked 4 tickets for this tour

Thanks, it was put on the excursion list a few days ago and I booked it. :)

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