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hubbard glacier

salabc

By salabc,
in Alaska

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

Posted
Posted

This excursion is showing up on the list for my June 26 cruise on the Island Princess. I think, though, that I'll be blowing my money on the 26 glacier excursion in Whittier on my turnaround day there. One pricey excursion is enough.

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Unibok

Unibok

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Posted
On 5/23/2019 at 3:07 PM, poidog81 said:

Any updates from anyone who has gone this month?

 

Yes! We went last week, on the very first sailing of this excursion from Allen Marine. I posted a description of the event on the "Hubard Glacier Viewing" thread, post # 102. 

It was good fun, and those of us on the Wilderness Explorer got much closer to Hubbard Glacier than the ship's own zodiaks and kayaks that day. Take a look at that discussion, and let me know if you have other questions.

 

Cheers,

 

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Unibok

Unibok

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Posted
On 3/22/2019 at 1:46 PM, kennicott said:
   
Well, that has been the question a lot us have wondered about every since they proposed the excursion last year. Under one scenario, what they appear to be proposing even under normal or good ice conditions, is not picking up 10 miles out but 30 to 40 miles out. They indicate, depending upon the excursion, there will be two different pick up points from the cruise vessels, one up at Disenchantment Bay and the other down near Yakutat.
 
In addition, they indicate the average tour will be 2.5 hours. It is easy to understand a 2.5 hour excursion if the pickup is at Disenchantment Bay near the glacier but with a Yakutat pickup, that would be near impossible. I really wonder if they will be able to conduct said excursion in less than five hours with a near Yakutat pickup and drop off?
 
This all begs the question, what happens as you suggest, when the ship can't get much closer than 10 miles or so to face of Hubbard, due ice but the excursion catamaran can weave its way up closer? Does the cruise ship just sit there for 2.5 hours while the 20 guests in the catamaran have a great day?  I think not.       
 

 

Hi Kennicott, I know you are following the discussion on the other thread, but I wanted to circle back on this to clarify for others that the Allen Marine vessel picked us up from our ship, which was already fairly close to the glacier. Thus, most of the 2.5 hour excursion is spent very very close to the glacier.

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kennicott

kennicott

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Unibok said:

 

Hi Kennicott, I know you are following the discussion on the other thread, but I wanted to circle back on this to clarify for others that the Allen Marine vessel picked us up from our ship, which was already fairly close to the glacier. Thus, most of the 2.5 hour excursion is spent very very close to the glacier.

Yes, thanks for posting your experience again, it makes sense that they picked up and dropped off closer to the glacier. The pickup point has been a question some had every since this excursion was first proposed last season. My guess was they were going to pickup and drop off in Disenchantment Bay, particularly when they said the excursion would only be 2.5 hours at the most. Confusion originated when they also said a second scenario was in play, that was a pickup and drop off way down by Yakutat. That long run plus sightseeing on the way, salmon spawning, brown bear's feeding, ect, including the glacier viewing exceeded the time most vessels are even in Yakutat Bay. I'm still waiting to hear from someone who has done the excursion with a down by Yakutat pickup and drop off. 
 
Also, even though the capacity of this vessel is much greater than 20 guests as originally mentioned, I'm curious how this is going to work out if the cruse ship is forced by ice to get no closer to the glacier than 10 miles or more. Are they going to sit around until those on the catamaran excursion complete their adventure? 
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Jimbo

Jimbo

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On 6/6/2019 at 7:52 PM, kennicott said:
Yes, thanks for posting your experience again, it makes sense that they picked up and dropped off closer to the glacier. The pickup point has been a question some had every since this excursion was first proposed last season. My guess was they were going to pickup and drop off in Disenchantment Bay, particularly when they said the excursion would only be 2.5 hours at the most. Confusion originated when they also said a second scenario was in play, that was a pickup and drop off way down by Yakutat. That long run plus sightseeing on the way, salmon spawning, brown bear's feeding, ect, including the glacier viewing exceeded the time most vessels are even in Yakutat Bay. I'm still waiting to hear from someone who has done the excursion with a down by Yakutat pickup and drop off. 
 
Also, even though the capacity of this vessel is much greater than 20 guests as originally mentioned, I'm curious how this is going to work out if the cruse ship is forced by ice to get no closer to the glacier than 10 miles or more. Are they going to sit around until those on the catamaran excursion complete their adventure? 

I would say yup!

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Sunny AZ Girl

Sunny AZ Girl

Posted
Posted (edited)

We returned from the 11 night Ovation of the Seas Alaska cruise a couple of weeks ago.  We were very fortunate that on our Hubbard Glacier day we were able to get very close to this beautiful glacier on the largest ship to cruise in these waters.  We had a beautiful day!  Even though it was not a small boat excursion I thought you may enjoy our photos from that day.  Here is my Smug Mug album (just click on the picture below to view):

20190518_074124-600x338.jpg

 

The following day we were able to take the small boat excursion from Juneau to get an up close view of Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord from Juneau.  Amazing!  We saw three glaciers on this cruise (Hawe's Glacier  in Endicott Arm a few days later was number three) and were amazed at how different each one was.  Enjoy your cruises.  I hope you all have sunny days!

Edited by Sunny AZ Girl
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Happiest Sailor

Happiest Sailor

Posted
Posted
On 3/5/2019 at 10:09 AM, Italy52 said:

Many of us will be anxiously awaiting comments on this particular excursion.  I plan to post my thoughts when we return.  However, we will be cruising in Alaska for 3 weeks so I won't be able to provide feedback until we return home July 8th.

 

As for a whale watching vendor in Juneau, we have gone with Jayleen's Alaska 4 times and will be going again another two trips in June. Here is Jayleen's website for your review --- also check out her reviews on TripAdvisor as they are very favorable.  We have also gone with Harv and Marv in Juneau and had a good time as well.  Good luck with your planning.

 

https://jayleensalaska.com/

 

On 3/10/2019 at 3:28 PM, Italy52 said:

Bob & Kathleen, glad to hear that you were able to book with Glacier Wind.  Yes, Shawn is a nice man and his wife, Teresa is very nice as well.  Both Shawn and Teresa are very special to us --- they feel like family.  Please tell them that Karen & Claudio say "HI." 

 

I hope you have a wonderful trip. 

 

Karen

Wonderful experience with Shawn and Teresa .. engaging and so focused on you having a good experience .. I highly recommend them!!!  Thanks for the tip!!!

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Happiest Sailor

Happiest Sailor

Posted
Posted
On 3/4/2019 at 3:23 PM, Italy52 said:

 

The excursion that we are talking about is a new one for 2019.  Although people did book in 2018, the trips were cancelled by the vendor.  As mentioned above, I contacted the vendor and was told that the excursion is a "go" for 2019.  Keeping fingers crossed that nothing changes at the last minute.

 

Greetings, we are back from our "Most Excellent Alaskan Adventure", to say it was spectacular is an understatement!  To get to the point on the Hubbard Bay excursion, I offer the following.  Lovely boat operated by Allan Marine.  Crew friendly and engaging.  Complimentary donuts, hot beverages and some salmon dip offered throughout. Getting on from the Celebrity Millennium was easy.  I noticed may crew members taking this excursion.  When we arrived the fog was a bit dense, and there was some chatter the Millennium might not get too close, so that would have put us at a great advantage.  We arrived on site about 20-30 minutes before the Millennium.  In facing the glacier we were as far right as we could go.  The fog lifted, and the Millennium was soon visible and in range of the glacier. We were about 1/4 mile from the face of the glacier.  The cruise ship was also with a 1/4 of a mile.  It was an active day with lots of calving going on, we saw and heard it from the time we arrived.  We even had a few rolling waves to deal with.  Some of our members who stayed on the cruise ship enjoyed their experience, as we enjoyed ours.  We did see some wild life and some close ups of ice debris and "bergs", more so than those on the main ship.Was it worth the $250.00pp fee?  For me it was.  I felt I was there longer and had a more personal experience, and perhaps had a few better photo opportunities.  It may not be for everybody, but I was happy with the experience. I am happy to answer specific questions. 

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

Posted
Posted

We got to under  a mile form the glacier on June 14 on Amsterdam, as did a Princess ship. We were closer than the smaller tour boat. That day, you absolutely didn't need the $250 tour boat. We got to see about 90  minutes of almost non-stop calving.

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masterdrago

masterdrago

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Posted

When we were there on May 25th on Radiance, the day was perfect but I never saw any calving at all. On top of that, during the 3hr GoPro video, it started repeating the same frame at about 35 minutes into the video. On some of the other glacier watch cruises we took, we also did not see any calving. I'm already looking at plans to get back to Alaska.

10 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

We got to under  a mile form the glacier on June 14 on Amsterdam, as did a Princess ship. We were closer than the smaller tour boat. That day, you absolutely didn't need the $250 tour boat. We got to see about 90  minutes of almost non-stop calving.

 

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tetleytea

tetleytea

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Posted (edited)
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This excursion is showing up on the list for my June 26 cruise on the Island Princess. I think, though, that I'll be blowing my money on the 26 glacier excursion in Whittier on my turnaround day there. One pricey excursion is enough.

 

I agree with doing that.  However, when I last sailed the Island Princess, I booked the Prince William Sound cruise through some other tour company, and that cruise was far better then.   I was very disappointed with the Phillips 26 Glacier excursion compared to my previous one, primarily because the boat is just so BIG!!   Not everybody even gets a window seat.    I wish I could have found another tour boat there this time--and I know they're there, because I saw Dall's Porpoise chasing them out on the Sound.  Having a small tour boat with like 12 people makes a big difference.   At least--with the PWS cruise.  With Hubbard, getting close I think is all that matters.

Edited by tetleytea
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Amber86

Amber86

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know how packed the boat feels? I know it takes about 150 people but I don’t know if that means you will be standing several rows behind heads scrambling for a view. We will have a deluxe balcony in 2020 and I’m trying to decide if I would have a better view from our balcony or a small boat. Thanks for any input.

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