Thursday Aug 27 – Glacier Bay

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This morning we arrived in Glacier Bay National Park. Alas, the excellent weather we have enjoyed the past few days has turned to low clouds and mist/light showers. This is a location where scenery is the cornerstone of the day, and sadly we do not have the best possible viewing conditions. But we made do as best we could.







We got up at 7:00 and called Kathy and Jim. We all agreed to meet down in the Portofino Dining Room for a formal breakfast. We all got there about 7:45 and had a nice breakfast. Janet was able to order the Eggs Benedict even though it wasn’t on the menu. David had an Omelet and Blueberry Pancakes. Jim had bacon & eggs while Kathy had poached eggs on toast and blueberry pancakes. It was delicious and we started the day with a pleasantly full stomach.







The park ranger had come aboard the ship earlier in the morning and he began a narrative of what we were sailing past, while another ranger walked the Promenade Deck and answered anyone’s questions. We were right on schedule and we reached the Lamplugh Glacier at 9:20. The mist paused for a while and the clouds rose a little, so we had decent viewing of this glacier. Then we proceeded into the John Hopkins Bay, but could only go a short distance because the remainder is a Seal Sanctuary. But we were able to see the John Hopkins Glacier from a distance of 5 miles. That sounds like a long distance, but the thing is so massive that it appeared we were much closer. Then we pulled back out of that bay and went back past Lamplugh so the cabins on the other side of the ship were able to view it from their balconies. Janet had remained in the cabin while David ran around the ship, while she got to see it in more a comfortable setting than him.







David had started by wearing his sweatshirt to keep warm, but then added the wind breaker he’s carried all through the trip because it is more waterproof. But after a while he changed out of the wind breaker and broke out the winter coat he had bought on the Mountaineer train a few days ago. So that gives you a little idea how the temperature felt as we cruised around this icy bay.







About an hour further ahead was the Margerie Glacier. This is the grandest glacier in the park. It (and John Hopkins) are two of only 12 glaciers in Alaska which are advancing instead of receding. Whereas all the others (more than a 1000 in number) are gradually shrinking and the front edge is moving future back up their respective mountains, these few are actually growing and moving forward. The reason is that most glaciers are fed from snow sources which are generally below the average snow line and therefore receive more rain than snow during the year. The very tall glaciers still receive snow more rapidly than the glacier melts because their source is so much higher up the mountains.







The Margerie Glacier is very impressive and the ship comes up nearly to the end of the bay and then slowly turns around so everyone can view it from their cabin. David started on the bow (with a few hundred other people) and got some good pictures. We were fortunate enough to have a couple of occasions when a chunk of ice broke off and splashed into the water as a small iceberg. David tried to get some shots of this but it was mostly a matter of luck to get that “great shot”. Then he went back to the cabin to watch the remainder of the show from our balcony. The weather continued to mist throughout this time so sadly it was not the very best photo conditions possible, but we certainly were impressed with what we saw. You could also hear the ice cracking and popping across the water as the glacier moved relentlessly toward the sea. Even on the opposite side of the ship, you could hear the ice cracking and chirping as it floated by the ship. It was one of the highlight for our trip







FYI .. The Water temperature in these bays is actually in the high 30s during the winter but in the mid 30’s during the summer. That seems backwards, but the ranger explained that the water is warmed by a current all year long, but during the summer the glacial melt drains water into the bay at a much colder temperature. Since that does not happen in the winter, it is marginally warmer than in the summer.







After viewing the Margerie, the ship headed back down the bay and toward the Pacific. At this point we ran into more steady rain and we were happy it had held off until we were done with the major sight. We all went to a special pool-side buffet which was a celebration of Alaskan food. We had a wide variety of salmon sandwiches, salmon salads, or salmon steaks. There was delicious rock-fish chowder. We had reindeer stew and caribou sausages. There several crab dishes and a fairly wide variety of other options. However everyone else on the ship also decided to eat after we left the glacier, so it was very crowded and we had to sit at an outside table under the overhang. It was dry but a bit cool. David & Janet had remembered this chowder and stew from our first cruise, so it was great to have it again.







After lunch we went to the Princess Theater and hear the park ranger give some history about John Muir and how he had explored the Alaskan glacier valleys and proved how they had shaped the landscape. Actually it wasn’t the most thrilling of presentations and both Janet and David nodded off a little bit. But after it was over, Jim went to his cabin and the rest of us came up to our cabin so Kathy could catch up of reading the blog entries (she’s been living these stories the last several days instead of just reading about them).







Kathy then went back to her cabin to write some postcards and we went to the Internet Café for some e-mail checking. After that we called Michael and Barbara McCord who we had met during the bus/train phase of our vacation. They had invited us to visit sometime during the cruise to see the suite they had on the stern of the ship. It was really a large and comfortable set of rooms with a double-sized balcony. There is a couch, desk, 2 TVs, and a MUCH larger bathroom. They also get several perks during the cruise. We spent about an hour with them talking about the past few days, as well as the trips we each are planning in the future.







By late afternoon we were back in the Pacific and out of the protection of the bay. There is quite a bit more wind and still lots of clouds, but not much more rain. Hopefully we will leave this stuff behind and tomorrow will be better weather. This evening the ride is a little more pronounced than anytime earlier in the cruise.







Dinner this evening is the 2^nd formal night for the cruise, so we returned to the cabin to get cleaned up. We had some more wine before going down to eat. Tonight’s menu included both lobster and Beef Wellington, two of Janet’s favorite meals. We had a variety of appetizers and soups/salads, including escargot, cold goat cheese soup, veal ravioli, and fettuccini. For the main entry, we all had lobster except Jim who had the Beef Wellington. Desserts included Floating Islands of Meringue and Chocolate Mousse Love Boat, and several kinds of ice cream with small cookies.







The captain’s reception for the returning passengers was at 7:00, directly upstairs from the dining room in the Vista Lounge. We got there and had a complimentary cocktail but declined any of the finger sandwiches. We sat next to someone from Kansas City so we talked baseball for a while. Then the captain was introduced who thanked everyone for their loyalty of Princess Cruise Line. They gave a few statistics, including the fact that 147 people were platinum status (more than 50 days) and 72 were elite status (more than 150 days). Then they announced the 3 couples on this trip who had the most time at sea. 3^rd place was 318 days, 2^nd place was 595 days, and the winner was 601 days.







At 9:00 we met up with Kathy and Jim again and we went to the Princess Theater for another show by the Mike Wilson, the vocal impressionist. We had really enjoyed his show earlier this week so we were happy to get to this one too. He did another good job and we chuckled through the whole act.







Tomorrow is the last day at sea and we will try to make the most of it, but it also will be “packing day” and we may need to start throwing things into the sea. Anyway, we will try to post again tomorrow, but today was certainly an impressive day.

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Photos

Ice Breaking of
Margerie Glacier

Margerie Glacier
another view of ice falling

Margerie Glacier
Big Splash

Jim
hanging out at the Star Princess

Formal Night
Kathy, Jim, Josephine & Jai

Formal Dinner
Janet, David, Josephine & Jai