Alaska cruise question

[Breezes06]

When Regent's itinerary says "Hubbard Glacier Cruising," does this mean there will be no port for that day? What have been your experiences with Hubbard Glacier, and how does it compare to the Tracey Arm Excursion?

[mtd100]

We were on the July 18th Alaska cruise and did the Tracey Arm excursion. A catamaran picks you up from the boat (7 am) and takes you to the glaciers, there are two different ones, which allows you to get a closer look at the glaciers than staying on the Mariner. The scenery is beautiful and we also saw a number of whales, eagles, and waterfalls. The captain makes a number of stops where you can go to the top deck and take pictures, and the ship photographer is there to take pictures of you in front of the glaciers. The Mariner also provides muffins, coffee and sandwiches during the cruise. The excursion lasts around six hours and then you meet up with the ship in Juneau around 1:30. We then ate lunch on the ship and then left for the helicopter/dog sledding excursion.

 

The Hubbard Glacier is done on the Mariner, and is really a day at sea, but you see glaciers on the way to Seward. The condition of the ice when you go will determine how close the ship can get to the glaciers. It had broken up quite a bit on our cruise and we got the closest they had been all year. There is a guest lecturer that morning (7 am) explaining what you are seeing and also a woman who represents the First Nations explains the legends regarding the glaciers. We watched the glaciers from both the observation deck and also our balcony and we thought the view was better from the balcony; it blocked the wind so you could stay outside and not freeze, and the floating ice was right next to the ship so you could get a close up view of it melting and how it creates the glacier waters (they are gray)

 

If you have any other questions regarding excursions let me know, we went on one, sometimes two, everyday of the cruise.

[Breezes06]

Your reply was helpful. Now, about Tracey Arm. Does the Mariner go "into" the arm at all? With so many wonderful excursion choices for Juneau, I'm wondering if we'll see any of Tracey Arm without taking the catamaran excursion or if taking that excursion is a "must."

 

Did you take the railroad in Seward or make another choice? I'm leaning toward the float trip rather than the railroad.

 

What was your favorite excursion, and why? Thanks.

[mtd100]

Breezes06:

 

I had heard that the Mariner goes into the Arm, but since we had left the ship for the excursion, maybe someone else can give a more definitive answer.

 

We took the railroad in Seward, but I don’t know if I would do it again. You disembark the ship between 9:00 and 10:00 and the train doesn’t leave until 6:00 at night, so you must find things to entertain yourself for the day. Originally, we were going to take one of the boat trips in Kenai and then catch the train. The outfitters will pick you up at the terminal; the trip leaves at 11:30 and it gets you back to the train station by 5:30. That day the seas were rough, they had one ship turn back already that morning, and gave us the option of canceling without a penalty. They said if you chose to go anyway, and they turned back due to the seas or the number of people sea sick, they would only refund a portion of your money. We choose to cancel (wasn’t interested spending $400 to sit in a boat with people throwing up) and instead went to the aquarium in town, shopped, and ate lunch. By three we were out of things to do, and sat and waited for the train. I found out too late that there is also a shorter excursion with a different outfitter that doesn’t run into same problems with rough seas, so that may be an option. I don’t know anything about a float trip.

 

The scenery on the train from Seward is awesome. I think we saw more glaciers and waterfalls on the train then on the cruise. There is a lot of legroom on the train, and they have a dining car with expensive and not very good food. There is a grocery store by the train station and you can get food there to take on the train if you want. The train gets into Anchorage at 10:00 and we stayed at the Comfort Inn, which is next to the station, as we caught the train the next day for Denali. Comfort Inn will also store your luggage while you go to Denali. We spent way too much time on trains and if I ever went back I would drive to Denali, as the trip is 8 hours each way and there is not much to see.

 

We took the following excursions:

In Ketchikan we went kayaking, it didn’t rain, and was just cloudy. There were 8-10 people in our group, half of them were teenagers (one was ours), and we paddled for about two hours. We saw whales, eagles, and sea lions. The sea lions freaked the guides out, as apparently they are aggressive and territorial and will come after you, so we paddled fast and got out of its way. The water was calm so it is easy paddling that anyone could do.

 

In Juneau, we did Tracey Arm and then in the afternoon we did the helicopter and dogsledding. The flight was awesome, the dog sledding okay. The one interesting thing is that all the dogs there run the Iditarod and are kept there for training during the summer. The girl that ran our group (it was just the three of us) had been training dogs for 5 years, was in college, and wanted to compete in the Iditarod when she got out of school.

 

In Skagway, we did another helicopter ride into the mountains, then hiked four miles, and then caught the steam train down. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the flight was so beautiful it took your breath away, and also made me want to get my helicopter license. Of course, I live in Texas, where it is flat, so not quite the same scenery. The hike was a lot of fun and great exercise. There were 9 in the group, our three and another family with four kids, plus two guides. This was my favorite excursion. We originally were just going to ride the steam train, but a number of people on the boards had commented that it got boring after a while, as the round trip is three hours and you go up and down the same way. We were on the train for only 40 minutes and my sixteen year old was already bored.

 

In Sitka, I did the seal otter excursion. This was probably my least favorite. By this time I had seen enough whales and otters and was ready to move on to something else.

 

Hopefully this will help and is not too much information. Tracy

[Breezes06]

mtd100, thanks so much for the great information. It is kind of you to take the time to share.

 

I mixed up my towns starting with S when I asked about the train at Seward. I really meant Skagway, but you answered my question anyway. At Skagway, we were considering either the train or a float trip. I'm leaning toward the float trip.

 

Other CC members, what was your experience with the Mariner at Tracey Arm? Does the ship go into the Arm or just let passengers disembark on the catamaran?

[Iamboatman]

I would highly recommend the Tracy Arm excursion. You start early in the day, have incredible views and are at the port in time for lunch...with many smiles. The ship actually goes in just a small way (though it will seem like fairly far in...until you travel on the catamaran and realize how close you can get to the glaciers).

 

I would give the White Pass Railroad a miss in Skagway; especially since you are looking at something a bit more active. It is OK, but I don't think worth the time. I hosted a private excursion which pretty much followed the same path via motorcoach as well as visited some local sites and then visited the private gardens (I am sorry but I forget the name of the place) and the gardens were definitely the highlight...and the overall trip didn't take much more time than the railroad by itself.

[suefalls]

I agree with Iamboatsman. Do the Tracy Arm excursion. Ship was just barely into the arm while we on the catamaran were up pretty close ( and this was in the 2nd week of June. We got back to Juneau in tiem to have a quick Lunch on Mariner before heading for Taku Lodge and Floatplane excursion. ( really shouldn't have ate lunch, because there was a great meal with this 2nd excursion.) I would have liked to have explored Juneau itself , but I guess that is what 2nd cruises or land trips are for. I wouldn't trade the Tracy excursion for anything though!

As far as Skagway, we rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake. I have some of my favorite photos from that drive. ( Pack a lunch though, as the pickings are very slim and not worthwhile, for food)