Hubbard Glacier Princess Shore Excursions

[infohelp]

Princess has a new shore excursion that takes you off the ship on a smaller boat and supposedly takes you up closer to the glacier and nature. It's 279 dollars. Is it worth it or is the view from the ship close enough? 

[Italy52]

This is a new excursion this year, it had problems last year getting off the ground.  So far this year, a few people have been successful with the excursion (read up on posts where Hubbard Glacier is mentioned as the title of the threads).  Some of us have not been that lucky.  We were on the Royal Princess and our excursion was to have taken place on June 30th but was cancelled due to fog.  I know some people have posted that they had the excursion booked for their Holland America cruises and it was cancelled.  Read the reviews and judge for yourself. Although we encountered problems this year, we are still going to try again next year.  Princess did promptly refund our money when our excursion was cancelled.

[yorkshirephil]

Only you can decide whether it is worth it to you. We went to Hubbard on Queen Elizabeth in June and got much closer than I imagined. There was a trip on a small boat which got right under the glacier, it was a great reference point to show the height of the glacier which is very impressive. Personally I would not pay that for the trip as I feel we got close enough to see the glacier in all its glory, a camera with a good magnification will capture excellent photos. I add that we had excellent weather with clear skies, albeit there is an icy wind blows off the glacier. Visiting Hubbard will stay with me for many years. Have a good cruise whatever you choose.

[CruiserBruce]

There are several threads on this excursion just down the board. It is offered on several cruise lines. There have been issues (including widespread cancellations) reported on those other threads.

 

It was offered on our Holland America cruise in June, but the ship definitely got closer to the glacier.

[geoherb]

Here's a photo of the small boat against the glacier when I was there last month on the Island Princess. I took the 26 glacier cruise on my turn-around day in Whittier and did not want to spend more money for another small boat excursion. But it's something I'd consider if doing just a southbound cruise.

 

The people I talked with who did this excursion all loved it. 

[cruisinteach2]

• Did this excursion June 22-July 2 2019 on Azamara Quest. Was amazing to watch glacier calf several times on a beautiful warm day! Lots of space on outside decks where we had great views. Spent 2 1/2 hours at glacier - pricey yes but worth every penny for a fantastic experience!