Alaska - Cruise Day 3 - Okay, this time it really is all about Glaciers

Day 2 of scenic cruising brings us to Glacier Bay, Alaska. This region is a national state park and thus has rules and regulations about the number of ships in the area on any given day. Cruise ships also can not fully dock in Glacier Bay so while the scenic visit will last most of the day, your ship will slow down to a snail's pace to the point where except for turning, you'd question whether the ship was moving at all. At one point, the ship will physically stop in front of a tidewater glacier for about one hour. To help you understand what you're seeing, maps of Glacier Bay will be delivered to your stateroom the night before.

Park rangers will come onboard and set up shop with charts, maps, and today's schedule for what areas will we visit at what times. In our case, they were set up on the top level of the enclosed pool. While they will provide commentary over the ship's intercom system (I think only on speakers outside of your cabins so if you want to hear it, either be on your balcony, on deck, or turn your cabin TVs to the bridge cam channel.), they also welcome you to come speak to the rangers and ask questions. If you have kids in your traveling group, have them check out the scheduled junior ranger program in the youth center.

I highly recommend moving all around the ship throughout the day to get the best views. Yes, the ship does turn around to give everyone a chance at the same views but you never know when that picture worthy moment will present itself. There will be those souls who set up fancy tripods on the open decks to get those National Geographic worthy shots but then they miss when the bald eagle lands on a floating chunk of glacier for mere moments on the other side of the ship. While most cruise itineraries wouldn't matter whether your cabin has a balcony or not, I highly recommend you splurge on a balcony cabin for this itinerary. Nothing like having a guaranteed unobstructed by people's heads and camera equipment view. I did also walk along the open decks throughout the day taking turns slipping in against the deck rail when someone else moves on. The open decks are the most popular place to be on these scenic cruising days, some even opting to venture out on the open deck on top of the bridge wings.

I'm one of those travel photographers who will come home with 30 pictures of the same sunset or the same mountain range. I recall during our British Isles itinerary, Dad would get so confused as to how I could still be taking pictures when this was our 20th time visiting castle ruins. The water here in Glacier Bay was so smooth and calm that it just added to the serenity of the area.

Guess mom called all the kids back home for lunch:

Glacier's Bay's version of the carpool lane:

The aforementioned bald eagle stopping to rest on a glacier chunk:

I don't know these people but I couldn't resist how much this shot looked like it belonged on Princess' next Alaska brochure. 

I love how in one single area, there was so many color variations within the glaciers.

Next up - we reach our first cruise port where they let us get off the ship. We spend it in the company of ladies in the world's oldest profession before jumping on a train.