re: Alaskan Cruise - looking for advice/suggestions

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.