Ocean Thunder

While our first day on board wasn't great, at least the bed was very comfortable and we had nowhere to be in the morning. We slept in, grabbed breakfast and watched the snow-capped mountains go by in the distance. We weren't docking today and the only thing on the agenda was a stop at Hubbard Glacier so we really had a relaxing day to explore.

The weather today was nice; it was a little cloudy but it wasn't too cold or windy. We explored the boat and saw many of the different restaurants, shops and entertainment areas. After getting a good night's sleep and seeing all there was to do and see, it was actually pretty good to be on the boat. We ended up watching part of a local's talk on Alaska in the main atrium before heading to the casino (of course) and promptly losing $80. Jess also looked at the long list of activities and found a paper flower making class so she went and did that while I caught up on some of the blogging.

One thing we noticed is that there are lots of interesting smells. First off, our bathroom with the vacuum toilet smells like a swamp and between sea water, pools and all the food, the rest of the boat doesn't smell so great either. I guess you get used to it?

Our main stop today was at Hubbard Glacier in Yakutat Bay and as we got there, the sky was nearly clear and it warmed up a bit. We pulled into the bay and slowed down as we were closer to land and there were small icebergs in the water. Note: We found out later icebergs have to be a certain size so these were just classified as small pieces of ice. Eventually we pulled up to Hubbard Glacier and stayed there for an hour with the boat turning around halfway through our time there so that both sides could see the glacier. We started off on the wrong side but the afternoon sun was bright and it actually got very warm as we just looked out over the bay. When the boat finally turned for our turn to view the glacier, we got lucky that the sun seemed to have created some melting because we were treated to about 40 minutes of calving (which is when the pieces of glacier break off and fall into the water). We were incredibly lucky that about one piece of ice hit the water every minute, usually resulting in a loud roar that echoed around.  It was truly impressive and visually stunning - the beautiful day sure helped - and of all the places we've been, this was one of my favorite days.

You can see calving about 28 seconds into the video.

After room service, a trip to the buffet for dessert and some more walking around, we're ready for Glacier Bay National Park tomorrow!

As they say on the boat, "Wash your hands every 10 minutes or we're all gonna get norovirus!" Note: I'm paraphrasing but they do basically say this.