R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 152

The Norwegian Sun at the Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier — Six Miles Wide

This is one destination Ursula and I had never visited in our previous five cruises to Alaska — Disenchantment Bay and the Hubbard Glacier. The Hubbard Glacier wall is actually two glaciers that merge about six miles northeast of the bay. The much smaller and narrower Valerie Glacier is pictured in the image below. The boundary between Valerie and Hubbard is the dark area (moriane) on the right side of the image. The moraine on the left is debris scoured by Va...

The Norwegian Sun Cruises Glacier Bay

Lamplugh Glacier

Margerie Glacier is just one of the glaciers you’ll visit here in Glacier Bay, but it’s also the closest you’ll come to one. After leaving Tarr Inlet the Norwegian Sun turned up the John Hopkins Inlet. Along the way you’ll coast past the Lamplugh Glacier depicted above. We didn’t get very close, but I was able to make good use of my 400mm (35mm equivalent) telephoto to capture some good shots of it.

Lamplugh Glacier

Unfortunately you won’t get very close to John Hopkins Glaci...

The Norwegian Sun Explores Margerie Glacier

Glacier Bay — Margerie Glacier

The Norwegian Sun spent well over an hour very close to the face of the Margerie Glacier, slowly rotating to give viewers stunning views from both sides of the ship.

Glacier Bay — Margerie Glacier

This means that if you have a balcony cabin then there is no need to go above decks to get marvelous views. Just hang out on your balcony and click away.

Glacier Bay — Margerie Glacier

Make sure you stand ready to catch ice falling into the waters. This makes for some...

Norwegian Sun Enters Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay — Approaching Margerie Glacier

The glaciers of Alaska are incredible sights. And the glacier you’ll get closest to on any cruise is Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. As you approach Margerie Glacier you’ll be greeted by myriad waterfalls cascading into the bay.

Waterfalls in Glacier Bay

Waterfalls in Glacier Bay

Early in the season you’ll also see unmelted snowfields flowing down vegetation-covered bedrock and exposed granite. These photos were taken very...

Fun Photo Friday — Alaskan Glacier Preview

Glacier Bay

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be showing you scenes of Alaskan Glaciers, including Portage Glacier, Hubbard Glacier, and Mendenhall Glacier. Below is a preview of some of the more stunning images from this trip. Click on any image to enlarge and bring up today’s slide show.

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Alaska, Alaska cruise, Fun Photo Friday, glaciers, Norwegian Sun, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel...

Skipping Ahead — Anchorage, Glacier Brewhouse, and the Road to Talkeetna

Road to Talkeetna

Starting next week we’ll be taking a look at the glaciers of Alaska, including some stunning video of gigantic chunks of ice calving off glacier walls and crashing into the chilled Alaskan waters below. But first I’m going to skip ahead a bit to our trip after we departed the Norwegian Sun.

Anchorage

Anchorage

I’ve done blog posts on Anchorage before, as you can see here (link to: Anchorage). As such, I’m going concentrate instead on our favorite Anchorage eating establishme...

The Norwegian Sun Docks in Skagway

Norwegian Sun in Skagway

The Norwegian Sun’s next stop, on June 3, was the ever-charming community of Skagway along the Chilkoot Inlet. And, as with Juneau, I’m going to give you gals a great jewelry shopping tip, one you wouldn’t expect way out here in the wilds of Alaska. But, first, let’s take a look at some of the stunning scenery that awaits you on the walk into town from the cruise dock, traveling along Congress Street before hanging a left on Broadway:

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

O...

The Norwegian Sun in Juneau

Norwegian Sun docked in Juneau

No Fun Photo Friday this week. We’re going to instead continue with our recent Alaska adventure with Al and Lisa Fittipaldi. I’ve shown you

Juneau fishing boat

Of course, Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Indeed, here’s the entrance through which Sarah Palin used to enter before she got bored...

The Norwegian Sun Docks in Ketchikan

Ketchican

We met up with our good friends from Houston, fellow authors Al and Lisa Fittipaldi, and boarded the Norwegian Sun in Vancouver, Canada, after a bus ride from Seattle. We’ve cruised with Al and Lisa several times over the years. They’re a fun couple. We even spent twenty-eight days with them as recently as October of last year on our cruise around the Pacific aboard the Crown Princess — but that’s a trip I’ll be blogging about at a later date.

Time to Tour Ketchikan and Creek Street...

Behind the Scenes on the Norwegian Sun

The Norwegian Sun in Juneau, Alaska

I’m interrupting my series on our Chile-to-Los Angeles cruise for something to cool you down this hot, hot summer. We’re going to take a quick look at this year’s Norwegian Sun excursions into Alaska, beginning with a look behind the scenes on the Norwegian Sun.

Norwegian Sun model in original paint scheme

Ursula and I are Platinum status on Norwegian, which gives us the perk of a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship. These tours used to include the navigatio...