Alaskan Cruise: Glacier Bay National Park

Posted on July 7, 2016 By Joe Hardenbrook

Getting up early for the sunrise was just part one of an amazing day cruising through Glacier Bay National Park.

Part two was the actual glaciers themselves. We got our first glimpse of a glacier shortly after 9am: Reid Glacier.

Reid Glacier, Glacier Bay scenic cruising

Sailing through Glacier Bay, we were treated to beautiful scenery:

Glacier Bay scenic cruising

At around 9:30am we arrived at Margerie Glacier. The captain stopped the ship and we got to observe for about an hour. The ship rotated around once so all sides could get a good view. Saw some minor calving: you would hear a crack like the sound of thunder!

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay scenic cruising

We could also see Grand Pacific Glacier. Although it looks like a rock pile, the park service rangers on board assured us it was a glacier!

Grand Pacific Glacier, Glacier Bay scenic cruising

Then we cruised some more:

Glacier Bay scenic cruising

At around 11:15am, we arrived at Lamplugh Glacier. Again, we stayed for about an hour with the captain doing a rotation of the ship so all sides could get good views.

Lamplugh Glacier, Glacier Bay scenic cruising

Then we swung by Johns Hopkins Glacier and made our way back out onto open waters towards the next port: Ketchikan.

Johns Hopkins Glacier, Glacier Bay scenic cruising

Glacier Bay scenic cruising

Although the upper, open decks can get crowded on glacier viewing days, also consider going lower – on our ship we had a promenade deck that wrapped around the ship. I liked the views from both decks.

High up, you get more of a bird’s-eye wide angle view while on a lower deck – like the promenade deck – you can really get a sense of the massive size of the glaciers. We started up top, then went down to the promenade deck.

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay scenic cruising

I bundled up! It was a chilly 48F/9C when we did our scenic cruising through Glacier Bay. I even got my photo taken by a Princess photographer!

Glacier Bay was full of “oohs” and “ahhs” and we specifically chose an Alaskan cruise that had Glacier Bay on its itinerary. We were not disappointed!