Glacier Bay Dropped from May Zaandam Cruise

[Moriah]

On 10/12/2023 at 9:00 AM, AryMay said:

It will be interesting to see if skipping Glacier Bay results in a refund of some of the port fees. 

This doesn't really make sense since there are no ports in Glacier Bay.. it's scenic cruising.  But maybe I'm missing something about what "port fees" entails?

[AryMay]

Just now, Moriah said:

This doesn't really make sense since there are no ports in Glacier Bay.. it's scenic cruising.  But maybe I'm missing something about what "port fees" entails?

 

I'm assuming that HAL has to pay for a permit to enter Glacier Bay and that cost is passed onto passengers...sort of like how the fee to transit the Panama Canal is handled.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Moriah said:

This doesn't really make sense since there are no ports in Glacier Bay.. it's scenic cruising.  But maybe I'm missing something about what "port fees" entails?

 

I believe the cruise lines pay a permit fee per pax.

[Crew News]

Glacier Bay dropped from my April Koningsdam cruise but not from the following week on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  Lots of harbor seal pups on the floating ice in April. 

 

 

[AryMay]

Woke up to an email from Holland America…Glacier Bay is back! 😃
 

 

[HappyInVan]

On 10/13/2023 at 2:12 PM, Moriah said:

This doesn't really make sense since there are no ports in Glacier Bay.. it's scenic cruising.  But maybe I'm missing something about what "port fees" entails?

 Glacier Bay is a national park. National Park Services controls traffic into the bay.

 

https://www.nps.gov/glba/index.htm

 

For cruise ships, the fees provide one important benefit. A pair of park rangers will board the ship at the entrance to the bay, and set up shop in the Crows Nest. They will give a talk in the World Stage, and answer questions.

 

In addition, a ranger may be present on the bridge and give a running commentary during the day trip into the bay. As well as call out wildlife sights.

Edited December 20, 2023 by HappyInVan

[OlsSalt]

Having now seen other inlets in Alaska and GB too many times, I would not find missing GB any real loss.  Even more disappointing GB in late season - no icebergs and no calving.  But it was exciting the first time, when there was no other comparisons.

 

Hubbard Glacier was a lot more dramatic.  Coming into Valdez on our last Alaska cruise was the surprise treat, and equally stunning in its own right. Plus the opportunity to do a land-based  glacier tour as well. 

[Hlitner]

Very interesting and we can all speculate.  Looking at some data bases, it appears that several other cruise lines (i.e. Princess, Seabourn, NCL, etc) do still have GB on their itineraries for that time of the year.  We have posted (elsewhere) about our frustration with multiple cruise lines (we cruise many lines) changing itineraries without explanation.  In fact, we have 3 cruises booked for 2024 with 3 different lines (none are HAL) and 2 of the 3 have had major itinerary changes without explanation.  The lack of transparency (by the cruise lines) troubles me more than the actual changes.

 

Hank

[Thetideishigh2021]

We’re on the Noordam May 5/24.

no email yet stating that GB is back.

[shipmeoff!]

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551
This page states it was updated *Dec 4*, so the communication about the itinerary changes to the traveling public seems to be rather slow

[Bill B]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We have posted (elsewhere) about our frustration with multiple cruise lines (we cruise many lines) changing itineraries without explanation.  In fact, we have 3 cruises booked for 2024 with 3 different lines (none are HAL) and 2 of the 3 have had major itinerary changes without explanation.  The lack of transparency (by the cruise lines) troubles me more than the actual changes.

 

Tell me about it! Last June, I was on a Princess, 'Norway' cruise up to North Cape and on to Longyearbyen, Svalbard (the port that 'clinched' me booking the cruise). After final payment they cancelled Longyearbyen - citing environmental regulations. Then, I found out they had done the same thing in the preceding two years! If they knew the ship couldn't go there why was it still on the itinerary? (rhetorical question) I felt duped and wrote an email to the CEO. To their credit, Princess responded by giving me an additional $300 OBC.

[breakiron]

When we went to Glacier Bay National Park in July, someone mentioned only 2 cruise ships are permitted per day.  True or not I don't know but this may be part of the reason.

[Haljo1935]

7 minutes ago, breakiron said:

When we went to Glacier Bay National Park in July, someone mentioned only 2 cruise ships are permitted per day.  True or not I don't know but this may be part of the reason.

That is correct. The baffling part is HAL supposedly has priority, but their ships have now been getting bumped when other lines are not.

The GB schedule for 2024 has a lot of Princess ships...

[shipmeoff!]

Norwegian has had to redirect the Bliss which is part of it, Skagway has an issue with a rock over the berth 

[Blackduck59]

While some have commented that they wouldn't miss glacier bay because they have been there upteen times. That's all well and good for you, there are thousands of cruisers who have never been to glacier bay and booked the cruise specifically for that feature in the itinerary. I've been to Hubbard glacier and wouldn't go out of my way to go back there, each to there own. We are hoping to do a cruise tour in Alaska after our down under adventure. We will want the itinerary to include glacier bay and we would be mighty p****d if it got cancelled.