State(s): Alaska
Link: https://www.nps.gov/glba/index.htm
Days: 1
Month: July
Hotel: Princess Cruises Cruisetour (Island Princess)
Hikes: N/A
National Park Visit Order: #22
Ice Cream: N/A
This post continues our Alaska Cruisetour Series, where we’re recapping our 15-day adventure — 7 days at sea with 8 days on land, taking us to 4 National Parks: Glacier Bay National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and Denali National Park. Additionally, we made it to 1 National Historical Park: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. It wasn’t perfect — we ran into a few hiccups — but overall, this trip delivered the kind of adventure we were hoping for.
Day 1
Margerie Glacier was an incredible sight — it rises 200 feet above the water, stretches 0.85 miles wide, and runs 21 miles long. We spotted so much wildlife: sea otters everywhere, a mama mountain goat with her baby, and several orcas cutting through the water with their dorsal fins visible.
Glaucous-winged gulls were all over the place. We posted up on Deck 7 on the port side of the ship and watched harbor seals playing nearby. We even got to see Margerie Glacier calve — chunks of ice breaking off and crashing into the water. After about 30 minutes, the ship rotated to give the other side a turn, so we headed to our balcony on the starboard side and caught even more calving from there.
Between glaciers, we had room service deliver food so we could keep enjoying our balcony on such a beautiful, sunny day.
Next, we made our way toward Lamplugh Glacier and the Johns Hopkins Inlet, though we could only get partway in since the area was closed for baby seals. Along the way we spotted a bald eagle and more sea otters. We also passed the Discovery Princess, along with more otters, seals, and even another orca. From there, we left the glacier and headed toward the lower bay.
The lower bay delivered tons of sea otters and a handful of harbor seals.
Throughout the day, the park ranger kept everyone informed over the ship’s speakers, sharing details about the wildlife and scenery as we passed.
Tip: if it’s chilly out, you can grab a blanket near the pools to stay cozy while you watch from the deck.
So. Many. Sea otters. Seriously, it was one of the coolest parts of the whole cruise.
Once the rangers disembarked, we continued other events on the ship, see the Alaska Cruisetour – Sea page for more details on that.
