20260910 Thursday, September 10, 2026 Hubbard Glacier
The ship made its way at a leisurely pace to Hubbard Glacier. It remained more than 20 miles offshore so the shops and casino could remain open as long as possible. The rugged Alaskan coastline and mountains appeared quite distant, although Mt. Logan was still impressive poking above the clouds. As the day progressed, the weather got nicer with clear skies and only a light breeze.
We had breakfast at the buffet and then attended the 10 a.m. morning trivia hosted by activities director Donovan from South Africa. We managed second place with 19/20, while a team of two gentlemen scored a perfect 20. Bob and Neil met onboard as the ship sailed from Vancouver to Whittier, and are both Elite Captain’s Circle members. Both stayed on board to take a round trip back to Vancouver. Bob turned out to be the most frequent traveler on this cruise with over 1300 days at sea with Princess. Bob and Neil gave their prizes to us as consolation prizes. These were fabric eyeglass bags with Princess logos.
After trivia, Ben went for a run in the fitness center while Janet attended a cultural lecture, which she struggled to remain awake for. We rendezvoused for lunch at the Bordeaux dining room where we split a calamari, mac and cheese, and Janet had a club sandwich while Ben had a poke bowl. Oddly, the salmon in the poke bowl was not raw, as is customary for poke. Instead, it looked a bit like pickled cooked salmon cubes, which was weird. They did have ice cream for dessert though. Since we don’t have the plus or premium package for this cruise, the only ice cream otherwise available is the poolside soft serve cones.
Our Elite status gives us complimentary access to the Grapevine wine tasting, which occurred just as the ship was entering Yakutat Bay. The sommelier was a real expert from S. Africa who could have gone on and on about every aspect of each wine, but we were eager to get out on the decks to see the Hubbard Glacier. It was a very small wine tasting group with only about a dozen people, so it did go quickly. They started with a Château St. Michele WA sparkling wine, followed by a California Chardonnay, which had a distinctly smoky bouquet. The sommelier attributed this to the oak barrels, but it could also be from wildfires near the grape-growing regions that have become so prevalent with climate change. The reds were then an Argentina Malbec and Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. The tasting finished with a Californian dessert wine.
The ship paused just outside Disenchantment Bay with Hubbard and Turner Glaciers in view as two passenger catamaran tour boats picked up 200 excursion passengers for a closer look at the glaciers.
Once those were sent off ahead, the Island Princess then sailed to within about a half mile of the face of Hubbard Glacier. The two tour boats looked tiny in front of the massive face of Hubbard Glacier. The weather was perfect for visiting the glaciers. The sky was clear and there was little wind with a temperature in the 50’s. It was still necessary to wear a coat and hat to stay outside for any length of time.
The voice of the naturalist on the bridge was piped to the public areas of the ship, and the narration was quite understandable and clear around the deck above the pool deck where most passengers were gathered to view the glaciers. The naturalist also suggested that people go to the secret decks at the bow on decks 9 and 10 for the best viewing because she could only see a handful of people on those decks from the bridge, which is on deck 12. I’ll bet they were jammed with a hundred passengers within minutes because the upper pool deck cleared out pretty shortly after that announcement.
The naturalist did a good job of pointing out things to look out for. There is a cave on Haenke Island which appears just to the right of the face of Hubbard Glacier that is home to thousands of nesting loons, but there did not appear to be much bird activity currently. On some rocks below, there was a huge colony of Stellar’s sea lions basking in the sunlight.
For the duration of the Island Princess visit, there was very little calving activity on the face of Hubbard Glacier, unlike the last time we were here with the Viking Orion in 2024. With patience and perseverance, Ben was able to spot a few ice falls, but no massive collapses. We did spend about an hour in front of the Hubbard Glacier and the ship did a complete spin to show all sides of the ship to the glacier faces.
After sailing out of Disenchantment Bay, we headed to dinner, hoping for a sit-down before the 7:30 p.m. Princess Theater show, but there was a half-hour wait for seating, so we ended up eating at the buffet. They had an Asian theme with a Mongolian BBQ bar where you selected your veggies, meats, and noodles, and the chefs would stir-fry them for you. They handed out pagers so you didn’t have to stand around and wait. This worked pretty well because the pagers went off just about the time we had found a table and gotten settled in with our other food items and drinks. The food in the buffet has not been bad, but also not particularly notable. The food on the Viking Ocean Cruise Ship buffets is a significant step up. The buffet dining area is a bit crowded, and finding a table is still a bit of a problem during peak meal times. And table service is not what it used to be. On prior Princess cruises, the waiters would always be prompt with requests and deliveries of drinks, but on this ship, it’s pretty much all self-service.
We did make it to the show on time. The show was “The Soul of Broadway” with Terron Brooks, whose Broadway credits include Simba in Disney’s Lion King, Seaweed in Hairspray, and appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and American Idol. He sang backed by the Princess Band and did a medley of arrangements from Motown and Broadway with some creative reimagining of classic tunes that made them more pop diva-ish. He did put on a very energetic and entertaining show.
Tomorrow we arrive at Glacier Bay National Park and embark park rangers onto the boat in the morning.
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