We sailed nearly 300 nautical miles overnight so that we could see the Hubbard Glacier up close and personal this afternoon.

The weather was less than cooperative – we dressed for it, though, and braved the outside to see what we could see.

There were many ice floes in the water – nothing big enough to threaten the ship, though!

When we got near the glacier, it was quite foggy, but the captain eventually brought the ship close enough so we could tell there really was a glacier out there.

He brought the ship even closer – our suite was on the side facing the glacier for a while, so we went out on our veranda and listened to the sounds of the glacier calving. We weren’t able to see any of the newly-hatched icebergs, but I’m sure they were out there.

There was an optional excursion on a small boat which brought people closer to the glacier – it was sold out by the time we tried to get seats. I know some people cancelled their seats when they found out what the weather was going to be like, but the excursion ran anyway; I wonder if they had better viewing than we did.

The glacier was amazing even though we couldn’t see it in its best light; it’s one of the few glaciers that’s still advancing (getting bigger), despite global warming.

We’re en route to Juneau; we’re supposed to go out on a whale watching tour and take a helicopter to the Mendenhall Glacier, weather permitting. Here’s hoping!

The morning was a little on the chaotic side – we had to have our bags out early so they could be taken to the ship, and some people had to go to get their Covid tests. Sadly, not everyone on our pre-tour was negative – four couples had at least one person test positive, so they had to stay behind (the good news is that Celebrity offers refunds or credit for last-minute positive tests so they can take the cruise later).

We had breakfast at the hotel – it was a buffet, which was not at all surprising. What was surprising was what our waiter, Milenko, did when he brought us the bill – he also brought a deck of cards and did a few magic tricks, making cards appear and disappear right under my nose.

We visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center after breakfast; it was fascinating. Raven greeted us.

When we arrived, they were demonstrating a game that involved jumping up and kicking a ball on a tether – it was based on an old Native signaling method!

The Hall of Cultures has artifacts from each of the major Native groupings in Alaska; I thought the listing of values was informative.

Our package included a bus transfer to Seward, but due to a shortage of drivers, Celebrity put us on the Cruise Train. I was very happy with the change!

The Cruise Train isn’t up to the standards of the Wilderness Explorer, but it beats the hell out of a bus. Or Amtrak. And the scenery was amazing – unfortunately, most of my photos are still in the camera, but here are a couple that i took on the phone.

If connectivity permits, I’ll add more photos later – but I doubt that will actually happen. I’m writing this post at dinner so I can take advantage of the last wisps of land-based Internet before we sail.

I’ll post what I can when I can, but there may be occasional service interruptions. I apologize for any inconvenience.