This day was billed as a “glacier transit” day – a slow cruise near the Hubbard Glacier. Like much of this cruise itinerary, the plan changed. Rather than cruising near the glacier – which is 7 miles long where it meets the sea – we stopped several miles away and did a “360 turn” (a complete rotation of the ship), then left. The initial reason given was that ice conditions didn’t allow us to approach any closer. But I think the real reason was that the late departure from Skagway forced the captain to cut the slow transit.
Add loss of a glacier transit to the loss of the three ports (Nicaragua, Colon Columbia and Cabo San Lucas Mexico). Many passengers are feeling they are victims of a “bait-and-switch” scam. I don’t feel that way, but I am pretty disappointed.
As this was the last full cruise day, we passed out some gratuities to the crew members that stood out: Marly the “washy washy” girl and the coffee trio, Paul Galvin and Jeanette. We also sought out some special passengers and got contact information for a few.
After dinner we paid (literally) a final visit to the casino and cashed out what little remained in our accounts. Then we sat for the last show which was a second helping of Evolution: Motown. Very good.
We packed our suitcases – which took about an hour – then set the alarm for 5:30am and went to bed.