I was reviewing my itinierary of the alaskan cruise we're taking soon and I noticed that it says "morning cruising" for college fjord and the inside passage on our days at sea.  I've also been checking out some pictures and videos on you tube, and I saw a video that looks like carnival lowered a life boat to give people a closer view of a glacier.  Are these things related or is it just wishful thinking on my part?  Can anyone give me an idea of what happens on the days at sea on the alaska cruise?  I've read there is a naturalist on board and I'm an animal fanatic (I take care of animals for a living), so I was also wondering if they point out animals from the ship.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Carnival didn't lower a lifeboat on our cruises.  Probably has something to do with safety such as a glacier calving if close in such a small boat. 

When we were there the ship itself goes very close to the glacier and slowly turns around for all to take pictures.

There was a naturalist on board plus someone from the National Park Service.  Very good information was given over the PA system.  And once in the inland passage the ship actually had to swerve so it wouldn't hit a whale.  Kinda cool.

The weather sucked on both our Alaska cruises yet there's something magical about Alaska and we thoroughly enjoyed them.    

Have fun and don't forget your winter wear.  Oh, we each took one of those cheap plastic rain ponchos...I think they were a buck each in the dollar store.  Well worth it and once we were finished with them we simply threw them in the garbage can.

There will be a naturalist on board and you'll find that they will make special announcements when there are some kind of wildlife sightings.  We saw a huge grizzly on the hillside when we were in Glacier Bay and then almost every night when we were sitting in one of the top deck lounges (not Carnival), there would be whale sightings.  Bring binoculars and be on the lookout at all times!

We  just returned from a southbound cruise.  Our first day was incredible! There was no life boat lowered but we awoke to the awesome grandeur of being at the head of college fyord within a 1/2 mile of the glacier.  It was guiet, peaceful, stunning, I just can't describe it! The naturalist was on board and announcing what we were seeing or passing by.  She tried to let us know when certain wildlife sightings were being made. It was incredible! After we left College fjord it was all open ocean of the gulf of Alaska(not much to see) We then awoke to approaching Sitka which turned out to be okay, but the best stop was in Juneau where we flew in a helicopter to the top of the Mendenhall Glacier and walked around.  This was definitely an excursion not to be missed!  Skagway was a neat little town and notable for all the gold rush history.  We rode the White Pass and Yukon which was neat.  Ketchikan was nice. We took the Duck tour but the weather which had been great (for Alaska) up to that point turned rainy, so we didn't get to do all that we had planned. Overall the vacation was indescribable! I hated to come home.

When it says morning cruising of College Fjord, it means get on the deck at 6:00AM to see Harvard Glacier- which is awesome!  The naturalist tells you alot of info. about what you are seeing.  The only thing I didn't like is that they had music playing- we would have liked to have it quieter, as the glacier was making thundering noises & it was hard to hear that over the stupid music!  Maybe you could tell someone about that!  I would have, but I couldn't pull myself off the deck, because it was so beautiful & I didn't want to miss one moment!

Don't buy an Ulu knife & think you are going to bring it on board, because they won't let you.  Have it shipped home from the store that you buy it from.

Be sure & go on the Misty Fjords tour out of Ketchikan!  It was SOOOOO worth the money, the scenery is breathtaking!

I am getting so excited about my Alaska cruise.  I leave this Wednesday.  I have a question about the on-board naturalist.  When they are talking, can you hear them if you are on your balcony?  This is going to be my first cruise of Alaska so any other information you can give me would be great. 

Thank you for all the help :)

You can hear all of the anouncements on the TV, I forget exactly which channel.  We had a balcony on the back of the boat and we had to turn it up really loud to hear it outside because of the noise of the ship, but I don't think the side balcony's were as noisy.  You are going to love it, it is really a cruise like no other and a magical destination!