The cruise lines often play up Glacier Bay as the pinnacle of any trip to Alaska. I beg to differ. After dozens of trips to both places spanning some 50 years, I feel Tracy Arm is equally as dramatic as Glacier Bay. Primarily because it lies in such a dramatic and winding canyon. As you travel up the Arm, you feel as if you are going back in geologic history, with small trees and vegetation, near the entrance giving way to raw scarred rock walls as you approach the glacier. At the glacier itself, you are in this stark rock basin where the air is filled with the echo of the tumbling waterfalls, and the occasional rumble as a couple million tons of ice inches slowly toward the sea.
Tip: ships that do go into Tracy Arm often enter around 5 or 6 a.m. so as to be able to get into Juneau by 1 so that passengers have time to take an excursion. So.. if yours does, ask what time your ship actually enters the Arm and set your alarm, as the first right angle turn is extremely dramatic!
Most big cruise ships will usually include Tracy Arm or Glacier Bay. On a few itineraries, the glacier viewing is at Hubbard Glacier, Mile 1165. If this is you, consider taking an excursion to Tracy Arm in a fast boat from Juneau. You won’t be disappointed.
The only drawback to a Tracy Arm visit is that occasionally the Arm is either shrouded in fog or choked with ice. However, when that happens, your ship will just pass the entrance to Tracy Arm and continue down Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier, which is almost as good.
