Hubbard Glacier scenic cruising

The biggest tidewater glacier in North America, six miles wide and still advancing, seen from your balcony.

Hubbard Glacier is not a port; it is a 76 mile river of ice that ends in a wall up to 400 feet high and more than 6 miles wide at the head of Disenchantment Bay, off Yakutat, 200 miles northwest of Juneau. There is no dock and nobody goes ashore: the ship spends a 3 to 5 hour window creeping up the bay through the floating ice, holds about half a mile off the face for an hour or so while it turns, and the whole ship watches skyscraper-sized slabs calve with a crack you feel in your chest. SmartCruiser lists every cruise that sails to Hubbard Glacier from every line, priced with taxes and fees included, with the sailings that carry SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit or instant savings at the top.

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No dockscenic cruising in Disenchantment Bay; nobody goes ashore
Yakutat200 miles northwest of Juneau; the ship holds about half a mile off the ice
Jun to Augthe most calving and the best light; 40s and 50s on deck
All inevery price includes taxes and fees
Start here

Three ways to see Hubbard Glacier

Pick the one-way Gulf of Alaska route that pairs Hubbard with a second glacier, a round trip that reaches it from Seattle or Vancouver, or a longer small-ship sailing; the buttons filter the list of sailings below.

Classic 7 nights

Vancouver to Seward or Whittier, Hubbard on the last day

  • Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Holland America one-way Gulf of Alaska sailings put Hubbard between Juneau or Skagway and Anchorage
  • Many also cruise Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm the same week, so you get two glacier days
  • Fly in one end, out the other; add Denali by rail before or after

Best for: first-timers, anyone adding a land tour, glacier maximalists

Round trip

Seattle or Vancouver and back

  • Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Holland America 7 night loops that swap Hubbard in for the more common Tracy Arm
  • No flights into Anchorage; the easiest Alaska week to plan
  • Hubbard is the farthest north these loops reach, usually mid week

Best for: families, drive-to-port cruisers, first Alaska cruise on a budget

Longer and smaller

Seabourn, Regent, Viking, Cunard and 10 to 14 nights

  • Smaller ships can work deeper into the ice when the bay is choked and hold longer at the face
  • Cunard Queen Elizabeth and Viking from Vancouver; Seabourn and Regent between Vancouver, Seward and Juneau
  • Princess 10 night round trips from San Francisco reach Hubbard without a flight to the Northwest

Best for: couples, repeat Alaska cruisers, anyone who wants a quieter ship

Live from the cruise lines

Hubbard Glacier cruises: SmartCruiser picks first

Every cruise that sails to Hubbard Glacier from every line, priced live with taxes, fees and port expenses included. The picks at the top are sailings where booking with SmartCruiser gets you something extra: instant savings or bonus onboard credit. Below them, every other sailing that enters Disenchantment Bay, with full sorting by home port, line, month, length and price.

SmartCruiser picks

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Every cruise that sails to Hubbard Glacier

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Prices are per person, double occupancy, in US dollars, and include cruise fare, taxes, fees and port expenses as published by the cruise line at the moment you load this page. Fares are capacity controlled and change daily; the fare is confirmed when you book. Flights, hotels and transfers are extra unless the line’s offer says otherwise. SmartCruiser instant savings and bonus onboard credit are provided by SmartCruiser on top of the cruise line’s price and are not available when booking direct; amounts are per stateroom, vary by stateroom category and are shown for the lowest category offered. Special SmartCruiser rates are pricing SmartCruiser holds on that sailing for its clients, with extra onboard credit; you book your own stateroom and travel on your own. Senior fares apply to guests 55 and over; resident fares need proof of residency in a listed state or province at check-in; police and fire fares apply to active or retired police, fire and EMT personnel with ID. Qualifier-fare savings are measured against the best fare the cruise line offers the general public for the same stateroom category on the day the list was pulled, updated weekly.

In the bay

What you see from the ship at Hubbard Glacier

The ship spends 3 to 5 hours in Yakutat and Disenchantment bays; here is what to look for, roughly in the order it comes.

The approach through the iceThe ship turns into Yakutat Bay from the open Gulf of Alaska and slows to a crawl as the water fills with bergy bits and floes; the captain and the Yakutat pilot read the ice and decide how close you get, from a mile on a choked day to about half a mile when it is clear. This is the time to be on the open bow.
The face of HubbardThe main event: a wall of blue and white ice up to 400 feet high and more than 6 miles across, with another 250 feet below the waterline. The ship holds for about an hour and turns a full circle so every side gets the view; listen for the crack before each calving, the sound reaches you after the ice has already hit the water.
CalvingHubbard is one of the few advancing glaciers in Alaska, which is why it calves so hard: slabs the height of a 10 story building drop off and raise a swell that rocks the ship gently. It is most active in high summer and on warm afternoons; keep the camera up because the big ones come without warning.
Turner Glacier and Russell FjordTurner Glacier comes down the west side of the bay beside Hubbard, smaller and much dirtier, and the narrow gap at Gilbert Point leads into Russell Fjord. Hubbard has surged across that gap twice, in 1986 and 2002, turning the fjord into a lake until the ice dam burst; the naturalist will point out where.
Wildlife on the iceHarbor seals haul out by the hundred on the floes in front of the glacier in early summer to pup, which is one reason ships keep their distance; look for sea otters, Steller sea lions and humpbacks in Yakutat Bay on the way in and out, and eagles and mountain goats on the headlands.
Picking your stateroom sideThe ship sails up the bay and back out the same way and turns a full circle at the face, so both sides get the glacier in turn. A balcony on either side works; on a northbound sailing the glacier is ahead and to starboard on the way in, on a southbound sailing it is the same because every ship enters from the Gulf. The open bow, the top deck forward and the promenade are the best seats of all.
Yakutat and the TlingitThe only town for a hundred miles is Yakutat, a Tlingit village of about 600 people at the mouth of the bay that calls the glacier Sit’ Tlein, the big glacier. Some lines bring a Yakutat naturalist aboard by boat for the morning, and on a clear day 18,000 foot Mount St. Elias stands behind it all.
What to wear and bringExpect 40s to 50s, wind off the ice and a good chance of drizzle even in July. Layers, a waterproof shell, hat and gloves for the hour at the face, sunglasses when it clears because the ice is blinding, and binoculars with a spare battery; the cold drains them fast. The ship serves hot chocolate on deck.
Pick your style

Which lines sail to Hubbard Glacier?

Hubbard needs no park permit, so it appears on more itineraries than Glacier Bay, especially the one-way Gulf of Alaska routes.

Royal CaribbeanOvation and Radiance of the Seas on 7 night Vancouver to Seward Glacier Route sailings and some Seattle round trips, usually with Hubbard the day before or after Juneau.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit CelebrityCelebrity Solstice, Edge and Summit on Vancouver to Seward Glacier Route sailings and 7 night Seattle round trips, with a 5 hour Hubbard window.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit PrincessDiscovery, Island and Sapphire Princess on Voyage of the Glaciers one-way sailings between Vancouver and Whittier and the 10 night San Francisco round trips.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit Holland AmericaNoordam, Westerdam and Zaandam on Vancouver and Seward one-way Glacier Discovery sailings and the longer Seattle voyages.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit NorwegianNorwegian Jewel and Sun on 7 night Seattle round trips and Vancouver to Seward sailings that include Hubbard Glacier and Skagway.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit CunardQueen Elizabeth’s Alaska season from Vancouver includes Hubbard on 10 and 11 night sailings.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit SeabournSeabourn Encore on 7 to 14 night Alaska sailings between Vancouver, Juneau and Seward, with the small-ship advantage of getting closer when the bay is full of ice.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit Regent Seven SeasSeven Seas Explorer on all-inclusive Vancouver and Seward sailings from May into early October.SmartCruiser bonus onboard credit VikingViking Orion and Venus on 10 night Alaska and Inside Passage sailings between Vancouver and Seward cruise Hubbard Glacier.Live prices
Timing

When to go

Yakutat is one of the wettest places in Alaska, so expect cloud and mist most days with highs in the 40s and 50s; the ice is most active in June, July and August, and the bay is busiest from mid June through August.

MayHighs in the 40s, snow still low on the peaks, the bay often clearer of floating ice so ships get closer, and the lowest fares; bring a warm hat for the bow.
June to JulyHighs in the 50s, the longest days, seal pups on the floes and the most active calving as the summer melt runs; this is the window we book first.
AugustStill 50s with more rain and mist that makes the blue ice glow; the ice can pack the bay on some days and keep ships farther out, but the calving is at its peak.
September to early October40s, fall color on the shore, fewer ships and good value; Regent and Holland America sailings reach the glacier into October.
Good to know

Hubbard Glacier questions we answer every day

Do ships dock at Hubbard Glacier? Can I get off?

No. There is no dock, no town and no port; Hubbard Glacier is a half day of scenic cruising inside Disenchantment Bay. The ship takes 3 to 5 hours to go in, hold at the face and come back out, and nobody goes ashore, so there is nothing to book and nothing to miss: the whole ship is on deck. The nearest town is Yakutat, a Tlingit village at the mouth of the bay that the ship does not visit.

How close does the ship get?

It depends on the ice. On a clear day a ship can hold about half a mile from the face; when the bay is choked with calved ice, which happens more in late summer, the captain may stop a mile or more out. Smaller ships such as Seabourn and Regent can usually push closer than the big ones. Either way the wall of ice fills the view, and the calving is loud from a mile away.

Which side of the ship should my stateroom be on?

Either. Every ship enters from the Gulf of Alaska, sails up the bay with the glacier ahead, turns a full circle in front of the face and sails back out the same way, so both sides see everything in turn. The best views are from the open bow, the top deck forward and the promenade, so dress warmly and get outside rather than agonizing over the cabin.

Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay, which is better?

Hubbard is the single biggest, most active face you will see from a cruise ship, and it does not need a park permit, so more lines and more itineraries include it. Glacier Bay is a full day among several glaciers with rangers aboard, limited to two ships a day. Many 7 night one-way sailings between Vancouver and Anchorage include both; if you can only have one, first-timers tend to love Hubbard for the calving and repeat cruisers Glacier Bay for the day.

Is there cell service, and what time zone?

No cell service in the bay; the ship’s Wi-Fi works as usual. Alaska Time, one hour behind Seattle and Vancouver, and the glacier window is announced on the ship’s clock the night before. US dollars on board for anything the ship sells on deck.

Do I need a passport for an Alaska cruise?

Round trips from Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles are closed-loop sailings, so US citizens may sail with a government photo ID plus an original or certified birth certificate, but we recommend a passport. Most Hubbard Glacier itineraries start or end in Vancouver, Seward or Whittier, and those require a valid passport.

Are taxes and fees included in the prices here?

Yes. Every price on this page includes the cruise fare, taxes, fees and port expenses. Flights, hotels, shore excursions and gratuities are extra.

Talk to a Hubbard Glacier cruise specialist

Tell us your dates and whether you want Hubbard alone or paired with Glacier Bay and we will find the sailing with the most included value. Monday to Thursday 9 to 6, Friday 9 to 5, Saturday 10 to 6 ET.

1-800-444-1560