Random Alaska cruise question

[Shmoo here]

Has anyone else had the experience that the ship will bring onboard a piece of iceberg for people to get up close and personal with as it cruises, say, Tracy Arm? Or anywhere else?

Edited May 5, 2014 by Shmoo here

[Aruba]

Yes I did...but it was on Oceania in Norway. I haven't personally experienced that on a HAL cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Only when we did Alaskan cruises on NCL -- in Tracy Arm.

[shrimpboat123]

Yes, when we did the small boat excursion to Tracy Arm last July.

 

Then they chunked it up and put it in the cooler.

 

[Tarpeian Rock]

I would have thought that bringing an iceberg chunk on board would have been out of favor since, say, 1912.

[Shmoo here]

I would have thought that bringing an iceberg chunk on board would have been out of favor since, say, 1912.

 

:rolleyes::D

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

On one of the old Cruise West ships, crew went off in a small boat and brought on some ice. I believe we were in Tracy Arm. Have not seen it done on a HAL ship.

[cruz chic]

That would be handy to have in the ice bucket;):D.

[Shmoo here]

Thanks everyone. I haven't seen it on HAL, either. However, it did happen on our Kenai Fjords boat tour.

 

Reason I'm asking - someone on another board is saying that "the naturalist on our cruise said XXX (don't want to ruffle too many feathers, but it's not HAL) is the only cruise line that goes all the way into Tracy Arm and the only cruise line that retrieves icebergs to bring onboard for people to get close to". And I was curious if other lines did it. I kinda thought maybe it really isn't allowed. ;) Sorta like "leave no trace" camping.

[PatsyAnne]

On one of the old Cruise West ships, crew went off in a small boat and brought on some ice. I believe we were in Tracy Arm. Have not seen it done on a HAL ship.

 

 

Oh, I remember that from our cruise in 1999. Having a smaller ship for that cruise was amazing.

 

 

Trish

[donswife]

They did it when we were on the HAL Statendam in 1981.

I guess that was a few years ago.

[Boytjie]

On our helicopter excursion that landed on a glacier the pilot chipped of pieces of glacial ice - it tasted very minerally.

[Aruba]

On our helicopter excursion that landed on a glacier the pilot chipped of pieces of glacial ice - it tasted very minerally.

I used to think it would be nice to try it (glacial ice chips I mean) in a shaken martini...but maybe not. :eek:

[lazey1]

The old Noordam did this in Glacier Bay in 1989. Chipped ice and gave everyone on deck a glass of water filled with the glacier ice. :cool: Sorry to hear that this is no longer done.

[CowPrincess]

The old Noordam did this in Glacier Bay in 1989. Chipped ice and gave everyone on deck a glass of water filled with the glacier ice. :cool: Sorry to hear that this is no longer done.

 

Glacier Bay is a national park. I bet there are lots of rules and regulations about what can and cannot be done there.

[donaldsc]

Has anyone else had the experience that the ship will bring onboard a piece of iceberg for people to get up close and personal with as it cruises, say, Tracy Arm? Or anywhere else?

 

Come on. It is just a chunk of ice. They could just take a big piece of ice from their freezer and say that it is iceberg ice and you would not know the difference.

 

DON

[Shmoo here]

Come on. It is just a chunk of ice. They could just take a big piece of ice from their freezer and say that it is iceberg ice and you would not know the difference.

 

DON

 

Quite true. I wasn't asking hoping it would be done. If you read the whole thread, I explained I was only looking for some information.

 

Personally, I don't care one way or the other if it's done. Although, I believe (thanks to my scouting history) that nature should pretty much be left alone.

[TiogaCruiser]

Come on. It is just a chunk of ice. They could just take a big piece of ice from their freezer and say that it is iceberg ice and you would not know the difference.

 

DON

 

When we hiked Mendenhall I was quite fascinated with how HARD the ice was. A piece of it didn't melt quickly and the sound walking on it was almost metallic.

It even felt really different. (With over 20 years if figure skating I guess I'm a bit obsessed with ice.....)

[Mary Ellen]

HAL used to bring a chunk of glacial ice on board while in Glacier Bay. I know they did that on our Prinsendam cruise in 1980. Can't say I remember it happening since then.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Mary Ellen

[At_Sea]

One of my best memories is when the bartender kept throwing ice at us in the pool and called them berg bits. It was second to the real things for us, it helped make a memorable cruise.

[Iwilder]

My first Inside Passage cruise was with HAL on the Noordam in 1989. They did bring a piece of ice onto the ship from, as I remember it, Glacier Bay

[SeagoingMom]

Huh -- maybe my kids could go into the business of supplying icebergs to the cruise ships without disturbing the pristine Alaskan environment -- this photo was taken this January in Georgia!