Large or smaller ship access to Glacier Bay in mid-June

[Firehunter]

We are only able to cruise in May and June to Alaska. I know a lot can change, but wanted to know if any of the bigger ships like NCL Encore and Discovery Princess were able to get all the way into Glacier Bay mid-June. They have better options for cabins for our preferences than the smaller ships like NCL Sun and Crown Princess, but those are alternative options since a big reason for the cruise is to take our MIL to see Alaska with the highlight of Glacier Bay.

[wolfie11]

Access to Margerie Glacier is not a problem for any size ship in Glacier Bay.  

[Firehunter]

1 hour ago, wolfie11 said:

Access to Margerie Glacier is not a problem for any size ship in Glacier Bay.  

 Thank you. I have heard earlier season ships (May, early June?) have not been able to due to ice chunks.

[Coral]

19 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

Access to Margerie Glacier is not a problem for any size ship in Glacier Bay.  

I agree! Glacier Bay is pretty accessible by ships in the summer. Other glaciers have access issues.

[wolfie11]

23 hours ago, Firehunter said:

 Thank you. I have heard earlier season ships (May, early June?) have not been able to due to ice chunks.

I've been up to the glaciers in the bay well over a hundred times in everything from a 26 foot research boat to a large cruise ship and from April to September.  We have always been able to get close (within a mile at least).  The park has regulations about how long the ships have to stay in the park and how long they have to spend in the glacier area.  The cruise lines aren't terribly happy about these as they are also required to close the casino, most shops, and curtail other activities while the ship's in the park.  If there's a lot of ice, the ship has to slow down and wend it's way through it to get close, which takes more time, which means the ship spends more time in the park and is not generating gambling and shopping revenue. 

[Heidi13]

On 5/30/2023 at 10:03 AM, Firehunter said:

 Thank you. I have heard earlier season ships (May, early June?) have not been able to due to ice chunks.

 

That is applicable to the other Glaciers, but with over a couple dozen cruise ship visits to Glacier Bay, I have never failed to get reasonably close to at least 1 glacier. 

[Firehunter]

Awesome, thank you all so much. We went bigger ship, with the NCL Encore. 🙂