Hubbard Glacier

By far one of the most amazing sights on our entire cruise was seeing the Hubbard Glacier in Glacier Bay.

Unfortunately although the day had dawned sunny and bright, as we got closer to Yakutat Bay the clouds closed in. This was our first glimpse of the glacier.

 As we sailed into the bay we began to see large ice flows around us.

 The color of the water was amazing....so green!

 What a contrast to the deep greens on the mountain slopes.

 Before Hubbard Glacier meets the sea it is joined to the west by Victoria Glacier.

 As we sailed into the bay we were surrounded by icebergs of all sizes. It seemed surreal to think that 90% of the ice was below the surface.

 The deeper the blue of the ice, the more dense it is and the less oxygen it has.

It takes 400 years for the ice to traverse the length of the glacier so the ice we were seeing was 400 years old! Incredible!

Hubbard Glacier is a tidewater glacier which has it's source in the Yukon in northern Canada and stretches 122 km or 76 miles to the sea at Yakutat Bay and Disenchantment Bay.

 Hubbard has an open calving face over 10 km or 6.2 miles long!

 We could see the ice break off before we heard the loud boom.

 It was incredible and words really cannot even begin to express it all!

Headed for Alaska

Unfortunately we left the sun in Vancouver but that didn't stop us from enjoying the cruise. Monday was our first day at sea and also our first formal night. It's always fun having an excuse to get all dressed up(I am always glad that I have a nice formal outfit that I bought for Heather and Matt's wedding that is black and glitzy and timeless!)

All dressed up and waiting for the Dining Room to open for Dinner.

Gathering around the Grand Staircase was a good place to meet.....and beautiful too!

Tuesday morning we woke up and realized that we were actually in Alaska!

Dave was a happy camper! He had checked off one of the things on his Bucket List, a list of things that he would like to do or accomplish in his lifetime).

Although the sun had teased us at the beginning of the day, the rain soon set in.

Fortunately we could still see the whales(in this case, two Orcas or Killer Whales as they are sometimes called) in the cloud and rain.

 Our first port of call was Icy Point Straight.

 As you can tell from our clothes, it was cold and rainy.

 We got back and forth to the ship on tender boats.

The rain finally stopped and the fog began to lift as we pulled out of port giving us just a glimpse of the beauty that surrounded us.

 Goodbye Icy Straight Point....tomorrow would be an exciting day as we headed to Glacier Bay.

Off on an Adventure

One of things on Dave's Bucket List was an Alaskan Cruise, so this past week we took off with four other couples from our small group at church on an Alaskan Adventure!

So many times we stood on the shore and thought about how awesome it would be to be on the Cruise Ships sailing out of Vancouver.

 The best part was going with old friends!

 It was a beautiful day and of course the 360 degree view from the ship was amazing!

 Our stateroom on the Celebrity Century was small, but cozy.

 With lots of storage space...amazing what they can fit into a small area!

 The Grand Restaurant where we ate all of our dinners.

 Little did we know that this would be our last warm sunny day for the next week!

 Ready for a grand adventure!

 Sailing under the Lion's Gate Bridge.

 It was so close......incredibly!

 We're off....and leaving Vancouver behind!

 Dave captured this seagull in flight.

And this was only the beginning!