I was so grateful when I woke up on this day, this day that we’d be taking our second trip into Glacier Bay in as many weeks. Again, I must reiterate that I’d been dreaming of doing back to back Voyage of the Glaciers cruises for over a decade, so yes, I did pinch myself yet again when I opened my eyes on this day. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt that I’d be able to walk outside and take in a breath of the freshest and cleanest air ever, I knew that many gorgeous sights would come into view, I knew that the White Thunder (the sound that the Tlingit people dubbed when the glaciers crack and moan as they move) would sound like music to my ears, well, I knew that this day would be a day that would fill all of my senses with a great peace, a calm only a touch of God can produce. Glacier Bay is definitely my happy place and I was ready to experience it all again.
This was the sunrise on that morning:
I don’t even remember eating breakfast or lunch or dinner for that matter on this day…hahaha…I do believe that Chris brought us back pastries from the International Cafe that morning though. We were sailing into Glacier Bay pretty early on this day, so we were busily about setting up our camera on our balcony and making sure our camera batteries were charged. 🙂 It was a bit cloudy that morning, but it didn’t take long for the blue skies to show up, it was going to be a gorgeous day!
Here is the Princess Patter:
On Glacier Bay day Princess always has an Alaska Outpost sale up on the Lido Deck 14 – Midship…Here is a picture of what they were offering on this day, trust me, the sales were very good–I think part of the reason was because we were sailing during the second week in September, very near the end of the Alaska cruising Season:
This is what I chose for my outfit of the day, I wanted to be super comfortable, I had purchased this cute hoodie during the Northbound cruise when we were in Juneau, at one of the shops right as we stepped off of the ship at the dock. I would be comfy, cozy, and warm:
And yes, I was glad I wore that hoodie, this is me sitting on our balcony…quite cold even with that hoodie on and a coat over it, *and* with a blanket up over my lap…haha…
Before long, we were coming up to Bartlett Cove and that is where the Park Rangers would come from…they’d be carried over to the Coral Princess on a Park Ranger boat and they’d climb aboard and be giving talks in the Princess Theater, setting up a table with spiffy merchandise, they’d be commentating over the PA system and would be able to be heard out on the outer decks, in the Horizon Court Buffet, and through the tv on channel 41 in all of the Staterooms.
Here is some information from the National Park Service, this was delivered with our Patter that morning:
They also provided a map of Glacier Bay (I already had it hung up on the wall of our Stateroom using magnets–remember, the walls in your Stateroom will be metal, so don’t forget to bring along, or buy some magnets). 🙂 You can see my Glacier Bay Map on the left of this picture. 🙂
Here is what the Park Rangers had set up on the upper deck of the inside pool:
Before long, we were approaching what was an odd site for me to see. What you see in the picture below is the Grand Pacific Glacier. This was the 6th time that I’d been on a cruise ship sailing up to that “dirty glacier”, but, this is the first time that I’d ever seen anything behind it. Before this day, I had only seen what looked like a black mountain and I was never too awfully impressed with it—NOT that it wasn’t awesome, but Margerie Glacier sits right next to the Grand Pacific, and she is a lot “showier” than the Grand Pacific. But, on this day, the Grand Pacific was ready to show her true beauty, and I was completely blown away by what we were approaching. I will let our pictures and then a little video that I made speak and show you the gorgeousness that appeared before us on this day:
As you heard me say in the video, the Margerie Glacier didn’t calve for us on this day, but, that didn’t make her any less beautiful. Here are some pictures that we clicked off:
As you heard me explain in that last video, we were able to go down into Johns Hopkins Inlet and sail up pretty close to Johns Hopkins Glacier. This is the second time on this day that we’d be doing something that we’d never done before in Glacier Bay. I will again allow our pictures and video to tell the story of the beauty that we saw next. 🙂
To say that I was humbled, a bit overwhelmed, and blessed was an understatement. While leaving this pristine place I again lamented to myself that I couldn’t wait to return once again to experience this grandeur and beauty. I felt content though at that moment in time. Y’all have asked me how I remember so clearly these days, well, truly these days are soulful experiences for me. I always tell folks that if they ever have a question that there is a God, all they need do is to take a trip to this place, after they see these wonders, trust me, they would wonder no more if there is a God. 🙂
Our day was coming to an end–again, I have no memory of meals on this day…go me huh? 😉 lol I do remember that there was more beauty to behold as we were sailing out of Glacier Bay and that we had a few “visitors” come by to say hey…;)
One was a humpback whale just quietly gliding along coming up for air with that signature blow:
One was a seal or two frolicking in the water right off of our balcony:
And then right before sunset, these two Orcas made an appearance, a pair (the one with the bigger dorsal fin is the male) and a female cruised on by without a care in the world:
And can we talk about the reflections?! No, no talking, just take a look:
The sun was setting on this wonderful day…I know I sound like a broken record because I say this in just about every post, but, I watched out the windows as the sun set and was completely content and satisfied to be in that very moment in time. Again, Glacier Bay did not disappoint, again, it gleamed like a shiny penny and continues to do so in my mind’s eye. I cannot wait to return…AND, guess what, we get to do just that, at least one more time, Lord willing, next summer. Ahhh, I cannot wait!!! I’ll leave you with the sunset from that evening, the perfect ending to a perfect day (check out the heart cloud in the sky in the last picture).
***If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me…Psalm 139***
~Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤
~Arlynn ❤
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