After departing Vancouver on Holland America’s cruise ship, the Volendam, we headed north through the inside passage on our way to Alaska. The first day and a half would have us at sea and on the morning of the third day we would venture into Tracy Arm fjord to see some natural beauty, or something, and then stop in Juneau, Alaska’s capital city.
We spent the first couple of days touring the boat and looking for family members. We had a large group of family onboard, but because of the massive size of the cruise ship and no one being able to turn on their cell phones due to international roaming charges (ouch!), we usually only saw them at the scheduled dinner in the dining room each evening. This left us plenty of time to relax, read books, and play games with Sydney.
On the morning of the third day I woke up and looked out our balcony window. To my surprise I saw a big chunk of blue glacier ice floating by. Icebergs! We must be in Alaska. We had placed an order the night before for breakfast to be delivered to our cabin that morning. So, shortly after getting up our food arrived and we enjoyed a nice breakfast while watching the glacial ice float by as we entered Tracy Arm fjord. The boat would spend 4 hours inside the fjord before heading to Juneau. After breakfast we ventured up onto the massive foredeck of the ship for a better view of the scenery and to burn off breakfast. One problem with a cruise is that the food is really good and there is too much of it.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Tracy Arm but we were definitely impressed by the sheer cliffs, cascading water, icebergs, and the unusual color of the water caused by glacial sediment, also known as “rock flower.” After seeing this glacial fjord I think a trip to see Norway’s fjords just might be added to our list of places to visit when we do our round the world trip.
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