Tracy Arm Fiord or Glacier Bay?

[cruising camper]

We plan on cruising from Seattle in July 2016. Ruby Princess sails through Tracy Arm Fjord and Crown Princess sails through Glacier Bay. Any thoughts on the differences of the two?

[Colo Cruiser]

We plan on cruising from Seattle in July 2016. Ruby Princess sails through Tracy Arm Fjord and Crown Princess sails through Glacier Bay. Any thoughts on the differences of the two?

 

 

Oooh good question.

We have sailed to both a few times.

Really like the narrow passage in Tracy Arm, but really like the vastness of Glacier Bay. Tough call since they are sister ships. :)

[Treven]

Admittedly I've not been to Glacier Bay, however Tracy Arm Fjord itself is pretty spectacular. Depending on the time of year and ice conditions you may or may not get up to Sawyer Glacier itself. I certainly was not disappointed with Tracy Arm.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Treven

[more cruises]

There is absolutely no comparison. Glacier Bay is the winner. You spend the day cruising the national park with quite a bit of time in front of the glacier itself. It's almost always calving and is amazing to watch. It's a very profound experience.

 

On the other hand, the channel for Sawyer Glacier/ Tracy Arm is very often iced over and the ship can't get into the glacier. Ends up being a very disappointing day.

[TucsonRick]

There is absolutely no comparison. Glacier Bay is the winner. You spend the day cruising the national park with quite a bit of time in front of the glacier itself. It's almost always calving and is amazing to watch. It's a very profound experience.

 

On the other hand, the channel for Sawyer Glacier/ Tracy Arm is very often iced over and the ship can't get into the glacier. Ends up being a very disappointing day.

I agree! We did not get to see Sawyer Glacier and Tracy Arm is very disappointing without it. Glacier Bay was spectacular.

[MilliesMom]

Personally, I think either cruise is a great choice. Our next two cruises are on the Ruby to Tracy Arm. Our last cruise was on the Grand to Glacier Bay. I think the scenery is amazing no matter which one you choose.

[cr8tiv1]

My vote goes to Glacier Bay (and I have been to both several times).

[IECalCruiser]

If you want to see Glaciers from the ship, choose Glacier Bay. We have done Glacier Bay twice and Tracy Arm once. Never got close to Sawyer Glacier although the scenery is very nice. Both times we left Glacier Bay we saw a number of whales. They were at some distance so binoculars were best but we had a good show both times.

[msmoger]

We went to Glacier Bay our first time to Alaska (also our first cruise) and it was spectacular!! This was a Whittier to Vancouver southbound.

 

This summer we're taking the Crown R/T from Seattle and visiting Glacier Bay again. However, we're also taking a private excursion to Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier when we dock in Juneau. It's a long day but I'm sure it will be great plus we'll be on a much smaller boat than the Crown so we should have a better chance of getting to Sawyer. For us it's the best of both worlds.

 

Of course the down side to this is missing out on all the incredible things that Juneau has to offer. When we visited we did a private excursion whale watching tour and also a helicopter landing on a glacier (which was the single best thing we did during 2+ glorious weeks).

 

Therefore, if you would like to go to both on the same cruise it's possible. However, like some others have said if you can only do one you can't lose with Glacier Bay. just remember to be outside and bundled up!!

[carqueen1]

Hands down Glacier Bay!!!

[shredie]

Hands down Glacier Bay!!!

 

Without a doubt.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

I would opt for Glacier Bay. The funny thing is the time we went to Tracy Arm Fjord I guess I hadn't done any homework because I thought was saw the fjord and were heading back. Then someone told me there was a glacier at the end that we couldn't get to. I was perfectly happy not knowing what I missed.

 

Tracy Arm was beautiful but if you don't think you will be back again I would pick Glacier Bay.

[Colo Cruiser]

Hands down Glacier Bay!!!

 

I tend to agree over the 2.

I remember sitting out on the balcony on the Coral at the end of July and it was snowing/sleeting etc. We were bundled up and were out there all day.

[gertz]

We vote for both. But for the first on do Glacier Bay.

 

But we would vote for another ship also.

[K D cruiser]

Just my opinion, but we've done both and there's no comparison. When we went to Tracy Arm, last July we didn't get close enough to see anything. The scenery was OK, but nothing spectacular. You really need to take the small boat excursion that gets up close.

 

When our cruise director told us the night before not to bother getting up at 6 a.m. to see Tracy Arm because we'd see the same scenery going back, I knew we had made a mistake. It was our grandkid's first cruise and I've been kicking myself ever since that we didn't choose Glacier Bay.

 

Getting to Juneau at 2 pm after going to Tracy Arm, made me decide on a whale watching tour over spending time at Mendenhall Glacier, because it's really hard to do both, so our grandkids missed out on seeing any glaciers.

 

Plus, the RT Seattle is convenient, but I thought that stopping at Victoria Island was a waste also because arriving at 7 p.m. leaves very little time to do or see anything.

 

We may take the grandkids again next year on the Southbound Wittier-Vancouver cruise to make up for last summer's botched planning.

[Colo Cruiser]

Its never a waste to visit Victoria.

Yes its goofy hours but we always make the best of it. :)

[MCC retired]

For me Glacier Bay would be my first choice if only cruising Alaska once.

However , once you have cruised Glacier Bay , next time would be "been there , done that " . Time to cruise Tracy Arm next.

[drgrinch]

Mid-sized ships can get all the way into Tracy Arm. We did so on the HAL Amsterdam three years ago and found this experience superior to Glacier Bay. I suppose this point is mute as I don't believe Princess operates any ships small enough to get all the way into Tracy arm on the Alaska itineraries. Some time in your life try do the Tracy arm in a smaller ship though - you get very up close and personal to one of the most active glaciers in the world (lots of calving!).

[pompeii]

I agree with those who say to do both. Our itinerary went to Glacier Bay, and then we took a small boat with Allen Marine out of Juneau up Tracy Arm to see the glacier. It was a perfect way to see both and there is no reason to choose one over the other!

[Thrak]

I agree with those who say to do both. Our itinerary went to Glacier Bay, and then we took a small boat with Allen Marine out of Juneau up Tracy Arm to see the glacier. It was a perfect way to see both and there is no reason to choose one over the other!

 

I checked this and it seems to be a 7 hour trip. We will be in Juneau for about 9.5 hours next July 3rd but, of course, we would need to be on board before that time ran out. What I didn't see on the site was anything about the cost. How "spendy" is this little trip? I'm also wondering how early they leave as we are scheduled to be in Juneau from 6:30 - 4:00.

 

We will be hitting Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay on the way back after our land tour portion and it might be doable to take the trip from Juneau to Tracy Arm if the times are right and it isn't horribly expensive. (The 13 day connoisseur cruisetour is already pretty spendy...)

 

We haven't done Tracy Arm before but have done Glacier Bay and it was spectacular. I would have to agree with others here - if you one get to go once do Glacier Bay as a sure thing rather than Tracy Arm as a "maybe" thing.

[DougH]

Not sure about the Allen Marine Tour but the all day trip with Adventure Bound runs $150-160 pp. Only the one way Northbound Princess cruises have enough time to do this excursion from Juneau, you need a port time at least from 8am-8pm. I've done this 5 times already and going for a 6th in May.

 

None of my visits to Tracy Arm on the cruise ship offered the "add on" excursion option. Once on the Dawn Princess we did actually sail up to the face of the North Sawyer but that was very very rare.

 

IMHO the glaciers in Tracy Arm are the bluest and most active of any I've seen in Alaska.

Well worth the trip if you can schedule.

[shipsealand]

Did both. Most have been fortunate, Tracey Arms was with the large Sapphire Princess and we got close enough to see it very well. It is narrow so have fun effects of small ice chunks hitting the ship.

 

Glacier Bay is very spectacular and many chances to see glaciers.

[Thrak]

I agree with those who say to do both. Our itinerary went to Glacier Bay, and then we took a small boat with Allen Marine out of Juneau up Tracy Arm to see the glacier. It was a perfect way to see both and there is no reason to choose one over the other!

 

Not sure about the Allen Marine Tour but the all day trip with Adventure Bound runs $150-160 pp. Only the one way Northbound Princess cruises have enough time to do this excursion from Juneau, you need a port time at least from 8am-8pm. I've done this 5 times already and going for a 6th in May.

 

None of my visits to Tracy Arm on the cruise ship offered the "add on" excursion option. Once on the Dawn Princess we did actually sail up to the face of the North Sawyer but that was very very rare.

 

IMHO the glaciers in Tracy Arm are the bluest and most active of any I've seen in Alaska.

Well worth the trip if you can schedule.

 

 

Poop. We are southbound. Ah, well.

 

Although we've not been there yet I know it's very blue...

 

 

[iceleven]

We go to Alaska (four times in 5 years) to see NATURE. We've been to Alaska on three different cruise lines to get totally different experiences.

 

First was with NCL which went to Tracy Arm. We got pretty far up and into the channel and was not disappointed at all with the glorious views of the mountainous walls and icebergs. There was an outing offered (which we did not take nor was aware of) that actually picked up the passengers directly from their small boat right onto NCL at the mouth of the arm at the end of their tour. I would do that without hesitation.

 

Second was with HAL and went to Hubbard Glacier, known to be the very best of glaciers yet heavy fog prevented us from getting anywhere near the glacier and admittedly we all were disappointed. Just the same, we love HAL the best for Alaska.

 

Third and fourth was with Princess, once to Tracey Arm and the other to Glacier Bay. If it wasn't for the day-long cruising around the bay and the occasional whale sightings, I wouldn't go back to Glacier bay just to see a glacier. The main attraction for glaciers is to see the calving and not once did we see any other than a mini trickle and there never is a guarantee that one will see any calving regardless of the time of year.

 

We're kicking around the idea of going back up to Alaska again later this summer and I would be perfectly happy to return to Tracey Arm with hopes of getting further into the fjord to see the glacier but even if we don't, the scenery and nature along the way is breathtaking. A good pair of binoculars can spot mountain goats along the 3,000 ft high walls, brown bear at the water's edge, and seals on ice floes.

 

The first time we went we took several very expensive tours (helicopter, etc.) because we thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime event. We probably will never tire of Alaska as it has so many different things to see and do.

Edited March 25, 2015 by iceleven

[jagsfan]

Glacier Bay. It's awesome.