Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

NCL Jewel 21-Day Transpacific Cruise Tokyo to Seattle

May 19, 2018 (Saturday) -- Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

This morning, our ship should be in Hubbard Glacier some time around 11:30. We got up early enough to have breakfast and then just enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we sailed into the glacier.

Another sunny day.

A fishing boat nearby.

Maybe a pilot boat?

Arriving at the glacier at 11:30.

With the invitation that we received from the night before, we headed up to the Haven for the viewing of the glacier. Blankets were given out as we went up to the courtyard. Hot soup, hors d'oeuvre,  and drinks were served there also.

Much more spacious here with nothing much blocking the gorgeous views.

I thought the different colors of the water looked rather interesting. 

Always too slow in capturing the calving of the glacier.

An absolutely beautiful day!

I remember the ship turned around a couple of times so everyone got a chance to see the glacier up close.

Another calving.

After an hour or so we left the Haven courtyard and came back down for lunch.

Hallway in Haven

Entrance to the Haven.

Of course, everybody else had the same idea and the Garden Cafe was packed to capacity. So we headed over to La Cucina for the very first time. It is opened for breakfast and lunch as an overflow space when the buffet gets crowded. It is actually very nice here except it's a long walk from the food.

Dinner at Tsar's

We did not do much in the afternoon. Basically watching the ship sailed back out to the bay and just relaxed in our cabin. Nobody was seasick today since it was smooth sailing. It was good to have everybody back for dinner.

Crab and Cheese Souffle

Beef Carpaccio

Fava Bean, Corn and Duck Salad

Grilled Vermont Duck Breast

Pan Seared New Zealand Hake Fillet

Potato Gnocchi

AT and ET celebrating their 40th Anniversary that evening.

Like I did not have enough food! Japanese potato chips for snacks.

By evening, our ship was out of Yakutat Bay.

Invitation card for the glacier viewing similar to the one we received the day before.

And, once again, we received an invitation card for the glacier viewing at Haven Courtyard the next morning. There was also a message on the phone from Jellica, the Group Event Coordinator on the ship. She asked us to call her back as soon as we were available. When I called her back, she explained that their corporate office had contacted them to let them know that we are VIPs and they needed to take good care of us on this cruise. She apologized that they did not invite us to the VIP welcome party. To make it up we were invited to a complimentary dinner of our choice. All we had to do was to tell her the day, time, and choice of restaurant. Wow! What a nice surprise! Even though we were not sure what gave us that status, a free dinner is always welcome.

While talking to Jellica, I also took the opportunity to ask her about changing our meeting time for Sunday service tomorrow since the original time coincided with the glacier viewing in the morning. She was the one in charge of group events, she was able to rescheduled our time for the meeting room to 4:00 so everyone could enjoy the time at the glaciers. All we had to do was to notify everybody of the change with MOR busy calling everyone that evening. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."  --Psalm 19:1