Before we talk about Glacier Bay, let me mention a little bit about the train rides in Alaska. The State of Alaska operates the train system in Alaska. The engine belongs to them, but the cars are owned and operated by the individual cruise lines. Some of the cruise lines pay extra to be directly behind the engine, but I don’t think it makes that much difference in what you will see. The Princess car was one of the hight points of the trip. If you ever plan a trip to Alaska, be sure your travel agent includes a chance to ride the train as part of your trip. This of course means you have to do a land and sea trip. The Princess car is set up, and I would imagine so are the other cruise lines so that you ride in the upper level and dine in the lower level. The views are spectacular. The seats are extremely comfortable. Fellow passengers mentioned to me that these cars were much nicer and plusher than those on the Amtrac tour trains. The Princess hostess gives you information about various parts of the route as you travel down the tracks. They serve drinks on the upper level for a charge. On the lower level dining area are several tables for four. A waiter presents a menu of Alaska type meals. Such as salmon, reindeer and chowder. It was Ok, but nothing to really rave about to you. We didn’t see any animals along the way, but our hostess told us there had been numerous occasions that passengers did get to see various wild life while on the train.
Glacier Bay only allows two large cruise ships in the bay each day. Each cruise line spends several hours moving a very slow pace through the bay. There is plenty of opportunity to see the glacier calving. It happens quickly and only last for a few seconds normally, so you have to stay alert. There is blue ice every where. This is caused by the sunlight being refracted off the ice. Must be because of the angle of the sun, because I never saw any blue ice when I lived in Chicago. Anyway, speaking of angle of the sun, at 10:00 at night the sun is still about the height of a 10:00 in the morning sun in the south. This was during the second week of June. Saw several gulls, but not much else in the animal kingdom. The one picture is of a gull trying to hitch a free ride from us. Remember we are seeing all this ice floating in the water while basking in 80 degree weather on the balcony of our ship. If you go to Alaska on a cruise ship I believe a balcony is worth the extra cost.
If you want more information about Glacier Bay or the Alaska train system give us a call at 770-294-4522 or drop us an email vacationsforall@yahoo.com
vacationsforall 
Posted on July 6, 2013
0