Day 6 – Sunday 21st May - Cruise Ship Volendam - Skagway to Glacier Bay

Today we wake early so that we can head up to the crow’s nest for a presentation by the National Park rangers who have joined the ship in the very early hours.  They explain that we are headed into a deep fjord  where we shall see glaciers edging down to sea level and that a running commentary will be made from the bridge pointing out features as we pass and then as we reach the furthest most point from the sea the engines will be cut, the rangers will head out onto the foredeck and we shall get very close to the snout or terminus of the glacier as it calves off into the bay.

We enjoy our breakfast then put on warm layers and waterproof and go out on deck.  The whole experience is almost magical and certainly the highlight of our Alaskan cruise.

One of the world’s largest protected natural sites, Glacier Bay penetrates deep into the Tongass National Forest.  At least six separate glaciers slide slowly from the mountains down into the icy waters of Glacier Bay.  From the ship we view Lamplugh Glacier and then, as we arrive at John Hopkins the ship comes to a rest just off the terminus point of the glacier with its blue/white icy face.


We are on the foredeck in the heavy rain, so there are not as many passengers out there with the ranger.  Tricky photography in the driving rain!  However the atmosphere is amazing and we are in no hurry to abandon our viewpoint.

As we leave Glacier bay the entertainment lounge/theatre is showing a selection of films from BBC nature programmes set to live music which we do enjoy before pre-dinner drinks and surprise Helen and Simon as we had told them we would be eating in the Pinacle Grill tonight.  That spoiled their evening!

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