Alaska's Glacier Bay Aboard Majestic Princess

Sponsored by Princess Cruises.

Waking up in Glacier Bay National Park in a five-star bed with incomparable views of Alaska’s iconic towers of ice feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience only Princess can provide. I count myself truly lucky to have seen this unbelievable national park and preserve up close and personal, and even more luxurious? The day began with hot coffee and a champagne breakfast on our private balcony, directly in front of the Margerie Glacier.

While the glaciers were the main course of our meal, I did get to try smoked salmon for the first time on a cream cheese bagel with dill and capers, and let me just say it was transformative. I’m usually not a fan of salmon (give me cod or halibut any day), but maybe I just needed to be in Alaska to get the full spectrum of delectability from this Pacific Northwest specialty.

We couldn’t help but toast to the gorgeous Margerie Glacier and the fortuitous opportunity we had to see it in our lifetime as we sat in awe of our surroundings. I got several messages while we were there from cruisers who visited Glacier Bay ten, twenty, and thirty years ago, commenting on how much smaller the glaciers are now. While many of the glaciers continue to regress, environmental factors like regularly heavy snowfall in the Fairweather Mountains are actually advancing others.

After breakfast, we headed aft to meet up with our group on the back deck for hot cocoa, which was truly the creamiest and dreamiest cocoa I’ve ever had (I do not mind telling you that I said yes to more than one refill). I wore a knit set by Rails Clothing that’s as close to pajamas as real clothes get—perfect for a cozy morning viewing Glacier Bay aboard Majestic Princess.

Sailing into Glacier Bay, I was lucky enough to have my first major wildlife sighting—a brown Kodiak bear. If you know me at all (or read my last post) you’ll know bears are my favorite animal, so even getting to see him wandering along the shore through my binoculars was an absolute treat. I wouldn’t have been able to spot him without the helpful guides making announcements on board the ship as we cruised toward the glaciers, which just adds to the list of dreams-come-true that Princess has given me over the last four years.

Speaking of bears, this was our biggest wildlife spotting day yet—puffins, otters, humpback whales, seals—I could never get my camera out fast enough!

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We learned a ton of history about the place from the park rangers Princess hosts on board during this impactful day at sea, which is part of their award-winning North to Alaska program that truly immerses you in the history and culture of this magnificent state. Glacier Bay’s 3.2 million acres of forests and mountains and waters are the ancestral homelands of the Tlingit nation, and were not discovered by western civilization until 1794. Back then, there were no individual glaciers—just an unfathomably large river of ice. When naturalist John Muir came to the area about a hundred years later with Tlingit guides, the ice had shifted and changed enough to reveal a bay of water surrounded by glaciers that we as cruisers now get to enjoy. In many areas, the bay drops down to over 1,000 feet deep.

The stillness you feel staring at these incredible walls of ice, listening to them move and change and waiting for them to calve is hard to capture with words, and of course, photos never do natural beauty justice. I was so moved by having the opportunity to see this magical place in real life that reviewing these photos is almost emotional!

The Glacier Bay “port” day on our 7-day Inside Passage Alaskan cruise was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Typically, you spend days at sea covering hundreds of miles to get to your next destination, or you are docked in that destination and spend the day off the ship. This unique day aboard Majestic Princess, where we kind of did both sightseeing and sailing, combined the best of both worlds to create memories that will stick with me forever—or at least until I plan my next Alaskan cruise.