Cruise Journal

Day 1 — San Francisco, California Day 2 — At Sea Day 3 — At Sea Day 4 — Ketchikan, Alaska Day 5 — Haines, Alaska Day 6 — Juneau, Alaska Day 7 — Glacier Bay National Park Day 8 — At Sea Day 9 — Victoria, Canada Day 10 — At Sea Day 11 — At Sea Day 12 — San Francisco, California

Day 7 — Glacier Bay National Park — Port Schedule: 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM

07/26/2025 06:00 AM

Glacier Bay was breathtaking; amazing glaciers, echoing cracks of calving ice, and a bay sprinkled with floating pieces.

We learned that sea ice (present in the bay from calving) comes in sizes (by height above water):

Icebergs — over 5 m (we didn’t see any this trip)
Bergy bits — 1–5 m (just a few here and there)
Growlers — less than 1 m (plenty of these drifting by)
"Ice cubes" — tiny fragments under 1 m (the most common)

It was amazing how even the smallest bits of ice turned the water into a spectacular scene.

07/26/2025 06:44 AM

View out the balcony. Now heading north on our way to the Tarr Inlet and glaciers. I don't believe I've ever seen such a flat calm. Copyright © 2025 Timothy B. Burleson under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 07:42 AM

Tammy slept in so I went to the buffet. Eggs: meh. Bacon: Okay. Sausage: Okay. Hash brown: McMeh. Cinnamon roll: horrible. Watermellon: Pretty good. Copyright © 2025 Timothy B. Burleson under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 07:48 AM

The buffet area is actually not that bad when it's early morning, quiet and calm. Copyright © 2025 Timothy B. Burleson under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

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07/26/2025 09:02 AM

Port-side scenery. 250 years ago this was all under ice. Rock wall shows signs of glacial carving. Copyright © 2025 Timothy B. Burleson under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 09:02 AM

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07/26/2025 09:41 AM

The Margerie Glacier. I didn't try to capture calving but there was frequent activity while we were on site. Copyright © 2025 Tim under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 09:41 AM

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All throughout the approach in Glacier Bay we saw many of these little mountainside rivulets of water. Copyright © 2025 Tim under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 09:53 AM

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07/26/2025 11:33 AM

Buffet snacks at Sabatini's Italian Trattoria. Baked goods were meh. The guacamole was okay. The watermelon not bad. I had already learned to avoid the cantaloupe and melon. Copyright © 2025 Tim under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 11:40 AM

07/26/2025 11:53 AM

Next we went up John Hopkins Inlet, but this was as far as we were allowed to go. Cruise ships aren't allowed to go further in until September 1st because it's an important habitat for harbor seals who are pupping, molting, and resting. Copyright © 2025 Tim under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 12:02 PM

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07/26/2025 12:33 PM

We went up to the Skywalker Lounge to check out National Geographic stuff for sale. I spoke with one of the Glacier Bay Park Rangers. She mentioned I could come up next summer and volunteer. Copyright © 2025 Tim under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.

07/26/2025 12:56 PM