Glacier Bay Cruising Question

[Jodydavis]

Hi all,

 

Like others, I've found this board invaluable for planning, so thanks in advance.

 

Can someone tell me what to expect during the day that we will be cruising (on the Noordam) through Glacier Bay? The schedule says we will be cruising from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. How is that time spent? How much of it is up close next to the glaciers? When, typically, is there narration or a guided talk? And where, generally, do people hang out?

 

Also, we'll be cruising with a 7-year-old. Any thoughts on what might work best for this day? Do you find that there's enough to keep younger kids interested and occupied, or will she likely want to be at the kids club for part of this day? Just trying to get a sense of the rhythm of the day.

 

I know that's a lot of questions, so thanks in advance!

 

Joe

[Budget Queen]

You are lucky, you are sailing with my ship naturalist friend Dirk!!!! Just fantastic, so keep an ear open for his comments, will greatly enhance your trip.

 

As for Glacier Bay, it takes about 3 hours to get within glacier viewing from the entrance. The narration can be about 1-2 hours before getting to Margerie Glacier, you see Lamplugh about 20-30 minutes prior. It depends on the ranger. There is usually no narration on the way out, with no stops.

 

Depending on your routing?? if going to Skagway/Juneau after Glacier Bay, continue being out on deck after dropping the rangers off, this is prime humpback viewing area.

 

 

IF you do not have a port side cabin with a window or balcony, get out on an open deck. Your port side Promanade deck is a great viewing area, so can be the top decks.

 

Check out the left side of the Margerie Glacier with binoculars- there is a bird rookery that had been known to have puffins.

[Yukon]

I just got home last night from a cruise on the Amsterdam, followed by a week of land touring. We had a very good Glacier Bay day weather-wise, with good calving activity at the Majorie Glacier, which is the only glacier we sat in front of for a while (the open bow area was the place to be). Our NPS ranger was fairly good, with narration every now and then throughout the day (9-4) as well as presentations in the Crowsnest in the morning (very poor sound system, so we heard little of it) and the main theatre (didn't attend). The ship naturalist is new in the business and was very poor throughout the cruise. At the mouth of Glacier Bay we saw more humpbacks than I've ever seen in one place - perhaps 20 of them in a couple of miles. Most people on the ship, as usual, didn't see them at all (only a handful of people were on deck), and neither the naturalist nor the captain said a word.

 

Murray

[NancyIL]

I just got home last night from a cruise on the Amsterdam, followed by a week of land touring. We had a very good Glacier Bay day weather-wise, with good calving activity at the Majorie Glacier, which is the only glacier we sat in front of for a while (the open bow area was the place to be). Our NPS ranger was fairly good, with narration every now and then throughout the day (9-4) as well as presentations in the Crowsnest in the morning (very poor sound system, so we heard little of it) and the main theatre (didn't attend). The ship naturalist is new in the business and was very poor throughout the cruise. At the mouth of Glacier Bay we saw more humpbacks than I've ever seen in one place - perhaps 20 of them in a couple of miles. Most people on the ship, as usual, didn't see them at all (only a handful of people were on deck), and neither the naturalist nor the captain said a word.

 

Murray

 

Welcome back, Murray! What was your over all impression of the Amsterdam and HAL - after cruising several times with RCI?

[Yukon]

Welcome back, Murray! What was your over all impression of the Amsterdam and HAL - after cruising several times with RCI?

 

Cathy gives the Amsterdam somewhat higher marks overall but I prefer the Radiance by a small margin, so the jury is still out on which way we'll go in the future. HAL's dining room food is better, but the Lido buffet is far less efficient. Service overall is definitely better on the Amsterdam. While the smaller size of the "dam ship" has advantages, I much prefer the layout, deck space and features such as the climbing wall on the Radiance. We had a poor naturalist, so that often-stated HAL advantage was definitely not one on our cruise. While the variety of Glacier Bay is wonderful, we still prefer the much larger size and greater calving action at Hubbard Glacier.

 

Murray

[magictam]

Hi all,

Can someone tell me what to expect during the day that we will be cruising (on the Noordam) through Glacier Bay?

 

 

Hi Joe

We're also going to be on the Noordam this month. I'm counting down the days.

 

Which sailing are you on? If it's the 8/26 sailing are you interested in joining the Meet & Greet for CC members? If you are interested, go to the roll call boards, Holland America, Noordam, Noordam 8-26.07.

 

Whichever sailing your on, I hope you and your family enjoy it.

[Toyz711]

i would think your 7 year old could get bored. it's mostly views of trees and glacier. it's a wonderful day of cruising through some of the most beautiful views. i loved the peace and quiet of the cruising, it was surreal at time (on my balcony). if your child is active, you may be able to relax and enjoy more if they are in the kid's zone. i didn't get the wildlife sightings others have reported, hopefully you will.

[Jodydavis]

Thanks, all, for the advice! We have a port balcony room, so that may give us some more flexibility if my daughter gets bored.

 

Which sailing are you on? If it's the 8/26 sailing are you interested in joining the Meet & Greet for CC members? If you are interested, go to the roll call boards, Holland America, Noordam, Noordam 8-26.07.

 

Magictam, we're on the 8/19 cruise, so we'll miss you by a week. You'll probably see us disembarking with big smiles on our faces :) . Hope you have a great trip!

 

Joe.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

We just recently booked an AFT balcony (on the NCL Pearl) for next summer having never been to Alaska before? I figured the views while cruising would be great and much less of the cold wind. However, after reading your discussions about cruisng Glacier Bay, I am wondering if we should change it to a Port or Front? What are your thoughts, if it were you would you rather the Aft or the Port??

[fti]

We just recently booked an AFT balcony (on the NCL Pearl) for next summer having never been to Alaska before? I figured the views while cruising would be great and much less of the cold wind. However, after reading your discussions about cruisng Glacier Bay, I am wondering if we should change it to a Port or Front? What are your thoughts, if it were you would you rather the Aft or the Port??

 

I had a balcony last summer on port side but when cruising Glacier Bay I was out on the deck. Much better viewing in my opinion and you can move around from side to side, see far ahead of you, etc.

[Red Rox]

We just returned from the Coral Princess where we had a similar day of cruising in Glacier Bay.

The narration was extensive and informative. The highlight of the day was the time spent near Marjerie Glacier. We saw a lot of calving and were able to observe a lot of seals and otters in the water as well. We also saw a few bald eagles and several whales early in the day as we entered the bay.

We did some viewing from our cabin's balcony, but we spent more of our time out on the deck where we could move from one side of the ship to the other more quickly. We had been advised about a place to go on the Coral that was on the forward deck just below the Bridge, that can be accessed through some doors marked 'Crew Only'. There were a few other informed passengers there with us, but it was a superior viewing area with a small crowd and we were right underneath the naturalist who was doing the narration, and in visual communication with her so we were actually doing some of the spotting that she was passing on to the rest of the ship.

It was an unforgettable day.

[Budget Queen]

We just recently booked an AFT balcony (on the NCL Pearl) for next summer having never been to Alaska before? I figured the views while cruising would be great and much less of the cold wind. However, after reading your discussions about cruisng Glacier Bay, I am wondering if we should change it to a Port or Front? What are your thoughts, if it were you would you rather the Aft or the Port??

 

My opinion only, I never like my views going away from me. I always track way ahead and enjoy all the viewing I can get. :) This is especially true for wildlife, less so for scenery. But I recently did a lot of walking this past week on the Sun and there was an aft view on the track. It again confirmed that my preferences are not for looking back.

 

IF you are going to spend ALL your time in your balcony in Glacier Bay, Port side, is the place to be, best would be the wrap port aft balcony. :)