Chat with Deb—Cruisin’ Glacier Bay

Oh wow, big pieces of ice, yeah, that will be exciting… HOLY CRAP!

Previously, on Deb & Jack’s Alaska Adventure:

Chat with Deb—Oh Little Town of Skagway

The view from our verandah before we went to breakfast. Mountains and snow coming all the way down to sea level. (all photos by author unless stated otherwise)

ME: So according to the Plan of the Day—

DEB: The what?

ME: Sorry, on Navy ships the bulletin that came out each morning explaining what was happening on board that day was called “Plan of the Day.” Anyway, on the List of What’s Goin’ On Today & Tomorrow On Nieuw Amsterdam¹, we’ll be pulling into Glacier Bay about mid-morning, then we spend most of the day cruising around and looking at glaciers. We’ll have National Park Service people available to narrate and answer questions — oh good, I love NPS folks, they know their stuff.

The TVs in our cabins showed our ship’s location on a chart that could be zoomed to different scales; alas, the labeling left much to be desired. The National Park Service, bless ’em, passed out brochures and maps with more details (including the historical boundaries of the glaciers — the water we were in when we entered Johns Hopkins Inlet had been covered with ice 130 years before, and was now deep enough to accomodate a cruise ship), so between the two we could figure out where we were and where that was, really.

DEB: They say that the best place to watch is from the bow. That’s also where some of the NPS folks will be. Sound good?

We put on jackets, make sure we have our room keys, step out into the passageway… and feel a draft. What?

DEB: Somebody leave a door open?

ME: Doesn’t make sense, the accessible part of the bow is two decks down. Or maybe not? Let’s go forward and follow the cold air.

It turned out that the hitherto inaccessible doors at the forward end of Deck 7, where our cabin was located, had been opened to allow people to step out onto an observation platform above the weather deck on the bow.

Most of the passengers were watching from the open area on the bow; that was also where the NPS guides were stationed. That’s Deb, left, and Deb, right. (My smart wife learned long ago that if she ducks behind me while I’m taking a panorama shot, she can show up twice.²) Glaciers are the low-lying areas between mountains; Margerie Glacier on the left, Grand Pacific Glacier on the right.

DEB: This is just breathtaking!

The walls of the inlets were fairly rugged, having been glacier supports a century or less earlier.

DEB: Check out the water! There’s ice all over.

NPS GUIDE: If you keep your eye on the glacier on your left, you may see some calving activity. Large chunks of ice—ice bergs, basically—fall off several times a week. Smaller pieces are falling off almost continuously.

There was “small” ice all over the inlet waters; small, in this case, meaning a foot or so. The large amount of “slush” ice kept the water almost supernaturally flat.

We did not, alas, see any large pieces fall, and the smaller pieces were too fast and small for me to get on camera.

Margerie Glacier. I forget the exact height at the water, but based on our deck I would estimate at least seven stories high. If you visited a few years ago, this will look different; the NPS photo from 2008 did not look like the same glacier at all, except the mountains in the background match. And in a few more years, it will be different again. That’s how glaciers work.

NPS GUIDE: If you look over to starboard, about two o’clock, you can see a family of seals swimming by. We will not be able to visit all of the inlets today, because the seals are having their pups and we do not want to disturb them.

Our view of the Tarr Inlet as we head out. No, I did NOT get photos of the seals, otters, kittiwakes, or other wildlife we passed. Or if I did, they showed up as tiny white (kittiwakes, a type of sea bird) or black (everybody else) smudges on the photo. Maybe a telephoto attachment for my phone in the future might be something to think about?

DEB: Want to relax in the cabin before dinner, Jackster?

Relaxing on our verandah, kicked back and enjoying the view. And fairly comfortable, despite being surrounded by ice.

DEB: Jack! There’s a boat coming!

ME: I wonder if they’re doing a small boat transfer?

CAPTAIN: (over the announcement system) If you look to starboard, you’ll notice we’re getting ready to transfer our National Park Service guests to their boat for a return to their station.

DEB: Deck 3?

ME: Deck 3!

We rush down to Deck 3, which has an open deck all around the ship. It’s where we would do our laps when we exercised.

A “small boat” (probably about 40-feet long, but it’s a relative thing when you’re pulled up alongside a cruise ship doing about five knots) doing a personnel transfer. On a pleasant day with calm seas, it was routine, but still interesting to watch.

FELLOW PASSENGER: (commenting as we watch) I was talking to some of the rangers, they like to volunteer for these cruise ships. Most of their food comes in by air or sea on an occasional basis, and their station is pretty isolated, so getting lunch on board here is quite a treat.

DEB: (spotting additional bags getting transferred to the small boat) Oh, I hope they got to take care packages back with them!

We have a lovely dinner. By the time we get back to our cabin, we are out to sea and traveling along the coast.

View from several miles off shore. Lovely end to a lovely day.

DEB: So tomorrow we get to see College Fjord, then the next day we pull in and debark. I’ll miss our cabin!

¹Not its actual title. In case you were wondering.

²A trick she learned from our youngest nephew. Yes, he can be a smartass, and yes, he is from my side of the family, thanks for asking.

Next: our ship visits College Fjord, and we get ready to go to Denali.

Chat with Deb—College Fjord