Cruise through Glacier Bay at night on NCL?

[girltwinsmom]

On the itinerary for the NCL Pearl it seems the cruise through Glacier Bay is during the night? Departs Skagway at 8:15pm and then Glacier Bay "overnight" with Ketchikan the next day at 6am. Is this right? I'm confused and I just got off the phone with NCL and they don't know the answer! What's the point of Glacier Bay if you can't see it?

[vbmom87]

Surely I am no expert, but I am guessing it is a typo. I looked at a HAL itinerary and it leaves Skagway at 9:00 p.m. and it's itinerary shows Glacier Bay beginning at 7:00 a.m. the next day.

 

The difficult part is reaching the right person at NCL. When you call customer service, you don't typically get people who are that well informed about details like this.

 

You could try calling again and get your call escalated to someone who could answer with more certainty.

 

However, my best guess is that this is a typo. Like you say, why would one go to Glacier By during the night, and what would you be doing that next day.

[kamac56]

It is confusing as I looked at it when booking as well.

 

Sun Seattle

- - 4:00 PM

Mon At Sea

- - - -

Tue Juneau

2:00 PM 10:00 PM

Wed Skagway

7:00 AM 8:15 PM

Thu Glacier Bay - - Overnight

Fri Ketchikan

6:00 AM 1:30 PM

Sat Victoria

6:00 PM 11:59 PM

Sun Seattle

8:00 AM - -

 

So we went with Holland their's was spelled out for us as to what to expect.:)

[Traveler808]

On the itinerary for the NCL Pearl it seems the cruise through Glacier Bay is during the night? Departs Skagway at 8:15pm and then Glacier Bay "overnight" with Ketchikan the next day at 6am. Is this right? I'm confused and I just got off the phone with NCL and they don't know the answer! What's the point of Glacier Bay if you can't see it?

 

I have been to Glacier Bay on both the Norwegian Pearl and several different Princess ships and they all enter Glacier Bay early in the morning and depart in the afternoon.

 

From the Norwegian Pearl's Freestyle Daily: leave Skagway at 7:45 pm on day 4, then you will enter Glacier Bay the morning of day 5. You will arrive at Ketchikan on day 6 at 6 am.

 

Hope this is clear. Enjoy your Alaskan cruise.

[bonvoyagie]

We were on her last summer and indeed you spend all day Thursday in glacier bay 7 am to around 4 pm. Then scenic cruising to Ketchikan Friday morning.

 

I agree that it is confusing and I don't remember when they changed it. I remember that a few months ago it did say that Glacier Bay was 7-4 but I think that people then thought it was another port call.

 

Their call center reps have no more to go on than the website - unless they have been around awhile - which is unlikely.

[PennyAgain]

No large cruise ships are in Glacier Bay all night.

[girltwinsmom]

Thanks all for your help!

[AKman2495]

The one thing you guys are forgetting is that in summer there is no "night". It will be broad daylight at 10 pm. It may get a little dark around 2 am. but it will be bright again by 4:00 am.

 

Now, why NCL plans it this way is a little strange. I do know they restrict access to Glacier bay and this is the best NCL can do.

 

You may be sleepy, but it will not be "night"

[KeithJenner]

The one thing you guys are forgetting is that in summer there is no "night". It will be broad daylight at 10 pm. It may get a little dark around 2 am. but it will be bright again by 4:00 am.

 

Now, why NCL plans it this way is a little strange. I do know they restrict access to Glacier bay and this is the best NCL can do.

 

You may be sleepy, but it will not be "night"

 

As stated above, you aren't there at night at all. The ships are in Glacier Bay during the day.

 

I'm not sure where the itinerary quoted above is from, but when I look at the ncl website it says:

 

Wednesday Skagway, Alaska 07.00-20.15

Thursday Cruise Glacier Bay

Friday Ketchikan, Alaska 06.00-13.30

[bonvoyagie]

Yesterday it did say "Overnight" I swear it did - along with another poster who copied the info into their post. In fact I just looked at the Ports and Map and for both the Pearl and Sun it still shows Glacier Bay as overnight.

 

http://www.ncl.com/cruise-destination/alaska/vacations?N=0&Nu=p_Key&subdest=Glacier%20Bay

 

BTW it does get dark in Skagway AK at least it did this summer. I know that the farther north you go the less night and more day so I believe that in Anchorage you see very little darkness during a summer night.

[KeithJenner]

It seems to depend on where you are from. In the UK is states Cruise Glacier Bay for that day.

 

However, looking at the link you provided, it still shows that you are in Glacier Bay on the Thursday, and the "overnight" is placed in the column for departure time. Whilst it could be clearer, I would read it as saying that you are there during the day (which all reviews and comments confirm).

[PennyAgain]

Trust me on this: the further north you go in Alaska during the summer, the fewer hours of darkness you have at high summer. Same as elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

The cruise ships are assigned arrival and departure times at Glacier Bay and no large ships are allowed overnight.

[KeithJenner]

Trust me on this: the further north you go in Alaska during the summer, the fewer hours of darkness you have at high summer. Same as elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

I don't think anyone is disputing that.

[SnorkelBabe]

We'll be on the Sun this July and I too, noticed the "overnight" listed as a "port" time for both Glacier Bay and Hubbard. Sounds strange, but like someone else said, perhaps if they list the time you are there, people assume it's a port and that they'll get off the ship.

 

Someone just posted this schedule in another thread. It shows the Pearl in GB from 6:00am to 3:00pm. http://www.claalaska.com/schedules.html

[geogran]

On the itinerary for the NCL Pearl it seems the cruise through Glacier Bay is during the night? Departs Skagway at 8:15pm and then Glacier Bay "overnight" with Ketchikan the next day at 6am. Is this right? I'm confused and I just got off the phone with NCL and they don't know the answer! What's the point of Glacier Bay if you can't see it?

 

A whole day is spent in Glacier Bay.

I was told by a friend who cruised this itinerary last year (we will be cruising Sept '13 this same itinerary)..

After leaving Skagway evening of day 4, cruise all night and start entry into Glacier Bay about 4AM on day 5 of cruise -viewing time from about 7AM through good part of day 5 in Glacier Bay - first port side gets a long viewing time, then Captain manuevers ship around and great views from starboard side; usually departs mid afternoon and then onto Ketchikan arriving early morning of day 6 - so plenty of time viewing Glacier Bay...length of time in Glacier Bay is variable based on other ships and weather conditions... friend sailed on NCL from Seattle: Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria.

NCL's website Cruise Itinerary shows: Day Ports of Call Arrival,Departure and also indicates entire day at sea for Glacier Bay arriving next day in Ketchikan at 6:00AM...hope this is helpful..

[bonvoyagie]

Here is a link to the NP website for Glacier Bay and specifically the cruise ship visits - there are links to maps and additional info - great reading.

 

http://www.nps.gov/glba/planyourvisit/cruise.htm