Hubbard Glacier

Alaska 2016/Day 7: June 25, 2016 (Cruising Hubbard Glacier)

Being our first day of the trip without an early morning activity we were able to sleep in a little bit before meeting for breakfast in the Windjammer. We really liked the layout of the WJ on Radiance. It felt much less crowded than those on Oasis or Enchantment. Walking in you immediately have a view to both sides of tables, giving you an early opportunity to scope out possible seating. Additionally, the WJ staff seemed much more aggressive (in a good way) about asking you your party size and helping find a table. The food stations themselves also seemed better spaced out than the other ships we've been on. As a large group we often found ourselves eating in the Rita's Crabshack space, where most of the tables were arranged to support 10-12 people. As the winds were rarely blowing this was actually a pretty mild place to eat. As the cruise moved further south we started to see a few people moving out to the fantail and eating in the open air.

Following breakfast D, E, and A went to one of the first of many trivia events various members of our group would take part in. This time it was Harry Potter trivia, where we were pleasantly surprised to find that the questions were different than the same contest on Enchantment. We scored 24/25 but lost in a multi-team playoff. I represented the team at the playoff and couldn't help but laugh at the obscure tie-breaker question: "What phone number did Arthur Weasley dial to get into the Ministry of Magic?" Of course, someone knew the answer right away and beat us out for the priceless prize (RCCL highlighter pens, most likely).

A panoramic view of Hubbard Glacier, taken from the balcony of port cabin 9250.

Later in the day we made it into the bay fronting Hubbard Glacier. In fact, we made it REALLY close. Sounds like we may have been more successful in closing on the glacier's face than prior cruises. It was here that our stateroom arrangements gave us a huge advantage. D&E had the coveted aft 9256, while S&W had the neighboring 9258. (I booked the cruise on the 1st day of sales.) R,A&J shared 9250 on the port side (2 doors away from us), M&C had 9248, and N&H had 9246. So we had both aft and port cabins just a few feet from each other. This allowed us to keep moving from port balconies to aft balconies as the ship turned circles at the face of the glacier.

From L to R: H, W, N, S, C, and M hanging out on the balconies of port cabins 9246 and 9248. Photo taken from 9250.

There's no question that the port side of the ship is HEAVILY favored. About the only time the starboard side would face the glacier was as it passed by during a full rotation of the ship. In general, the port side remained broadside to the glacier's face most of the time. Given the freedom to rush port to aft balconies as needed we enjoyed spectacular views of the glacier throughout the afternoon.

As folks may be aware. the ship launches a small boat while at the glacier. I assume it has some critical duties to perform that are related to keeping the ship safe, but one of the fun things they do is try to locate a chunk of ice to bring onboard for display (and maybe to create an ice sculpture from - I'm not sure about that). We did see the boat as we spun around, but if they did capture a chunk of ice we didn't see that.

The small boat.


Closeup details of the "fingers" of ice at the top of the glacier. The characteristic blue hue of the glacier was evident all day.

As expected, we got to see a number of calvings. It seems to be the case that once you sight a calving you should continue to keep looking in the same area for additional activity, particular if you want photos. Most of the time we were there there were two "hot spots" on either end of the glacier, each with multiple calvings. Near the end of our time there we finally saw a HUGE calving event, dead center in front of us. A very broad section of ice broke off and plunged down. It was so large that it created a large wave that radiated out and swamped some rocks. Judging distances is really hard, but best guess is that the breakaway was a few hundred feet wide and about 50' tall, and the wave generated was about 1-2' high. Awesome!

The really huge calving in progress. Ice is coming down across the entire width of the photo, and the large chunks hitting the water are starting to send up a wave of water radiating out from the bottom of the glacier's face.

Another view of the same. The whole face of the glacier from the water to about half the way up is collapsing.

As mentioned earlier, S's luggage had not yet shown up. On day of sailing, when it became evident that her suitcase was MIA, Guest Services had provided her with a few T-shirts and a handful of complimentary laundry vouchers. They continued to search the ship as it was possible that her bag had been mis-delivered (although it seemed unlikely that anyone getting the wrong bag would have kept it and not said anything). The next day they contacted the hotel where it was determined that the bag had been left onshore. Annoyingly, since it was the weekend the hotel couldn't commit to having the bag arrive in Juneau on Monday, so they finally committed to Tuesday in Skagway. Royal continued to offer laundry and T-shirts, and also picked up the bag in Skagway to deliver to S. Obviously this was a less-than-ideal situation for S, but she made due. What else could she do?

That night was formal night in the MDR. Most of the folks I saw entering the MDR made attempts. S borrowed an extra dress that N had packed so she was able to abandon her custom trip T-shirt for at least one meal. We took a number of photos on the MDR steps and then relaxed at the Schooner before heading over for the first production show, Pianoman, featuring music by Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Barry Manilow. Given that all the source material was from male artists it didn't allow the two female vocalists as much opportunity to shine as the men. Overall the dancing was stronger than the vocals. We were all unimpressed with the comedian.

Having a drink in the Centrum before dinner. Left to right: W, S (in borrowed dress), E, R (both standing), H, C (both seated), M (foreground, bottom right). In the background you can see others dressed up for formal dinner.

We rounded the night out with the Majority Rules game at the Colony Club, hosted by Gemma (who was completing her contract and rotating off as we left) and Colin(???) from Jamaica. Gemma, in particular, was a hoot.