Is Glacier Bay Worth It on an Alaska Cruise?

The Three Main Ways to Go to Glacier Bay

To determine whether you should book a Glacier Bay National Park cruise, you should first understand what our team of experts have distilled down as the three core ways to cruise the park. The size and style of ship you are on greatly impacts your experience here. 

1) 8- to 10-hour cruise on a large cruise ship or dayboat

While this is the path taken by most travelers who visit Glacier Bay, you should understand that you will not get off a larger ship (over approximately 150 guests) due to permitting, tight schedules and the volume of passengers aboard. Especially on larger ships with thousands of passengers, glacier viewing will be farther away than you think, and from the ship’s deck.  

2) 1- to 2-day visit on a small cruise ship

This option is what I did, spending two days in Glacier Bay, overnighting in a remote cove within the park. Read on to learn a bit more about this style, but the key here is that your ship will get closer to glaciers and you will be able to get off the ship for hiking and kayaking excursions. 

3) Go all in with 3+ days on a small cruise ship

If you really want to see Glacier Bay and its many remote corners, look to ships like the Sea Wolf, Catalyst, or Westward who have itineraries that spend the majority of their days within the park. 

Why Small Ships Win in Glacier Bay 

When we look at the three ways to cruise Glacier Bay above, the second and third options aboard small ships win out in a big way. Here’s why:

You Can Get Off the Ship

Simply put: you can get off the ship. Glacier Bay National Park is best seen on a small-ship, active itinerary where you are not shipbound all day. To truly appreciate the scale of these landscapes, you need opportunities to put boots on the ground.

Larger ships over 100 gross tons (approximately 150+ guests) are not allowed to disembark guests within the park.

To see (and literally step on) the transition of newly exposed land left behind by retreating glaciers like Lamplugh and to witness the rich forests that have developed in the region was a true education immersing every sense. Few places allow you to see the seemingly incremental steps of ecological succession so clearly. If you’re on a larger ship where you cannot get off, expect to use your binoculars and want to return.

This video shows a glimpse of what I did off the ship:

You’ll Be Much Closer to the Glaciers You Came to See

Each glacier has different required setbacks and timing nuances for these rules, but for example at Johns Hopkins Glacier when I was there in August, the 76-guest ship I was on sailed up close to the glacier. Larger ships had to turn around at the red point on this map pictured below. During harbor seal pupping season (May 1-June 30) no vessels of any size can enter this upper inlet.

Aboard the Wilderness Discoverer, we were able to sail in overnight, so we started our first morning sipping hot coffee on the bow of the ship as we watched towering walls of ice calve from Johns Hopkins Glacier. This was an absolute highlight: the big, classic calving everyone writes home about.

If there is no seal pupping occurring on the icebergs, small ships are permitted up to a quarter mile of the face of the glacier. Large cruise vessels aren’t as lucky. They must remain at a predetermined setback from the glacier. This is due to their immense size, lack of mobility and in consideration of the wildlife that takes shelter here.

Why Two Days Is the Perfect Balance

After speaking with our team of experts who’ve done all the ways, I feel like the Glacier Bay Adventure Cruise I took, with two days in Glacier Bay National Park, struck the perfect balance for my interests. 

A single day in Glacier Bay National Park doesn’t do justice to such an iconic place. Two days gives you the time to truly feel immersed and to bear witness to the immeasurable natural forces that have shaped the entire region—from towering crags to vast U-shaped valleys once filled by glaciers. 

Staying overnight in Glacier Bay makes the experience feel exclusive. Like you are the only set of explorers out there. I loved the fact that we never saw any other ships while we were anchored except at Lamplugh Glacier and Fingers Bay, which had a few small ships. And due to permitting allowing only two large cruise ships per day in the park, I only saw one big ship within the park boundaries. 

On our second day in the park, I woke up early near Lamplugh Glacier. With hot coffee in hand, I bundled up against the cold morning air on the bow as our ship cut through the still waters of Glacier Bay’s main transit channel. Moving through the foggy mist, as forests and small islands announced themselves softly, reminded me of the mysteries still found in these wild places.

Understanding Your Off-Ship Options 

A special nuance I had not completely understood before my trip was how the permitting affects activity within the park. While within Glacier Bay National Park, ships are only permitted to deploy one active skiff at a time. The boat must stop and anchor during this time.

This highlighted a great advantage of small ship cruising. I and the rest of the passengers were able to fully disembark with our guides on activities. The more passengers you have aboard, the more work this becomes with a single skiff.  

I would recommend for those that enjoy skiff cruising for mobility reasons, opt for the smallest passenger ship. This would set you up for a greater amount of time.

I love how my itinerary started within Glacier Bay National Park, as it allowed a slower pace of activity. I could ease in this way before committing to higher levels of activity later in the trip. As the days went on, we were offered more activity options outside the park, so that is something to consider. If you want the most off-ship time possible, you could consider skipping Glacier Bay.

If You Do Skip Glacier Bay, Consider These Glaciers 

Most Alaska small ship cruise itineraries will include a stop at at least one glacier so you can typically rest assured your experience will be well rounded. During my trip that included Glacier Bay, I saw three tidewater glaciers, one being LeConte Glacier outside the park. And surprisingly to me, LeConte Glacier was the most impressive one I saw. This highly active glacier is the best in my opinion because of the stunning blue color. It is also amazing to watch such an active glacier calve. You can almost see the ice crawling down from the higher snow fields where it is created.  

I had the opportunity to chat with Erin, our trip’s expedition leader, about what she felt her favorite glacier is within Southeastern Alaska and she agreed: LeConte Glacier. This is one of those glaciers you can only see if you take a small vessel. 

Other favorites among our staff are Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm of the Inside Passage and Prince William Sound’s College Fjord. Here, five tidewater glaciers converge in a single area. One of our experts who sailed here recalls her time here with no other ships in sight and a full morning of kayaking. Harriman Glacier is another Prince William Sound highlight.

Ships covering more ground and open ocean will often stop in at Hubbard Glacier in the Gulf of Alaska. With a six-mile-wide face there’s plenty of room for the massive liners as well as the fewer Alaska small ship cruises that visit here.