Second to the last day of the cruise is the highlight of my whole glacier cruise. To me, Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway are a shallow taste of Alaska and I have been waiting for the glacier scenic tour for a~~~~ LONG time!!!!! Glacier Bay was first declared as a national monument in 1925 by President Calvin Coolidge; and then in 1978, President Jimmy Carter has expanded the area of monument and created the Glacier Bay National Park. In 1979, Glacier Bay became part of a binational UNESCO World Heritage site and as of today, only 6 cruises are authorized to provide cruise ship service in this prestigious Glacier Bay National Park (Princess, Holland America Inc, Norwegian cruise line, West travel inc, Carnival cruise line, and Crystal cruises).
I thought the ship will arrive glacier bay around 9-10 AM and we would have plenty of time to get ready for the paradise. I’ve ordered the room service and have it delivered around 8:30-9 AM --thinking we could enjoy the room service before we head out. Around 8:15 AM, National Park Rangers started the commentary of the nearby glaciers. “Baam!!” I dropped everything and used my fastest speed to run to the back of the ship. While everyone rushed to the front for the gorgeous views, I found the views were equally gorgeous at the back of the ship. And in fact at the back of the ship, there were long and relatively calm waves on the surface of the water and they added interesting lines in my photos. Went back to the room around 9:30 AM and room service has left us a message stating no body was in the room during delivery and server has left already~ opps~~ I guess we were not having room service breakfast today~
According to the ranger, there are only 4 sunny day per month in Glacier bay and we had one out of the four~ Woo hoo~ Lucky!! Even though I was told that glacier is best viewed under an overcast day (bright enough to see the glacier blue but not overly exposed to the sunlight), I still think that sunny sky has enhanced the whole presentation to another higher level. I was speechless when I saw this jaw-dropping view. To make it easier to imagine: Have you been or see the pictures of Bora Bora or Hawaii Maui? I’ve seen my friends Helen and Stephen’s Bora Bora vacation pictures: blue sky with clear turquoise water enhanced by the light brown sand. That is a tropical paradise. Alaska is another paradise--but in a winter version: Blue sky with snow white mountain, clear and calm water reflecting light blue glacier. The overwhelming scene was just way beyond words could describe. Maybe that’s why everybody was so quiet at the moment.
The ship sailed from the Bartlett Cove (where the rangers were picked up) through the Sitakaday Narrows, passed Willoughby and Drake Island, to the Lamplugh Glacier and Margerie Glacier. The ship stayed in Lamplugh Glacier area for 45 minutes and slowly sailed toward the Margerie Glacier/ Tarr Inlet and stayed for an hour. We were out in the open deck area for the whole time to appreciate the clean air, warm sun and gorgeous view in Margerie Glacier. We saw iceberg calving from the Margerie Glacier-- not once, not twice, but 4 times. The iceberg calving sound was like a small thunder in the sky and like thunder-- you see the visual first before you hear the sound.
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| Cruise route in Glacier Bay |
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| Two eagle on the ice |
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| Margerie Glacier |
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| Margerie Glacier |
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| Margerie Glacier |
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| Iceberg calving from Margerie Glacier |
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| Iceberg calving from Margerie Glacier |
Even our stomach was growling around noon, we didn’t want to leave the deck as that will miss our viewing opportunity. After debating for a while, we have decided to eat at a place that has a view. Horizontal court - the buffet restaurant has a lot of tables with views but all were taken. (And plus, I’m not a big fans of the buffet food) We then went to the Alfredo’s pizzeria -- still full but we were lucky to have a seat that was close to the window. We ordered the Tarantina pizza with bay shrimp, mussels, capers, basil... Picture perfect scenes with freshly made pizza~ hm~it’s divine!
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| Alfredo's Pizzeria |
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| Alfredo's Pizzeria |
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| Tarantina Pizza |
After lunch we went back to the deck to spot for wildlife-- especially the whale. It was such a beautiful warm weather and everyone was enjoying the sun bath on the deck. “Look at the humpback whale on the port side of the ship!” Someone screamed around 2:30 PM and everyone ran to the right side of the ship. We saw a humpback whale flipping in the clear blue water~!! The whale knew that everyone was trying to take pictures of him and he kept flipping at the same spot. We then inspected the shore area with our binocular and found that there were a lot of seals laying on one of the beach. Like human, wildlife like to enjoy the beautiful weather and sun bathing on the land-- and the number of the seals were too many to quantify that it looked like a lot of italian sausage laying on the beach when we looked with our naked eyes.
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| Sun bathing~ |
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| LOOK!! Humpback Whale!! |
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| Humpback Whale Flipping |
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| Humpback Whale Flipping |
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| Humpback Whale Flipping |
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| Humpback Whale Flipping |
After dropping off the rangers at the Bartlett Cove, left the Glacier Bay National Park and entered the Gulf of Alaska, the weather has changed dramatically. It was cold and windy and Sandra the naturalist had reminded us that wildlife spotting would be minimal beyond this point. She suggested us to go back to the indoor area if necessary. We then went back to the room and put on our swimming suits for the jacuzzi-- we sat in the hot-tub and watched the Pink concern at the “Movie under the stars”. Around 5:30 PM, we went back to our room and get ready for the formal night dinner tonight.
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| Crab, Scallop and Shrimp Salad Duo of Caviar |
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| Roasted Tomato Cream Soup |
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| Broiled Lobster Tail and King Prawns with Lemon Butter |
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| Broiled Lobster Tail and King Prawns Before De-shell |
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| Amaretto Icecream |
遊輪旅程來到最後的兩天而今天是整個遊輪旅程的高潮. 對我來說, 克奇坎, 朱諾,及史凱威只是阿拉斯加的入門景點, 我對這冰川景區遊覽行程已期代已久了. 在1925年, 總統卡爾文·柯立芝把冰川灣定立為國家保護區; 在1978年, 總統吉米·卡特把保護區的範圍擴大並成立冰川灣國家公園. 於1979年, 冰川灣國家公園被聯合國教育科學及文化局認定為世界遺產之一; 時至今日, 美國只有六艘遊輪有資格在這國家公園提供遊輪服務. (Princess遊輪, Holland America Inc遊輪, Norwegian 遊輪, West travel inc遊輪, Carnival遊輪, 及 Crystal遊輪)
我還以為遊輪會大約在早上9-10時抵達冰川灣而我們會有很多時間去預備及迎接這人間天堂． 我還定了客房送餐服務──心想我們大可先在房內用餐然後再出發．我預約好送餐服務會在早上8:30-9時把早餐送到，但是大約在早上8時15分， 護林員便開始廣播介紹附近的冰川．“澎！”我立即把所有東西都放下，用最快的速度跑到船的後方．當所有人都擠在船頭看風景時，我卻在船尾欣賞美景． 我亦 發覺船尾的風景不會輸給船頭．當船頭乘風破浪，濺起水花時，船尾的海浪卻相對的平靜──平靜的海浪線亦為我的照片構圖起了結構性的作用．當回到房間時，客 房送餐服務員留下口訊說由於無人應門的關係，早餐已送回廚房．噢噢噢～我想我們今天早上是無法享用客房用餐的服務了．
跟 據護林員的數據表示，冰川灣在一個月內只有四天是天朗氣清的日子而我們就幸運地在冰川灣裡有這晴朗的一天．雖然護林員說欣賞冰川的最好天氣是陰天的時候 （有足夠的光能夠看到冰川，但不會有太多陽光令人覺得刺眼或一片發白）－但我仍然覺得天朗氣清好陽光的日子能令整個冰川灣的感官享受提昇至另一個更高的層 次．當我看到這令人讚嘆不絕的湖光山色時我頓然覺得無言以對．怎樣的美景？讓我具體一點的解釋：你有看過或遊覽過夏威夷的茂宜島或大溪地的波拉波拉島嗎？ 我看過我朋Helen及Stephen在 波拉波拉島旅遊的照片：海藍色的天空，淺棕色的細沙襯托著綠松石的海水．這是熱帶地區的天堂．阿拉斯加也是另一個人間天堂──但是是以冬天的形式來表達． 藍天配白色的雪山，又清又平靜的海水反映著淺藍色的冰川．這震撼性的畫面是筆墨無法形容的．全場鴉雀無聲亦可能是因為這個原因．
遊輪由巴特利特灣Bartlett Cove（護林員在這處登船）Sitakaday Narrows， 威洛比島及德雷克島後進 入Lamplugh冰川及Margerie冰川的範圍．遊輪逗留了45分鐘在Lamplugh冰川的海域，然後慢駛到Margerie Glacier/ Tarr Inlet，再停留在此約一小時． 我們全時間都逗留在甲板上享受那清新的空氣溫暖的陽光及綺麗的Margerie冰川湖光山色. 我們看到冰山裂開,冰塊掉入海中. 我們不只看到1次2次這情景,我們總共看到了4次冰裂. 冰山裂開的聲音就有如打雷的時候, 轟隆轟隆的響. 也像行雷閃電一般,你會先看到景像,再聽到聲音.
大概中午的時候,我們的肚子已咕嚕咕嚕的響,但是我們還是不大願意離開甲板-因為這樣會剝削了我們觀景的機會. 我們掙扎了一會後, 還是決定要先際過五贓廟後才繼續觀景, 但我們只會到有窗景的餐廳用膳. Horizontal court –自助餐餐廳, 有很多有窗景的檯但全都被佔用了. (而且我們對自助餐的興趣不大) 我們到 Alfredo’s pizzeria 批薩餅餐廳—雖然餐廳都是滿座,但我們幸運地被安排到坐在近窗邊的位置. 我們點了 Tarantina pizza:有海灣蝦, 青口, 卡珀斯, 羅勒/九層塔... 新鮮焗製的批薩配完美的風光景色~ 簡直是神級的享受!!
午飯過後,我們返回甲板上去捕捉野生動物的出現-特別是想看到鯨魚的蹤影. 由於天朗氣清, 氣溫溫和的關係, 很多人都聚集在甲板上享受著日光浴. “快來看船右側的座頭鯨~!!!” 有人大約在下午2時30分叫道. 所有人到立刻奔跑到船的右邊. 我們看到一隻巨大的座頭鯨在船的附近翻轉. 鯨魚可能自知是主角,有人要替他拍照,所以他不停在原地翻轉. 看到鯨魚後, 我們便用望遠鏡去探索一下船附近肉眼不能看見的地方. 我們發現有很多的海豹在附近的一個海灘上. 像人類一樣, 它們也享受著溫和的天氣,躺在沙灘上享受著日光浴. 海豹的數量難以估計—只知道有很多. 若果用肉眼離遠來看, 會看到像一堆意大利香腸在沙灘上滾動.
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| Horizontal court –自助餐餐廳的窗景 |
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| Horizontal court –自助餐餐廳的窗景 |
下午遊輪駛回巴特利特灣Bartlett Cove讓護林員下船, 然後遊輪便駛出冰川灣國家公園,駛向阿拉斯加灣. 當船離開了冰川灣時,天氣便急速驟變. 氣溫便得寒冷,風速便得凌厲. 自然學家Sandra告訴我們說我們已進入了這個不多自然生物出沒的港口, 若果覺得寒冷的話,還是不要浪費體力在此, 盡早回室內吧. 於是我們便回房換上泳衣到按摩池去. 我們一邊在”星光下的電影院”看the Pink的演唱會, 一邊寫意地浸按摩池. 大概在下午 5時30分,我們便回去梳洗,準備今晚的晚宴.
美酒佳餚, 看到野生動物的蹤跡, 見證了聞名的冰山裂開, 看過Apollo的精彩魔術表現.. 我相信我們今天所見所聞, 所做所感受到的已令此行值回票價了!! 今天是這遊輪假期的高潮. 這難忘的經歷是錢不能換取到的~!!
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