Sawyer Glacier in June ?

[poolwife]

I know it is rare a ship gets all the way up the Tracy Arm fjord to the Sawyer Glacier. What month is the best for actually getting all the way to Sawyer glacier in a large cruise ship, Norwegian Bliss. This ship is brand new and just coming out next April. The ship is 167,500 tons, a very large ship. So I am wondering if she will make it all the way up to the glacier on June 13. This is for some friends of mine. We were on the Celebrity Millenium in May, 2015 and the captain turned the ship around before we even got anywhere near close to Sawyer glacier. We were all wondering why when there was not much ice coming down the fjord. We thought he probably just had a schedule to keep.

 

I would appreciate your tips and help so I can share it with them. Thank you.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Tell your friends that their cruise might offer a small-boat excursion that cruises up the Fjord to the Sawyer Glacier. The excursion is called "Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer." If they can book that excursion, which is extremely popular and often sells out, they should get pretty close to the Glacier (unless there is just too much ice). It is difficult to predict whether a ship will make it very far up the Fjord.

 

We took this excursion on our first Alaska cruise in 2006, and we've already booked it for a June cruise.

[Coral]

On a large ship - the past few years, August was the best month.

[Meem47]

We went in 2014 and the fjord was too frozen in the end of June...had to divert and saw Dawes Glacier which was amazing!

[Casey12]

We went in 2014 and the fjord was too frozen in the end of June...had to divert and saw Dawes Glacier which was amazing!

 

The small boat will often follow where the large ship goes.

[Cruise_More_Often]

We went in 2014 and the fjord was too frozen in the end of June...had to divert and saw Dawes Glacier which was amazing!

Our first Tracy Fjords and Glacier Explorer cruise was in early May, and we got pretty darned close to the Sawyer Glacier. I don't think the company that provides the excursion even offers it before the month of June now. It sounds like things have really changed.

[Budget Queen]

I feel it is "necessary" to always purchase the add on ship tour- if a priority to see a glacier. This of course is going to add, usually at least $200 pp to costs. Odds are not in your favor as most ships - that do get within glacier viewing , turn back at Sawyer Island, which gives only a partial distant view.

 

IF not interested in the add on tour- the beauty of Tracy Arm is the passage, not the glacier. As for Endicott Arm- it also is NOT a given of access to the Dawes Glacier. I personally experienced this this season. :)