Jun 25, 2012 - Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Once again low overcast made it difficult to see much of Icy Strait or the entrance to Glacier Bay. Three National Park Service rangers from Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve boarded Sapphire Princess at the entrance to the Bay and set up a satellite ranger station on the Calypso Deck. Ranger David did an excellent presentation in the Princess Theatre that he called “Lessons a Bear Taught Me.” Occasionally, we got glimpses of mountains, and we saw some sea lions on rocks along the shore. More and more icebergs appeared, some with...

Sep 12, 2011 - Day 10 - Glacier Bay

“The very thought of this, my first Alaskan Glacier garden, is an exhilaration.” –John Muir Captain George Vancouver first set eyes on this small 5-mile inlet that would become known as Glacier Bay in 1794. He described it as a “sheet of ice as far as the eye could distinguish.” By 1879 when famed naturalist John Muir visited with a group of the native Tlingits that call this area home, the ice had retreated enough to expose one of the most majestic wilderness areas in the world. Glacier Bay encompasses over 3.3 million acres of forest,...

Sep 11, 2011 - Day 9 - Yakutat Bay & Hubbard Glacier

Today was a day at sea as we made our way to the Yakutat Bay and towards Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard Glacier is one of Alaska's few advancing tidewater glaciers and spans over 76 miles to the sea. Our captain brought the ship in as close as possible to the glacier, and it was truly impressive. It was our first formal night onboard, so we all got gussied up a bit and had a fabulous dinner. The captain welcomed everyone on board with the famous champagne waterfall and introduced the senior officers. Several of us finished off the night in the...

Jun 5, 2011 - Glacier Bay

After our rather cold day in Skagway we departed there at 9.00pm to head to Glacier Bay. The scenery cruising into Glacier Bay was absolutely beautiful and when our cruise ship reached the end of Glacier Bay we stopped in front of Margerie Glacier which looked amazing, this was helped by the weather, with beautiful blue skies and sunshine - first time we'd shed our jackets in a few days! Because of the sun we were fortunate to see some "calving" and were lucky enough to capture some pics. When the "calving" occurred and the ice hit the...

Sep 2, 2010 - Glacier Bay

Day 22 Glacier Bay We spent most of the day sailing slowly around Glacier Bay.The ocean was a beautiful blue with huge snow capped mountains on either side - it was a very peaceful, serene wilderness experience . It was totally delightful when we saw 5 bears and a wolf on a narrow beach attracted by a decomposing whale carcass that we were too far away to smell! Through the binoculars we could see two cubs playing in the water together and the larger bears loping along. The wolf stayed back by the tree line just watching. On to cruise...

Aug 6, 2010 - Glacier Bay

Okay, we got our money’s worth! I think even Rick agrees. I feel like such an idiot because, leading up to today, I kept telling Dianna and Rick that Glacier Bay would be “boring”. All I could remember of our visit here around 18 years ago was the ship sitting quite a distance from a large glacier. We sat there for hours and hours waiting for the glacier to “calve” (this is when a large piece breaks off and falls into the water). I have about three hours of VHS tape that I took on that cruise, standing on deck holding the video camera (no...

Aug 2, 2010 - Glacier Bay, July 23

Friday, July 23rd - (Steven's birthday) Glacier Bay After leaving Skagway around 3:30 p.m. the ship traveled through the night to Glacier Bay. In the morning we saw many chunks of ice floating in the water. We learned later that these are called "Berg Bits." And then we saw Margery Glacier. It is huge and very beautiful. We spent several hours there while the captain slowly turned the ship so that people on both sides could see. I was surprised that we were able to get so close. Everyone was very excited when pieces of the glacier would...

Jun 10, 2010 - Glacier Bay

Well we were up at 6am, looking for whales. Regretfully we never seen any, but we did get to see the beautiful landscape. Then I noticed how the water changed. I found out later its from the new and old glacier water, different temps. You can actually see the defining line in the water, which you 'll see in the pics. We then started to get into the glaciers. It definitely was cooler in there, but what a sight. We actually got to hear the glaciers calving and then falling into the water making a Hugh loud sound, like the water was exploding....

Jun 7, 2010 - Day 17 - Glacier Bay

Here we are at Glacier Bay again, but we were in for a surprise! As we cruised toward the glaciers, we were once again treated with the antics of whales and dolphins, and the scenery was as beautiful as ever. But as we listened to Kathy telling us about our surroundings, we were surprised that we would also be seeing the Grand Pacific Glacier, one we weren’t aware of on our cruise here just a week ago. I don’t know if they didn’t tell us about it, or maybe we were just enthralled with the Margerie, and missed that part, but the Grand...

May 27, 2010 - Cruise Glacier Bay

Thursday was another gorgeous day. Sunny and warm. We were really lucking out with the weather. Glacier Bay was absolutely stunning. The Park Rangers came onboard very early and narrated throughout the day what exactly we were seeing. We could stand on our balcony and listen to the narration through our t.v. We did go to Deck 7 for more views and up to the Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 13 - we didn't stay on our balcony the whole day. Going into Glacier Bay, the Rangers pointed out the carcass of a dead whale on a beach. It's believed to have...

May 27, 2010 - Day 6 - Glacier Bay

Early in the morning of our 6th day at sea, we entered Glacier Bay and because it is a national park, a few national park rangers came aboard to narrate our 6 hour cruise up the bay. Glacier Bay is only 250 years old, created in the “Little Ice Age” of the late 1700's, and carved out by the Grand Pacific Glacier. As the glacier retreated north, it filled in with saltwater which then created a fjord. A vast majority of the bay is over 1,000 feet deep! As we cruised up the “Narrows”, the waterfowl were abundant…lots of sea gulls who followed...

Sep 3, 2009 - Alaska Cruise Day 3

Day 3 Glacier Bay Shortly after entering the Glacier Bay inlet, several national park rangers came aboard ship. One of them took over the role of naturalist on the ship’s sound system. Another set up a display, and a third gave a Power Point presentation in the eight-hundred seat Princess Theatre. During that presentation we were told how the bay rapidly filled with ice, according to Native American traditions. Tlingit elders told of an ancestral homeland covered by advancing ice. It is believed that water reached the point of critical mass...