Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer (HAL) excursion

[TwinMommyByGrace]

We just booked this excursion out of Juneau on Holland America. Would love some feed back from anyone who's taken it before. Did you feel it was worth the money and time? Any tips or suggestions on how to get the most out of it? Would love to see pictures of the boat and things you saw, as well, if you have any. TIA!

[quack2]

I just booked the Holland excursion that starts in Tracy Arm, where you board a smaller boat to get closer to the glaciers.  The small boat then takes you to Juneau where your ship is docked.  In my experience, the big cruise ships can rarely get close to the glaciers due to fog and/or ice.

 

Several years ago, I privately booked the round trip excursion that starts and ends in Juneau.  That was an awesome trip.  Beautiful ice floes and glaciers as well as harbor seals and pups on the floes.  If your ship arrives in Juneau early enough to book the Adventure Bound excursion that departs at 8 a.m., by all means do it.

[Dancing Shoes]

I did the excursion through HAL that started at Tracy Arm and then ended up meeting the ship later in Juneau as quack2 just booked.  We had a sunny day and boat was nice.  Once you pick your spot, feel free to move about and go outside on the deck.  Be sure and wear or bring water-proof pants and jacket.  Plan on wearing a hat and bring gloves just in case.  You want to be warm and dry so you are not stuck inside.

[TwinMommyByGrace]

The excursion we've booked starts and ends in Juneau. It says it is 7 hours in length. The itinerary for our cruise takes us to Glacier Bay on the ship. Thanks for the insights so far! I definitely need to look into something waterproof.

[CruiseMark]

6 hours ago, TwinMommyByGrace said:

The excursion we've booked starts and ends in Juneau. It says it is 7 hours in length. The itinerary for our cruise takes us to Glacier Bay on the ship. Thanks for the insights so far! I definitely need to look into something waterproof.

I booked that excursion too for the April 30th Eurodam cruise. Should be fun!

[Crew News]

I have experienced the 7-hour excursion to Tracy Arm twice and truly enjoyed the photographic opportunities:  seal lions, whales, harbor seals, ice flows, etc.  The boxed lunch was quite good and took up some of the travel time to get to the fjord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Crew News

[Italy52]

We have done this tour a few times and always look for opportunities to do it again.  The journey is beautiful but I think my favorite part is the massive size of the icebergs floating in the water.  We have found that the more overcast the sky is the deeper the blue in the bergs.  Enjoy!

[TwinMommyByGrace]

14 hours ago, Crew News said:

I have experienced the 7-hour excursion to Tracy Arm twice and truly enjoyed the photographic opportunities:  seal lions, whales, harbor seals, ice flows, etc.  The boxed lunch was quite good and took up some of the travel time to get to the fjord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the great pictures and information! Since you've been twice it must be worth it! I love photography so I'm really looking forward to this excursion. Thanks again!

[TwinMommyByGrace]

13 hours ago, Italy52 said:

We have done this tour a few times and always look for opportunities to do it again.  The journey is beautiful but I think my favorite part is the massive size of the icebergs floating in the water.  We have found that the more overcast the sky is the deeper the blue in the bergs.  Enjoy!

We're hoping to see lots of bergs! We're going in late August so I'm sure there's a good chance we'll have overcast skies, lol. Thanks for the info!