Alaska - College Fjord, Tracy Arm Questions

[SuzCruise]

Hi everyone,

 

I've posted some questions on this topic in the Alaska forum, but since the small size of the Shadow is important to this information I thought I might get better answers here. What I am trying to determine is if we will be able to see the Columbia Glacier from the ship and also if we will be able to cruise into College Fjord? Does anyone who has done an itinerary that included those spots have any feedback? Some say that you don't actually get into College Fjord because of time issues or too much ice. Same question with Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier. Any issues to be aware of with the Shadow getting there and getting us close?

 

I'd hate to rely on the itinerary as being accurate and not worry about adding too many glacier tours on to our excursions and then be disappointed if we don't get into those fjords. But I also don't want to overdo the glacier thing, which is possible considering out itinerary.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[LaVieBoheme]

Last July on the Shadow we cruised right up Tracy Arm and were able to get a great view of the Sawyer Glacier:

 

 

This year we are doing the Anchorage to Vancouver cruise in late May and it will be interesting to see how far the Shadow can get up Tracy Arm and how different it looks compared to last July. This is also the only Shadow cruise this year that includes both College Fjord and the Hubbard Glacier and while I really hope that we do get up-close and personal at each location I realize it all depends on local conditions on the day. Having said that my wife and I have never been disappointed on our cruises on the Shadow in Alaska.

[LaVieBoheme]

Hmm: I am not sure why the image won't show: here is a link instead.

[5waldos]

It will depend on what the winter has been like, how spring has been, and when you are going. I have been up there in late May and took one of the smaller excursion boats. We got no where near as close as LaVieBoheme seems to have in the picture. Way too many icebergs so we had to turn back. It was fun dodging the icebergs but it would have been nice to get closer to the glaciers.