Do smaller ships get much closer?

[casperthecat]

or is there a set path that they all follow? If you sail on Regent for example, does it follow the same route as the big ships or will it get closer to the scenery? I've read reports saying that the big ships are 2 miles or so away from the iceburgs, we were hoping to get closer. We had been considering American Safari but the dates just weren't working for us. I'm worried now that we have made a mstake and we should have waited another year to get the experience we are hoping to. Any comments gratefully received. Thanks.

[Yukon]

If you want to get up close and personal with Alaska, the really small ships such as Cruise West and American Safari are the way to go if you have the budget. I can't count the number of times I've seen those boats tucked into some quiet cove, or right up to the face of the Sawyer Glacier in particular, and wished I was there instead. There's a new player as of 2011, a discount division of American Safari, using the boats from bankrupt Glacier Bay Cruises - check out http://innerseadiscoveries.com/ (this just may be the operator that gets us onto a small one :) ).

[Glaciers]

The ships generally follow the same path but the American Safari experience is far different. We were on the Safari Explorer in May from Seattle to Juneau and we’re always at least ¼ mile from glaciers. The main difference was that it was not port intensive and the entire trip was an excursion. You do get up close to everything. We kayaked in front of glaciers as the larger ships passed by at quite a distance, although I think that was as a courtesy to us. If we saw whales the boat would slow and follow them. Wildlife on shore, we’d motor over to take a closer look. We traveled during the day and slept in small coves at night.

 

Photos of the trip at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/AlaskaTravelFun/SafariExplorerSEAlaska

[Keith1010]

One of the advantages on smaller ships or ones with less passengers per overall space is the ability to get a better view of all that is around you from the open decks.

 

The other advantage is that some lines do somewhat longer cruises so you have the opportunity to visit more ports including some that typically the cruises that have shorter durations don't visit.

 

Keith

[5waldos]

Your other option is to look at cruises that have excursions on much smaller boats in the glacier area. I know that Carnival Spirit now has an excursion in Tracey Arm on a ship holding 150 people- allowing it to go much closer and into areas the larger ships cannot get to. We have one reserved next spring but others here have posted reviews. There are available on other lines also, although I don't remember exactly which ones.

[casperthecat]

Thank you. We were hoping that a ship with 500 passengers (Regent Navigator) would give us a closer perspective than that of the big lines like Carnival etc. But it sounds like we will be on the same route. So the best way to get up close and personal with the glaciers is to pick our excursions carefully. We embark on 1st June so I'm hoping that won't be too early for Tracy Arm as it sounds like that's the best viewing opportunity. Any other excursions that get really close - any that actually allow you to walk on the glaciers? Thanks.

[seafare]

or is there a set path that they all follow? If you sail on Regent for example, does it follow the same route as the big ships or will it get closer to the scenery? I've read reports saying that the big ships are 2 miles or so away from the iceburgs, we were hoping to get closer. We had been considering American Safari but the dates just weren't working for us. I'm worried now that we have made a mstake and we should have waited another year to get the experience we are hoping to. Any comments gratefully received. Thanks.

 

 

Also check out Oceania's Regatta, they are sailing for the first time summer of 2011. Owned by the same parent company as Regent. We have sailed with Oceania in the past and enjoyed it very much. Small ship by comparison, only 600 passengers, no dressing up and you can dine, when and with whom you want.

 

Jill

[ncovert]

or is there a set path that they all follow? If you sail on Regent for example, does it follow the same route as the big ships or will it get closer to the scenery? I've read reports saying that the big ships are 2 miles or so away from the iceburgs, we were hoping to get closer. We had been considering American Safari but the dates just weren't working for us. I'm worried now that we have made a mstake and we should have waited another year to get the experience we are hoping to. Any comments gratefully received. Thanks.

 

I do believe the routes are fairly standard for the "big" cruise ships and have to stay away from the shore.

 

I was on the Westerdam last May/June and we were much closer to iceburgs then 2 miles... we came within maybe 1000 feet of one particular glacier (I know glaciers and iceburgs are different) while cruising in Glacier Bay.

[Queenk2]

We are on the Regatta July 23,2011. We are sailing for 12 days with a very nice itinerary.

 

Day Port

Jul 23 Anchorage, Alaska

 

Jul 24 Homer, Alaska

 

Jul 25 Seward, Alaska

 

Jul 26 Cruising the Glaciers of College Fjord

Jul 27 Cruising Hubbard Glacier

Jul 28 Juneau, Alaska

.

Jul 29 Skagway, Alaska

 

Jul 30 Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

 

Jul 31 Sitka, Alaska

 

Aug 01 Wrangell, Alaska

.

Aug 02 Ketchikan, Alaska

.

Aug 03 Cruising the Inside Passage

Aug 04 Vancouver, Canada

[wolfie11]

Sorry, but a 500-600 passenger ship is a "big" ship as far as getting into the out-of-the-way places is concerned. As for how close the big ships get to glaciers, they generally get the same distance away as the smaller ships, time permitting. I think it is really dependent on the captain. On the Diamond, Captain Oliver brought the ship to within 1/4 to 1/2 mile of Harvard, Hubbard, and Margerie glaciers. On other ships I've been on, the captain was concerned with the time it would take to navigate the ice and stopped about 1-2 miles away from the glacier. At Margerie, the ships can pretty much always get within 1/4 mile. In Tracy Arm, they seldom get closer than 1-2 miles.

 

There is a huge difference between being on a small ship and a large one if wildlife and seeing Alaska up close is your priority. You are giving up luxury, shows and other entertainment, food 24 hours a day, and a variety of shore excursions for an up-close intimate look at Alaska with stops in secluded coves and pretty much unlimited wildlife viewing. Most of these ships have one or more naturalist always available for questions and the naturalists presentations are at a higher level of complexity than on the big ships.

 

I was on Diamond Princess about 10 days ago at dinner time in Icy Strait. The Spirit of Discovery, the Sea Lion, and the Glacier Bay whalewatching boat were sitting dead in the water as at least 8 humpbacks and 6 or 7 orcas surrounded them. The whales were after a school of fish that were in the area. The whales ignored the boats and were feeding around them. The orcas were transients and there was a lot of splashing, so I will assume they were after the seals and sea lions who were after the fish. DP was no closer than 3/4 mile away and the whales could only be seen well with binoculars. The whales were announced from the bridge but the announcements don't go into the dining rooms, only outside decks. So most of the Princess passengers got pate and prime rib that evening and the small boat passengers got wet from whale breath (they came that close). Who had the better experience? I think that's up to each person to decide for themselves.

[mapleleaves]

Any other excursions that get really close - any that actually allow you to walk on the glaciers? Thanks.

 

In Juneau you can walk on Mendenhall Glacier, either as a hike or as part of a helicopter landing whichever your budget will allow. If your tour ends in Seward you're only a 15 minute drive from Exit Glacier which is an easy walk, or if you're a hiker you can go to the top and stand on the Harding Ice Field.

If you can add a few more days, Matanuska Glacier is about 2 hrs north of Anchorage and has ice trekking tours.

[davis0056]

We did our fifth cruise to Alaska this summer on the Amsterdam. We decided that we'd seen enough of the tourist trap towns and wouldn't go back again on a big ship. We spent a lot of time looking and found Innerseasdiscoveries, a branch of American Safari. No real ports except for starting in Juneau and ending in Ketchikan (if doing a 7 day tour). It sounded perfect to us, though they are more expensive then the big ships. We booked our cruise for next July. 49 passengers. Skiffs and kayaks and rain gear and such all included, along with some tours (hiking, overnight camping). You can even fish from the boat. It certainly won't be the luxury we've become accustomed to, but we are planning on seeing bears and whales, and other wildlife like we would never have seen from the big ships. Innerseasdiscoveries has its inaugural season next summer.

Dave and Elaine

[casperthecat]

Thanks everyone. It sounds like we may have made a big (and very expensive - over $20k) mistake as our main priority is getting close to the wildlife. I think I will have a chat to my agent and see what she can do. The problem I had with American Safari (apart from the dates), is that I couldn't find a UK agent who would help me book it as they're not a UK bonded company. The agents I contacted through the AS website in Canada were worse than useless. So it was getting to be too much stress and hassle trying to sort it out. Now I wish I'd kept with it and tried to arrange it all myself. Oh well, you live and learn.

[Travel_Maven]

The ships generally follow the same path but the American Safari experience is far different. We were on the Safari Explorer in May from Seattle to Juneau and we’re always at least ¼ mile from glaciers. The main difference was that it was not port intensive and the entire trip was an excursion. You do get up close to everything. We kayaked in front of glaciers as the larger ships passed by at quite a distance, although I think that was as a courtesy to us. If we saw whales the boat would slow and follow them. Wildlife on shore, we’d motor over to take a closer look. We traveled during the day and slept in small coves at night.

 

Photos of the trip at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/AlaskaTravelFun/SafariExplorerSEAlaska

 

Chilkoot, these are amazing photos! What an incredible experience! We did a Diamond Princess Cruise and independent inland tour in June. We were completely satisfied but had a very different experience than you did. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to travel on one of the small ships like you did. Thanks for sharing!!:)

[mapleleaves]

Thanks everyone. It sounds like we may have made a big (and very expensive - over $20k) mistake as our main priority is getting close to the wildlife. I think I will have a chat to my agent and see what she can do. The problem I had with American Safari (apart from the dates), is that I couldn't find a UK agent who would help me book it as they're not a UK bonded company. The agents I contacted through the AS website in Canada were worse than useless. So it was getting to be too much stress and hassle trying to sort it out. Now I wish I'd kept with it and tried to arrange it all myself. Oh well, you live and learn.

 

Have you booked a cruise and land tour? both are non refundable? If so,

I think you can accomplish a lot of what you want to see and do by some careful planning of excursions.

[5waldos]

There are helicopter excursions to several glaciers which allow you to walk around on them. Other than knowing that you are on a glacier- I wonder if it is all that different from walking on snow and ice? Anyone have any thoughts?

[Sally Forth]

or is there a set path that they all follow? If you sail on Regent for example, does it follow the same route as the big ships or will it get closer to the scenery? I've read reports saying that the big ships are 2 miles or so away from the iceburgs, we were hoping to get closer. We had been considering American Safari but the dates just weren't working for us. I'm worried now that we have made a mstake and we should have waited another year to get the experience we are hoping to. Any comments gratefully received. Thanks.

 

We just went on Celebrity Mercury and were within 400 yards of the Hubbard Glacier and could see the ice cleaving off. They said it had to do more with weather than anything else.

 

Viv

[Glaciers]

There are helicopter excursions to several glaciers which allow you to walk around on them. Other than knowing that you are on a glacier- I wonder if it is all that different from walking on snow and ice? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Gee, when you put it like that it sounds so uneventful. Yes, I guess it’s pretty much like walking on ice and snow any place. Hard to come up with a description of the experience unless you’ve done it. It’s as much about the feeling of being on the glacier and the expanse of it. Here are a couple of photos of glacier trekking.

 

Matanuska Glacier-2 hours north of Anchorage. 20 bucks to get through the gate.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AlaskaTravelFun/MatanuskaGlacier#5367775448412491618

 

Baird Glacier-Near Petersburg in SE Alaska.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AlaskaTravelFun/SafariExplorerSEAlaska#5473158465286629202

 

I have never done a helicopter landing on a glacier but would think part of the fun is just the ride in the helicopter. A glacier trek with a guide of at least 3 hours would be my priority. Anything less would leave me with the feeling that I just didn’t get enough of it.

[Gloria Mundi]

We just booked an Innersea Discovery cruise on the Wilderness Explorere for July 7, 2012!

 

I'll be sure to report on it but it's gonna be awhile.