Today we had a leisurely morning at sea. After a lovely breakfast in the Bordeaux Dining Room, we had a nice worship service with Papa in our room, and then dropped the girls off at the kids club. We then headed to the indoor Lotus Pool for a couple of hours.
We picked up the girls at noon, and got to see the bead snakes they had made.
Sara bought a Princess Cruises bear at the sale in the Provence dining room that she named Coral Grace after the ship and Princess Grace. For lunch, we enjoyed some pizza by the Lido pool and then had some soft-serv ice cream cones for dessert (I might have had two).
After lunch we walked a mile on the Promenade Deck and then took the girls back to the kids club for them to paint t-shirts. In the afternoon, the ship arrived at Yakutat Bay to see Hubbard Glacier. It is the largest tidewater glacier in the world and one of the few that is still growing. Much of the snow on the glacier fell over 100 years ago.
Most glaciers move a few feet per year, but Hubbard averages 10 meter per day but can “gallop” at up to 30 meter per day.
The bay was full of small icebergs that had broken off from the glacier. Many of these were covered in silt that had been churned up by the glacier. 2/3 of the mass of an iceberg is under the water.
The closer we got to the glacier, the more the water turned a beautiful shade of turquoise due to all the silt in the water.
As we approached the glacier, we could see evidence of past glaciers up in the mountains. Glaciers leave deep u-shaped valleys in the mountains, while rivers leave v-shaped jagged valleys.
The closer we got to the glacier, the colder it got (I think it was just below 50°) and and more clothes we put on, but it was absolutely stunning. Just awe inspiring. Even though it was chilly, we had great weather for viewing the glacier. No rain and even some intermittent sunshine.
When we reached the glacier, the ship slowly turned so everyone could get a great view. While it was turning, we got to see a couple of “calving” events where icebergs broke off the glacier. There was a loud pop and then a water explosion as they crashed into the water.
After taking a lot of pictures and enjoying the scenery, we started getting ready for dinner. It was formal night, so after a delicious dinner, we had lots of pictures made around the ship.
Before calling it a night, we enjoyed pianist Ryan Ahern in the Princess Theater. He was one of the best piano players I’ve ever seen, and even played Bohemian Rhapsody.
Tomorrow we have a full day on the ship in Glacier Bay National Park.