Alaska on Regent SS Mariner - Tracy Arm Excursion?

[V&GKohn]

Hello from a first time Cruise Critic user!

As a longtime TripAdvisor user I know just how valuable forums like this are for ensuring the best possible adventures. Thank you in advance for any and all of your kind suggestions. Greatly appreciated! :)

 

My husband and I, along with 2 other couples, will be on the August 9th, 2017 Regent cruise aboard Mariner from Vancouver to Seward. I am researching the various excursion options (whew!) and the one that has me in a quandary is whether or not to take the RC Tracy Arm offering. My understanding is that the ship itself will cruise up Tracy Arm all morning before docking in Juneau at 1pm. Will we get close enough (ice permitting) to really experience the glacier activity - not only see but hear the calving? Would taking the RC excursion add significantly to our experience? I can totally understand why it would make sense if a cruise ship is not sailing to this location, but for Mariner cruisers, would the excursion be redundant?

 

I'd love to get up close and personal to the ice ...but would also enjoy having a really good view from my balcony, in my robe with a hot coffee! If Mariner offers a great experience from the ship, we'll opt for a helicopter excursion onto a glacier once we dock in Juneau. Your thoughts?

Thank you!

 

(This will be our first cruise on Regent and I'm truly looking forward to it!)