Hubbard Glacier

The official booking receipt for Ovation of the Seas' Sep 11, 2026 sailing schedules Hubbard Glacier scenic cruising 2:00-5:00 PM on Sep 12, 2026.

As of 2026-09-12 Source: Royal Caribbean — Cruise Vacation Receipt (operator records)

Ovation of the Seas is scheduled for Hubbard Glacier scenic cruising on Sep 12, 2026 on her Sep 11 southbound sailing from Seward.

As of 2026-09-12 Source: Royal Caribbean International — 2026 Alaska Itineraries →

Cruise ships approach Hubbard via Yakutat Bay and turn at Point Latouche into Disenchantment Bay; in workable ice they hold roughly half a mile to a mile off the face for 45 minutes to 2 hours, slowly rotating 360 degrees — but overnight calving can force any ship, whatever her size, to stand off 3 miles or abort.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: Alaska Cruise Hub — Hubbard Approach & Seasickness Guides →

Unlike most Alaska glaciers, Hubbard has advanced for over a century — about 80 feet per year since 1895 per USGS — and continues to thicken.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: USGS — Hubbard Glacier Fact Sheet 001-03 →

Ice blocks calving from Hubbard Glacier's face can reach up to 200 feet high — taller than a 15-story building.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: National Park Service — Tidewater Glaciers →

Ice at Hubbard Glacier's terminus fell as snow up to 500 years ago, and the ice is over 2,000 feet thick in places.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: National Park Service — Wrangell-St. Elias Glaciers →

The USGS calls Hubbard the largest calving glacier on the North American continent — 25 percent larger than Rhode Island.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: USGS — Hubbard Glacier Fact Sheet 001-03 →

The September 10, 1899 Yakutat Bay earthquake (Mw 8.2) raised the shoreline along the ship's approach as much as 14.4 meters (47 feet) — the largest coseismic uplift ever measured on Earth, documented from stranded barnacle lines and uplifted beaches.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: GSA Geosphere — Revisiting the 1899 Yakutat Bay Earthquakes →

The October 1986 failure of Hubbard's ice dam at Gilbert Point released about 5.3 cubic kilometers of impounded water from Russell Fiord — the largest glacial-lake outburst flood in recorded history.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: Wikipedia — Ovation of the Seas →

Hubbard Glacier is 76 miles long — the largest tidewater glacier in North America — with a terminus 7 miles wide and a face 600 feet tall.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: National Park Service — Wrangell-St. Elias Glaciers →

The 1899 Yakutat earthquake series also generated a roughly 12-meter tsunami inside Yakutat Bay — USGS treats the series as the benchmark seismic hazard for the waters cruise ships now transit to reach Hubbard.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: GSA Geosphere — Revisiting the 1899 Yakutat Bay Earthquakes →

Hubbard's advances twice dammed 35-mile Russell Fiord — in 1986 and 2002 — and the 1986 dam failure released an outburst flood of about 4 million cubic feet per second.

As of 2026-07-31 Source: USGS — Hubbard Glacier Fact Sheet 001-03 →