Tracey Arm Fjord and Glacier Adventure

[anricat]

Hey, OP, is there any way you can correct the spelling of "Tracey" to "Tracy" in the title so folks searching the forum in the future for info on this excursion can find it?

 

[Snowwhyt]

So today was the last day....anyone know what happened? Enddicott I assume.

 

[micknme]

Just got off from seeing Endicott. Weather was gorgeous. No need to bundle up with all the sunshine. Excursion was awesome. Once in a lifetime experience. Would do it again in a heartbeat!!!

 

[saxmangeoff]

Yes, the Wonder went to Endicott today, so I think that makes it 0-for-the-season.

 

[pudinhd]

Happy Sunday! Just checking to see if there are any 2017 trip reports for this excursion. Thank you!!

 

[AussieNSW]

We went on the 26th June cruise 2017. Our cruise went to endicott. We loved the excursion and went on the first trip at 12 I think it was. Our family is prone to sea sickness so we only had a light breakfast and ordered room service after the trip as we had a balcony.
On the trip to the glacier we got a little side tracked with whales off the side of the boat which was gorgeous. It was beautiful looking at the icebergs floating past as the boat was plotting a path through them. Many of them had baby seals laying peacefully enjoying the sun. We were lucky and heard and saw the glacier calve.
The scenery was beautiful and the boat was not to full. You had plenty of room to move around outside and take photos.
When we got back we noticed that the wonder was facing one way and then it turned so that the other side of the boat could see.
The view from our balcony was nice but nothing like the experience we had up close.

 

[Luckymommatoo]

We sailed in mid-July and did the excursion in Endicott. It was wonderful! We did the one on the way in, which I would recommend. It's so thrilling to see everything "first" from the smaller boat. We saw whales, a bald eagle, mountain goats, seals (and pups!). The naturalist and crew on board were great, there was free hot cocoa, coffee and donuts (plus other food for sale). We brought binoculars but they did have many onboard to borrow. There was plenty of space inside and out.

A fabulous experience -- I definitely recommend it.

 

[jetskigrl]

Add us to those that had an amazing experience with the excursion. We were on the August 2nd cruise and also went to Endicott Arm. Within a few minutes of getting on the excursion boat, we stopped alongside a group of about 5 or 6 whales. One of the whales breached very close to the boat. Then three more swam right next to us (amazing to see and hear them so close). We stopped up right along side a huge chunk of ice to get a close up view of that also. Then we went back into a cove where there is a flat area and there was a bear hanging out there (it was pretty far away for most people to see with just their eyes but those with binoculars and cameras were able to see it).

We kept going back and forth past the ship as we stopped to view things, which gave us tons of opportunities to photograph the ship with that amazing scenery in the background.
We also slowed to see the seals on an piece of ice and came up right next to a waterfall (I have pictures looking straight up the side of the hill).

Then of course the glacier was the highlight. We stayed up close so we could see the glacier calve multiple times. We re-boarded the ship while it was still along side the glacier and were able to get many more picture from onboard the ship (which was nice since I was worried about missing that part of it).

I did appreciate that the did not over crowd the boat also. There was plenty of room to sit inside to get out of the cold when the boat was moving. Then people would come outside for pictures, etc when we stopped for things. There was a third level that was closed when the boat was moving but they would open it and let people go up on top for pictures when they stopped so there was plenty of room for everyone.

Overall, this had to have been my best excursion ever. But of course, I think we were extremely lucky because we had a beautiful sunny day and the cooperation of the wildlife

 

[havaneselover]

Planning for late 2018--would this be a decent alternative to whale watching in Juneau? Trying to prioritize excursions and not working with a huge budget.

 

[anricat]

Planning for late 2018--would this be a decent alternative to whale watching in Juneau? Trying to prioritize excursions and not working with a huge budget.

Not if you want to see whales. This excursion is not a whale watching trip.

 

[jetskigrl]

Planning for late 2018--would this be a decent alternative to whale watching in Juneau? Trying to prioritize excursions and not working with a huge budget.

I wouldn't plan this as an alternative to whale watching. It was just very lucky that we happened to have whales in the arm that day. So since they were there, we stopped to watch them (well, had to stop since they were so close to the boat). It was definitely a bonus and not the main focus of the excursion.

You will likely see whales from the ship too (we saw tons this trip), but it is just the pure luck. If seeing whales is important, than the whale watch in Juneau is the best chance for good whale viewing.

 

[jdg345]

Did any of the 2017 excursions actually make it to Tracy Arm? Or did they all go to Endicott as in 2016?

 

[Bowery Bum]

Does anyone know the name of the tour company that provides the Tracy Arm Glacier Explorer Tour? And if it's possible to book the tour directly with that company?

 

[Yokelridesagain]

Does anyone know the name of the tour company that provides the Tracy Arm Glacier Explorer Tour? And if it's possible to book the tour directly with that company?

While booking with independent companies is usually a great idea for Alaska, it's not an option in this case, unfortunately. You board the tour boat directly from Disney Wonder, and there is no way on except for booking the tour through DCL.

 

[Pooh93]

I saw @Dustin2008 post on Twitter that they refunded everyone who took the excursion half of their excursion cost. They must have gotten A LOT of complaints!!! Good for them to do that, though. I can see them either cancelling the excursion completely or cancelling it whenever the ship goes down Endicott in the future. They can't be happy about having so many unhappy passengers.

We were on that excursion. People were upset that the excursion was nothing different than had we stayed on the ship. The ship basically followed behind the excursion boat. We didn't do or see anything extra or exciting. People were complaining very loudly. I warned the Disney people as were reboarding they had a lot of unhappy people coming back onboard. We hung around to see the outcome and the Disney personnel handled the situation very well as they were really getting yelled at. Indeed, we received a phone message a few hours later that we were being refunded half. I can't believe it's been over 2 years and I just now saw this thread. I always wondered if that excursion was cancelled going forward.

 

[Snowwhyt]

With the above being said...
I wanted to let those whom may consider this tour, things changed that 2nd week. They went into more land, water and wildlife details and added short inlets. It’s a nice National Geographic info style tour ALL THOUGH if your children are not into watching 2 hours of Nat Geo, let them enjoy the Kids’s clubs on the ship. The kids that aren’t sitting on the floor playing on their seats are down by the snack bar. All very well behaved, but all very bored.

 

[Dizney73]

Has anyone done this excursion in 2019 And can offer newer reviews? We're specifically interested in knowing if we do the noOn excursion if we will miSS the characters on deck.
Does the second excursion feel more rushed to leave the glacier to get back to the ship?