June 17, 2026. Glacier Bay, Alaska

At 6 a.m. ms Koningsdam had arrived at the entrance to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, leaving Icy Strait and entering Sitakaday Narrows which leads into Glacier Bay. The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The water was calm, air temperature 10°C, wind SW 7 km, overcast with low cloud hanging on to the mountain sides. Being on Deck 11 we were a few steps from the outside jogging track with a great view of the bay. We missed the arrival, by boat, of the Glacier Bay Park Rangers, Alaska Native Voices Cultural Ambassador and Alaska Geographic Representatives as they boarded the ship from their Bartlett Cove headquarters. The Lido buffet opened at 6:30 for breakfast.

After breakfast we joined many passengers in the Crow’s Nest lounge to hear the

Park Rangers and Cultural Ambassador greet everyone and give us the agenda for today including presentations and narration of the journey into Glacier Bay.

In 1794 Captain George Vancouver saw Glacier Bay. At that time, the bay was just five miles long. It has receded over the next two centuries. Today we travelled about 60 miles into the bay, from Icy Strait, to Tarr Inlet and Margerie Glacier. Only seven of the park’s hundreds of glaciers end in the water, called tidewater glaciers.

As we passed west of Russell Island, the ship passed Reid Glacier on the way to Lamplugh Glacier. Both are fingers of the Brady Icefield. We could see the Royal Princess cruise ship veering to the east into Tarr Inlet. We spent part of the morning watching the journey into the Glacier Bay on the television via the bow camera’s live broadcast. That channel also carried Ranger Dan’s commentary from the navigation bridge then we dashed outside when something notable appeared. People with balconies enjoyed the views. Our stateroom is inside, but on Deck 11 just steps from outside to get to see the views quickly on either port (left looking forward) or starboard side (right side).

By 9 a.m., “Bergy Bits” and “Growlers” were plentiful. These are their technical names, growlers are the smallest size pieces of floating ice which are no larger than a large truck. They are small chunks of ice that had been part of the glaciers. We slowly glided past Reid Glacier then halted for 20 minutes or so at Lamplough Glacier to enjoy the view of the blue tinted glacier at low tide. Here Lamplough Glacier is 1.6 kilometres wide and about 51 meters tall. Ranger Dan announced that there was fog in Tarr Inlet and this could be the best glacier sighting.

Our steward returned the laundry that we sent out less than 22 hour ago. The shirts and pants were neatly hung on hangars. We had to remember to remove the laundry tags from each item.

After 10 a.m., staff were distributing Dutch Pea Soup on all the outside areas and in the Crow’s Nest lounge on Deck 12. Ranger Dan announced there were seals on a growler on the port side. People with binoculars could see mountain goats on the mountain side two kilometres away.

As we entered Tarr Inlet, the bergy bits and growlers littered the water. We were headed to the end of the inlet to view Margerie Glacier. Once there, the captain stopped the ship for 25 minutes, then rotated the ship 180° for another 25 minutes, so that people in the verandah staterooms and suites could easily view the glacier without needing to go to the bow entrance on Deck 5, the Promenade Deck 3, the Jogging Track on Deck 11 or the Crow’s Nest lounge on Deck 12. There were dozens of sea gulls flying around the ship.

We had lunch in the main dining room with a table by a picture window with a good view of the glacier and the gulls.

After lunch Ranger Amber explained glaciers and facts about Glacier National Park. She was followed by the Alaska Native Voices Cultural Ambassador, Kevin. He told the World Stage capacity (about 900) audience about the history of the Tlinket people and their clan system, how they identified their genealogy. They had lived in the area over 13,000 years before Europeans took over their land and sent their children to residential schools. Today the Trinket children are taught their culture in the public schools.

After the presentation, to which Kevin was given a standing ovation, Pam, Dave, Mary and Randy joined us for afternoon tea in the Deck 3 dining room, before we went to see the line dancing by the Deck 9 Lido Pool. We decided to skip it and have some ice cream instead.

Tonight is dressy attire for dinner in the dining room. At 6:30 p.m. in the B.B. King’s Blues Club, there was ballroom dancing to good recorded music with lots of variety. There were half a dozen couples with dance training and other couples dancing to waltz, foxtrot, rhumba, cha-cha, tango, swing and salsa. Even a requested nightclub tune was played.

We had a quick snack at the Grand Dutch Café before going the the 8 o’clock show featuring the ship’s dancers, “Musicology”. So far when compared to the shows on Noordam earlier this year, Noordam was much better.

At 9:20 p.m., on Deck 2, dozens of waiters carried trays of different kinds of chocolate mini desserts. For about 25 minutes, they wove into the lounges between the dining room at the stern of the ship to the World Stage at the bow of the ship. Tonight there was a towel animal on the bed, probably the only one we will get on the short cruise.

Today’s steps were 11,465. We climbed 26 flights of stairs including viewing the glaciers from the Crow’s Nest lounge on Deck 12 and having lunch on Deck 2 and everything in between. It was not as much as yesterday, our first day on the ship, when we climbed 43 flights of stairs.