September 23, 2026
We entered College Fjord late in the day so our lighting was not ideal and there is a blue tinge to the photos. The fjord contains a whole collection of glaciers, lining a narrow inlet in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. We could see chunks of ice floating in the water.
The college names date back to 1899 when the Harriman Expedition named the glaciers after eastern schools including Harvard, Yale, Smith, Amherst and Vassar. Generally, women’s colleges are on your left as you sail into the fjord, men’s colleges on your right.
Harvard Glacier is an enormous tidewater glacier at the head of the fjord and is considered the highlight of the visit.
On an Alaska cruise, you might see four main types of glaciers—and the categories can overlap.
- Tidewater glaciers flow all the way to the ocean, ending in an ice cliff. These are famous for calving, when chunks break off into the sea. Hubbard and Harvard are examples.
- Hanging glaciers sit high on steep mountainsides, often appearing to cling to a ledge. Look above the shoreline in College Fjord to spot them.
- Valley glaciers flow downhill through mountain valleys like slow rivers of ice. They can end on land, in a lake, or in the ocean—so a glacier can be both a valley glacier and a tidewater glacier.
- Piedmont glaciers spread into broad, fan-shaped masses where a mountain valley opens onto flatter land. Malaspina Glacier is a spectacular Alaska example, though it’s best appreciated from the air rather than a typical cruise route.
Looking back gives more perspective on how narrow the fjord is.
After a long, but satisfying day at sea we had just drifted off to sleep when the Captain woke us up with a ship wide announcement over the intercom. “The Northern Lights are visible on the port side of the ship for anyone who wants to see them.”
So of course we jumped out of bed, quickly threw some clothes on and hurried up on deck. It was not a huge display, but at least we got to see a tinge of color and I was delighted.
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I grateful that I finally got to see the Aurora Borealis. It is one of those things repeatedly mentioned over the years with hope.
