Glacier Bay was the final part of my 3-week Alaska exploration—and the only part that was a waste of time and money. First, the Lodge. Reservations system is arcane, and when I had to change my visit date it took a couple phone calls, and they charged a change fee. The lodge building is OK but small and felt crowded even when the place wasn't fully occupied. Staff are mostly seasonal young people, so service was iffy, and sometimes annoying—like the waiter who wanted to tell every table he served about himself, in a loud voice for the whole dining room. Rooms are clean, but old and mid-level motel quality. Wanting to shower in the evening, I only got cold water after running it for 15 minutes, so called the desk. Clerk said sometimes it takes awhile to reach the rooms (though my room was pretty close to the lodge), and to run it for 20 minutes. I continued to run it for close to another 1/2 hour, but still only cold water. I was hopeful for hot water to shower in the morning, but no. At 5a.m. I had to take a cold shower, then pack up, take my luggage to the lodge to check out, get breakfast, and get down to the dock by 7:30a.m. for the boat tour. How can any hotel/motel not have hot water?! Also, as other reviews note, views of the bay are really limited by the trees. Next, the NPS boat tour. It was 8 hours long to go most of the way up the bay to look at the face of a single glacier (there are only two now that even reach the bay)—sitting right next to a huge commercial cruise ship! Fees charged to a handful of cruise lines for them to come into the bay, I was told, pay for the NPS interns. So, don't expect a remote glacier experience. The boat was less than 1/4 full, but the only outside space to stand was a rear deck much too small for even that number of people. They opened the top deck only twice for about 10 mins., so basically 8 hours inside the boat, and hard to get to see wildlife when it did appear. The Ranger presentations and Q&A were quite basic, especially given my experience of very knowledgeable rangers at other Parks. Finally, the cost. From downtown Juneau, a taxi to the airport, flight to Gustavus, about 25 min. ride in old school bus to the lodge, price of the room, buying breakfast & dinner at the lodge, the boat tour, and return flight and taxi into Juneau—very expensive as well as time-consuming to see one glacier and have a cold shower. For a faster, cheaper and more fun way to see glaciers locally, I suggest the 1/2 day flightseeing excursion to Taka Lodge from downtown Juneau. Pilots fly low over the ice field to see the glaciers up close, you can sit in a chair on the lodge's lawn and gaze at the glacier across the river, and have a much better lunch or dinner than Glacier Bay Lodge (grilled salmon, homemade biscuits, glacier-iced drinks, etc.). A bonus (in my reckoning) is that Taka (originally Two Glaciers Lodge in the 1920s) is also on the National Register of Historic Places and worth a visit.
