I
A cruise ship entering Glacier Bay. Photo from NPS website.
From Wikipedia – Glacier Bay contains tidewater glaciers, mountains, fjords, and a temperate rainforest, and is home to large populations of grizzly bears, mountain goats, whales, seals, and eagles. When discovered in 1794 by George Vancouver, the entire bay was covered by ice, but the glaciers have since receded more than 65 miles.
- Established: 12/2/1980
- Annual Visitors: 597,915
- Size: 3,223,383 acres
Glacier Bay National Park
July 15, 2025
Gary and I are heading to our 62nd, of the 63 “National Parks”. It’s both exciting… and perplexing! With Wrangle Saint Elias NP (also in Alaska) being our last one, we are asking ourselves, ” What’s next?”!? 🤠
Gary posted on our blog during his 500-mile winter backpack trip in Spain on the Camino Frances this past January, 2025. I have not posted since our Alaskan national park trip last July, 2024! So welcome back everyone!!
We set sail July 16th, 2025 on a 9-day Alaskan cruise out of Seattle, WA. It will include a day sailing in Glacier Bay National Park. As I mentioned, it will be our 62nd park. We’re not sure if we’re going to post only towards the end, or a couple times while we’re gone, but you will definitely hear from us regarding this trip.
I have been watching incredible YouTube videos about the ship we are sailing on – the Norwegian Joy – as it meanders through Glacier Bay NP, past calving glaciers and magnificent snowcapped mountains. The videos show breaching whales, porpoise and seals; foraging bears and acrobatic wild sheep and mountain goats on the shoreline; eagles soaring by the ship, and my favorite, playful otters! Although we have cruised previously, mostly in the Caribbean, we are excited for our first Alaskan cruise.
Living in Phoenix, the summer is a perfect time to be high-tailing it to cooler temperatures. I’m packing my gloves, winter hat, rain gear and down puffy. I am envisioning sipping my steaming espresso, while wrapped in a blanket, on our suite’s balcony!
Unlike previous cruises we are familiar with, this ship has more casual dining. Although I have a couple outfits nicer than outdoor activity wear, thankfully I did not have to get “bathing suit ready” 🙃 Good comfortable shoes and many layers is what is in my suitcase.
I had a total knee replacement, (left TKR) on May 12th, 2025. Five and a half weeks post-surgery my knee’s scar tissue had formed faster than the physical therapists and I could bend it properly. The surgeon, placing me under anesthesia, manually (no skin cuts) broke up the scar tissue as an outpatient procedure. I fondly refer to that time as my snap, crackle, pop, manipulation. Now, at 9 weeks post TKR, I know the intervention was necessary and successful. My ability to bend has much improved. Using hiking sticks (trekking poles) for confidence, balance and correct posture, I am able to walk in my neighborhood. I practiced for walking in the airports, stability onboard the ship, and sightseeing around ports of call.
I had been nervous about physically being able to walk around the ship and enjoy each of the six towns that we will be visiting but I am confident that a cruise is a well-deserved, appropriate and doable adventure for me right now.
Gary and I have been together over 40 years and we can take in a day of separate adventures with no guilt. In addition to doing things together, Gary will enjoy hiking, maybe a long train ride and active activities off the ship. I look forward to beautiful gardens, museums and sightseeing tours around towns; local seafood meals; small boat rides to search for sea creatures and Alaskan wildlife, in addition to endless fun on board!
Adventures are what Gary and I love to do together.
From the 1970/80’s TV show theme song “Love Boat”:
…Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure…”
We hope you enjoy our journals and pictures from our cruise to our penultimate national park, Glacier Bay!!
July 16, 2025
Seattle
E: Today we board the Norwegian Joy, in Seattle, to cruise to Alaska! We stayed next to Pike Place Market and about a half mile from the cruise dock.
Gary graciously walked my luggage to the pier about 8:30 a.m. I have one suitcase just under 50 lbs and he packed in a 45L backpack. I walked across the street and had a fabulous healthy breakfast and coffee. I ordered a beet salad with arugula greens, feta cheese and caramelized hazelnuts. I actually love vegetables in the morning. And let’s be honest, I’m heading out on a cruise! I’m not going to be eating super healthy or appropriate amounts of food for 9 days! Neither Gary nor I are big drinkers so those calories will be spared!
We checked out of our hotel about 10:30 a.m., donned our day packs and Gary’s backpack and walked the half mile to where the huge cruise ship was docked, following Gary’s earlier scoped out route when he brought my suitcase to the docks.
The check-in process was amazingly smooth. Gary had filled out all of the cruise information online before we got to Seattle, including uploading our photos, passports etc. I never asked anyone to give me special assistance but when they saw my knee sleeve and trekking poles, I was instructed to take shortcuts avoiding the back and forth “cattle lines” on a few occasions. 👍That was a treat.
Unfortunately, due to my left leg muscles not being quite strong enough after my knee replacement 9 weeks ago, I have chosen to take the elevator on the ship. Gary and I have always taken the stairs on our previous cruises and he will do the same this trip. Our stateroom is on level 14 and the exit at ports is on level 4. He’ll quickly burn off the buffets!
July 17, 2025
Day at Sea
E: Enroute to Glacier Bay National Park we will be enjoying a few remote Alaskan towns. Most of which you can only access by air or sea! Today is “A Day at Sea”. No stops as we travel to our first destination, Ketchikan.
Gary and I found the gym onboard so I can use a stationary bicycle each day to keep my knee limber. We familiarized ourselves with the ship’s layout, had dinner in one of the 3 main dining rooms and took in a live performance about 1990’s music.
This ship is the largest we have sailed on, with 3,500 of our closest guests and over 1,200 staff. We both prefer other means of adventures and are, well to be honest, spoiled with our other Alaskan adventures including mushing our own dog sled teams into Gates of the Artic NP or watching the bears feast at Katmai NP. But we are definitely going to enjoy the Inside Passage views as we meander through this gorgeous Southeastern area of Alaska.
If you are interested in some fascinating statistics and education about cruise ships, such as the staggering number of gallons of water used and where it comes from! You might like this article Gary found:
July 18, 2025
Ketchikan
E: Since we are mainly posting about Glacier Bay NP this trip, I will keep our other day’s adventures to a minimum. But this whole 9-day cruise was booked to be able to get to Glacier Bay NP so I thought you might like a few journal entries and pics of our supporting adventures as well!
The Norwegian Joy pulled into Ward Cove in Ketchikan, AK at 7AM, our first stop. We docked about 7 miles from the center of town and were one of 6 cruise ships in town today.
We really enjoyed the lumber jack show in its 25th season. It was well run, humorous and skillfully impressive. We walked on Creek Street, viewing seals below the boardwalks; enjoyed a local beer with 4 other cruisers from another ship and headed back onboard for a late lunch around 2pm. As the vessel pulled away from the dock, Gary and I felt Ketchikan reminded us of Pago Pago, American Samoa. Both towns have/had fish canneries and the hills were thick with timber supported by a 100+ inches of rain/yr in both locations.
While sitting on our balcony this evening, we spotted a whale spouting water mist into the air; seal heads bobbing in the calm waters and we discussed the Bald Eagle sighting from yesterday. A beautiful weather day and a peaceful way to turn-in feeling grateful.
July 19, 2025
Juneau
E: We decided to wing it today. No pre-booked tours. Honestly, that’s usually how we do it on cruises. When you get off the ship there are always local tour groups willing to book you directly, if you are willing to be flexible. It has worked for us 90% of the time. And it’s usually a better time than we could have planned! It’s less expensive and usually smaller groups, which we prefer.
We went to one of the several tour booths when we got off the ship and there was a whale watch with a Mendenhall Glacier & self-guided walk to the 2,000 ft Nugget Falls… leaving in 5 minutes! It was $100 per person less expensive than the cruise offered. We paid $199 pp for two plus hours on the water with guaranteed whale sightings! Then they drop you at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center for 2 hours. 19 ppl total. Sold!
We saw loads of eagles on the 25 seat bus. No pics, they were on telephone poles and out catching fish on the sandbars and we were moving & inside the bus. Amazing to see so many!
The Mendenhall Glacier is in the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States! Over 17,000,000 acres, 7 times the size of Rhode Island. It’s located in southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage.
The still photos of our whale watching adventure do not do our experience justice. I took lots of videos of our multiple sightings of Humpback Whales but this journal site does not support videos. But you’ll get the idea! We saw the rare Bubble Feeding of roughly 14 Humpback Whales!
An incredibly fun, exciting, professionally done small boat tour. We loved it!
We then were dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier where I have been practicing at home to be able to walk the 1 mile, one way, path to the 2000 ft high Nugget Falls. I did it! Sooo worth it!
I am using my hiking poles almost 100% of the time, on and off the ship, for balance. I have heard several comments of others saying, ” What a great idea, wish I had brought mine”. 😄
A side note re: the size of the towns where we’ve been stopping.
Ketchikan’s population is roughly 8,000 -13,000 depending on how many square miles out you include; Juneau, Alaska’s capitol city, has 32,000 people but over 2,700 square miles (Vermont’s largest city, where I am from, is 45,000 ppl in 15 square miles)! Skagway: 1,000 people, Sitka: 8,700.
The weather, as you can see from our pictures, has been wonderful. Overcast in the mornings, low in the 40’s (F) – sunny and high of 68 in the afternoons.
Not all those who wander are lost.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 