Today was one of the best days of the cruise: the visit to Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier.  During our previous trip to Alaska, we got to see Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier.  The entry into the Arm started early this morning, at 7 am.  We were up early and had placed our room service order the evening before.  While we waited for breakfast, we went outside to enjoy the view from the balcony.

Going up the Arm to get to the glacier took a long time, about 3 hours or so.  Along the way, we saw several large chunks of ice that had broken off the glacier and had floated down.

There are small fjords that you can see along the way to Dawes Glacier, but I suspect they are too small to move the larger cruise ships into.

As we got closer to the glacier, the amount of ice that we saw picked up.  The air was also growing much colder.  We finally got our breakfast, but it was more than 45 minutes late.  I imagine lots of people asked for room service today so they wouldn’t have to leave their rooms and could instead enjoy the view.  It was nice to be able to bring some warm coffee outside to drink while keeping track of our progress.

We were also treated to a few waterfalls on the side of the fjord as we continued the journey.

Around 9:00 or so, we finally made it as far into the fjord as the captain would take the ship.  You could definitely see Dawes Glacier, but it was still a ways off in the distance. 

Luckily, we had binoculars and Nancy had a zoom lens on her camera.  The captain pivoted the ship in place so that both sides of the ship could get a good view of the glacier.

The peaks of the mountains near the glacier had lots of snow on them as well.

There was a small ship nearby that had traveled much closer to the glacier.  It also helps to give some size perspective to the glacier. 

Here is a close up of some of the glacial ice that was floating in the water.

Around 9:40 am or so, we decided to head up to the North Star.  We had booked the premium North Star Experience for today, and we wanted to make sure that we got to do it while we were still at the glacier.  Royal Caribbean had indicated on the web site that the Endicott Arm portion of the cruise would be from 7 am to noon, so I had booked the North Star at 10.  In hindsight, it might have been best to book it for 9:15 am. 

We left the room and went up two decks to the North Star.  There were crew members checking people in and then letting them into the North Star Bar Area.  A huge number of people wanted to go up in the North Star, but the crew member explained to many disappointed people that it was reserved this morning for the premium experience (I believe we booked it for $49 per person, but the price continued to climb until the day of the cruise).  We were offered complementary hot chocolate, coffee, or the opportunity to buy alcoholic drinks.  We all got some hot chocolate and waited for our chance to go up.

Once it was our turn, we were led up a spiral staircase and into the gondola.

There were probably about ten people total, but the gondola definitely did not feel crowded.

The crew members checked out a few things, and then shut the door.  One stayed down below and one went up in the gondola with us.  We were soon lifting off the deck of the ship and going pretty high up.  Immediately, we could see a few things we hadn’t noticed before.  We saw a bunch of seals resting on one of the chunks of ice.

We also got some great shots of the ship once the gondola went out over the side of the ship.  We could even see our room!

We saw the small ship that had sailed closer to the glacier.  This was a different boat and it sailed right past the Ovation to take its passengers up to the glacier.

Everyone on the gondola was talking about the great views and taking lots of pictures.  The only downside was the reflective glare we got off the glass of the gondola.  It was still great to be able to experience the view.

After about 20 minutes, the gondola came back down to the deck.  We were escorted out of the gondola to another spiral staircase to come back down to the main deck.

As soon as we came back down, another group entered the gondola and it was soon on its way back up into the air.

We stayed in the North Star bar area (we were told we  could) because it was a bit elevated and had a nicer vantage point.  After about 15 minutes, we decided we were too cold to stay on deck anymore.

We decided to go to 270 for a Klondike lecture that was starting around 11:00 am.  The lecture was pretty good, but the girls decided to head out on their own.  Nancy and I listened to the lecture for a while and enjoyed the views (and heat) inside 270.

After the lecture, we decided to go to lunch in the main dining room.  We were asked if we would mind sharing a table.  We have never shared tables on any of our cruises before.  Before we had a chance to voice any preference, we were led to a table with three other people.  I won’t go into detail here, but we reaffirmed our decision to NEVER SHARE A TABLE AGAIN.  The food itself was fine though!

After lunch, Nancy and I headed back to the room.  We got there just in time, as the ship sailed next to a couple of pods of whales.  We were next to them for about an hour or so.  We got to see at least 20 whales as they swam next to the ship.

After watching whales for a long time, we took a nap.  We had been up pretty early to get ready for the glacier and now we were tired.  We watched a movie from the room and then started to get ready for dinner, which tonight would be at Jamie’s Italian.  The girls came back to the room and got ready as well, then we went to dinner.  After dinner, we again returned to the room and went to bed. 

Tomorrow would be our last sea day of the cruise!

Planning | Travel | Seattle | Boarding | Exploring | Sea | Juneau | Skagway | Glacier | Sea | Victoria | Disembarkation | Travel

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