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Day 3, Part 1: At Sea/Endicott Arm
You can start this trip report from the beginning by clicking here.
You can see this day’s Navigator by clicking here.
I am breaking up this day into 2 posts because of the enormous amount of photos. The scenery this day was breathtaking and I just could not stop taking pictures! So, for the most part, this post will be heavy on pictures and light on words.
I woke up about 7:00 am. I had also woken up at 3:45 am and noticed that it was completely light outside (we had the curtains closed, but the daylight was so bright that I could still see it). So, if light bothers you when you sleep and you have a window in your room, bring a sleeping mask to Alaska.
This was the view from our verandah when I woke up. The scenery was getting more dramatic since yesterday and would continue to do so throughout the day.
At about 8:30, my husband and I went to deck 9 for coffee and tea, and then went down to deck 4 to wait for the pilot boat to arrive. The captain had told us the day before about what time it would arrive. I know I’ve said this before, but I love seeing behind the scenes stuff like this. The captain had told us that 3 people would be getting onto the ship from the pilot boat: the pilot who would sail the ship through Endicott Arm Fjord, a park ranger who would make sure that the ship did not get too close to any wildlife (I think he also narrated the journey up the fjord which was broadcast in certain areas of the ship), and one other person that I can’t for the life of me remember. Here is the pilot boat approaching:
The people are getting ready to step from the boat onto the ship:
Mission accomplished and off it goes:
After this we went back to the room to gather the girls and head to Cabanas for some breakfast. By this time, the sky was getting more blue and less dreary so I ran up to deck 10 to take more pictures.
After we ate, my husband and I wanted to go see the naturalist presentation in the Walt Disney Theater: “Fjords, Glaciers, and Icefields featuring Scott Foster”. The girls were on their own and I’m not sure what they did.
At the beginning of the presentation, the captain came out and officially announced that we would be going into Endicott Arm today instead of Tracy Arm, which was too icy. Scott Foster said not to worry, that Endicott was just as pretty and both have a glacier at the end.
After the presentation, my husband and I spent the next 6 hours or so walking around deck 10 (and occasionally going to deck 4 for a different perspective) viewing the incredible scenery. The girls joined us off and on, but spent most of the day inside in the Promenade Lounge, participating the structured activities and playing board games on their own. I know that they did the door hanger craft, played Disney charades, and the “Who Am I” game.
The morning started off gorgeous, sunny and relatively warm (40s), but as the day went on, it turned cloudy, drizzly and colder (30s). You’ll notice the weather change in the photos, which I will try to post chronologically.
Paper cups were not allowed on deck 10, so they had placed plastic mugs at the drink station on deck 9:
It looks like there were a few people in the pool:
We saw another cruise ship:
It was around noon when we parked ourselves on deck 10 aft (next to Palo) for a bit as there was hardly anyone back there. A CM walked by and offered us some split pea soup in a bread bowl. We weren’t hungry so we declined, though I regret not getting one just to see how it tasted.
Not long after, a CM came by with a cart. In addition to coffee and mulled wine, there were some alcoholic concoctions you could choose from.
At this point we ran into Harry and Meghan and spent quite a while talking to them and taking in the scenery. Here they are chatting with my husband:
One thing they told us which I thought was so neat is that they were on the very first sailing of the Fantasy. I’m not talking about the official inaugural sailing from Port Canaveral, but they were on the ship when it sailed from where it was made in Germany, to New York City, to Orlando, before the official inaugural sailing even happened. It took them 3 weeks to make this voyage and they told us all about it. They were able to do this because as I told you earlier, they are related to an important crew member. I think they said they still had to enter a lottery in order to get spots on the sailing and happily, they did!
We eventually decided to walk up to the front of the ship to see what was happening up there.
When we got there, we found Kenney and Bunny. Bunny had this awesome hat:
We also met another couple, Paul and Cindy. All 6 us us had sailed on the Panama Canal cruise last April/May, as well as the previous 5 night sailing right before this one. So, 3 cruises together in 1 year!
Here are all of us minus Kenney, the photographer:
We watched as the first Glacier Explorer (TC01) port adventure boat left. Even though we had switched to Endicott Arm from Tracy Arm, the port adventure still continued as normal.
A close-up of the Glacier Explorer boat:
Here, the Glacier Explorer boat lined up next to the ship so that people could get on:
After a while, we walked back towards the aft of the ship and saw the girls. I had texted them to bundle up and come see the scenery with us.
Right then we saw this seal on a floating chunk of ice. It was hard to see with the naked eye, but we could see it clearly with binoculars.
By now we were getting close to Dawes Glacier. I think I had gone back to the room for something and took this from our verandah:
At some point we went to Cabanas for lunch.
They showed the bridge view on Funnel Vision most of the day:
We went to the front of the ship to get a good look at the glacier:
That’s the Glacier Explorer boat:
We also saw this small boat. I’m not sure where it came from, but not from our ship.
I’m going to stop there for now and will finish up in part 2.
Up Next: Day 3, Part 2
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I understand about the early sunrises, that’s why we book an inside cabin and have again for our upcoming trip on the Wonder in 6 days according to DCL app. We enjoy being on decks taking it all in and talking to other passengers about the scenery. As to the glacier viewing I think you got the better one at Dawes. It is wider than Endicott with a larger front allowing the ship to sit full broadside to the glacier, and pivot to have both sides of the ship get the view. We found out on last year’s sailing the pea soup took the place of the after deck bar b que. With the refit of the Wonder they lost the aft deck on deck 7 and the changes to the outside eating area on aft deck 9 didn’t have room to cook outside. Sorry to have lost that, usually had wild game during that bar b que, but the soup was good. Excellent pictures again. Keep the reports coming. Oh by the way what was the cabin gift for Gold this season?
Yes, I enjoy being out on the decks too and we rarely used our verandah. Next time I would save money and get an interior room. I asked about the BBQ on our sailing as was told they no longer do it, like you said. That’s such a bummer. Our cabin gift was the sling backpack and 2 luggage tags.
Thanks for quick response, can’t wait. Only 6 day, 8 hours and 53 minutes until our 9 night Alaska cruise on the Wonder. My 3rd trip on the Wonder to Alaska.
It’s absolutely stunning! I love how the water is just like glass, and it seemingly changes from blue to green effortlessly. Just gorgeous. Our day at Endicott started out very sunny but by the time we reached the glacier the clouds had rolled in a light mist started to fall so we retreated for our verandah with hot chocolate (and baileys!) for the rest of the afternoon.
That sounds heavenly!
Wow absolutely gorgeous scenery. You seem to meet the most interesting people. I’d love some tips for this as I’m often too shy to talk to anyone on the ship.
I have found that one of the best ways to meet people is to go to structured activities, like beverage seminars, cooking classes, trivia, animation classes, etc. People are usually very friendly and talkative at these things and that is how I meet most people that I meet.
Thank you. I’ve joined several tastings for my upcoming cruise via the Facebook group. Since it is Panama Canal there will be far more adults. Maybe we can get to do some “get to know you games” before we leave so it will help me get over my shyness too.