Hubbard Glacier, AK

Thursday, May 29, 2025

The fifth and final day of our Alaskan cruise was Hubbard Glacier. This is more of a “drive-by” stop if you will; not a place where the cruise ship docked and passengers got off the ship. Cruise itineraries either come to Hubbard Glacier early in the morning or mid-afternoon, depending on their route. Our northbound cruise route meant that our ship arrived to Hubbard Glacier at 7:00am.

Our teen and tween children were not pleased when they heard this news.

“You mean I have to wake up at 6:00am to see a glacier?” Tory asked with a serious sound of annoyance in her voice.

Yes, we confirmed; that was the plan. Andi and I weren’t exactly sure how this cruise stop would play out exactly, but we knew we’d all be up in the early morning hours of the day to view the glacier from the ship.

Everyone received informational flyers in our staterooms prior to the process, and announcements began broadcasting over the ship’s loudspeaker as early at 5:00am. Celebrity did a fine job of telling us where we needed to be, but we still had a hard time picturing what this cruise stop would be like. So we were just driving by the glacier? For how long? Would we really be able to see it? Passengers who paid $450/pp for the opportunity to do so were called to board a small watercraft around 6:15am. These people did get off the ship, and traveled by a smaller boat to get an up-close view of the glacier. The rest of us were invited outside to view the glacier from the cruise ship decks.

It was a cold and foggy morning with air temperatures around 45 degrees. Andi, Aden, Tory, Jim, Janie, and I hurried outside to Deck 10, bundled up in all of our winter gear, to get a glimpse of the glacier. We joined hundreds of other passengers bellied-up to the railings around the perimeter of the ship, waiting to catch a glimpse of Hubbard Glacier. We could hardly see anything in the fog.

The ship slowly motored until finally we saw a glacial wall of ice in front of us. Celebrity Summit’s captain maneuvered the ship even closer, impressively rotating the ship 360 degrees, so everyone could see the brilliant shades of blue, white, and clear frozen ice. It was difficult to decipher where the foggy gray sky ended and the ice began.

The area around Hubbard Glacier was surrounded by lush green mountains and waterfalls. It reminded me of the green colors of Hawaii, but cold in Alaska’s way. We saw dozens of harbor seals resting themselves on the rocks.

One of the coolest parts for me (no pun intended), were the many icebergs floating in the water. Huge chunks of ice bobbed around Disenchantment Bay. We overheard a group of people discussing how dangerous these icebergs are for cruise ships to maneuver this time of year. One person said another cruise ship (Norwegian Sun) actually hit an iceberg a few years ago, causing damage to its starboard bow. This story peeked Tory’s interest because we recently sailed on the Norwegian Sun cruise ship.

While we waited outside, crew members of the Celebrity Summit walked around passing out blankets, warm soup, and breadsticks. It was a little too early in the morning for me to eat soup, but Janie took some and said the broth was really flavorful.

Eventually, it started to rain outside so the five of us moved inside the ship to the Deck 9 Solarium. Jim had already gone in previously; it was too cold outside for him, he said. The warm, humid Solarium was a much more enjoyable way to view the glacier, but the views weren’t as great. Nevertheless, we warmed up inside by drinking hot chocolate and coffee, and taking turns looking out the windows. There was also light breakfast fare served in this area of the ship — bagel sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, and fruit.

There happened to be one disgruntled passenger inside the Solarium that sort of ruined the vibe for everyone else. The older gentleman, who was sitting in the hot tub, loudly yelled some unkind things every time someone opened a window to look outside at the glacier. (The windows were fogged up due to the warm steam of the room, so it was impossible to see outside without opening them.) The rest of the passengers tried to ignore his comments, but it really disturbed Tory and Aden. Eventually, we braved the rain and made our way back outside to Deck 10.

After two hours of viewing the glacier, our family decided to make our way to the Oceanview Cafe for breakfast. We assumed it would be slammed with people since everyone had just been viewing the glacier together — and it was. Nevertheless, we were able to find a long high-top table that fit our family of six together. Signage throughout the restaurant thanked guests for their time on board. (Can’t believe it’s the last day already!) The spread of food was fantastic, as always. We’ve been very pleased with the quality and variety of food on the Celebrity Summit ship.

For our afternoon activity, the six of us decided to book a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the ship. I’ve always wanted to do this, and Jim was particularly interested as well. We were able to score tickets for a discounted rate since it was the last day and we booked as a large group.

At 11:00am, we reported to the Shore Excursions desk on Deck 3 mid-ship to join the tour. Each person in our group of roughly 20 people were given a headset so we’d clearly be able to hear the tour commentary. We were also gifted special Inside Access tour badge lanyards. No cameras were allowed on the tour, but Andi was able to sneak a few candid snapshots to capture part of the experience.

The Inside Access tour took us through all parts of the ship, including the main galley / kitchen area, laundry facility, technology / engine control room, and The Bridge where the captain operates the ship. We even saw where crew members get to hang out when they’re “off duty” and restaurants and coffee shops designated just for them. The heart of the ship is nicknamed “I-95” after the popular East Coast highway; that’s the busiest and widest hallway of foot traffic and how crew members get from point-to-point on the ship so quickly.

We all found this two-hour tour to be so interesting, and walked away with lots of facts and statistics about the quantity of food used, how procurement of products works at each port, and steps Celebrity takes to be environmentally responsible.

By the time our tour concluded, it was mid-afternoon. The six of us agreed to hold off on eating anything for lunch, and instead meet again for our standing 5:30pm dinner reservation at Cosmopolitan Restaurant. Andi, Tory, and I returned to our staterooms to rest and relax for a few hours while Aden made his way to Camp at Sea kids club.

At 5:30pm, we met Jim and Janie at Cosmopolitan Restaurant and were seated at our usual table. Our designated servers, Aman and Aryana, were glad to see us. Our dinner was filled with special touches. Tory’s Cola-Cola had a special heart-shaped straw wrapper and our server Aman brought two complementary surf-and-turf plates of food to our table as a ‘thank you’ for cruising with Celebrity. Of course, we enjoyed the endless warm bread and flavored butters, as well as our main entrees and desserts. We definitely have not starved on this cruise! The food has really been excellent.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll depart the ship at 9:00am in Seward, AK. We’re looking forward to spending a few more days in the town of Soldotna, AK before returning home to Wisconsin.

I’m so thankful we booked this cruise with Andi’s parents, Janie and Jim. It was an experience we’ll never forget.