Does Koningsdam go inside the Tracy Arm Inlet to see the glacier?

[reposado]

A few years ago on a celebrity cruise one of the highlights was cruising into the Tracy Arm Inlet and seeing a glacier. 

In my upcoming itinerary in august it looks like Tracy Arm Inlet is only "30 min" prior to arriving to Juneau.

 

Does the ship actually visit the Inlet or is it simply to drop off passengers who has booked the already sold out excursion?

 

If so that's disappointing... 

[Crew News]

I would describe the 30-minute stop as a wave as you sail past the entrance.  Only a few ships actually drop off passengers for excursions at that point.  Check your available excursions to confirm a drop off.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Crew News

[Moriah]

No, Koningsdam will not go into the "arm".  There are excursions you can book that take you in there.  And the excursion will return you to the Kdam which will already be docked in Juneau.  Well worth it if you can book it.

[reposado]

bummer. 

[sue1898]

Have you been to Glacier Bay? I don’t think Celebrity goes there. Although the Tracy Arm stop is as described in the itinerary

SERVICE CALL, ACCESS TO SHORE LIMITED TO SHORE EX

you’ll have spectacular glacier view on your Glacier Bay day! Enjoy your cruise.

[rafinmd]

I don't think HAL ever goes into Tracy Arm.  The excursion is only offered on Koningsdam and Volendam.  These cruises essentially do 3 cruises in one, although only the full 7 days can be booked by itself.

 

The 7-day cruise:

Vancouver

Inside Passage

Juneau (with Tracy Arm service call)

Skagway

Glacier Bay

Ketchikan

Inside Passage

Vancouver.

 

At the same time, there are passengers who start in Anchorage, travel overland to Skagway and board the ship for Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Vancouver.

 

Finally, some passengers board the ship in Vancouver, sail to Juneau and Skagway, and then travel overland to Anchorage.  Without the Tracy Arm excursion, those ;passengers would never get any glacier experience, hence the Tracy Arm excursion.  Anyone can book Tracy Arm, but if they do they get just a short stay in Juneau.  I think for most people doing the full 7 days, the extra time in Juneau will outweigh the Tracy Arm visit with Glacier Bay generally considered the better glacier experience.  If you really want to see Tracy Arm I'd suggest inquiring onboard if there are any last minute openings.

 

Roy

[reposado]

Thanks for all the info!

[DaveOKC]

I remember doing the Tracy Arm aboard the cruise ship some years ago, and I think it was the Volendam.  Great experience.

 

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I don't think HAL ever goes into Tracy Arm. 

I don't know if there is still an itinerary that includes the ship sailing up Tracy Arm, but it was definitely part of the selections up until at least several years ago. 

I have sailed up Tracy Arm on the cruise ship itself several times. It was these sailings, which didn't get all that close to the glaciers, that convinced me to book the Volendam one year. My sole purpose was to take the shore excursion from the ship to the smaller boat, and sail Tracy Arm. 

[rafinmd]

35 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I don't know if there is still an itinerary that includes the ship sailing up Tracy Arm, but it was definitely part of the selections up until at least several years ago. 

I have sailed up Tracy Arm on the cruise ship itself several times. It was these sailings, which didn't get all that close to the glaciers, that convinced me to book the Volendam one year. My sole purpose was to take the shore excursion from the ship to the smaller boat, and sail Tracy Arm. 

Just out of curiosity, how did Tracy Arm by big ship compare with Glacier Bay?

 

Roy

[Guest ldtr]

45 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Just out of curiosity, how did Tracy Arm by big ship compare with Glacier Bay?

 

Roy

Tracy Arm is pretty narrow, especially compared to Glacier Bay.  More like a Norwegian Fjord.

 

Have been on 4 cruises that listed Tracy Arm on 4 different cruise lines (Princess, HAL, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity).  None of them actually made it into the Arm.  3 of them substituted Endicott.  The 4th just dropped people off for the small excursion boat.  Went there on the excursion.

 

The funny thing was as we were going in on the excursion boat, we did meet a Princess ship coming out.  The Volendam was supposed to go in, but the Captain said that we were late and that there was a sand bar that was a problem at current tide level so he just dropped us off for the excursion and headed to Juneau.

Edited June 9, 2023 by ldtr

[Crew News]

My September 2011 Zuiderdam cruise went into Tracy Arm and confirmed my passion for aft staterooms.

 

 

 

[MrSnuffleupagus]

Gorgeous, @Crew News. Absolutely stunning. I think I gotta take this excursion!

[Crew News]

3 minutes ago, MrSnuffleupagus said:

Gorgeous, @Crew News. Absolutely stunning. I think I gotta take this excursion!

The small boat version out of Juneau has amazing views of scenery as well as wildlife (whales, sea lions, eagles, etc).  The enroute box lunch was quite good as was the Allen Marine narration.

 

Here are small boat views:

 

[MrSnuffleupagus]

1 minute ago, Crew News said:

The small boat version out of Juneau has amazing views of scenery as well as wildlife (whales, sea lions, eagles, etc).  The enroute box lunch was quite good as was the Allen Marine narration.

 

Here are small boat views:

 

More stunners… also, outstanding photography skills. What did you use?

 

By “small boat,” do you mean where the ships drop off those that booked this excursion at Tracy Arm, then proceed to Juneau? 

[Crew News]

7 minutes ago, MrSnuffleupagus said:

More stunners… also, outstanding photography skills. What did you use?

 

By “small boat,” do you mean where the ships drop off those that booked this excursion at Tracy Arm, then proceed to Juneau? 

2011 pictures were with Olympus E-5.  Small boat photos above were with Canon Powershot S120.

 

My small boat departed a dock in Juneau before lunch and arrived back around dinner time.

 

Getting so close to chunks of ice larger than a house was quite an experience.  The closer we got, the colder the temp became.  I strongly recommend this excursion.

 

EM-1 MKii

[Haljo1935]

@Crew News what do you use to keep those post cards so straight, I always get at least one just a little crooked, lol. Absolutely gorgeous! Aft balconies were made for AK!

[Crew News]

1 minute ago, Haljo1935 said:

@Crew News what do you use to keep those post cards so straight, I always get at least one just a little crooked, lol. Absolutely gorgeous! Aft balconies were made for AK!

Adobe Lightroom has a leveling feature that comes in especially handy when photographing anything from a moving small boat or when jostling with fellow passengers to get a whale shot.  FWIW my cameras have a level in the viewfinder but it is so hard to get photos perfectly level, I just level in Lightroom when i convert images to jpg format.

 

Since this is a Koningsdam thread, I will be aboard in Alaska next April in search of great photo opportunities.  And those huge chocolate chip cookies in the Grand Dutch Cafe.

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Just out of curiosity, how did Tracy Arm by big ship compare with Glacier Bay?

 

Roy

Tracy Arm is a fjord that happens to have a glacier (actually two glaciers) at the ends. The main purpose of the ride is the scenery, and the glaciers are just the treat at the turn-around point. Just once I got to both, but from further away, since I was on the ship. 
The catamaran shore excursion gave a much better view of the glacier, as it got much, much closer. Plus, being a smaller boat, and so close to water level, produced a very different perspective. 

Glacier Bay is more wide open space, and the major purpose of sailing in there is to see glaciers (many, many glaciers!), and scenery is a fringe benefit. It is only done on a large ship, so I have no frame of reference how it would be in a small boat. Impressive, I am certain. 

I have been to Hubbard Glacier on the cruise ship, many times, and of course it is spectacular. The most impressive of the glaciers, as far as I'm concerned. 
I have also transferred to a smaller boat for a 'shore excursion' at Hubbard. Now THAT is an experience! We got much closer to the glacier than any ship I've been on ever did. When Hubbard calved, we felt it so much more than we would have on the ship. It was a thrill. 

I don't know if that answers your question, Roy, but it sure was fun strolling down this particular memory lane.