Table of Contents
Glacier Bay - What a Wonderful World!
Today started well with breakfast at Sabitinis (another suite perk), which included a couple of mimosas (buck’s fizz). As the ship sailed through Icy Strait into Glacier Bay, we took the opportunity to take a photography lesson and picked up some useful tips – so hopefully, my photos will start to improve from this point on?!
Margerie Glacier
What left a lasting impression of Glacier Bay for me was the sound of it. You could hear the glacier almost crunching as it creeped icily into the sea. Occasionally, you could hear a sound like a thunderstorm when it calved. You could hear the screams of gulls and seabirds too, which seemed to echo around in the otherwise still air of the icy bay.
Flora and Fauna - Seals Basking in John Hopkins Inlet
The ship sailed into Johns Hopkins Inlet and we saw the amazing site of seals – loads of them – basking on the ice in the bay. You have to be so quick with the camera though to capture a good shot of wildlife in its natural habitat.
Tips for Future Travellers
We were glad to have a port side cabin as these get the best views of the coast, although the captain does a pretty good job of turning the ship around so that all passengers get good views .
Lamplugh/Topela Glaciers
After the highlight of the seals, the ship continued on to Lamplugh Glacier and Topela Glacier, neither of which matched the beauty of Hubbard Glacier for me. Topela was much dirtier and more silty than the other glaciers we had seen. Some of the glaciers here haven’t even been given a name yet!
The landscape is constantly changing here with some glaciers retreating and others advancing. Glacier Bay is home to several healthy advancing glaciers (e.g. Lamplugh), which is increasingly rare with global warming continuing.
Back to Luxury on the Sapphire Princess
After enjoying the natural highlights of the area all day, we decided to explore the pleasures of the man made territory of the ship’s thermal suite for a couple of hours before dinner.
The ship’s Lotus Spa is very well equipped with aromotherapy steam rooms and heated, tiled relaxation chairs – a lovely experience after the slightly chilly air of Glacier Bay.
We have yet to find a cocktail lounge that suits us on this ship – no piano bar identified yet?! We chose a different restaurant for dinner tonight and again enjoyed a great meal with a table for two. Peach and prosecco soup was a refreshing first for me, followed by scallops and prawns and then too large a crème brûlée.
Unexpected Highlight - Rock and Roll Party
We were trying to find our way to a Rock and Roll party but got distracted en route and ended up joining in a Country and Western sing-a-long instead. We participated enthusiastically – I’m not sure what they put in their cocktails, but it certainly seems to help you find your voice (?!)
