Whales & Waves

By: Samie

Travel Dates: July 13th-25th, 2025

Day 5

(Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, 5th Anniversary Dinner)

Waking up on our cruise ship the morning of July 18th, it was the first time that we would not be stopping at a port and setting foot on land. It was going to be a day completely at sea! However, this didn’t mean that it wasn’t still a full and eventful day.

The big event on our agenda for the day was having the opportunity to make our way into Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. What makes this National Park special is that has minimal accessibility. It can only be reached by plane or boat. In fact, the only road in the entire park connects a small town called Gustavus to its airport and park headquarters.

Waking up the morning around 8:30, we were already cruising our way into the waters of the park. It was a cloudier day than the previous inland and port days we had experienced, but we were making our way further north, so it made sense that temperatures were beginning to diminish. However, despite the cloud coverage, the immediate views were already gorgeous, and it was not hard to see why people were willing to put in the work to be able to visit this gorgeous nature preserve.

The dark rolling mountains capped with snow and swaddled in glaciers or calm waters were a stark contrast to the slate gray clouds. Our balconies offered perfect views of the stunning landscape. Despite getting a front row seat from the comfort of our own cabin rooms, we still began donning more and more layers to keep the frigid air from tickling our skin.

Silence surrounded us as a hush seemed to drape across the entire ship. Every passenger seemed enthralled and captivated by the immense size and stretch of the 3.3 million acre wilderness left nearly untouched around us. We came across Margerie Glacier around 9:30 and took in all her magnificent glory.

As we continued deeper into the preserve, more and more glacial ice chunks bobbled into view and clearly defined glacial waters collided with the waters of the bay and ocean. Where the two waters met, lines formed by the mixing colors could be seen, turning the water into a real-life semblance of the paint water cup you use to rinse your brushes.

Diverse packs and pods of wildlife also began to float past our view. We had already seen whales, seals, and sea lions before even reaching Glacier Bay, but it didn’t excite me any less to see a comfortable group of these little sea sausages (seals) lounging on one of the icebergs as our boat carefully slid past. The one aquatic animal that we had yet to see that was extremely high up on my bucket list, being my second favorite animal in the world, was the otter.

Most of the saved reels I have of these adorable little water puppies are river otters, who are much smaller, generally weighing between 10-30 pounds and about 2-4 feet long. However, this didn’t mean I was any less determined or eager to spot the much larger sea otter, who generally 45-90+ pounds and are 4-5 feet long. Even though sea otters are much larger, compared to the other hefty sea creatures we had been fortunate enough to come across and spot so far on our adventure, otters are much harder to see and are often only perceived as pods of little black dots on the horizon.

I definitely wanted to see otters as otter-shaped, but I was willing to take whatever I could get if it meant I could catch a glimpse of these adorable water mammals in the wild. The first time passengers gasped and pointed out that otters had been spotted, we had been walking through the ship and were making our way through the Lido deck. Many people were already crowded at the windows and taking all the best vantage points, so I was barely able to see what I assumed everyone was talking about but couldn’t really tell because it didn’t look very otter-like to me.

I was definitely disheartened for a little bit, thinking I might have missed my potentially sole opportunity to spot an otter. Boy, was I wrong! We ended up coming across several floating rafts of otters. Granted, they tended to keep their distance more than the other wildlife we had encountered, but they did eventually become more than just black specks in the distance.

Some of the large groups were lounging around, and you could see a clear outline of them floating in the supine position with their heads, paws resting on their chest, and two little flippers bobbing around to indicate where their long bodies came to an end. A few in the raft were usually playfully swimming around, so you would see a head pop up or an arched body diving below. Every once in a while you would see a lone otter splashing about a little more curiously and closer to the boat, but they rarely stayed up long enough to get a good picture. Either way, it was everything I had dreamed of, and I may have shed a tear or two in absolute child-like joy and delight.

We had some time to enjoy a few ship activities throughout the day as well. Originally we thought we would go out to enjoy some traditional Dutch pea soup that was being served at 10:00am, but we ended up not doing that because there was an insane amount of people, and we didn’t want pea soup that badly.

Starting at around 11:30, our cruise ship would be passing through John Hopkins Inlet, a fjord that is about 10 miles long, and by Lumplugh Glacier. During this time, it was noted that it would be a good time to rove the outside decks and viewing areas where there would be Park Rangers whom had boarded our ship that morning at 6:00am to answer questions and help us spot wildlife. Lower Glacier Bay is an area where you are likely to spot humpback whales as well as other marine life.

We had already been very fortunate in all the creatures we had gotten to see, but that didn’t mean I was any less excited every time we spotted a whale spout, lounging seal, or bobbing otter. As previously mentioned, it was much chillier here, so even when bundled up, it was still quite cold. Fortunately, during our time wandering around one of the decks, they set up a table where you could buy hot mulled wine, as well as a commemorative thermos so that we could take the warm beverage back with us to our cabin and sip while continuing to enjoy the views from our balcony.

Just before 1:00, it was time for some lunch. Because everyone was boarded on the ship instead of sharing time between ports/land and the boat as well as everyone wanting to have constant eyes on the landscape, the Lido Deck and its tables were completely full. We made it work by swinging through to grab our food and finding a spot outside next to the pool to sit and eat a quick meal, which worked since we had a program we wanted to catch at 1:30.

I grabbed a nice plate of some classic fish and chips, and it was very pleasant. We ate swiftly and made our way to the World Stage so that we could see Alaska Native Voices: Stories of the Tlingit People. One of the members of the Tlingit tribe had also boarded the boat like the park rangers, and he gave a 45 minute presentation on the Tlingit history, traditions, stories, and it all culminated in a performance that involved a traditional chant and hand drum. I absolutely loved it and greatly appreciate the stories and traditions of indigenous peoples from all around the country.

When the program was complete, we made our way back to our balconies to do some more wildlife watching. We successfully spotted some more solo otters cruising around, and I was just as giddy after each glimpse.

Our last activity that was on our for sure list was attending another afternoon tea. This time, it wasn’t specifically a Dutch tea, but just an afternoon tea. We loved the first one so much that we weren’t about to miss this one! On our way there, we just so happened to catch a great view of the park rangers hopping into the dingy that they had used to originally board the ship that morning, but this time it was taking them back to land. We al, waved goodbye as they departed, and then we continued our walk to the dining room for tea.

It was another absolutely delightful tea experience of feeling fancy while grazing on finger sandwiches and pastries and sipping hot tea from gorgeous cups set on matching saucers.

With it being July 18th, 2025, it was officially the day of Luke and my 5th wedding anniversary. Being in the middle of the ocean wasn’t going to prevent us from celebrating! We had made a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants on the ship called Tamarind, specializing in Pan-Asian cuisine.

We got all dressed up for our romantic evening together and made our way up to the deck that housed it for our reservation around 5:30. We were seated pretty quickly and had a lovely view from our table!

To start, we were brought their version of chips and salsa for the table. We got wonton chips with a few different sauces with different flavor profiles and spice levels to dip them in. It was different, but it was very good!

Similar to the dining room, our meal came with three courses. For our starters, I chose the satay sampler. This was Malaysian lamb, Indonesian chicken, Thai pork, peanut sauce, atjar, and cucumber relish. Luke went with coconut crusted scallops with honey lime dressing.

For our mains, I decided to try the Teochew fried sea bass with ginger scallion chili soy and seared bok choy for my side. Luke picked the panang red curry coconut chicken with crispy lotus, wok-seated vegetables, roasted peanuts and steamed jasmine rice for his side.

We also both opted for cocktails to accompany our meals. I went with their Yuzu Cocktail, which was yuzu juice, de lijn gin, vanilla, and soda. Luke ordered the Lychee Martini, which was roku gin, morimoto junmai sake, and lychee liquor.

Finally, the best part. Dessert! I went with the mango posset with a coconut macaroon, passion fruit jelly, and mango sorbet. You can never go wrong with mango. Luke got a very tasty looking cherry blossom tart with a chocolate, cookie crust. However, the delectable and delightfulness of the evening was not over, as we were surprised with a special anniversary cake from our waitress! We were very full from our meal, so they very nicely boxed it up for us to take back to our room and enjoy at a later time when we had more room in our tummies. It was a wonderful anniversary dinner!

To end the evening, we made our way back to our cabin to take some pictures while we were still all dressed up and with our surprise anniversary cake. We couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop with the enormous expanse of Alaskan water behind us as the setting sun painted the sky a little gold and the waters a sparkling blue.

We then hopped into our cozy clothes and relaxed in bed or on the balcony for a couple hours before wanting to participate in one final activity from our ship itinerary. All it said was “Chocolate Surprise” at 9:45. While I’m not usually a large fan of most surprises, I love chocolate, and this seemed like the kind of surprise I could get behind. We made our way to a very crowded Deck 2 and watched as a long line of ship wait staff came by and walked the length of the ship deck with trays filled with large varieties of chocolate delights! It was very packed with people all trying to snag samples of all the different chocolates, which were being served in little cups per serving. We managed to snatch a couple different chocolate treats to try before finally making it back to our cabin for good for the night with another full day at sea on the horizon for tomorrow. The only difference was that we would now be a married couple of 5 years instead of 4!