Glacier Bay, 2 ships enter 1 hour apart?

[Sailkeywest]

And thanks for the links to the pictures, Joanie :) You all have done this evening's research for me :D

[jtl513]

during the summer, john hopkins is a birthing/pup area..protected. the ships can get in viewing area, but not too close. after early sept, the ship can get right up to the glacier...which was a good thing, that was where we saw/heard the calving. the other glaciers were quiet.

For our 9/20>27/07 visit it was the other way around - Johns Hopkins was doing nothing, and Margerie was doing lots of calving.

[manbehindthecurtain]

Oooh, nice bit of info on how they do it, Toyz! Especially the bit about the '2nd week of September/john Hopkins." I was beginning to be a little bummed about taking such a late cruise, this gives me something to look forward to!

 

 

John Hopkins entry is only allowed after sept 1 every year. Before that time ships may stop at the entrance of the inlet, but not enter it (to not disturb the seals being raised there).

[Tarheel72]

I can't believe you guys get so worked up over the details. Just sit back and enjoy the cruise for goodness sakes. Regardless of how many ships are in the bay you will see everything and have plenty of time, depending on weather and luck. There is nothing you can do about it. As for the best place to see Margerie Glacier, well that all depends on what you mean by a good view and luck. We spent at least an hour sitting still with it on the port side near the front of the ship. Lots of good stuff. Then the ship did its slow 180 and the starboard side was facing the glacier. We had a starboard suite so we returned to our cabin to warm up and stood on our verandah. About 20 minutes later an enormous hunk of ice calved off, probably the size of a ten story building. It happened only a few hundred yards directly in front of us and beat anything we saw from deck. So you can view it from anywhere, you never know. We had a smaller Cruise West ship on one side of us and a Nat Geo ship on the other while we were there in the Statendam. We passed the Zuiderdam on the way from the Glacier, headed for its watching spot. Just quit sweating the details and go enjoy the cruise. ;)

[catl331]

I can't believe you guys get so worked up over the details. Just sit back and enjoy the cruise for goodness sakes. ;)

I agree. Too much micro-planning could be setting yourself up for disappointment when things don't turn out as you expected. :cool: