Tuesday, May 3 - Glacier Bay & Icy Strait Point
What a treat to pull back the curtains in the morning and be faced with gorgeous snow covered mountains...a great start to our scenic cruising day in Glacier Bay.
We got our breakfast "to go" from the buffet and brought it back to our room. With so many choices available, Bob stuck to his usual oatmeal with fixin's. I had to ask, but got a couple of sugar-free muffins to go with my coffee.
A letter outlining the procedure for using the Port Valet luggage service in Seattle had been delivered to our room. I had already booked this online before leaving home but wanted to check to see if there was anything else that needed to be done so went down to Guest Services on Deck 1. Fortunately the line was short and I was told that I was good to go. The Port Valet luggage tag would be delivered to our cabin the last night of the cruise and we wouldn't need any of the Holland America tags. (Stay tuned...things don't always go as planned!)
A light rain had started by the time I got back to our room. Bob and I spent the morning shuffling between our balcony and the promenade deck. The deck on the bow was also opened up during our time in Glacier Bay, but we didn't want to deal with the wind and rain. Our "open bow" experience in Antarctica showed us how cold that area can be on a moving ship! The Crow's Nest would have been a cozy spot for scenic viewing but also a VERY crowded spot and not great for picture taking through the windows. On one of our trips back from the promenade deck we made a detour to the buffet and got "second breakfast" and then checked out the view from the aft deck.
 |
Comparing the navigation map on our stateroom TV to the paper map HAL provided I could tell
we were sailing past South Marble Island. (Those blue plaid blankets were provided in our cabin to use on the balcony.) |
 |
| On our previous cruise, South Marble Island was covered with seals. This time it looked pretty desolate. |
 |
| Charting our course past Gloomy Knob... |
 |
| ...which certainly lived up to its name that day! |
 |
| A damp day in Glacier Bay. |
At 10:30 we ran upstairs to the sea view pool area where they were handing out bowls of split pea soup...a HAL tradition. It was yummy and one of Bob's favorites, so of course he had seconds! If you are keeping count, we have eaten three times by 10:30 am...please don't judge.
At one point during the morning several sea gulls were flying back and forth in front of our balcony. Not sure if they were looking for handouts or just curious to see what we were doing!
 |
| A sea gull flying through the snowflakes. |
As we sailed through Glacier Bay, a park ranger provided commentary from the bridge which was broadcast on the open decks and through the stateroom TVs. Too much ice prevented us from getting close to the John Hopkins Glacier. The captain slowly did a 360º turn to give equal viewing time from both sides of the ship and then sailed out towards Tarr Inlet.
 |
| The cabin TV showed the loop our ship made near John Hopkins Glacier. |
Around 10:30, the Eurodam sailed into the Tarr Inlet at the end of Glacier Bay. The ship stopped with the port side facing Margerie Glacier for about a half hour. The promenade deck provided a good place for us to watch and stay dry. As the ship pivoted to the other side, we returned to the comfort of our own balcony. Multiple times we heard loud thunder-like booms but never did witness any calving. But...even if the glacier had calved, I'm not sure we would have seen it happen due to the poor visibility.
The light rain that we experienced earlier in the day had turned to heavy snow and continued the whole time we were at the end of Glacier Bay. From past visits I know how incredible the mountains are in Glacier Bay, but all we could see were the base of the mountains just above the water level. Everything else was totally obstructed. At times there was a total white out. Many of the crew were excited to see the snow and ran outside taking photos. For us, coming from Minnesota, we would have much preferred blue skies and sunshine!
 |
| With the clouds and snow, my photos look like they were taken in black & white. |
 |
| Snow! |
 |
| Sometimes the snow was so heavy all we could see was a wall of white. |
 |
| An interesting iceberg. |
It was lunchtime when we began sailing out of Glacier Bay. To avoid the crowds at the lido buffet, we ordered pizzas and Caesar salads via the Navigator app on my iPad. Up one flight of stairs and out the back door and lunch was ready! The gal working at the pizza stand boxed them up for us and we brought them back to the room to eat. Although my covid concerns were part of the reason that we ate some of our meals in the room, it really wasn't that different than when we have done Alaska cruises in the past. There is just too much to see to spend time sitting in a restaurant!
 |
| I suction cupped my GoPro camera to the balcony railing and did some time-lapse videos as we sailed through Glacier Bay. |
Rain continued throughout the afternoon as we sailed out of Glacier Bay towards Icy Strait Point. All of our running back and forth to see glaciers was such hard work that we needed a nap!
I set an alarm to make sure we were up in time to attend a talk entitled, "Native Voices of Glacier Bay" in the main theater at 2:30. A native Tlingit woman spoke about their cultures and traditions. Her talk was quite interesting, especially to Bob who is fascinated with the Northwest Coast tribes.
 |
| The weather stayed pretty dismal all day long. |
With arrival time at Icy Strait Point set for 6 pm, the buffet opened earlier at 5 pm. Bob and I both got some small portions from the Asian station and sat by the window as we ate so we could watch the ship's arrival at ISP. On the way in, we passed by the new Wilderness Landing pier which just opened last year.
 |
| Getting close to Icy Strait Point |
By 6 pm we were dressed in our rain gear and on our way out of the cabin when an announcement was made that debarkation had been suspended due to a medical emergency. We watched from our balcony as an ambulance slowly drove down the VERY long ramp and onto the dock. The ambulance then pulled up next to the forward gangplank of the ship. Once it was parked, debarkation resumed with passengers using the midship gangway. I later learned via a FaceBook post from the patient that the medical emergency was not covid related (as was my first assumption) but rather an accident of some sort.
The rain was coming down steady when we got off the ship. A new tram (which opened in 2021) is now available to transport passengers back and forth from the Wilderness Landing Pier to where we were docked and they were offering free rides. It seemed like a good idea to get out of the rain so we did the full round trip loop. Looking down from the tram car we could see a ropes course had been added in the forest.
 |
| Going above the ropes course. |
 |
| A rainy ride in the tram. |
The tram is also designed to connect with the mountain tram at the Wilderness Landing which leads up to the world's longest zipline. I'm sure the view from the top of the mountain tram would have been impressive, but from what I gathered it was $49.95 for a ticket which also included admission to a native dance program. At the time we were there I imagine the mountain top view would have been totally obstructed with clouds.
The rain started and stopped as we walked around the port...totally different than our previous visit when the weather had been warm and sunny. On that visit the whales were going crazy bubble net feeding right by the shore. This time I had to be happy just seeing the whale statue.
We walked to the end of the boardwalk and into the gift shops and old cannery (now a museum.) The shops had such nice items compared to most tourist places in Alaska. Many of the items were made by native residents of the nearby town of Hoonah. Bob enjoyed visiting with one of the ladies working in the shop about her Tlingit heritage.
 |
| There is a small cemetery along the boardwalk at ISP. It was interesting to see how people had left coins on all of the tombstones and even in the grass on top of the graves. |
 |
| Old cannery turned museum and gift shops. |
 |
| Displays showing how the fish were processed with the cannery was in operation. |
 |
| On a dry day it would have been enjoyable to sit around this fire. |
 |
| The sun made a brief appearance...and then more rain. |
Bob was looking forward to walking through the path in the woods as we had done last time, but the rain started coming down in earnest. That was enough to send me back to the ship and leave him to walk alone. I sat on our balcony and could watch him exploring on the beach, looking at interesting rocks and sticks. He brought back a few small pieces of driftwood that he plans to incorporate into one of his pottery projects.
 |
| This handsome guy was sitting on the dock below our balcony. |
It was dark when Bob returned and he was hungry. Unfortunately there isn't much available on a HAL ship between 8 pm and 10:30 pm when "late night snacks" are offered at the lido buffet. New York Pizza was the only place open during the evening so Bob ordered via the app again and we shared a small pizza.
The ship sailed away from Icy Strait Point at 10 pm in total darkness...not much to see. Coming up tomorrow...our first full day in port at Sitka.
