AAshleySEG
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
Once our bellies were full, (If You See It, Eat It) we headed up to Deck 10 to scope out a spot for Tracy Arm viewing.. We made it halfway up the starboard side when Deanna came up and said Hi to us at the forward funnels, which happened to be the warmest place on the deck at that time! She asked us if we wanted to join them because they had already staked out a great spot! We were so grateful for that because it was already really crowded up there and I don't know that we would have found somewhere to stand had they not! We started taking loads of photos and Jeremy kept messing with Gwen, trying to make her laugh and stuff because she was just lounging on the chair at the beginning of Tracy Arm. Both Darren and I needed a lens cleaning cloth, and I remembered I had a lens pen in my camera bag downstairs, so yet again I ran down to the room to get it. Jeremy took some pics while I was gone, and one of them had some eagles in it and he didn't even realize until we got home and starting looking through them!
Apparently while I was gone to the room, Darren was telling Jeremy how he really wanted to see a bear from a distance so when I got back up to the deck and Darren wasn't expecting it, Jeremy called out, "HEY! There is a Bear!", Darren spun around so fast and was like "Where...Where?" Jeremy had a good laugh about that, I thought it was a little mean, but oh well. My hubby is a prankster! I took a photo with the boat in view so you could see just how narrow this fjord actually was, at some points I wasn't sure we were going to be able to make it through.
This is the type of beauty that I think everyone talks about when they have been to Alaska. It is really hard to even capture it on film. I looked at I don't know how many photos before we came on this trip, I don't think anything can prepare you for what you are going to see
Even though it was a little cloudy, we had great weather the entire time we were going up Tracy Arm, and even when we were coming out as well
We started seeing more and more icebergs as we were getting further into the fjord and closer to the glacier, a lot of them even had seals on them! There were big ones, small ones, pups, even seals playing in the water! I can't imagine what they think of these giant cruise ships passing right beside them!
I don't want to overload you all on random scenery shots, so I am trying to be very choosy when I pick some of them, but like I said if you are really into photos, then there are tons to look at in the albums with the links at the bottom of the first post! On tracy Arm Day alone, I had to do it in parts because I took so many photos!
When the Naturalist was doing his talks he mentioned that the ice that is exposed to the air for a few hours will turn white, when the air enters into it, so if air doesn't enter it, it stays really blue! I was fascinated by the glacial icebergs floating right beside the boat! Don't be alarmed if you feel the ship hitting them either, because it does happen but there is no need to be alarmed!
We kept making our way forward, at some places I kept thinking that has to be a dead end, but we would just turn and keep going on our way as if we were some tiny boat going up through all of this!
Finally, we had our first peek of the glacier, it was still a little far away, but whoa, we were all giddy with anticipation! There was one thing in our way a little island in the center of the fjord, we seriously weren't going to be able to fit through that right??
We sure did go right on through on the lefthand side of it, it was also cool because there were more eagles on the trees, so I just started calling it Eagle Island, although I am sure it probably has a name...
Jeremy was fascinated by the waterfalls, the greenness of the water and the low clouds shrouding the mountainsides!
The first time seeing the glacier, no photos or words can remotely prepare you for how HUGE this thing actually is. It is Ginormous!!
From these photos, the icebergs look pretty small, but I managed to get one of a boat down there, and it kind of puts to scale the size of these glacial icebergs when compared to that boat!
There are also hundreds of seals near the face of the glacier. They are just all happily basking in the sun on top of the icebergs! They almost look like little specs of brown, but they were everywhere!
About the time we were getting really close to the glacier, it was time for us to head to Palo for High Tea. So we said goodbye to Darren, (Deanna and Gwen had gone to the pool), and quickly ran to the room and changed clothes, and made it to Palo by 3:00 exactly!
Apparently while I was gone to the room, Darren was telling Jeremy how he really wanted to see a bear from a distance so when I got back up to the deck and Darren wasn't expecting it, Jeremy called out, "HEY! There is a Bear!", Darren spun around so fast and was like "Where...Where?" Jeremy had a good laugh about that, I thought it was a little mean, but oh well. My hubby is a prankster! I took a photo with the boat in view so you could see just how narrow this fjord actually was, at some points I wasn't sure we were going to be able to make it through.
This is the type of beauty that I think everyone talks about when they have been to Alaska. It is really hard to even capture it on film. I looked at I don't know how many photos before we came on this trip, I don't think anything can prepare you for what you are going to see
Even though it was a little cloudy, we had great weather the entire time we were going up Tracy Arm, and even when we were coming out as well
We started seeing more and more icebergs as we were getting further into the fjord and closer to the glacier, a lot of them even had seals on them! There were big ones, small ones, pups, even seals playing in the water! I can't imagine what they think of these giant cruise ships passing right beside them!
I don't want to overload you all on random scenery shots, so I am trying to be very choosy when I pick some of them, but like I said if you are really into photos, then there are tons to look at in the albums with the links at the bottom of the first post! On tracy Arm Day alone, I had to do it in parts because I took so many photos!
When the Naturalist was doing his talks he mentioned that the ice that is exposed to the air for a few hours will turn white, when the air enters into it, so if air doesn't enter it, it stays really blue! I was fascinated by the glacial icebergs floating right beside the boat! Don't be alarmed if you feel the ship hitting them either, because it does happen but there is no need to be alarmed!
We kept making our way forward, at some places I kept thinking that has to be a dead end, but we would just turn and keep going on our way as if we were some tiny boat going up through all of this!
Finally, we had our first peek of the glacier, it was still a little far away, but whoa, we were all giddy with anticipation! There was one thing in our way a little island in the center of the fjord, we seriously weren't going to be able to fit through that right??
We sure did go right on through on the lefthand side of it, it was also cool because there were more eagles on the trees, so I just started calling it Eagle Island, although I am sure it probably has a name...
Jeremy was fascinated by the waterfalls, the greenness of the water and the low clouds shrouding the mountainsides!
The first time seeing the glacier, no photos or words can remotely prepare you for how HUGE this thing actually is. It is Ginormous!!
From these photos, the icebergs look pretty small, but I managed to get one of a boat down there, and it kind of puts to scale the size of these glacial icebergs when compared to that boat!
There are also hundreds of seals near the face of the glacier. They are just all happily basking in the sun on top of the icebergs! They almost look like little specs of brown, but they were everywhere!
About the time we were getting really close to the glacier, it was time for us to head to Palo for High Tea. So we said goodbye to Darren, (Deanna and Gwen had gone to the pool), and quickly ran to the room and changed clothes, and made it to Palo by 3:00 exactly!
It was about time that Mickey was scheduled to be in the lobby atrium, so we stood in line for him. It was really great though because Minnie turned out to be with him! 
