NCL Bliss Alaska August 26 Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier

[Carolinabanker]

Has anybody heard if the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier portion of this trip is cancelled? I heard some September dates had it cancelled.

[BirdTravels]

You would be the first to know when you get an “Important Information” email. 

[arpie05]

25 minutes ago, Carolinabanker said:

Has anybody heard if the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier portion of this trip is cancelled? I heard some September dates had it cancelled.

Probably a question for Alaska board 😁

[julig22]

Still showing for my August trip on the Jewel.  And still offering the "TRACY ARM FJORD & GLACIER EXPLORER" as an available option, which I'm a little skeptical about, since the Endicott/Glacier is listed before Juneau.  In the past, you boarded the ship for the excursion in Juneau, then got back onboard in open waters.  Hopefully it's still a go - a similar excursion (with the correct name) I'd booked last May got cancelled by the vendor at the last minute- and we couldn't get near the glacier on the ship either because of ice, so trying again in August.

Edited March 27, 2023 by julig22

[Panhandle Couple]

52 minutes ago, Carolinabanker said:

Has anybody heard if the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier portion of this trip is cancelled? I heard some September dates had it cancelled.

I know you are simply worried about what may or may not be on your cruise.

 

But when saying "I heard some...(whatever)" can you please give a source?

Travel agent?

NCL employee?

Someone connected in Alaska ports authority?

 

If it was simply someone else, on another travel board, who themselves didn't provide any reference, why repeat it here?  That is rumor spreading. 

 

Thanks.

[1025cruise]

In September, the ice build up makes it more difficult for the ship to enter the channel. You won't know until you get there.

[bonvoyagie]

13 hours ago, julig22 said:

Still showing for my August trip on the Jewel.  And still offering the "TRACY ARM FJORD & GLACIER EXPLORER" as an available option, which I'm a little skeptical about, since the Endicott/Glacier is listed before Juneau.  In the past, you boarded the ship for the excursion in Juneau, then got back onboard in open waters.  Hopefully it's still a go - a similar excursion (with the correct name) I'd booked last May got cancelled by the vendor at the last minute- and we couldn't get near the glacier on the ship either because of ice, so trying again in August.

They also offer a small boat tour that departs from Juneau - we did this on the Pearl back in 2012 and it was well worth it. BTW we also visited Glacier Bay on that cruise - we just missed doing anything else in Juneau. This summer we are also on a SB Jewel cruise and our port time in Juneau is in the early morning so I believe that we will be crusing Dawes Glacier afterwards before heading to Skagway - even though the NCL itinerary shows the reverse.

Edited March 27, 2023 by bonvoyagie

[julig22]

50 minutes ago, bonvoyagie said:

They also offer a small boat tour that departs from Juneau - we did this on the Pearl back in 2012 and it was well worth it. BTW we also visited Glacier Bay on that cruise - we just missed doing anything else in Juneau. This summer we are also on a SB Jewel cruise and our port time in Juneau is in the early morning so I believe that we will be crusing Dawes Glacier afterwards before heading to Skagway - even though the NCL itinerary shows the reverse.

If you mean the tour that departs from Juneau and then you get back on the ship in the open sea, that's the one I'm talking about.

However, I'm also taking a SB Jewel and even though the web still shows Juneau in the morning, the port time, for mine anyway, has been changed to afternoon, Dawes Glacier before.  So you might want to verify the times on yours.  The corrected time is showing on my most recent confirmation.

[Panhandle Couple]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

If you mean the tour that departs from Juneau and then you get back on the ship in the open sea, that's the one I'm talking about.

However, I'm also taking a SB Jewel and even though the web still shows Juneau in the morning, the port time, for mine anyway, has been changed to afternoon, Dawes Glacier before.  So you might want to verify the times on yours.  The corrected time is showing on my most recent confirmation.

This is complicated by 2 things.

 

Endicott Arm is narrow with ice flows moving in it.  Only 1 ship at a time, so in 1 day only 3 can cruise it (given the 4 hours).  We have done morning and afternoon on past cruises, both are very cool, but the morning one last year had lots of fog and misty rain.  Bring rain coats and umbrellas.

 

Juneau is limiting the number of ships in port at a time.  I think there is more info on that in the ports of call section.

[julig22]

11 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

This is complicated by 2 things.

 

Endicott Arm is narrow with ice flows moving in it.  Only 1 ship at a time, so in 1 day only 3 can cruise it (given the 4 hours).  We have done morning and afternoon on past cruises, both are very cool, but the morning one last year had lots of fog and misty rain.  Bring rain coats and umbrellas.

 

Juneau is limiting the number of ships in port at a time.  I think there is more info on that in the ports of call section.

Yes, I have been there multiple times.  The last time I tried to take the same excursion, we were to start in Juneau, then transfer to the ship in open sea. However, the ship won't be in Juneau prior to Endicott Arm so how does the excursion (which still lists a 1:30 departure time) work?  RT to Juneau? Transfer to the excursion boat from the ship and meet back in Juneau?  It gets cancelled?

[bonvoyagie]

8 hours ago, julig22 said:

If you mean the tour that departs from Juneau and then you get back on the ship in the open sea, that's the one I'm talking about.

However, I'm also taking a SB Jewel and even though the web still shows Juneau in the morning, the port time, for mine anyway, has been changed to afternoon, Dawes Glacier before.  So you might want to verify the times on yours.  The corrected time is showing on my most recent confirmation.

Our tour returned to Juneau. Also look closely at your itinerary the times overlap with the glacier touring from 6 to 10 and Juneau from 7 to 1:15. Also the NB and SB Jewel port times are different with the NB doing the glacier first followed by Juneau. This is also reflected on all of the port times websites I have found. We have not gone into Endicott Arm but understand that it is wider and less icy than Tracy Arm therefore more accessible.

 

[julig22]

2 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

Our tour returned to Juneau. Also look closely at your itinerary the times overlap with the glacier touring from 6 to 10 and Juneau from 7 to 1:15. Also the NB and SB Jewel port times are different with the NB doing the glacier first followed by Juneau. This is also reflected on all of the port times websites I have found. We have not gone into Endicott Arm but understand that it is wider and less icy than Tracy Arm therefore more accessible.

 

No overlap, Juneau is 2 pm, glacier 6 to 10. As I said previously, website does not reflect the port times I've been given. 

Still looking for info on where/when the excursion starts.

[bonvoyagie]

Note NB Jewel cruises visit Glacier Bay so being able to do a small boat tour of either Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm RT out of Juneau would be a great add on to GB, like I said earlier, we did this on the Pearl in 2012 starting at 1:00 and ending around 9:00 in fact we were late getting back to the ship due to both a late start and a broken bus - but they waited for us. BTW this tour would also be available to SB Jewel pax because Juneau is after the Endicott Arm visit. It would give you the opportunity to see both fjords and glaciers. Also on our small boat tour we saw both the Sun and an HAL ship leaving the fjord as we were entering. And yes I believe they still offer the tour that starts in Juneau and ends in the fjord (or vise versa). 

[julig22]

13 minutes ago, bonvoyagie said:

Note NB Jewel cruises visit Glacier Bay so being able to do a small boat tour of either Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm RT out of Juneau would be a great add on to GB, like I said earlier, we did this on the Pearl in 2012 starting at 1:00 and ending around 9:00 in fact we were late getting back to the ship due to both a late start and a broken bus - but they waited for us. BTW this tour would also be available to SB Jewel pax because Juneau is after the Endicott Arm visit. It would give you the opportunity to see both fjords and glaciers. Also on our small boat tour we saw both the Sun and an HAL ship leaving the fjord as we were entering. And yes I believe they still offer the tour that starts in Juneau and ends in the fjord (or vise versa). 

What you are describing is what I had booked last year while on the Bilss, then got cancelled at the last minute.  I have it booked for the Jewel SB trip but the itinerary doesn't fit the logistics.  But thanks for trying.

I am hoping that we transfer from the ship to the small boat and meet back up in Juneau.

[JAFA13]

On 3/26/2023 at 10:19 PM, julig22 said:

Still showing for my August trip on the Jewel.  And still offering the "TRACY ARM FJORD & GLACIER EXPLORER" as an available option, which I'm a little skeptical about, since the Endicott/Glacier is listed before Juneau.  In the past, you boarded the ship for the excursion in Juneau, then got back onboard in open waters.  Hopefully it's still a go - a similar excursion (with the correct name) I'd booked last May got cancelled by the vendor at the last minute- and we couldn't get near the glacier on the ship either because of ice, so trying again in August.

Are you on the August 14 Jewel sailing? The Tracy Arm excursion doesn’t show on my Aug 28 booking. 

[julig22]

5 minutes ago, JAFA13 said:

Are you on the August 14 Jewel sailing? The Tracy Arm excursion doesn’t show on my Aug 28 booking. 

Aug 28th - it may be sold out.  Or blocked if you've booked something else in Juneau that conflicts.  But they have changed the description, indicating that we board from the ship - but the "need to know" stuff - as in "return at the entry to the Endicott Arm" still not meshing with the port times, etc.  Ship will still be docked at 6pm for starters.

 

[JAFA13]

5 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Aug 28th - it may be sold out.  Or blocked if you've booked something else in Juneau that conflicts.  But they have changed the description, indicating that we board from the ship - but the "need to know" stuff - as in "return at the entry to the Endicott Arm" still not meshing with the port times, etc.  Ship will still be docked at 6pm for starters.

 

Must be sold out. I have nothing else booked in Juneau. 

[julig22]

27 minutes ago, JAFA13 said:

Must be sold out. I have nothing else booked in Juneau. 

I just realized that I'm still able to see other excursions for Juneau, even though they should be blocked. Very strange, guess I'll give NCL a call when I get a chance.

[julig22]

On 3/28/2023 at 4:07 PM, julig22 said:

I just realized that I'm still able to see other excursions for Juneau, even though they should be blocked. Very strange, guess I'll give NCL a call when I get a chance.

So I called and they didn't have anything different...but my call may have triggered an update.  And the news isn't good.  Cancelled for operational needs, my refund is in the mail.😒

I booked this particular itinerary with this excursion in mind (it got cancelled last year).  But I got such a good deal on the cruise that I'll probably still go...

[BirdTravels]

On 3/27/2023 at 2:18 PM, julig22 said:

Yes, I have been there multiple times.  The last time I tried to take the same excursion, we were to start in Juneau, then transfer to the ship in open sea. However, the ship won't be in Juneau prior to Endicott Arm so how does the excursion (which still lists a 1:30 departure time) work?  RT to Juneau? Transfer to the excursion boat from the ship and meet back in Juneau?  It gets cancelled?

The tour works in one of two ways. 

 

If the ship is in Juneau in the morning (leaving ~1:30 pm for the glacier), you board the small boat in Juneau (actually you transfer from the ship's tender door to the small ship) and race ahead of the ship to the glacier. When the ship catches up with you at the glacier, you rejoin the ship and the small boat returns empty to Juneau. 

 

If the ship is at the glacier early in the morning (6:00 am), You transfer to the small boat early in the morning while the ship is underway (versus at Juneau) and race ahead of the ship to the glacier. Then rejoin the ship when she gets to the glacier and the small boat returns empty to Juneau. This is what was offered last year. 

[julig22]

52 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The tour works in one of two ways. 

 

If the ship is in Juneau in the morning (leaving ~1:30 pm for the glacier), you board the small boat in Juneau (actually you transfer from the ship's tender door to the small ship) and race ahead of the ship to the glacier. When the ship catches up with you at the glacier, you rejoin the ship and the small boat returns empty to Juneau. 

 

If the ship is at the glacier early in the morning (6:00 am), You transfer to the small boat early in the morning while the ship is underway (versus at Juneau) and race ahead of the ship to the glacier. Then rejoin the ship when she gets to the glacier and the small boat returns empty to Juneau. This is what was offered last year. 

Yea, kinda what I was expecting/hoping.  But the excursion time didn't mesh with when we were scheduled for the glacier.  But it's been cancelled now.

[sydmike]

On 3/26/2023 at 9:57 PM, arpie05 said:

Probably a question for Alaska board 😁

 

On 3/26/2023 at 9:30 PM, Carolinabanker said:

Has anybody heard if the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier portion of this trip is cancelled? I heard some September dates had it cancelled.

We are on this sailing and haven’t heard anything

[Jetswdo]

This excursion isnt available as of mid August according to the supplier.  If you really want this excursion, booking i July is usually when this is available.