20260911 Friday, September 11, 2026; Glacier Bay National Park
We had headed down to breakfast in the dining room and were fortunate to be probably the second-to-last couple seated before they closed the dining room to breakfast diners. The food served in the dining room is more limited than the buffet, but it is much quieter and it is nice to have actual waiter table service. While being seated, the captain did come over the intercom to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks with a moment of silent reflection.
When we returned to our stateroom, we received an invitation to a special reception for the ship’s most travelled guests. We already met the most travelled guest with over 1300 days at trivia the other day. We have a little over 300 days, so we’re rank amateurs by comparison, but it will be interesting to see what this reception will be like. Recognition of the most travelled guests has usually been rolled into the Captain’s Circle receptions.
The National Park Rangers came aboard early in the morning and commandeered the activities schedule for the day, so there was no morning trivia. Instead, they had ranger talks, which were packed to overflowing both the Princess theater and the simulcast Explorer’s Lounge venues. Ben hit the gym and Janet hit the pool and hot tub. The pools were empty because it was windy outside, even though it is always pleasant at the indoor pool.
The Rangers began their Bridge narration and wildlife spotting about halfway up the bay. They had spotted some mountain goats and a lone orca right away while Ben was still on the treadmill. After getting changed from our workouts, we headed to the outside decks to see what was to be seen.
We had remarkable weather for our visit to Glacier Bay with clear blue skies and relatively calm winds. The cruise up Glacier Bay is the most scenic part of this Island Princess cruise because it is within a narrow sound. The casino and shops had to be kept closed during the entire visit within the National Park.
There was some jockeying for spots on the open deck above the pool deck (deck 15) because there are only very limited parts of the deck with normal height railing without glass rising up to 8’ to block winds and spray. The Lido deck 14 is entirely enclosed in glass so if you wanted to photograph or video without glass obscuring the view, you needed to be within the approximately 60’ areas on either side of deck 15 with normal railings, or on your own balcony or the forward viewing decks.
We had all but forgotten that decks 9, 10, and 11 have “Secret” patios at the very front of the ship. You have to go through doors that say “CREW ONLY” but these areas were opened up to the public for use during the Glacier Bay transit. This was pointed out by the National Park Ranger narrating on the bridge which is just above on deck 12. Once that announcement was made, space cleared up quickly on deck 15.
Although it was sunny and relatively calm outside, the movement of the ship still created wind chill, and after a while, many passengers retreated to within more sheltered areas within the ship.
The ship made a bee line straight to Margery Glacier at the very north end of Glacier Bay. This is one of the most active glaciers in Glacier Bay, and the most likely place to witness glacial calving, but that wasn’t to be the case today. We had spectacular views of the glacier with the ship parked less than a half mile from the face. The ship did spin around so the port side was facing the glacier for a half hour, and then the starboard side for a half hour. People were fixated on the face of the glacier, expecting calving to occur any minute, but a lot of people lost interest after the first 10-15 minutes when nothing was happening. Ben had set up the big camera on a tripod hoping to capture decent video of a calving event and stayed on station the whole time, but alas, there was no calving to be seen today. When we had last visited Margery Glacier on the Viking Orion in 2024, it was the same story, but the weather today was much better for viewing the glacier in comfort. It was raining for the most part in 2024.
After leaving Margery Glacier, the ship then made a turn into Johns Hopkins Inlet to take a brief look at Lamplugh Glacier with hardly a mention of Reid Glacier as we drove by. The ship stopped and did a slow turn in front of Lamplugh, but did not linger like it did in front of Margery.
The ship then headed back out of Glacier Bay, dropping off the rangers at the south end of the bay. We did not spot any mountain goats, orcas, or other whales on the way out, but did see quite a few otters bobbing about on their backs, watching our cruise ship sail by.
We grabbed a quick lunch on the pool deck of pizza, hot dogs, and hamburgers as the ship made its way to Margery. Service at the poolside grill and pizza venues was slow, and they seemed understaffed. There is also no drink service on the pool deck (on other Princess ships on past cruises, staff would frequently ask if you needed anything and would bring water, iced tea, and lemonade). You had to get your own drinks at the bar or buffet drink station, but they did have a hot chocolate urn on a table in front of the grill station and a soup station with beef consommé and tomato soup in front of the pizza station.
Tonight was formal night. This is the first Princess cruise where we did not pack specific formal night attire, but we did have business casual clothing, which we did wear without issue. There were some people in the main dining room with T-shirts and jeans, but at least they didn’t wear shorts and flip-flops. Some women did dress up, and some men wore casual sport coats or outlandish jackets with garish colors and patterns seemingly to mock the whole concept of formal night. The ship’s staff were pretty casual about attire.
We got in line for the “Anytime” dining at 4:45 p.m. and got seated by 5:00 p.m. For tomorrow and the rest of the cruise, we were able to get reservations for shared dining in the traditional dining room first seating, which is at 5 p.m. It was the only option available to book in the dining reservations system at this point, but we will end up with the same table and waiters for the rest of the cruise and will likely get to know a few fellow travelers in more detail.
The Princess Theater featured the production show “Encore”, which is a classy show with pop opera, Broadway, Hollywood, and even James Bond songs with singers and dancers. It is very similar to the “Bravo” show that the Royal class ships have. In Bravo, they have a guest soprano diva, but in this show, the two female lead singers share the roles, and the more virtuoso soprano solos have been cut out.
We made a soup and dessert run to the buffet after the show and saw they had a Spanish Night going on with a paella station and empanadas, in addition to the usual assortment of pork, beef, chicken, fish, and vegetarian fare.
Tomorrow, we arrive in Skagway early. We have to disembark by 7:20 a.m. for an excursion that will take us over to Haines by high-speed catamaran for an ATV tour and lunch. The high-speed catamaran ride will take 50 minutes, so there is an opportunity to see whales and other wildlife. We had previously visited Skagway twice, but this is the first time we have been able to make it to Haines, so this will be a new adventure for us. The weather forecast so far is for cloudy skies but no rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.