Do you get off the cruise ship at Glacier Bay?

No, you do not get off the cruise ship at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, and that is part of the park's preservation strategy to protect its pristine wilderness. Glacier Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most protected national parks in the US, and the National Park Service limits access to just two cruise ships per day and does not allow large cruise ship passengers to disembark inside the bay. Instead, your cruise ship sails slowly through Glacier Bay for 8 to 10 hours, typically entering early morning and exiting late afternoon, giving you all-day scenic cruising past massive tidewater glaciers like Margerie, Lamplugh, and Johns Hopkins. During that time, National Park Service rangers come on board your ship via a small boat at Bartlett Cove, provide narration over the ship's PA system, set up an information desk, and lead activities on deck. You stay on your ship's open decks, balconies, and observation lounges to view glaciers, wildlife like humpback whales, sea otters, and brown bears, and listen to the thunderous calving of glaciers. Small expedition ships with fewer than 100 passengers, like UnCruise Adventures, can land at certain spots with permits for kayaking and hiking, but large cruise ships with 2,000 to 4,000 passengers cannot. So you do not get off, but you get immersive scenic cruising.