small boat glacier tour options

[Boxer Lover]

We will be cruising on the Radiance in June, 2008. With all that is being said about the Hubbard glacier I'm afraid we might not be able to get close or even be able to see it at all. Here is our itinerary:

Juneau 8a.m.-9p.m.

Skagway 7a.m.-8:30p.m.

Icy Strait 7 - 4

Ketchikan 9 - 6

Is there a small boat tour to a glacier that we could book? We are really

wanting to get close so we have a chance to see one when it is calving.

Thanks for any suggestions on this.

[NancyIL]

Check with Adventure Bound out of Juneau. Their web site says they leave at 8 - but others have reported they have a 2nd boat that leaves at 9: http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/ Another option is a Kenai Fjords cruise in Seward before or after your ship sails.

[australian_girl]

I'm booked with Adventure Bound, there are a lot of positive reviews on this board.

[jer_l]

Icy Strait Point is only 22 miles from Glacier Bay NP. I would think you could find an excursion from there that could take you to Glacier Bay. I'm not sure how far it would be to the actual glaciers.

[wolfie11]

There's no boat that goes from Icy Strait to Glacier Bay. The day boat leaves from Barlett Cove at around 7:45am, but you wouldn't have time to get there.

[Chenega]

Given your schedule, it appears the only way to take a small boat trip to see glaciers is either in Seward or Whittier.

 

Icy Strait Point is simply too far from the glaciers of Glacier Bay to make the trip in time (unless you went flightseeing which you can also do from Juneau and Skagway). Flightseeing, of course, is very weather dependent.

[deadzone1003]

It is possible to do Tracy Arm if there is a 9am sailing with Adventure Bound.

We were aboard the Sapphire Princess last July that had the same inbound/outbound times. In fact the Radiance of the Sea was berth behind us.

It took us about 25 minutes to get to the old Goldbelt Tours office that was along the waterfront. I hope they kept the old Goldbelt Tours office as the actual Adventure Bound office is a few blocks further away from the waterfront.

 

Also, the 9 o'clock sailing is not available during the early part of the season. Call Adventure Bound to check time, office, etc. Don't expect to see a spectacular glacier. You will see a spectacular fjord like something out of Norway or New Zealand, steep walls, numerous cascading waterfalls (so many I quit photographing them), large turquoise-blue icebergs at eye-level, and a very beautiful blue glacier that will have dozens of seals lying on the ice in front of it.

 

Your time schedule might be tight if the Radiance of the Sea comes in late. When I left the Sapphire Princess to go on my day cruise, I can't recall even

seeing the Radiance of Sea though it was supposed to be berth behind us. Check to see how consistent the Radiance of the Sea docks at 8am.

[Boxer Lover]

Well, it doesn't look like I have a lot of choices. Hopefully, we

will get to see Hubbard up close. But, I would like to know if you can see

calving at the Mendenhall glacier or Exit glacier in Seward. We will not have time to do an excursion in Seward so maybe we could at least get

to Exit glacier.

Thanks for all the input.

[Chat Noir]

Neither Mendenhall or Exit glaciers terminate directly in the ocean. Neither offer the tidewater glacier calving of Sawyer (Tracy Arm) or Aialik (Kenai Fjords NP).

 

If you have no other options, then just enjoy the cruise for what it is, Hubbard or no... you really have no choice unless you cancel and rebook. Our first cruise missed the glacier sailing (mechanical issues) and I was so not happy. Luckily we had booked Adventure Bound, expecting it to be a bonus glacier excursion... not the only glacier excursion.

 

Having been there, done that, yes, it's a disappointment if you miss your glacier sailing. That's why I do recommend an add-on glacier tour if glaciers are a priority.

 

Exit Glacier and Mendenhall Glacier are still very spectacular. Mendenhall does have a few icebergs floating, who knows, you may get lucky enough to see one fall.:)

[bjksgk]

Boxer Lover - when in June are you cruising? I just today booked with Adventure Bound, as we are in port the same times as you, in mid June on the Millenium. Adventure Bound WILL be running a second boat (the Captain Cook) from 9am - 6pm starting sometime in June, but I did not ask specifically what date in June it starts, since everything worked for my date of June 16th. Give them a call, the lady I spoke to was super nice.

[Boxer Lover]

Thanks for the info. We will be there on June 15 so that could work.

I just wonder since we get there at 8 if we would have enough time

to get off the ship and to the excursion by 9. What do you think?

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks for the info. We will be there on June 15 so that could work.

I just wonder since we get there at 8 if we would have enough time

to get off the ship and to the excursion by 9. What do you think?

 

I think you should call them and discuss it. :) I found Winona an amazingly easy person to talk to, very engaging and friendly. If you pay in full at booking, you save $10 per person, and she was SO helpful to us. Our snail mail package we then received included our "boarding passes" for our trip on the Adventure Bound, so we don't have to visit their offices -- we can just head straight to the boat, which is at Marine Park, close to the cruise ship piers in Juneau. The map Winona sent us had hand-drawn markers on it to show where their ship is, and where our ship usually docks, to help orient us.

 

(Disclaimer -- The following is hardly original, I'm not the first to realize these facts). Tour operators in Alaska are very independent folks, frequently members of one family, or a group of families, or members of the same moiety, tribe, etc. They know the ship schedules for the season, and how things usually go, and plan accordingly. They might have a few folks among them who are super internet savvy, and many more who are "typical" users, like me -- but overall this isn't amazon.com where everything's automated. Some operators have paid for web services sufficient to be totally web-based, with autogenerated confirmations, etc. Others haven't. Whether they have or haven't isn't really an indicator of quality of the tour, per numerous posts here. I'd recommend you call Adventure Bound at 800-228-3875, or just email them at the link on their website, to see if they will work for you and your port times.