jaw-dropping day in glacier bay national park
We recently sailed on the Royal Princess to Alaska. This has been on my list for years. It lived up to the hype for our family. The reason I chose Princess Cruises and ultimately the Royal Princess was the day spent at Glacier Bay National Park. Only three cruise lines have access to sail Glacier Bay National Park: Princess, Holland America, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Not all Princess ships sail this on the itinerary, so if this is important to you, like it was to me. Check the itinerary before booking.
Before you get there
The night before we arrived in Glacier Bay National Park, we were left a map of Glacier Bay from the National Park Service.
Not only was the day events in the app. There were signs were up all over the ship explaining the time of the day events.
Glacier bay
As you can see from the events above, the arrival of the National Park Rangers is early in the morning. We got up early and had a nice sit-down breakfast. We then went up to the 16th deck to start observing. My mom is not an early riser, so she skipped the morning exploring from the upper deck. It was windy and cool this morning, so we checked out blankets on the pool deck. You can see us wearing them below:
We ended up finding a spot next to the ship where we avoided the wind. We were in the middle, so when the National Park Ranger would say Sea Otter port side. We could quickly make our way over. We saw so many sea otters on this trip! We also saw whales and more just from the Royal Princess. The Park Rangers did an amazing job explaining what they were seeing without talking nonstop. Their commentary was perfect and non-distracting. When we reached Marguerite Glacier, they turned off the radio and gave us an hour of silence. They came out to the decks to answer questions.
At Marguerite Glacier, stop and rotate the ship 360 degrees so everyone gets a view, and then we head out. We enjoyed the view from the port side of the ship, and when the ship started rotation, we made it quickly to our cabin on the Starboard side of the ship. This is when my mom joined us!
tip from Julie
Once we got to our room, I ordered us all coffee and hot chocolate to enjoy while we enjoyed our day in Glacier Bay. I guess everyone had this idea. It did take over an hour to get our drinks, but we didn’t mind. We were enjoying the beauty. I also thought ahead and ordered lunch to our room around 10:20. This arrived a little after 11. So basically, I had a Glacier Bay party in my cabin. My family was so thankful I thought ahead. Below is a picture of me and my mom enjoying nice hot coffee on my balcony in Glacier Bay National Park.
Back to Glacier Bay
We spent most of the morning and early afternoon taking turns on our balcony. The starboard side is definitely where it is at on the way back through Glacier Bay. We were able to see the two other glaciers without leaving our room. With our balcony door open, we could hear the rangers talking from the Bridge over the intercom. It was perfect!
TIP FROM JULIE
I originally purchased an interior cabin for this cruise. I am so glad my bid for the obstructed balcony was accepted. I don’t mind an interior room. I sleep amazingly, but this balcony for Glacier Bay National Park made our trip even more amazing. Sometimes I try to be too frugal. We would have enjoyed the decks if this had not been an option, so if you cannot afford the extra for the balcony, don’t worry! However, if you can afford the extra, I think it is 100% worth it.
I’ll be honest, the pictures and video I took do not truly reflect the beauty we saw this day. I’ll post a few more so you can see what we experienced. We all truly enjoyed it. It was the highlight of our trip. I called my husband that night and said I was ready to come home. Nothing else could top this! He told me I had to stay on the ship until it returned to Seattle. I am the one who books these cruises, and I have to finish my journey on the ship as planned.
Want to learn more about my Royal Princess Cruise?
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If you are interested in learning more about our Alaska Adventures, check out these posts:
How I saved big on our Alaska Cruise
What I wore in Alaska - shopping guide
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