Yakutat Bay

Today we will be heading for Yakutat Bay and some scenic cruising in the area of Hubbard Glacier. Nicknamed the Galloping Glacier this east Alaskian glacier is rapidly advancing toward the Gulf of Alaska into a pristine area known as Disenchantment Bay. In fact its movement temporarily formed a natural dam that twice closed off nearby Russel Fjord from the bay but the intense water pressure building within the fjord-turned-lake has thus far been enough to explode through the wall of ice.The largest tidewater glacier in North America, the Hubbard Glacier measures 76 miles long and plunges 1,000 feet into the depts of the bay. Its immense beauty and phenomenal blue hues are enchanting, even from afar. But it's whenyour cruise shipdraws closer that its towering surfacereally impresses, dwarfing even the uppermost deck on your ship at a whopping 40 stories high. There, with the snowcapped mountains serving as a glorious backdrop, you'll have a prime viewing spot from which to witness the glacier calfing, as it often expels icebergs the size of a 10 story building. Imagine the splash. The area around Hubbard Glacier is also renowned for its wildlife, where whales, harbor seals and otter swim, brown bears, moose and black tailed deer roam ashore and a wide variety of seabirds soar gracefully across the sky. The entire day was wet and stormy.With the abundance of fog there was little or no chance to view the glaciers. I felt sorry for the people for whom this was and would be their only chance to see the magnificent Hubbard Glacier. During the morning they had a display of things for sale. There were deep price cuts because this is the last cruise of the season for the Royal Princess. Many people attended.

There was a fun display of towel animals accompanied by the room stewards who created some of them.

We received our invitation to the Most Traveled Passenger luncheon. I guess we are the 6th highest this time. This was formal night so we dressed up to the code. Dinner was fabulous as usual. It was an opportunity to get pictures of our wait staff, Emile with each of us and Shabham. .

Walking to the Princess theatre we came to a spot where we could get a picture of the Champagne Waterfall,They had not begun to pour yet.

We went to the production show in the Princess Theatre, it was called Soul Music and it was wonderfully done, loud but not deafening loud.

After the show we returned to our room and called it a night. Happily the rain has stopped, the wind has died down and the ship is no longer rocking and rolling. Tomorrow we will be in Glacier Bay.