comparing glaciers

[sbelle2000]

Hey Guys -

 

I'm trying to pick a cruise in June for a group of 7. We range in age from 17 to 50 and are all physically fit. We can only afford a 7 day cruise and here's my dilemma - we want to see glaciers and scenery. We don't care about the ship - only the scenery and ports. We like the one-way Princess Diamond cruise that stops at Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, but the cost is anywhere from $350 to $400 more per person due to flights and shuttles. We're trying to determine if one of the cruises that are roundtrip out of Seattle would be sufficient. These cruises give us a choice of Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay. What I want to know is this - just looking at those glacier areas do you think it's a big difference in what you would see? Compare those glaciers for me please, if you can.

[Budget Queen]

The "most" glacier viewings would be a one way on Princess with Glacier Bay/Hubbard, Glacier Bay/College Fjords itinerary, THEN adding a Prince William Sound tour out of Whittier- very simple to do. But as you have found out, the air can be significantly more, plus you have a more costly transfer to Anchorage.

 

Round trip Seattle cruises are the least scenic routings of Alaska cruises, so not sure you really want to consider this with your preferences??

 

Round trip Vancouver offers way more scenic sailing, and many times better port times, HAL does Glacier Bay. Don't know about current schedules but RCI and Celebrity did Hubbard. With your glacier priority, you DO NOT want an itinerary with only Tracy Arm.

 

So you have a lot to consider. Add to the mix, ports. I suggest you do your homework on those as it's a big part of Alaska cruises.

 

As for glacier differences, Glacier Bay is usually sightings of at least 4 different glaciers, with a 70 mile dead end transit. National Park rangers come on board and narrate the way in. You can see calving. Hubbard is a huge glacier, that is, on average very active with calving. The various distance of closeness, however is a wide range, with no way predict. You overall BEST glacier experience would definately be a Prince William Sound boat tour out of Whittier- grossly superior to anything from a cruiseship.

 

Only you can decide, what is most important. Certainly a cruise with Glacier Bay or Hubbard would offer you an excellent glacier viewing day. Depends if you want "more"?

[psyfi]

We had decided on the Southbound Princess to get to see Hubbard and Glacier Bay. yes it costs more but we decided spending money to go to Alaska and not see what we really wanted did not make much sense to us. And we are doing the PWS tour before boarding the ship ;)

[sassysuzi]

Hi I am also planning my first trip to Alaska. Youare right. No sense in nickel an diming it . Alaska is about the physical beauty of the place the glaciers, the nature etc. We just have to go for it.

[vbmom87]

Hey Guys -

 

I'm trying to pick a cruise in June for a group of 7. We range in age from 17 to 50 and are all physically fit. We can only afford a 7 day cruise and here's my dilemma - we want to see glaciers and scenery. We don't care about the ship - only the scenery and ports. We like the one-way Princess Diamond cruise that stops at Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, but the cost is anywhere from $350 to $400 more per person due to flights and shuttles. We're trying to determine if one of the cruises that are roundtrip out of Seattle would be sufficient. These cruises give us a choice of Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay. What I want to know is this - just looking at those glacier areas do you think it's a big difference in what you would see? Compare those glaciers for me please, if you can.

 

Since you want to see scenery and glaciers, I do not suggest a cruise that goes just to Tracy Arm. Tracy Arm is a beautiful fjord, but there is no guarentee a cruise ship will get all the way to the end to see the Sawyer Glaciers at the end. Even if you do, those glaciers are not that magnificent. When I was deciding on a cruise in June 2008, I decided not to choose Hubbard (back then no one offered both Hubbard and Glacier Bay on the same itinerary) because I had read that sometimes it gets fogged out or iced out. I just didn't want to go all the way to Alaska and not see a major glacier area. So we picked Glacier Bay and College Fjords. We also took the Adventure Bound small boat tour to Tracy Arm Fjord. We were in our glory the whole time. It was one amazing cruise.

 

Since you are after scenery, I would suggest you look at Vancouver sailings if you can afford those. The scenery is better out of Vancouver and less chance of rough seas. HAL has a round trip out of Vancouver that goes to both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm. This is a very scenic itinerary. Not sure how it compares in price to what you already looked at.

[MercedMike]

Hey Guys -

 

I'm trying to pick a cruise in June for a group of 7. We range in age from 17 to 50 and are all physically fit. We can only afford a 7 day cruise and here's my dilemma - we want to see glaciers and scenery. We don't care about the ship - only the scenery and ports. We like the one-way Princess Diamond cruise that stops at Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, but the cost is anywhere from $350 to $400 more per person due to flights and shuttles. We're trying to determine if one of the cruises that are roundtrip out of Seattle would be sufficient. These cruises give us a choice of Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay. What I want to know is this - just looking at those glacier areas do you think it's a big difference in what you would see? Compare those glaciers for me please, if you can.

 

LOL ... a Frequently Asked Question! So frequently that I put up a page of my comments and pictures ...

 

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/alaskaglaciers.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[sbelle2000]

Your comments have been most helpful. We scrapped the in and out of Seattle. I've looked at the in and out of Vancouver, but don't see much savings in price - even if we go through the hassle of flying in and out of Seattle and doing shuttles. So we're going to go with the one-way cruise. So we're looking at either southbound with Glacier Bay and Hubbard, or northbound with Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Opinions on that?

[vbmom87]

Your comments have been most helpful. We scrapped the in and out of Seattle. I've looked at the in and out of Vancouver, but don't see much savings in price - even if we go through the hassle of flying in and out of Seattle and doing shuttles. So we're going to go with the one-way cruise. So we're looking at either southbound with Glacier Bay and Hubbard, or northbound with Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Opinions on that?

 

I have been to Glacier Bay,and College Fjords. I have not yet been to Hubbard. Since Hubbard and Glacier Bay seem to be the two most popular glacier areas to see in Alaska, I would give serious consideration to it. College Fjords is beautiful, but more similar to Glacier Bay. It is a much shorter cruising experience than GB, but very beautiful. Hubbard is a totally different experience for all have read.

 

Before you make your final decision also study your ports. What is available to do in each port? How long will the ship be in port in the NB vs. the SB itineraries? Which itinerary will give you the opportunity to do what you want to do in the ports. Choosing the best cruise for you does take a lot of research in order to get it right. What is right for you, might not be right for me.

 

The biggest dilemna I see is if you want to see Tracy Arm. You would not have enough time to do the Adventure Bound tour on the SB itinerary, if this was a priority for you. Depending what week you go, you possibly would have time on the NB trip. Adventure Bound always offers an 8:00 am tour and during peak times offers a 9:00 a.m. tour. The Tracy Arm Tour was our favorite excursion in Alaska. Not having seen Hubbard, I can't say if I would rather do Tracy Arm or Hubbard Glacier. The ideal itinerary for me would be to see Hubbard, Glacier Bay and have enough time to do the Tracy Arm tour. Now, if Tracy Arm is of no interest to you, then I would say go with the SB and see the two most popular glacier areas all in one cruise. JMHO

[sbelle2000]

In taking a closer look at Tracy Arm I see that it does look magnificent. Our group is limited on funds and I was thinking a whale watching tour would be the one excursion we would pay for. Since then I've read doing a glacier tour out of Prince Williams Sound and now this Tracy Arm tour are also something to consider. We really want to see whales - do you think the Tracy Arm or PWS tour would also suffice for seeing whales?

[vbmom87]

In taking a closer look at Tracy Arm I see that it does look magnificent. Our group is limited on funds and I was thinking a whale watching tour would be the one excursion we would pay for. Since then I've read doing a glacier tour out of Prince Williams Sound and now this Tracy Arm tour are also something to consider. We really want to see whales - do you think the Tracy Arm or PWS tour would also suffice for seeing whales?

 

We saw a few whales on the Tracy Arm Tour, but it is not a guarentee. Our boat did stop for awhile to watch some whales when they were spotted.

 

From all I have read, few whales are sighted on the PWS tours. I am sure BQ or someone else will comment on that.

 

We originally booked a whale watch in Juneau and were going to go to Mendenhall Glacier. I booked the whale watch, not so much because I was into seeing whales, but because so many people on this board made it seem like a "must do." So I booked it. Then I began doing more research and reading what others had to say about Tracy Arm. The more I read, the more I realized that we were more interested in scenery than wildlife. We did see wildlife too in Tracy Arm, just not whales. The whales were en route to the Arm.

 

If you really want to see whales, you probably need to do a whale watch. As far as your group goes, do not hestitate to split up. When we were in Juneau, my DH and I did the Tracy Arm tour. My sisters did the Helicopter with two glacier landings, and my BIL did the whale watch. That way everyone gets their priorities. As you mentioned earlier, this is all going to cost a lot of money. Best if everyone gets to see and do what they prefer.

 

With whale watches, make sure you realize that not all experiences are equal. Some have reported that all they saw were tails and spouts. Will you be okay with that, if that is all that is to be seen on the day you are out? Others have seen breaching and bubble net feeding.

 

Here are my photos from Tracy Arm Fjord on the small Adventure Bound boat tour:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/mdomaz/JuneauTracyArmCruise#

 

Like I said earlier, having not seen Hubbard yet, I can't say what my priority would be if I could only do one and not the other. I have found Alaska to be about tough choices. It would be great if we could see everything we wanted on one trip. For me, I am hoping to get back some day to see Hubbard and Sitka. I am not in the position, like so many others on this board, to cruise to Alaska frequently. I will be fortunate to get in one more trip. I think I may wait until my grandson is old enough to appreciate it. He is only three years old now, but loves to watch my hour long video of my Alaska photos that I made to music. He is the only person that LOVES my video. So, I think he will be my next traveling partner to Alaska. ;)

[sbelle2000]

Your pictures are positively stunning!

[Budget Queen]

In taking a closer look at Tracy Arm I see that it does look magnificent. Our group is limited on funds and I was thinking a whale watching tour would be the one excursion we would pay for. Since then I've read doing a glacier tour out of Prince Williams Sound and now this Tracy Arm tour are also something to consider. We really want to see whales - do you think the Tracy Arm or PWS tour would also suffice for seeing whales?

 

With your funds limits, do you at least have time for a couple extra days with a one way??? In my opinion, you are shortchanging the touring, since you are all the way there.

 

Prince William Sound is a poor area to have a priority for whales, very low sightings. Kenai Fjords has better chances, but definately not a given. My stats are about 50% of my trips- (which means little overall :) ) Your best "chance" is on a Tracy Arm tour, but likely to have a 5-10++ min. look out of the tour time. Won't be extended. Humpbacks are seen on 100% of the whale watch tours out of Juneau. Would you be happy seeing them from the cruiseship?? A possibility with a great deal of invested time, and most important a good pair of wide angle binoculars. My preference is 10x50.