On the seventh day of our Ultimate Alaska Cruise we visited the massive Hubbard Glacier in Disenchantment Bay, as part of our long haul north to Seward (tomorrow’s destination). After leaving Alaska’s Inland Passage yesterday afternoon, we steamed north all night in order to arrive at the glacier in the morning hours.
We woke up early in our stateroom and I checked the weather on my laptop. The satellite image looked a bit grim. There was a storm over the Bering Sea, and tail end of it was due to sweep past us today. It looked like we would be able to view the glacier in time, before the clouds, wind, and rain struck the ship. At least we hoped so.
After breakfast, we dressed for weather, and went up top to the Sun Deck. The light drizzle we encountered was enough to make us re-think this plan. Just because we wore raingear didn’t mean we wanted to get wet. I looked at the clouds. Typical coastal marine layer stuff. This wasn’t part of the incoming storm, I decided. Just the same, we wanted out of it. Then I remembered the Promenade Deck, up near the bow. It had a ceiling above it!
We headed down there and snagged a spot right at the tip of the bow. We were much earlier than other passengers, who slept late and were probably still eating breakfast. In a cozy warm dining room. Hmmm…
The ship continued on, deeper into Disenchantment Bay. Down at the far end, beneath the Marine Layer clouds, we could see the wide icy face of the Hubbard Glacier. The ship was moving steadily, certainly faster than walking speed, but we weren’t exactly making a huge wake. It seemed to take forever to get there, to the glacier, but then again, we didn’t have the responsibility of caring for the ship and knowing all the coastal marine regulations. Just the same, we drew closer to it eventually. Luckily, it was so huge that even being a half mile away was close!
The interesting part happened as we entered the field of broken ice chunks that calved off the glacier. That’s when the ship slowed down to a walking pace. We had a good view, so why rush? Every so often we could hear a bigger chunk of ice as it thumped up against the hull. The captain avoided the really large pieces, of course. They were blue and translucent, or else dirty and ragged, depending on which part of the glacier’s face they came from.
Naturally, we were hoping for giant landslides of ice to break free and smash down into the sea, but we only saw a couple of small calving episodes. My phone was never recording when it happened, of course. At least it was able to zoom in on the face of the glacier. The ship hired an expert on glaciers, and he gave us a running commentary on what was happening. I learned quite a bit about these Alaskan glaciers.
The ship approached to within about a half mile (one kilometer) of the glacier. All told, the face of it was roughly four miles wide, and the face itself was several hundred feet high. Not counting the ice that was submerged! The captain later mentioned that getting any closer could be dangerous, as these sea-facing glaciers occasionally calved big chunks of ice from down below, and those pieces wanted to float in the worst way, being made of less-dense fresh water ice. Sometimes their shape enabled them to go sliding upward at a shallow angle, like a multi-ton crystalline Frisbee, and surface quite far from where they started. The captain called them “Shooters” and I agreed that staying well back would be advisable. The Titanic movie was a romance, which is wonderful, but also a tragedy, which is not. And that water looked cold!
Once at our closest approach, the captain swung the ship back and forth, so that the passengers in the balcony cabins on either side could have their own chance at viewing the totality of the glacier.
When the ship was finished sashaying, it continued around and faced away from the glacier. It was time to begin leaving Disenchantment Bay. I looked out of the bay and saw a seriously dark bank of clouds. Oh boy. That must be the storm I saw earlier, approaching us with soggy intent. At least we got to see the glacier in all it’s sunny glory before it became obscured by rain and mist.
At that point, we took a walk to the elevators, and headed up top to the Sun Deck. It wasn’t raining any more. Not yet, anyway. There were plenty of passengers enjoying the view of the glacier from up there.
After a photo-op or two, and getting blasted by a bit of drizzle, we went back to the sheltered Promenade Deck. It was mostly deserted. This time, the ship took a different route out of the bay than when we entered. There was a thick band of icy bits to plow through, which was quite fun. The bits seemed much closer and personal down on the lower deck. Once we punched through that icy zone, we entered clear water and headed out through the channel between Haenke Island and the mainland. The sea was clear of ice and the ship gradually began to pick up speed, in that unassuming way it had.
We got bored down on the lower deck, and headed back up top once again. We got a few more views of the glacier as it receded behind us. And then it started to rain, slowly at first, but before we knew it our rain gear was getting wet. It looked like the glacier-viewing party was over.
We went back down to our stateroom. I pulled up the channel on the TV with the ship’s Bow Cam. There were rain drops all over it. We decided that it was much better to be warm and dry, and hung out together in the room for a while. I surfed the internet on the laptop, and Vicki read her book. Just another day. Except for that monstrous glacier, of course.
After lunch, it was time for the second round of the Golf Tournament. This is what we do on Sea Days: Try to get some entertainment. Some folks gamble at the casino, others pig out at the buffet, and there are always those who choose to imbibe spirits from the many bars on board. The Golf Tourney was more fun today, because it was raining, and the ship was rolling a bit with the incoming storm-induced swells. The wind was beginning to get strong, but it was somewhat sheltered at the tournament. Lovely, our host, set up the new obstacle course and wisely stayed under a sheltered overhang. The rest of us took turns putting, three balls each. The red-colored ball was called the “Money Ball” and was worth double the points. Sadly, I missed the Money Ball, but at least I scored with another one. I was still in the running!
Later that afternoon, I wondered where Vicki had gone. I pulled out the Princess App on my phone and asked it to locate my partner. There she was, in the ship’s theatre. Did I go and find her? No. I had the stateroom all to myself! But instead I went to the gym and hit the treadmill, then returned for a shower. No big excitement.
That night, at dinner, they were serving a lamb course. Vicki loves lamb, so I gave her mine, and our servers snuck her a third piece. She was overjoyed. Yes, it’s the little things that matter. After that, I decided to have a Baked Alaska for dessert. We were in Alaska, after all.
The ship steamed north into the storm. It wasn’t too bad, as the ship was so huge. It took a big sea to make it roll. This time, we took our after-dinner constitutional on the Promenade Deck, but limited ourselves to the lee side of the ship, and to the stern, where we could watch the water churning due to the ship’s twin screws.
Tomorrow we would be arriving in Seward, Alaska. We didn’t have any excursions planned, but we felt quite sure that we could find something fun to do.
For a topographic map of the cruise see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the voyage see my Flickr Page
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