Jump to content

Juneau Glaciers Excursion advice vs w Ship thru Hubbard Glacier


GolfMommy17
 Share

Recommended Posts

We are traveling in August and our ship will go thru the Hubbard Glacier and then on to Juneau.  I am considering excursion in Juneau either to see the Mendenhall Glacier/Nugget Falls OR the Tracy Arm Fijord tour.  Wondering if Hubbard Glacier will give me the closer glacier experience and therefor not necessary to take the 9 hour trip for Tracy Arm?  TIA friends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our experiences with Alaska glaciers included an early season sailing that included Hubbard - we didn't get very close. On that same cruise we did a helicopter trip to the top of Mendenhall, got out and just wandered around on the glacier for (maybe) 45 minutes (it's cold, wear appropriate clothing and shoes). We have cruised through Tracy Arm - which I'd imagine to be a different experience from a shore excursion that will put you into a smaller vessel (getting much closer to points of interest). From the land/bus tour out to Mendenhall, you aren't going to get that close to the face of the glacier. Our favorite to date has been Glacier Bay where (on the ship) we got pretty close to the glacier face and there was a fair amount of calving taking place. As you may be able to tell, we've enjoyed our AK cruises and we're taking our kids and grand kids there this summer (through Glacier Bay).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are on the Amsterdam in August, I noticed a tour is offered called Up Close Exploring: Hubbard Glacier and Enchanting Disenchantment Bay, where you disembark the ship directly to an Alaskan Day boat which takes you up close to the Hubbard Glacier and then back to the ship. 2 1/2 hours for 259.95. I believe the Hubbard Glacier is the most exciting to see if you can get close to it on the ship. Last year we did get really close  in late August and it was a fabulous sight.

 

A 9 hour trip to Tracey Arm is long. Mendenhall Glacier is nice to see but I don't think one gets the glacier experience you are looking for.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Owing to the time of year, The ice Flo in the bay around Hubbard  will be exceptional !  You do not want to go  before August  unless being 3-5 miles from the glacier is fine.   As the season warms calving on the face increases a lot

Juneau Glacier  you can get to on a bus or taxi  its in a semi urban environment  and not one 10th the experience as Hubbard 

I would  opt  thus for the Tracy Arm tour

I say this  as a former NPS Naturalist Ranger in the region.   Glacier Bay is best earily season  Hubbard is at its best  in earily to late September.

In Juneau   you can go take a taxi to the Mendenhall  and there are plenty of tours to take     Juneau will be a zoo of people with up to 10.000+ people milling around    

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm are two very different experiences. Hubbard is huge, both from side to side and from water level to top. It is an advancing glacier, so there is a lot of calving. On a good day, this is about the best glacier viewing site on Alaska cruises. The ride up Yakutat Bay can be stunning, as well, with the glacier the prize at the end.

Tracy Arm is scenic cruising with a glacier at the end; it's the scenery that is the focus of the sailing. On a cruise ship you may not get close to the glacier at all, but see it from far away. On a small boat you will get a different perspective, though. You will likely get closer to the glacier, and it will feel larger than seeing it from a ship.

Both of these are very worthwhile. I have enjoyed Hubbard in it's many moods several times, and booked one cruise to Alaska for the sole purpose of taking the catamaran up Tracy Arm---after having done it on the cruise ship a few times. That excursion had us transfer to the catamaran directly from the cruise ship at the entrance. We returned to Juneau with some time to explore the city. I don't know if the round-trip excursion from Juneau would leave you any time to explore there.

I've never done an excursion that lets you walk on a glacier, so can't speak to that. I do know that Mendenhall has receded a great deal since I first saw it, and is not as impressive as the others.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are in port during the hours that the Adventure Bound is available......I"d strongly suggest going to Tracey Arm (Sawyer glaciers) with them.   You will have a local's experience on the water......wildlife, bergs, etc.   It's a long day but everyone I've taken out there has loved it.   Timing is the most difficult part........with cruise ship schedules.   Last cruise we did I booked the cruise based on being in Juneau  long enough to take friends on this day trip.  We've done this trip multiple times over the last 15 years.......it never gets old........

Edited by thyme2go
addition
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am bummed b/c my ship gets in too late for the tracy arm excursions from both Adventure bound and Allen Marine. so, i am going whale watching then then will get over to Mendenhall and go to the falls.  Will save the Tracy Arm excursion for next trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, GolfMommy17 said:

Will save the Tracy Arm excursion for next trip!

Good idea!

I'll be going on my 9th Alaska cruise this summer, and am still finding new things to do that I haven't gotten to yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/26/2019 at 5:14 PM, jonyboy said:

Last year we took an excursion that first went to Mendenhall then a whale watch.  It was fantastic, one of the highlights of the trip

 

Was that with Gastineau, on the small boat? I did their whale watch the last time I was in Alaska and I'm going again in June.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Was that with Gastineau, on the small boat? I did their whale watch the last time I was in Alaska and I'm going again in June.

Not sure, we booked through HAL but it was a small boat, about 12-15 people.  It was great being on a smaller boat as we got very close, within 15-20 feet at one point

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, jonyboy said:

Not sure, we booked through HAL but it was a small boat, about 12-15 people.  It was great being on a smaller boat as we got very close, within 15-20 feet at one point

 

It sounds like them. I loved that we were on a small boat and close the the water, especially when I saw a crowded 2-deck boat. 

 

My cruise in June is on Cunard, and I'm disappointed that they aren't offering the Tracy Arm excursion. In June, I don't expect to get very close to the glacier.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

It sounds like them. I loved that we were on a small boat and close the the water, especially when I saw a crowded 2-deck boat. 

 

My cruise in June is on Cunard, and I'm disappointed that they aren't offering the Tracy Arm excursion. In June, I don't expect to get very close to the glacier.

 

i think i am going to book with Adventures in Alaska.  they have a 10 person boat for a whale watch.  they will drop you off for an extra fee at Mendenhall.  their trip is more $ but i like the small boat option.  Not sure who my cruise line runs their whale watch with but i want a small boat for sure.  Has anyone heard of this group?  i have seen some reviews and seem very positive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/26/2019 at 6:44 PM, thyme2go said:

If you are in port during the hours that the Adventure Bound is available......I"d strongly suggest going to Tracey Arm (Sawyer glaciers) with them.   You will have a local's experience on the water......wildlife, bergs, etc.   It's a long day but everyone I've taken out there has loved it.   Timing is the most difficult part........with cruise ship schedules.   Last cruise we did I booked the cruise based on being in Juneau  long enough to take friends on this day trip.  We've done this trip multiple times over the last 15 years.......it never gets old........

Adventure Bound called me and offered to open up another boat with a slightly later departure -as there are a few ships coming in later than others on our Port day.  So incredibly nice and i am SO excited!  they are just making sure we dock where they can reach us.  they are going out of their way and just for this i would recommend them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats!!    Like I said,  we have never been disappointed in our 'adventures' with them.  I attached a couple pic's from a July 2016 trip.   LOTS of berg's on the way in to the fjord.........the 'dragon' berg was so unique-although they each have a personality.  We had a spell of heavy fog with the berg's and the picture of the Capt. shows we were winding our way through them.   Yes, I thought of the Titanic more than once--but we slowed down and he was paying strict attention to everything.   Also, as you can see in that pic, there is some space to be on the bridge with the Capt.---which makes for quite the story!!    

 

Please share your experience when you get back..........hope you have a great trip!

2016-07-21 001 2016-07-21 017.JPG

2016-07-21 001 2016-07-21 020.JPG

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've done both the Tracy Arm excursion (actually substituted Endicott Arm) and Hubbard.  With Tracy Arm excursion, we boarded from ship to boat in Endicott Arm.  Our ship took off for Juneau, and we spent considerable time studying Dawes Glacier.  Allen Marine does a great job.  Tracy Arm was filled with ice flow, so they substituted Endicott Arm.  We've been on 9 or 10 cruises to Alaska, and only one had this excursion from Princess Cruise Lines.  Since we boarded in the middle of Endicott Arm, we had only a six or seven hour excursion.  It did take several hours to reach Juneau.  We've been to Endicott and Dawes Glacier on two cruises.  We had our boat, and a second boat were the only boats in Endicott while we were there.  The Emerald Princess was long gone as soon as they disembarked us.

 

Hubbard Glacier is also quite grand.

 

Never saw Mendenhall Calving.

 

I think they really regulate the number of ships in the various fjords and glaciers at any one time.

Edited by knittinggirl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, knittinggirl said:

We've done both the Tracy Arm excursion (actually substituted Endicott Arm) and Hubbard.  With Tracy Arm excursion, we boarded from ship to boat in Endicott Arm.  Our ship took off for Juneau, and we spent considerable time studying Dawes Glacier.  Allen Marine does a great job.  Tracy Arm was filled with ice flow, so they substituted Endicott Arm.  We've been on 9 or 10 cruises to Alaska, and only one had this excursion from Princess Cruise Lines.  Since we boarded in the middle of Endicott Arm, we had only a six or seven hour excursion.  It did take several hours to reach Juneau.  We've been to Endicott and Dawes Glacier on two cruises.  We had our boat, and a second boat were the only boats in Endicott while we were there.  The Emerald Princess was long gone as soon as they disembarked us.

 

Hubbard Glacier is also quite grand.

 

Never saw Mendenhall Calving.

 

I think they really regulate the number of ships in the various fjords and glaciers at any one time.

Yes...We,( the NPS), do limit the number of ships who are permitted.   AND   not all  lines have permits and not all ships are approved  for the permit .     HAL and Princess are pretty much the only ones who have been issued permits.   I was a NPS Ranger in the region....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/26/2019 at 6:38 PM, RuthC said:

. . . I do know that Mendenhall has receded a great deal since I first saw it, and is not as impressive as the others.

Believe it or not, Mendenall Glacier came out to the highway back in the 1920s.  I have my great aunt's photos and notes that show that.  We were there in 1996 on our first Alaskan cruise.  Last there in 2014 and it was noticeably further up its valley.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so i am bummed - Adventure bound cannot accommodate me after all - our ship uses Tender transport in Juneau and i will not make it in time even with a later departure.  so i guess its the whales for me and save this for next time!  thanks for the recommendation and i will file away the info!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...