CRUISE
Into the
Wild Whether it’s humpbacks, orcas, calving glaciers or cheeky saloon girls, an Alaskan cruise is full of surprises for those seeking adventure. By Liz Fleming
THE ICY SPLENDOUR OF GLACIER BAY
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imply sailing into the icy splendour of Glacier Bay was enough to convince us that our cruise would be everything we’d hoped for. Surrounded by towering cliffs of ice, my husband, Jamie, and I were almost too overwhelmed by the scenery to remember to take photos of it. As the ship cruised slowly, we became aware of an eerie growling sound coming from the ice. Then what sounded like a cannon shot tore through the frigid air. We watched with our mouths hanging open as a massive skyscraper-sized shard of ice calved from the glacier wall ahead of us. It crashed into the bay, causing an equally massive explosion of water and ice to hurtle skyward. Though 36 • Vacations ® • Spring 2022
our ship, the Holland America ms Oosterdam weighed more than 82,000 tonnes, we felt it rock as the waves hit. Welcome to Alaska. If the wild is what makes your heart beat faster, this is the destination for you. As adventurelovers, we’d always wanted to explore this popular northern cruise destination and had already ticked another of the must-see boxes. We’d taken a Zodiac shore excursion out of Juneau aboard a small marine exploration and research vessel in search of whales. Binoculars trained hopefully on the water, we’d been anticipating a long wait, but just as we left the harbour, our
