Hubbard vs. Glacier Bay

[Sunny80]

I am having a difficult time deciding between a Glacier Bay cruise out of Seattle and a Hubbard Glacier Cruise out of Vancouver. I would love to sail out of Vancouver and spend a couple days there, but is it worth skipping that to see Glacier Bay instead of Hubbard? Thanks!

[fti]

This is a very subjective decision. I was at Glacier Bay last year and am going to Hubbard Glacier next month. I really enjoyed Glacier Bay and am looking forward to comparing the two. Partly it will depend on when you are cruising - the earlier in the season you go, the lower the chance you will get close to Hubbard Glacier. Glacier Bay has NPS rangers board, escort and narrate on the Glacier Bay cruises.

 

You decision might It also depend on what other ports each ship is visiting.

 

John

[cjnky]

May be you need to check other cruiselines? There are lots of cruises from Vancouver that go to Glacier Bay.

[Sunny80]

Having a hard time finding roundtrips that go out of Vancouver and to Glacier Bay.

 

Thank you for your help! Good to know that Hubbard is better later in the season.

[Whitnee1]

I cruised the Hubbard two years ago in June and the glacier was very active. A lot of calving and we were able to get quite close and experienced a lot of large falls. Last week I cruised Glacier Bay and although the weather was spectacular the glacier was not as active. Don't know if that is inherent to Glacier Bay or if the month difference had anything to do with it. Even the amount of ice flows in the water was a lot less which also indicated the glacier was less active.

[Toyz711]

i don't know how many ships, doing round-trips go to glacier bay. i know the NCL pearl does. did that route on the NCL star last year.

glacier bay is not as active with calving, it's more a good 5 or 6 hours of cruising through the national park. great views, many glacier..some calving is possible.

http://www.alaskacruises.com/alaska_glacier_viewing.asp

[Mike2131]

As fti said, it is very much a personal preference question. On my first cruise to Alaska I was fortunate enough to have a crystal clear (although cold) day in Glacier Bay. What a thrill to see all the glaciers, wildlife, and scenery with the Park Ranger commentary. The glacier calving was spectacular.

 

On my second Alaskan cruise we stopped at Hubbard. Except for its immense size, I found little to recommend it and would not take a cruise that included it over Glacier Bay.

 

On this most recent cruise, Glacier Bay was cold (in the 40s), very foggy, and rainy. The weather is just the luck of the draw (it is Alaska after all). There were, however, some orcas pointed out by the rangers on board and we saw some really nice calving.

 

The bonus of this last cruise was a visit to College Fjord. The weather was glorious and it was very interesting to see glacier after glacier lined up.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We love both and have been to both many times. But if I had to choose -- it would be Hubbard -- the ice is so much bluer there. JMO

 

Also on our last couple of cruises, Hubbard calved more than Glacier.

[DaisyGirl55]

We went to Alaska end of June on the Mercury (Celebrity) and we went to Hubbard. I was very disappointed in that the captain decided not to go very close to the glacier due to the amount of ice in the water. Could not hear anything, and other than the ice floating by - could not really see anything. What we did see was through binoculars, but hard to grasp the scale of the glacier from so far away. Totally not what I was expecting at all. :(

 

Is there a better time in the season to see the glaciers up close? We plan on going back, and would like to schedule our trip for when the glaciers are accessible...and the salmon are running! (too early for that too)

[NancyIL]

Holland America has several ships that go to Glacier Bay on Vancouver roundtrips. In 2008 those ships are the Ryndam (Wednesday departures: http://www.hollandamerica.com/dest/itinerary.do?selectedItin=20080702:R835:A8R007&dest=A) and the Statendam (Saturday departures: http://www.hollandamerica.com/dest/itinerary.do?selectedItin=20080705:S829:A8S007&dest=A)

[Sunny80]

thank you so much, everyone! this is all very helpful.

[cruzy-sue]

Also, the Carnival Spirit does round trips out of Vancouver at the beginning and end of the Alaska season. And definitely goes to Glacier Bay!

[Ivanova]

Our naturalist told us that Hubbard is more active (calves more) than Glacier Bay...

[Coral]

Our naturalist told us that Hubbard is more active (calves more) than Glacier Bay...

 

Though - IMO, Glacier Bay is a much more beautiful day. There is much more to see at Glacier Bay.

[NancyIL]

I haven't been to Hubbard Glacier, so I can make no comparisons. Glacier Bay is a beautiful area, but I suspect there is no comparison between any one glacier in Glacier Bay (such as Margerie Glacier, which most ships see) and Hubbard Glacier. In fact - I thought Aialik Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park was more impressive than Margerie, and it calved more. (That might've been because we saw it from a closer distance on a much smaller boat.)

 

Now that I've seen Glacier Bay and College Fjord, I want to see Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm Fjord on subsequent cruises to Alaska.

[fti]

Now that I've seen Glacier Bay and College Fjord, I want to see Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm Fjord on subsequent cruises to Alaska.

 

Exactly. Hubbard for me in 3-1/2 weeks, Tracy Arm next summer :) . Actually I also hope to fit in Glacier Bay next summer as well on the same trip as Tracy Arm (but I won't be on a week-long cruise ship).

[adamtennis]

After seeing Hubbard Glacier the past two consecutive years, I gotta say "it depends." Last year, our cruise ship was not able to get very close to the glacier, and while I thought that the glacier was beautiful, I did not come away with an "awesome" experience. So much so, that when I returned this year with family and friends, I kind of down-played our day in Hubbard Glacier. At dinner the night before our arrival at Hubbard Glacier, I warned them against getting up too early and fighting for an "up-close" view (we were scheduled to arrive at Hubbard Glacier at 6am).

 

Well, you can imagine my surprise when I woke up that morning and turned on that very helpful channel on the TV (the bridge-cam view), only to see that we were VERY close to the glacier. I called everyone on the phone, woke them up, and told them that they needed to get outside immediately to experience this impressive sight. I was in awe!!! We cruised incredibly close to the glacier that day - and got to witness both the impressive sights and sounds of a glacier calving, many times! While I cannot compare this to Glacier Bay, I can extrapolate from my own experiences. I think that Glacier viewing depends on many factors, of which the actual glacier itself is only 1 :)

[edinburgher]

We sailed round trip from Vancouver in June on a back-to-back. With HAL on Statendam. We were able to keep the same cabin for both the north and the southbound trips. We enjoyed 4 nights pre cruise in Vancouver, 2 nights post cruise.

 

the only difference in the itinerary was that northbound we had a call at Skagway, and southbound this was replaced with Haines. We had Juneau twice, Ketchikan twice, Glacier Bay twice and College Fjord twice. changeover day was Seward.

 

We didnt mind the similarities in the itineraries. The weather is so changeable that we saw each place differently. On the northern routing we didnt see the glaciers in College Fjord as visibility was so poor, captain had to turn around and leave. When returning the following week it was clear. Glacier Bay was misty and gray one week, wonderfully atmospheric and as little sunshine the ice showed more blue in colour, the following week was blue sky and sunshine and it looked totally different.

 

I think you will really enjoy the round trip. And you will have 2 "welcome drinks" and 2 farewell dinners etc.

[rmillsaps]

If you didn't know the difference, you couldn't tell the difference!