Tracy Arm Fjord vs. Glacier Bay question

[lightsleeper]

Did Alaska Cruise 2 years ago....Princess ship went to Glacier Bay... loved all the glaciers.

Considering possibly doing cruise with Tracy Arm instead of Glacier Bay. What would be different gong to Tracy as opposed to Glacier?

Considering late July 2015 so plenty of time to research

thanks in advance for your replies

[bonvoyagie]

Tracy Arm is a narrow fjord with a single (visible) glacier at the end. The steep walls and tight bends make for a very interesting transit. Lots of people as well as myself recommend a small boat add on tour. The small boats get into both glaciers and the perspective from water level is amazing.

[Budget Queen]

Tracy Arm is a narrow 30 mile dead end with the North and South Sawyer glaciers.

 

I find it "necessary" to always purchase the Tracy Arm shore excursion with is grossly superior to any cruise ship transit. Only about 25% of the cruise ships make the full transit sailing. The rest time out and turn back with no glacier view.

 

An alternative would be to get a 7a-7p Juneau port time and go to Tracy Arm round trip Juneau.

[DougH]

If you take a Northbound Princess cruise it is one of the few that has enough port time in Juneau to allow for the all day Adventure Bound trip to Tracy Arm. As a bonus you will still visit both Glacier Bay and College Fjord on the cruise ship, and if you stay on for a Southbound B2B the second week you can also visit Hubbard Glacier and catch up on the Juneau sights you missed the first week. (with the bonus of a 2nd visit to Glacier Bay :) )

[agabbymama]

Tracy Arm to me was more about the fjord scenery with lots of waterfalls and ice in the water. We did see the Sawyer Twins, but not up close. And we didn't see any calving at the Sawyers.

 

Glacier Bay we saw wildlife entering the Bay, as well as 4 or 5 glaciers. The Bay is more wide open (I actually felt claustrophobic at times in Tracy Arm). We sat for about an hour in front of the Pacific & Margerie Glaciers. Hearing (sounded like a gun shot to me), then seeing the calving. It was an awesome experience, but I wouldn't want to be any closer to it than we were.

 

Glacier Bay is a National Park for a reason!

[RSF Cruiser]

As you cruise Tracy Arm, you see huge icebergs with blue ice - size of a small house and often with wildlife on them. It's better on a small boat to get up close to the glacier, but even if you don't get that close to the glacier, you'll get to see large bergs. It's a tough call - I've been to both and would be hard pressed to say which is my favorite.

[hockeygal54]

If you take a Northbound Princess cruise it is one of the few that has enough port time in Juneau to allow for the all day Adventure Bound trip to Tracy Arm. As a bonus you will still visit both Glacier Bay and College Fjord on the cruise ship, and if you stay on for a Southbound B2B the second week you can also visit Hubbard Glacier and catch up on the Juneau sights you missed the first week. (with the bonus of a 2nd visit to Glacier Bay :) )

 

I have been struggling with this very dilemma for several days! We (a friend and I) did a wonderful cruise tour Aug 2012 and thoroughly enjoyed 99.9% of it. The one thing we have agreed on for the return is that we don't want to spend any time in Fairbanks. Been there and done that. While I loved Denali Nat Park, we spent lots of time on buses and trains getting to/fro. The Princess Lodge near Talkeetna was beautiful but I think we were there just one nite and there was nothing there BUT the lodge. The shuttle into Talkeetna was almost an hour each way. My friend wants to see Tracy Arm as do I but after reading various things and looking @ pictures I think going to GBNP would be a more enjoyable experience. The whole B2B thing sounds really good to me and prob about the same as a 13 day cruise tour. Thanks for this added boost to my fledgling thought earlier yesterday evening!!

 

 

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