Legend - best Glacier Bay viewing ?

[familycruzer]

We booked an aft balcony for our first Alaskan cruise and plan on spending a ton of time out there viewing the scenery but would like to know the best place out on the public decks to view Glacier Bay? Can you hear from your cabin the announcements of what you are passing? Is it best to spend that day out of the cabin? Does it really take 8 hours or so to go through it?

 

Any advice is welcomed. I want to make the best of our cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[BenjiRodney]

It does take all day, we spent the day above the pool. The National Park Rangers come on the ship as you enter and they do many activities throughout the day. They even do a presentation in the Main Lounge that was very informative. The deck can get crowded.

 

[familycruzer]

No times are listed for my itinerary. What hours do they usually go through? We are in Skagway the prior day and Ketchican the next day.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Kamloops50]

Your usually in Glacier from 8AM to 4 PM. The rangers announcements aren't usually heard on balcony speaker. One channel on the TV has the announcements broadcast. The best is move around the ship . Announcements aren't repeated on the way out.

Skagway is only about 8 hours from Glacier Bay .

Edited February 7, 2016 by Kamloops50

[Kamloops50]

We booked an aft balcony for our first Alaskan cruise and plan on spending a ton of time out there viewing the scenery but would like to know the best place out on the public decks to view Glacier Bay? Can you hear from your cabin the announcements of what you are passing? Is it best to spend that day out of the cabin? Does it really take 8 hours or so to go through it?

 

Any advice is welcomed. I want to make the best of our cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

It sure does. It's about 4-5 hours each way . The ships have a speed restriction in the bay because of the wildlife.

[flatlander321]

If you are on either Legend cruise in May 2016, the listed time for glacier bay is 6am to 3pm. For the Sept 2016 cruise, it is 7am-4pm. This is per the cruise line schedule posted here:

 

http://claalaska.com/

http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Glacier-Bay-GB-2016.pdf

 

Since the ship moves slowly through Glacier Bay, is it smooth enough to use a camera tripod, on our balcony, not in the public areas, for pictures? or is hand-held with a fast shutter speed the best option?

Edited February 7, 2016 by flatlander321

[Keith1010]

Best place is the top deck and the key is to go from side to side and spend as much time outside as you can So dress for it by layering clothing.

 

Keith

[scottie-goes-crusin]

We had a aft balcony on the miracle on the 4 th deck.. We just walked down the flight of stairs at the back of the boat, to the outside promenade deck on deck 3. We were right on the water level and could see great. You can walk right thru the ship to the other side or walk around the back. The ship will spin in place so everyone can see everything. We saw a glacier calving. It was one of my best memories f the trip

[RaiderCruiser]

A few things on this. Yes, you will be in the National Park for 7-8 hours, but the majority of this is navigating into the park and making your way to the glaciers. You can spend a ton of time out on the decks, but the crucial time is once you have made your ways to the glaciers. An aft deck is OK for casual viewing, but you will miss a lot and what you see will not correspond to anything that is being broadcast ( since they will be looking forward). It is best to be at the front of the ship on a higher deck. Most beautiful things you will ever see.

[Captain Carnival]

We had great views from the starboard side - check out Sea Trek II below to see some.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Captain Carnival

[familycruzer]

So overall opinion is to get out there for the day on the open decks and move around. I just need to hope that the other passengers are nice about giving everyone a chance to get a view.

[mumtopugs]

It does take all day. I don't believe you can hear the announcements from the cabins. The National Park rangers speak pretty much morning to late afternoon. The scenery is beautiful all the way through on both sides. Once you arrive at the glaciers, folks will be on upper decks going from side to side depending on the view. The captain will move the ship so that both sides get the same views, though.

[sharkaymon]

We had a aft balcony on the miracle on the 4 th deck.. We just walked down the flight of stairs at the back of the boat, to the outside promenade deck on deck 3. We were right on the water level and could see great. You can walk right thru the ship to the other side or walk around the back. The ship will spin in place so everyone can see everything. We saw a glacier calving. It was one of my best memories f the trip

 

Were you happy with what you saw or would you also suggest an excursion to get closer to the glaciers?

[scottie-goes-crusin]

We had a helo glacier tour scheduled to fly us out to a glacier and land on one for 20-30 mins. That cxed due to poor weather. So I didn't see any glaciers up close. I.e. Tram to mendenhall. I would go on another Alaskan cruise just to do a glacier tour

 

Tldr; yes, go on a glacier tour also.

[Surfwench]

We did Carnival Legend Glacier Bay last May. Splurged for an aft balcony thinking we would spend a ton of time there and have the best views. Actually spent ALL day during Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Bay on a small deck right in front of the funnel. You could move from side to side and there were benches and loungers up there to rest on. We'd run down and grab lunch/snacks from the Lido Buffet and carry our dishes up so as not to miss any of the incredible sights. This is the deck the crew chose to visit when the glaciers came into view. You can't hear the ranger's commentary from your balcony so the outside deck has that going for it as well. We used our balcony mostly during the return trip out of Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm.... searching the shore for bears and other wildlife with our binoculars.

 

You are so going to enjoy. :)

[familycruzer]

Surfwench .. What deck was your aft balcony and did you enjoy the location? Did you have a clear view down to the water? Was part of the balcony covered in case of rain?

 

Picking this early out we had lots of options.

[Surfwench]

Surfwench .. What deck was your aft balcony and did you enjoy the location? Did you have a clear view down to the water? Was part of the balcony covered in case of rain?

 

Picking this early out we had lots of options.

 

We were on the Main Deck.... loved it. Clear 190 degree+ view. There was only a small lip above us, so not protected from rain very well at all.

[familycruzer]

I doubt deck 6 would be better then for cover but after view more than anything. Do you have pictures?

[toosaxykk]

DH and I are in cabin 7349 and very anxious for our cruise. We hope to be able to see lots from this aft cabin. We are taking the Tracy exdcursion that picks you up at the ship in the afternoon so I am hoping we can use our aft balcony to see great glaciers and etc in the morning.

 

Have any of y'all seen whales from your balcony (aft or not). We are debating doing a whale watching excursion but wondered if we can get that from our own balcony.

 

Thanks for any tips and advice! We are really looking forward to it...

 

113 days!

[Jdfireman]

We booked an aft balcony for our first Alaskan cruise and plan on spending a ton of time out there viewing the scenery but would like to know the best place out on the public decks to view Glacier Bay? Can you hear from your cabin the announcements of what you are passing? Is it best to spend that day out of the cabin? Does it really take 8 hours or so to go through it?

 

Any advice is welcomed. I want to make the best of our cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Take the tour which lets you off on the smaller boat and up close to the glaciers. Its well worth it. Remember its alaska so have the rain gear and warm clothes. If you stay on the ship any outside area is good. They try to spin the ship around

[crusinpsychRN]

Were you happy with what you saw or would you also suggest an excursion to get closer to the glaciers?

 

I would do the excursion. You get so much closer.

[crusinpsychRN]

I'm thinking aft cabin won't get you views you want except when leaving. We were sideways to the glacier. If you have corner aft you'd be okay but not center.

[toosaxykk]

DH and I are in cabin 7349 and very anxious for our cruise. We hope to be able to see lots from this aft cabin. We are taking the Tracy exdcursion that picks you up at the ship in the afternoon so I am hoping we can use our aft balcony to see great glaciers and etc in the morning.

 

Have any of y'all seen whales from your balcony (aft or not). We are debating doing a whale watching excursion but wondered if we can get that from our own balcony.

 

Thanks for any tips and advice! We are really looking forward to it...

 

113 days!

[Posesmom]

Do they not still spin the ship so you get a view no matter what end or side you're on? When we went in 08 that's what they did. We spent a lot of time on deck listening but some of my favorite memories of the day are of hot tea on my balcony just watching. We also got some great video of the glacier melting & sliding into the water from our balcony. I loved Glacier Bay & would love to do another Alaskan cruise in the next few years, it was my favorite vacation yet. We did see whales pretty often from our balcony as well. I'm not one who has to have a balcony every cruise but for Alaska it would be worth every penny. Have fun!

[flatlander321]

(snip)

Since the ship moves slowly through Glacier Bay, is it smooth enough to use a camera tripod, on our balcony, not in the public areas, for pictures? or is hand-held with a fast shutter speed the best option?

 

I'm going to bump this because I'm interested in learning of other photography experiences in Glacier Bay. How smooth is the ships motion within Glacier Bay? It's supposedly going slow to not disturb anything within the national park.

 

Can you use a tripod for decent photos, yes or no?