Hubbard Glacier should have been a highlight of Cunard’s first Alaska sailing since 2019. (Correct me if I am mistaken!). The Almighty provided another perfect day, and not long after breakfast, the unmistakable thin turquoise line, that is Alaska’s only expanding glacier, named after the first President of the National Geographical Society, Gardiner Hubbard, came into view. Excitement mounted around the ship in the belief that we would follow the “CelebrityECLIPSE” cruise ship as she sailed close to the glacier face.
. I had seen Hubbard Glacier from Queen Elizabeth on its final Alaska cruise in 2019. We got up close, and one could appreciate its vastness as melting ice crashed like thunder to the waters below. One could get even closer on a small boat onto which passengers were transferred. For some reason, I missed out on that opportunity and vowed to return to experience once again this awesome place..
Yesterday, the sky was clear and the sun reflected brightly from the snowcapped jagged mountains in the distance. And, the magnificent light turquoise of Hubbard Glacier came tantalisingly into sight. Ahead was a cruise ship I am told was Celebrity Eclipse, merely a speck almost up against the Glacier. It had hogged the pole position, but I saw no other vessel which would take passengers even closer, as in 2019. (I was later told that infact, passengers were lowered in the ship’s tenders for a closer look. Annoyingly, for whatever reason, we didn’t follow Celebrity Eclipse to its much nearer advantageous position closer to the Glacier. And we came away much earlier than suggested in the Daily Programme. To this day, that remains a bitter disappointment.
Being philosophical, was not getting close to Hubbard Glacier the “end of the world?” Of course not! For the best part of two days, we had sailed gently through probably the most magnificent of scenic waterways, which like wonderful music, one never tires of. Those jagged peaks to which I referred earlier were all visible thanks to a rare day of little or no cloud cover. And to be able to gaze for hours on end at such fabulous unspoilt landscapes so far from home, is an enormous privilege I couldn’t really have contemplated not so many years ago.
Much of that afternoon was spent wrestling with the online procedures required to re-enter Canada at Victoria on Vancouver Island. I was far from the only one trying to get my head around these unfamiliar procedures. Very well done to the personnel in the Library who helped us all out!
After dinner, and putting the world to rights with the one remaining table companion, Lesley, I adjourned to the show in the Royal Court Theatre. It was a standard song and dance routine entitled Palladium Nights. The audience was thin but appreciative. It was very good, extremely well choreographed, with superb sound and lighting effects. I had walked past a completely empty Queens Room where nine musicians including female singer played as if to packed dance floor. Right at the end, I came across Shane and Cameron who actually had a “reasonable” gathering in the Garden Lounge. Immediately, they acknowledged my presence by name and launched into their version of a favourite Irish folk song of mine, Star of the County Down, the melody of which is also a tune to hymn I heard the Voice of Jesus Say.
I returned to my room and before getting some sleep, commenced on this blog, which I more or less re-wrote this morning. The WiFi is lousy, but this could be because there is now a lot of e-junk in my phone slowing things down. Hopefully, here in Juneau, where the weather has reverted to “Buxton grey” I will come across somewhere with good WiFi, as well as explore Alaska’s capital….once again.
Many thanks for reading, David, 09.08 in my stateroom.
Slightly amended in Sitka at the Mean Queen Bar and eatery in Sitka, where the free WiFi is excellent and no password required. 14.26, Friday 10th June.
David's Cruise 