Today we sailed in to see Hubbard Glacier. We started the day with a quick breakfast and a visit to the fitness center. We had just returned to the suite when an announcement came over the ship broadcast system. Whales spotted on the port side! Wait, port side, that’s our side. We grabbed the binoculars, camera and phones and stepped onto our balcony. It was sunny and the water had a little chop to it. We noticed the spray from a whales spout first. The little puff of spray is there longer than the whale is at the surface. Then we saw one surface. The fin clearly visible. It was very exciting. I’m not quick enough with my iPhone to get a picture of a whale for the brief time it’s visible, but I am with my Canon camera and I caught this picture. We saw two more surface and a few more spots as the whales passed by our ship. (I snapped a picture of the picture from my Canon screen to add it to this post.)
We watched for whales until we got hungry when we headed to the grill for a hamburger. We sat in the sun by the pool. The deck was busy with other people enjoying the sunshine. While it was warm-ish in the sun, it was cold in the shade so we bundled up to go to the front of the ship and watch the approach to Hubbard glacier. Clouds had moved above us, but there were still patches of blue over the glacier. It was spectacular. Waiters were about with cups of hot chocolate and the atmosphere was very festive. The ship sailed within 1/2 mile of the 300’ wall of ice. Then to our surprise, the ship turned a full 360 degrees, giving everyone an opportunity to see the glacier whether they were braving the cold, or cozy in a lounge or in their room.
As an added bonus we spotted a large group of sea lions on a rocky shore near the glacier.
After the ship sailed out of the inlet to the glacier we stopped to get a beverage in one of the lounges. We ran into Chris and Kevin, the nice people we met earlier. We all ended up playing trivia and bingo “for points” to, as the MC said, win the possibility of getting a free key chain at the end of the cruise. We had surf and turf for dinner; Andy ordered the lobster and I ordered the filet and we shared. We ended the day at a comedy show. And we thought we’d get bored on the day “at sea”.
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