Do it. It is the single best vacation I have ever taken and we are going back this June. We use Celebrity, they are great and much better than Carnival for this type of cruise.

Just an FYI. We did Tracy Arm last year and it is not Inside Passage unless they have changed the route this season. It does go to the Inside Passage during parts but there are more true Inside Passage cruises out of Vancouver. Seattle has a bit more open ocean.

Trust me though, the Tracy Arm cruise is AMAZING. I am not trying to change your mind about it. Seattle was also great.

You absolutely must book the catamaran that takes you to the glacier in Tracy Arm. Also do whale watching in Juneau after you get back from the glacier. Makes for a long day but it was the most amazing day. The scenery was absolutely breath-taking.

One other warning: You probably won't see Tracy Arm. We went late June last year and it had too much ice so we went down further to a different glacier. It didn't make one bit of difference in the experience. Maybe this year will be different, who knows.

This post was edited on 1/4/17 at 10:29 am

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Posted by RogerTheShrubber

Juneau, AK

Member since Jan 2009

261640 posts

Posted on 1/4/17 at 4:33 pm to BigB0882

quote:
Trust me though, the Tracy Arm cruise is AMAZING. I am not trying to change your mind about it. Seattle was also great.

You absolutely must book the catamaran that takes you to the glacier in Tracy Arm. Also do whale watching in Juneau after you get back from the glacier. Makes for a long day but it was the most amazing day. The scenery was absolutely breath-taking.

One other warning: You probably won't see Tracy Arm. We went late June last year and it had too much ice so we went down further to a different glacier. It didn't make one bit of difference in the experience. Maybe this year will be different, who knows.

Yeah, Tracy Arm was rough last year, it went into rapid retreat and dropped a lot of ice in the water.

Most ships used to do Glacier Bay instead of Tracy Arm but with the increased number of ships and the reduced number of allotments in the National Park, more and more ships are doing Tracy Arm which is about 40 miles SE of Juneau. Tracy Arm is more spectacular, but only about a 4 hour journey in large ships. Glacier Bay is an all day experience, and it's much more vast. On a good weather day, both are incredible. Glacier Bay gives you multiple glaciers though, where the North Sawyer glacier has disappeared from view from the Fjord in Tracy Arm. South Sawyer is still awesome though, if you can get through the ice.

Cross Gulf cruises will also do the Hubbard Glacier which is pretty spectacular.

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Posted by Sho Nuff

Oahu

Member since Feb 2009

11924 posts

Posted on 1/14/17 at 6:38 pm to BigB0882

quote:
Do it. It is the single best vacation I have ever taken and we are going back this June.

Booked it on Celebrity, June 16-23

quote:
You absolutely must book the catamaran that takes you to the glacier in Tracy Arm. Also do whale watching in Juneau after you get back from the glacier. Makes for a long day but it was the most amazing day. The scenery was absolutely breath-taking.

Thanks, I'm waiting on the emails I'm supposed to get that talks about the excursions. Did you book through cruise or on your own?

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