Alaska Summer Solstice Cruise - Cruising Glacier Bay

Cruise Day 22

Sunday, June 30, 2024

It’s the last day of June and we are in beautiful Glacier Bay National Park.  The only way to get here is by sea or air, so it is a pretty lonely place.  We were up just after eight and quickly had our breakfast in the Neptune Lounge as we wanted to be out on our balcony to see the beautiful scenery we were sailing through.  We have been here once before and thought sailing through the Prince Christian Sound in Greenland was more beautiful and scenic than this, but Glacier Bay is a close second.

The red marker shows where Glacier Bay is on this overview of our cruise.

A detailed look at Glacier Bay.  We will be sailing all the way up to the Margerie Glacier, one of the largest, most well known, and most visited glacier in the park.

The weather was cloudy with the sun breaking through occasionally and when the wind wasn’t blowing at you, the temperatures weren’t too bad.  We did bundle up though as the wind did blow at times.  We took many pictures as we sailed in, and at one spot we found ourselves in the midst of several humpback whales.  We didn’t see any breach, but they we did see their spouts and their backs and tails as they surfaced.

We had picked up several park rangers and indigenous guides as we had entered Glacier Bay.  They come out in a boat from the visitor center and board the boat as it moves along.  They provided commentary as we sailed into Glacier Bay and also will give several talks in the World Stage this afternoon.

Around eleven we sailed into the Tarr Inlet to the Margerie Glacier that is one of the most well know glaciers in Glacier Bay and extends back into the mountains 21 miles.  We met the Zaandam, another Holland America ship, leaving as we came in.  Only two cruise ships are allowed each day, and they have to be at different times.

Another whale sighting as we entered the Barr Inlet.

I don't know what the name of this glacier is.

The Zaandam, another Holland America ship was sailing out of the Barr Inlet as we were entering it.

The Zaandam is the ship we were on for our Grand Africa Cruise.

We spent an hour at the Margerie Glacier which is at the end of the Barr Inlet.  The captain rotated the ship several times so everyone would get a good view of the glacier.  He had also opened up the bow of the ship for viewing and people were out on all of the outside decks to view this beautiful area.  I had gone out to the rear Lido Deck earlier, but the view from our balcony was just as good and we could duck into our warm room when we got cold.  Having a balcony is a very nice perk.

The Margerie Glacier

The end of the Tarr Inlet is very scenic and once was completely covered by glaciers, but the Margerie Glacier is the only one still entering the sea.

Val and I trying do do a selfie with our reflection in our balcony door.

As we rotated away from the glacier Val decided to bite the bullet and take a COVID test.  She was feeling a little better this morning, but she didn’t want to take any chances.  Hooray, Hooray, the test came back negative, no COVID for Val!!  It looks like she may just have a light cold as she is feeling pretty good.

As we sailed away from the Margerie Glacier out of the Barr Inlet, Val and I decided it was time to have lunch.  Big mistake, we were just a little too quick as we turned into the John Hopkins Inlet and the views were stunning.  Unfortunately, we were stuck eating our lunch and only able to look out the window at what was going by outside.  We hurriedly finished our lunch and returned to our balcony, but most of the view was gone.  I grabbed my camera and went up to the outside Lido Deck, but it was too late.  Oh well, we had to eat sometime, we were just a little too early, but at least we did get a great view while we were eating.

From the John Hopkins Inlet we continued out of Glacier Bay.  The scenery was amazing and at one point we passed an island that had many sea lions on it.  We could hear them before we could see them as they were very loud.  After that, we went inside and relaxed for a while only going out when something of interest caught our eye out the window.

Around four, the park boat from the Visitor Center pulled up alongside the ship, and all the park personnel who had joined us today boarded the boat to leave.  Everyone along the deck and the balconies applauded them as they had done a great job, and the commentary was very interesting.  They in turn waved back as they sailed away, tomorrow they will probably do this again on another ship.

The boat from the visitor's center coming to pick up the rangers who were on board today.

Coming along side to make the transfer.

Everyone safely aboard they head for home to the applause of everyone on the outside decks and balconies and they in turn, waved back.

That was about it for us, the skies had clouded up and the weather had gotten pretty cold, so we relaxed until it was time to get ready for dinner.  I took the time to write the blog for today and downloaded the pictures, but except for an occasional trip to the balcony for a picture, I stayed warm and cozy inside.

The fog and overcast were back as we headed out of Glacier Bay.

After dinner we headed for the casino, but after playing for about five minutes the attendants came around and said they were shutting down the casino.  It turns out we were crossing through more of Glacier National Park and no gambling is allowed in the park, so the casino had to shut down for a couple of hours until we were out of the park.

Val and I returned to our room and relaxed for a while before calling it a night.  Tomorrow we are in Haines, but the tour we have planned does leave until 2:00, so we don’t have to get up early.