Question:
Should
we visit Glacier
Bay as well
as Tracy Arm?
Don't
want to impose,
but after reading Frommers, have booked a 5 day cruise with Cruise West
for the Inside
Passage. The
Cruise includes Tracy Fyord, which according to your remarks
in the book is one of the most beautiful in the world. My question is,
would we
miss something spectacular if we did not go to Glacier
Bay or do
you feel that
if we see Tracy Fyord we would be covering that part of Alaska? This is
a really
hard state to get your arms wrapped around in order to make good
decisions
about what to do. I am in my early seventies, so I don't expect to do
this
again, so I want to be wise in setting up my trip.
Thanks for your early reply and any information you can give me will be
appreciated. After the cruise itself we expect to travel to
Skagway and
Haines and then
fly from Juneau to Anchorage and
spend a week
doing Denali and
Kenai Fyord.
Answer:
If you
are already
going to Tracy Arm and Kenai Fjords, I don't think it makes sense to go
to Glacier
Bay, too.
How many
glaciers do you need to see? The one thing that you may sacrifice is
that whale
watching in and near Glacier
Bay is the
most predictable
anywhere in Alaska.
However, you have a
good chance of seeing whales on the other two tours.
Question:
Cruise
through Glacier
Bay or to
Hubbard Glacier?
A Royal
Carribean
cruise is a better fit for our schedule than Princess. On Royal
Carribean we
would not get to cruise through
Glacier
Bay is
remarkable for its
great size, history and the frequency of whale sightings. Hubbard
Glacier is a
large, active glacier on Russell Fjord, which is much smaller than
Glacier
Bay. It is
remarkable for
its tendency to surge forward and block the fjord, turning it into a
lake until
water pressure breaks though the glacier.
You have a good chance for a nice cruise in either area. So much
depends on the
moment: the weather, the wildlife, what the glacier is doing, etc. I
think it
probably makes sense to choose the cruise that fits your schedule and
not worry
about what you are not seeing as long as you are excited about what you
will
see.
Question:
Should we spend a week at the Bear Track Inn in Gustavus?
After
reading Alaska for
Dummies, I hoped you could confirm our plans for next summer. Our
plan is to take our 14 (!) adult children to Gustavus
for a week in early June, stay at the Bear Track Inn and take advantage
of various activities from there. Our group on the whole is more
adventure oriented. I would so appreciate your thoughts on this
itinerary. The owner of the
Inn would be
doing the booking for most of the activities.
Answer:
I cover Gustavus in my other Alaska
guidebook, Frommer’sAlaska, upon
which Alaska for
Dummies is based. There is no need for you to buy it, however, as
you’ve already found a great place. The Bear Track Inn is excellent and
I’m sure they’ll do a good job of setting everything up. You could
hardly go wrong and the trip sounds like a lot of fun.
