New Alaska Glacial Guarantee

[cbr663]

HAL has introduced an Alaska Glacial Guarantee for the '24 and '25 season.  In essence, if HAL does not visit a glacier during the sailing you will receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 15% of your cruise fare.

 

As always, there are terms and conditions.  This one sticks out as paramount:

 

"This Guarantee shall not apply when there is more than one port of call or cruisetour featuring a Glacier on a Cruise per its published itinerary, when only one applicable port of call or cruisetour has been cancelled."

 

And of course there are conditions on when the FCC must be used.

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/ca/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/glacier-guarantee

[sherryf]

I wonder what their definition is of not visiting a glacier.  I would think that this would never happen on cruises visiting Glacier Bay, unless the whole day got cancelled due to bad weather or other emergency.  Glaciers are more likely to be missed on the Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier sailings.  I've never been to Endicott Arm, but I've been to Tracy Arm a few times, and sometimes they barely get close enough to see a very slight, distant view of the glacier.  So if they get close enough that you can barely see it in the distance, does that count as "visiting a glacier"?  

 

In all of my cruises to Alaska (13, with 2 more booked this summer) we have only completely missed our glacier once, and that was due to a very unfortunate major emergency.  

[Menocchio]

Alaska tourism providers feeling they ought to promise to find a glacier for you feels like noticing that there's less bugs on your windshield. It's not a great sign.

[Mary229]

I don’t get this. How hard is it to find a glacier in Alaska? That is like guaranteeing snow and ice in Greenland 

Edited May 4 by Mary229

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t get this. How hard is it to find a glacier in Alaska? That is like guaranteeing snow and ice in Greenland 

There are times that the entrances to the glacier areas are so blocked by ice that the ship can't safely enter. 
Also, there are days where the fog is so thick that the ship either shouldn't enter, or you can't see a thing if the ship does. 

There was a time, several decades ago, where the entrance to Yakutat Bay was so clogged with ice that there were whales stranded in the bay, and were in danger of dying. Fortunately, the ice dam broke in time for them to escape. 
My first time at College Fjord, I really couldn't see a thing, due to the fog. On one visit to Sawyer Glacier up Tracy Arm, we couldn't even get close to the glacier. Nice enough day, but so much ice that the glacier was around a corner, and there was no sighting. 

You can see plenty of ice and snow in Alaska, but it doesn't necessarily have to be in glacier form.  

[rj59]

It's slightly misleading, because of Dawe's Glacier, where I believe it's Endicott Arm that has a sharp, narrow turn that is often full of chunks of ice in the water. A couple of years ago I went there three times, and Princess and Carnival captains decided not to risk it, so we got a distant view of the glacier. Celebrity was able to get through the do the twirl-around by the glacier.  They also sell excursions to get through the ice on a smaller boat that gets close to the glacier, picking up people in the fjord, or on the Zaandam this summer, dropping people off at the fjord entrance before Zaandam continues to nearby Juneau. What I really wish is that they'd include Hubbard Glacier on some ships that aren't going from Whittier, since it's the most impressive and massive glacier and actually growing, unlike the ones in Glacier Bay. I remember going there on Westerdam from Seattle, and the huge calving had booms and huge splashes in the water. 

[Mary229]

But there is a glacier in Skagway on the mountain and then one in Juneau. There is also a Glacier in the Seattle area.  Is there one in Vancouver?  .  **please note the guarantee doesn’t say “see” it only says “ visit”.  It is a silly marketing scheme but certainly catchy 

Edited May 5 by Mary229

[oaktreerb]

HAL provides a lot of glacier viewing opportunities:  Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, College Fjord, and Tracy/Endicott Arm.  With all the cruise lines competing for the Alaska market, glacier viewing is something HAL does well.  It’s marketing.  Some HAL ships provide multiple glacier viewing.  You are guaranteed one.  Not all cruise lines in Alaska provide a glacier viewing experience.

[Kay S]

Makes me wonder if there are significant numbers of people who worry they won't see glaciers in Alaska?  That seems an odd thing to worry about.  Oh well, I guess the marketing people know more about it than I do. 

[sherryf]

10 hours ago, Mary229 said:

There is also a Glacier in the Seattle area.

LOL!  There are glaciers on Mt Rainier, but you can hardly say that the ship "visited a glacier" because it was in Seattle.  You can't even see Mt Rainier from Seattle a large percentage of the time.

[Mary229]

24 minutes ago, sherryf said:

LOL!  There are glaciers on Mt Rainier, but you can hardly say that the ship "visited a glacier" because it was in Seattle.  You can't even see Mt Rainier from Seattle a large percentage of the time.

They didn’t define “visit”😉

[sherryf]

6 hours ago, Mary229 said:

They didn’t define “visit”😉

I don't think you can count it as a "visit" if you are 50+ miles away and cannot see it. 🙄

[Mary229]

5 hours ago, sherryf said:

I don't think you can count it as a "visit" if you are 50+ miles away and cannot see it. 🙄

The point is there are glaciers everywhere not just the ones the ship pulls up to.  One simply needs to open their eyes and look

[sherryf]

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

The point is there are glaciers everywhere not just the ones the ship pulls up to.  One simply needs to open their eyes and look

Yes, there are glaciers around that you can see, but the ship does't necessarily "visit" them in a way that they are close enough to see.  The glacier in Juneau (Mendenhall) is nowhere near the port and can't be seen from the ship.  You have to take an excursion or find other transportation to get there.  There are hanging glaciers that can be seen from the port in Skagway, but not all HAL ships go to Skagway.  Some go to Sitka instead.

 

When cruise lines talk about "visiting" glaciers, that should mean that they have a glacier sailing on their schedule and that they actually go there and get close enough to see it.  It doesn't mean that they briefly passed by a distant hanging glacier that people might happen to see if they are looking.  It doesn't mean that the ship stopped in a place where glaciers can be seen if you take excursions, but cannot be seen from the ship. "Visiting" a glacier should refer to actual scheduled glacier viewing, at Hubbard, College Fjord, Glacier Bay, Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier, etc.  My question is, what do they consider a "successful" glacier visit? If they sail into Endicott Arm but don't get in far enough to see the glacier, or barely get far enough to get a tiny distant glimpse, does it count?

[Mary229]

58 minutes ago, sherryf said:

Yes, there are glaciers around that you can see, but the ship does't necessarily "visit" them in a way that they are close enough to see.  The glacier in Juneau (Mendenhall) is nowhere near the port and can't be seen from the ship.  You have to take an excursion or find other transportation to get there.  There are hanging glaciers that can be seen from the port in Skagway, but not all HAL ships go to Skagway.  Some go to Sitka instead.

 

When cruise lines talk about "visiting" glaciers, that should mean that they have a glacier sailing on their schedule and that they actually go there and get close enough to see it.  It doesn't mean that they briefly passed by a distant hanging glacier that people might happen to see if they are looking.  It doesn't mean that the ship stopped in a place where glaciers can be seen if you take excursions, but cannot be seen from the ship. "Visiting" a glacier should refer to actual scheduled glacier viewing, at Hubbard, College Fjord, Glacier Bay, Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier, etc.  My question is, what do they consider a "successful" glacier visit? If they sail into Endicott Arm but don't get in far enough to see the glacier, or barely get far enough to get a tiny distant glimpse, does it count?

So, all good questions. I read the guarantee and it covers none of those questions.  It just says “visit” and “glacier”. It doesn’t give any more details, by ship, by car? Who knows?  How close?  It is simply marketing with an absolutely no details.  Maybe this discussion will prompt them to add some. details.  

[jeh10641]

20 hours ago, sherryf said:

LOL!  There are glaciers on Mt Rainier, but you can hardly say that the ship "visited a glacier" because it was in Seattle.  You can't even see Mt Rainier from Seattle a large percentage of the time.

Hi, sherryf,

I live in Sammamish. I love it when driving into Issaquah on a clear day, I can see Mt. Rainier framed by Squak and Tiger Mountains.

Jim

Edited May 6 by jeh10641
name

[jeh10641]

I love this "marketing" guarantee. I think there is a Norwegian cruise company that is guaranteeing a "Northern Lights" viewing. Of course, in Juneau, a short drive to Mendenhall Glacier is always a possibility. Will that count? Mother Nature may have a say in viewing glaciers since most are shrinking alarmingly fast.

Jim

[Kay S]

19 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

 Mother Nature may have a say in viewing glaciers since most are shrinking alarmingly fast.

 

I wonder if this idea factors into this marketing plan.  They think people are frightened by global warming talk and convinced glaciers are disappearing more rapidly than they are.  I dunno.

[Mary229]

7 minutes ago, Kay S said:

I wonder if this idea factors into this marketing plan.  They think people are frightened by global warming talk and convinced glaciers are disappearing more rapidly than they are.  I dunno.

Or that they have been receding in some places for centuries and other places not at all if any 

[SightCRR]

In addition 15% FCC so you will spend more money.