Links to Hubbard Glacier photos and videos from the cruise

6-3-08

Our good weather finally broke, and we woke up to rain and mist this morning. But in a way I think it was better, because we were going to see the Hubbard Glacier, and it seemed fitting that it should seem so Arctic. We went up to the Observation Lounge, but it was packed, so we decided to go get breakfast and sit out on the deck (aft Deck 11). But the aft deck wasn’t open, because of the weather. Lis wanted to get breakfast, but I saw that there was more and more ice, and we were getting closer and closer to the glacier, and I was gripped by a sort of glacier-mania; food could wait. I told Lis “I’m going down to 6,” took the camera, and left.

Aft on Deck 6 there is the Horizon Lounge, and then a deck behind it, which I had noticed before and thought would be an ideal alternate location if the Observation Lounge was full. Turns out I was only half right – the view was great and it was not crowded, but it was also a smoking area, so the few people who were there were smoking. But there weren’t many, and I was right down close to the water – so I decided to brave it. Lis, meanwhile, had finished her breakfast and made her way back to the Observation Lounge, where she eventually scored a seat right in front.

There was lots of ice, and the initial announcement from the bridge was “There’s lots of ice so we probably won’t be able to get close. We’ll see what we can do.” But then the captain and the ice pilot (who had come on the ship early this morning, along with a couple Tlingit women who did some interesting commentary over the PA system) were able to patiently wriggle us through the ice field, right up to the glacier. The destination specialist, Dr. Clark (or Dr. Valium, as one of our cocktail party friends had dubbed him) said that he hadn’t been this close to the glacier all of last summer. It was incredibly cool, and I felt very lucky.

Once we were in position, the captain came on and said we were going to stay here for a bit “so you can all get your pictures.” We stayed near the glacier about 45 minutes to an hour. The ship slowly turned, so that everyone had a good view. And once we were stationary, with the engines cut, we started being able to hear the thunder of the glaciers calving. At first, I was never able to see the actual calving, as the sound would reach us after the ice had fallen, but by the time we left I had become more practiced, and as we were leaving I saw this enormous sheet fall off, followed by a tremendous roar. It was very impressive.

Then it was time to leave the glacier and head toward Seward. We hung out in the room, starting to look at the pictures I had madly taken all morning. But there were a lot, and it was too much for Lis – she nodded off about halfway through and had a nice little pre-lunch nap. We did eventually look at them all, but haven’t yet started the job of culling them down to a reasonable amount.

There was an international barbeque on the pool deck – it was very good. I had ribs (excellent) and salad and fried potatoes. Lis had glass noodles, some sushi and half a hamburger (truly international, that girl). Then back to the room for more lounging and napping. Then it was time for trivia. We met our team of yesterday, and for the second day in row tied for first place and got tokens. In fact, we only missed one question. This time we also stayed for bingo (we made sure we were ready for the evening before we left the room, so there would be bingo time) but didn’t win anything.

As we were heading for the reception area, Lis was debating whether we should say anything about the spotty special diet of the last couple days. We figured we should talk to the hotel director, and were trying to decide the best way to go about contacting him, when he came striding around the corner. Lis flagged him down and told him our issues – he seemed appropriately concerned and said he would talk to the food and beverage manager. We didn’t have another specially prepared meal – managed to snag a seat in Latitudes after a cancellation – so we don’t know the results of our talk, though they were very solicitous in Latitudes.

Before dinner, it was the farewell cocktail party and crew talent show in the Constellation Theater. This was the first show we made it to, and I loved it very much. The crew members put on several numbers, and they were all great fun – particularly the YMCA number. There was a tall girl who was not a very good dancer, and not a very good singer (she had a solo), but was so clearly enjoying herself so completely that she was my favorite. Apparently I was not the only one who felt this way, because when they introduced the soloists she got the loudest hand, even though this other young man was a much better singer. Then more crew members marched out and we applauded them all, and then it was time for dinner.

Now we are packing our stuff to put outside, which is always a bit melancholy, but it was basically the perfect final sea day, so we feel happy. We’ve ordered room service coffee and tea and are going to bundle up and have a bon voyage balcony sit.