Tracy Arm Fjord

[Monica887]

Can you see the fjord from the room balcony or do you need to be up on deck? 

 

(We don't have luggage and our extra warm clothes and I'm not sure how my little one will do in the cold at 6am!)

[don't-use-real-name]

Yes you can see the fjord from a balcony cabin -

Your ship transits the fjord round trip so your cabin would OK.

Most transits of the Fjord are in prime daylight - 6am seems a bit odd.

HOWEVER - being topside to see the fjord (both sides) is the best.

You wouldn't need to stay long in viewing caring for your little one.

Options:

Walking the Promenade deck you would be close to the comfort of the

ships interior and shelter

The ships buffet or cafe restaurant may offer windows to view

You certainly will have ample opportunity to research the best view points.

[Monica887]

5 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Yes you can see the fjord from a balcony cabin -

Your ship transits the fjord round trip so your cabin would OK.

Most transits of the Fjord are in prime daylight - 6am seems a bit odd.

HOWEVER - being topside to see the fjord (both sides) is the best.

You wouldn't need to stay long in viewing caring for your little one.

Options:

Walking the Promenade deck you would be close to the comfort of the

ships interior and shelter

The ships buffet or cafe restaurant may offer windows to view

You certainly will have ample opportunity to research the best view points.

Thanks. That makes sense. Will do our best and trade off between parents if needed. But it's helpful to know that if I need to spend time in the room I'll still have a view!

[tetleytea]

 

I don't know if this would constitute a thread hijack or not, but the subject does say "Tracy Arm" and I had a different question about it:

 

The Juneau Tracy Arm excursions.  I see some that are 10 hours long, but my ship excursion is only 5 hours long because of our shorter time in port.  For that reason, I decided to pass on Tracy Arm altogether and wait for another trip when we had a bigger block of time in Juneau.   Did I do the right thing?   Would I be selling myself short if I only did the 5-hour excursion and didn't particularly want to do the Tracy Arm excursion twice?

[JT1962]

31 minutes ago, tetleytea said:

 

I don't know if this would constitute a thread hijack or not, but the subject does say "Tracy Arm" and I had a different question about it:

 

The Juneau Tracy Arm excursions.  I see some that are 10 hours long, but my ship excursion is only 5 hours long because of our shorter time in port.  For that reason, I decided to pass on Tracy Arm altogether and wait for another trip when we had a bigger block of time in Juneau.   Did I do the right thing?   Would I be selling myself short if I only did the 5-hour excursion and didn't particularly want to do the Tracy Arm excursion twice?

The 10 hour excursion likely left from & returned to Juneau. This is what the private company Adventure Bound does. The 5 hour excursion likely departs from the ship and either returns to Juneau to meet the ship or returns to the ship as it is sailing to the next port. 
 

I would definitely reconsider booking the excursion on the small boat since it get you much closer to the Glacier and a total different perspective than seeing Tracy arm from the ship.

[tetleytea]

I don't doubt that the small boat is much better than viewing from the cruise ship, but if I only wanted to do the small boat excursion once, would I be right to hold out for the 10-hour later? 

[DaveOKC]

1 minute ago, tetleytea said:

I don't doubt that the small boat is much better than viewing from the cruise ship, but if I only wanted to do the small boat excursion once, would I be right to hold out for the 10-hour later? 

From what I understand, most of the longer time is due to having to go from Juneau to Tracy Arm rather than starting out at Tracy Arm via the cruise ship.  

[tetleytea]

My particular ship's tour is during Juneau port, FYI.

[Northern Aurora]

11 hours ago, Monica887 said:

Can you see the fjord from the room balcony or do you need to be up on deck? 

 

(We don't have luggage and our extra warm clothes and I'm not sure how my little one will do in the cold at 6am!)

 

While I don't know which cruise line our OP is on my favorite cruise line has warm heavy fleece throws available for passengers when doing colder weather itineraries.  They are in the bins on the pool decks where during hot weather itineraries pool blankets are stored.

[dcbiker97]

If the shorter excursion is indeed the excursion where you board a boat off of the cruise ship, I would recommend that one over the round trip from Juneau. We just did the one where we got off the boat near the glacier last month and there no real advantage from taking the excursion to and from Juneau.  It was nice just getting off the cruise ship and going to see the glacier.  You see the same coming and going so no need for all the extra time. .  

Edited July 8, 2022 by dcbiker97

[don't-use-real-name]

6 hours ago, JT1962 said:

The 10 hour excursion likely left from & returned to Juneau. This is what the private company Adventure Bound does. The 5 hour excursion likely departs from the ship and either returns to Juneau to meet the ship or returns to the ship as it is sailing to the next port. 
 

I would definitely reconsider booking the excursion on the small boat since it get you much closer to the Glacier and a total different perspective than seeing Tracy arm from the ship.

That 10 hour excursion must have included something else.

Circa September 2018

The excursion I took from Juneau (float plane dock) took 5 hours round trip to see the South

Sawyer Glacier (Tracy Arm) and an added bonus the North Sawyer.

Saw whales going and returning - box lunch - beverage snack bar - viewing binoculars available -

Crew fetched a chunk of glacier ice out of the channel for everyone to touch and feel it.

All this certainly not 10 hours - maybe that excursion did Dawes/Endicott too or some

extensive whale watching ??? 

[JT1962]

1 hour ago, don't-use-real-name said:

That 10 hour excursion must have included something else.

Circa September 2018

The excursion I took from Juneau (float plane dock) took 5 hours round trip to see the South

Sawyer Glacier (Tracy Arm) and an added bonus the North Sawyer.

Saw whales going and returning - box lunch - beverage snack bar - viewing binoculars available -

Crew fetched a chunk of glacier ice out of the channel for everyone to touch and feel it.

All this certainly not 10 hours - maybe that excursion did Dawes/Endicott too or some

extensive whale watching ??? 

The excursion with Adventure Bound from Juneau is 10 hours. We took this a few years ago.  The ship excursions are usually through Allen Marine and are likely shorter since they don’t make as many stops.

Edited July 8, 2022 by JT1962

[quack2]

The Juneau round trip requires you to arrive in Juneau early enough to board the boat at 8 a.m.   Getting harder and harder to find an itinerary that does that.

[DougH]

25 minutes ago, quack2 said:

The Juneau round trip requires you to arrive in Juneau early enough to board the boat at 8 a.m.   Getting harder and harder to find an itinerary that does that.

Northbound Princess cruises from Vancouver to Whittier are about the only ones long enough for the Adventure Bound tour.  It is a long day but Captain Steve stops many times if he sees wildlife, I've seen whales and bears with him. Getting up close and personal with the glacier is a far different experience than from the cruise ship, I've done this 6-7 times, last just a couple of weeks ago mid June. Highly recommended and a good value for your dollar. If you have the time in port I would do this as it is rare that the schedule allows

[Monica887]

Thanks all. There was no excursion, just the ship. It was worth it to go up to the deck but we did still have spectacular views from our own balcony. The best spot we found was the helipad. 

[Coral]

On 7/8/2022 at 10:52 PM, DougH said:

Northbound Princess cruises from Vancouver to Whittier are about the only ones long enough for the Adventure Bound tour.  It is a long day but Captain Steve stops many times if he sees wildlife, I've seen whales and bears with him. Getting up close and personal with the glacier is a far different experience than from the cruise ship, I've done this 6-7 times, last just a couple of weeks ago mid June. Highly recommended and a good value for your dollar. If you have the time in port I would do this as it is rare that the schedule allows

Best paid shore excursion IMO! All day beauty for a reasonable cost.

[tetleytea]

Sounds like yes, I am right to hold out for the 10-hour tour.   Last time I was in Juneau port for that long, I rented a car.   I got good value for the car that day.

[Jeremiah On a Cruise]

17 hours ago, tetleytea said:

Sounds like yes, I am right to hold out for the 10-hour tour.   Last time I was in Juneau port for that long, I rented a car.   I got good value for the car that day.

 

Are you on Holland America?  I was with them a few years ago and was super confused by how they set up their itinerary on the Juneau/Tracy Arm Fjord date, or what the excursions entailed.  But, when I was onboard, I figure it out.

 

The excursion boards about an hour before Juneau.  A small boat come alongside the cruise ship, and several people (50?) got on a small boat bound for Tracy Arm.  The excursion lasted many hours, and brought the people back to Juneau afterwards.  The cruise ship didn't go into Tracy Arm.

 

I didn't do it, but heard a few things.  First, it was great.  Second, they entirely missed Juneau.  Third, they would only ever do it booked through the cruise line due to the length and risk of missing the ship.

[tetleytea]

I came close to sailing HAL, but no, not this one.  I wouldn't mind missing Juneau and just sailing Tracy Arm the whole time, since I've been to Juneau enough times already. 

 

If I ever see a bullfrog on a cruise, I'll think of you.