Hubard Glacier Viewing

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Italy52 said:

 

I just took a look at our Princess Southbound itinerary and found that it was offered --- 2.5 hours at a price of $259.95 pp.

It looks like you are sailing later this year. It sounds like a  great excursion - I can't wait to hear about it.

[Glaciers]

10 hours ago, Coral said:

Did this ever happen last year?

I didn't see any posts from anyone that actually took it. Looked like a few signed up for it but it was canceled.

[Coral]

5 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

I didn't see any posts from anyone that actually took it. Looked like a few signed up for it but it was canceled.

I hope it goes well this year! I would sign up in a heart beat for it.

[Italy52]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

It looks like you are sailing later this year. It sounds like a  great excursion - I can't wait to hear about it.

 

Hi Coral.  Yes, we are sailing this year a little later than we usually do.  At the present time, I am not sure we will be going on this tour.  Although we LOVE Hubbard, not too sure that we are willing to spend $500+ for the short excursion time they are offering.  Also, it was cancelled a few times last year and never got off the ground to my knowledge so we just might just sit this one out until we get feedback from other cruisers that have taken the excursion.

[Italy52]

On 1/12/2019 at 7:14 AM, Coral said:

I hope it goes well this year! I would sign up in a heart beat for it.

 

Coral, we decided to go for it.  When I signed up for the tour there were only 20 slots (now 18) available.  Don't know how many signed up before me.  We will be back the first part of July so I will let you know about the excursion when we return.

[Coral]

27 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

 

Coral, we decided to go for it.  When I signed up for the tour there were only 20 slots (now 18) available.  Don't know how many signed up before me.  We will be back the first part of July so I will let you know about the excursion when we return.

I will be anxious for your review.

 

You can always cancel 48 hours in advance if you have a change of mind. Hopefully there will be some reports before your cruise but being close up to Hubbard sounds amazing.

 

Theresa

Edited January 13, 2019 by Coral

[tysmomm]

My family will be at Hubbard Glacier mid June on the Coral Princess.  We are going to go for the excursion too and hopefully the excursion won't be canceled.  I too will let other travelers know how it turns out.  :) 

[Jimbo]

Anyone actual take this excursion yet?

Edited May 5, 2019 by Jimbo

[kennicott]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Anyone actual take this excursion yet?

More-------

 

[Jimbo]

Well just reserved it for August 1st 2020. Used OBC so really only put out about $90 to reserve it now. I doubt I can get my wife up in one of those small planes or a helicopter anyway so this will be one of our more expensive excursions.

 

After I read the reviews of others that take it this year will decide or not to keep it or not. Will be interested to know how many people will be on the small boats they use.

 

We have an aft wake facing balcony cabin too, so once we get back on the ship after the excursion we can get a good look at the glacier also when we sail away from Hubbard.

 

I guess this will be the best of both worlds.............We have seen the Glacier from a cruiseship(Celebrity Infinity(also an aft wake facing cabin) too back in May of 2017.

 

Looking forward to the reviews.....

Edited May 5, 2019 by Jimbo

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, kennicott said:

More-------

 

 

What are the logistics for this excursion when one is on a Princess ship visiting Hubbard Glacier?

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

What are the logistics for this excursion when one is on a Princess ship visiting Hubbard Glacier?

No one knows yet.

[Unibok]

On 5/5/2019 at 10:11 AM, Jimbo said:

Anyone actual take this excursion yet?

 

We will be on that excursion on May 28th, and will let you know how it is asap.

[Jimbo]

6 hours ago, Unibok said:

 

We will be on that excursion on May 28th, and will let you know how it is asap.

 

 

Thanks that would be great!

[CATGUY7]

Following.  Having a very hard time justifying $780.00 for 2 1/2 hours.  But evidently I haven’t ruled it out.  😂

[dflawyer]

Following. Please post post-trip review of this excursion. I have it booked for June 30 Celebrity cruise. 

[Bill Onboard]

We’ve also booked this mystery excursion through Celebrity Eclipse for July 10th. Probably the longest thread ever about a tour no one has ever been on:-) 1st one with a report and picture wins!

[Italy52]

After sifting through Alaska trip reports for various cruise lines and checking our own 2019 Alaska trips posted here, I did manage to find one that mentioned the Allen Marine tour to Hubbard.  The poster had mentioned that they would return to this thread to talk about the excursion so I will not elaborate --- I will just say that the excursion was a "go" and it sounds like it was an enjoyable experience. 

 

Looking forward to our turn on June 30th.

[Glaciers]

We're currently on the Golden. They did a dry run this week and went close to Yakutat where the Allen Marine boat came out to the ship just to test things out. There was no actual excursion this week. Was told the excursions will begin next week.  There was just a little ice and we got to about 2-3 miles from the face. Captains prerogative.  Another ship was at the face, certainly within 1 mile.

[twangster]

I booked a Hubbard excursion last year with Royal but it was cancelled about a week before sailing.  We got pretty close on the ship and I got some good calving video last year:

 

 

I was just there on May 18, 2019.  Turned into a beautiful day.  Not much calving this year and we didn't get as close (first time Ovation of the Seas ever went there, Captain stayed back).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TLCOhio]

23 hours ago, twangster said:

I was just there on May 18, 2019.  Turned into a beautiful day.  Not much calving this year and we didn't get as close (first time Ovation of the Seas ever went there, Captain stayed back).  

 

Appreciate your excellent follow-up with these great pictures and video.  Really interesting and helpful.  On Wednesday, July 31, we will be cruising Hubbard Glacier, 8 am-noon.  This will be our first visit to Alaska.  We will be comparing to what we saw and did in the fjord areas of Norway and New Zealand.  Any other special tips for those doing these Alaska glacier areas for the first time?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 220,783 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

[twangster]

8 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 Any other special tips for those doing these Alaska glacier areas for the first time?

 

Alaska weather is dynamic.  Don't worry too much if it starts out less than ideal.  It was windy and drizzling when we approached Hubbard but grew into a much better day much like another visit in 2017.   Rain gear, gloves and a hat all will be appreciated.  

 

If you have a balcony don't spend the entire time on it.  Move around the ship at the glacier, try something down low like an outer deck, try an upper deck for a while.  If the bay is full of little pieces of ice when the ship sails through them they make a cool crinkling sound but you need to be down on deck 4 or 5 outside near the front to hear it.  

 

Taking pictures of a glacier is nice, but if it's calving that day video works better to capture the action.  It doesn't always calve as much as it did in that video.  Sometimes you win, sometimes no calving.  

 

Each Captain does the glacier slightly differently.  Some rotate twice, some once but slowly.  There's no knowing how close you'll be able to get.  Winds, weather, tides, currents and ice conditions all vary day to day, week to week.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[TLCOhio]

17 hours ago, twangster said:

Alaska weather is dynamic.  Don't worry too much if it starts out less than ideal.  It was windy and drizzling when we approached Hubbard but grew into a much better day much like another visit in 2017.   Rain gear, gloves and a hat all will be appreciated.  If you have a balcony don't spend the entire time on it.  Move around the ship at the glacier, try something down low like an outer deck, try an upper deck for a while.  If the bay is full of little pieces of ice when the ship sails through them they make a cool crinkling sound but you need to be down on deck 4 or 5 outside near the front to hear it.   Taking pictures of a glacier is nice, but if it's calving that day video works better to capture the action.  It doesn't always calve as much as it did in that video.  Sometimes you win, sometimes no calving.  Each Captain does the glacier slightly differently.  Some rotate twice, some once but slowly.  There's no knowing how close you'll be able to get.  Winds, weather, tides, currents and ice conditions all vary day to day, week to week.   Enjoy your cruise!

 

Appreciate your excellent outline of different factors and background information as to these key Alaska areas.  Very interesting and helpful.  Agree as to not just being on your balcony.  We usually like to be UP on the top deck in order to get better views and photography on BOTH side of the ship, etc.  Nice sharing!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Wonderful scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 235,615 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Jimbo]

On 5/8/2019 at 12:23 PM, Unibok said:

 

We will be on that excursion on May 28th, and will let you know how it is asap.

 

 

Looking forward to your review of the day soon. :)

[Pushka]

At Hubbard today. We did manage to capture some calving. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Pushka