Thread: Icy Straits Point

I have read so many good things about this port, that I am thinking about switching to the Radiance of the Seas so we can stop at this port. THe Serenade does not stop there , we are booked for the 8/27 cruise this year. Has anyone been to this port? If you have, I would llike to hear about your experience there.

Annieeee

OK where is ducky? She is soloaded up with info on ALaska, I thought surely she would be able to tell me about this port?

Annieeee

Hi Annieeee!

Sorry I didn't see this post yesterday or else I would have responded.

Lets see what I can tell you.

First I'll start with I haven't been to Icy Strait Point, but I'd very much like to. I beleive that this is only the 3rd cruise season that Celebrity/RCI are going to ISP.

I believe that a popular activity at ISP is whale watching. Its also supposed to be a great place to learn about Native Alaskan culture and their way of life. However, since it is a new port, there's not that much else there from what I've heard.

I looked at the itinerary and it seems pretty good. You would get Vancouver, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and ISP, ending the cruise in Seward. You miss out on Ketchikan, but Sitka is a nice replacement. A lot of Russian influence there and a port not visited enough by cruise ships.

You realize that the Radiance is a one way cruise vs. Serenade which is a roundtrip, right? Therefore you get one more port on Radiance than Serenade, but you have to worry about purchasing a multi-city ticket. That may be a consideration for you.

I am hesitant to give too much info on ISP since I haven't personally be there myself. But if there is any other info I can try and help you with, feel free to ask!

Hi Ducky,

Yes I do realize that the Radiance is a one way cruise. That is what rather was bumming me about the Serenade. I want to do the Alaska cruisetour, but with the Serenade it is not available, there is a cruise tour available only not to Denali. On the Radiance there is a cruisetour that takes you into Alaska. So that is what is enticing me to jump ships.

I have read the thread over on the other side on ISP and everyone is so happy with their stop there. I want to go before it too becomes too touristy. I am going t otalk to my roomie and try to get her to agree to switching. We have a great cabin though on the Serenade, but after all sometimes it is about the ports and not the ship. And perhaps I can get the same cabin for next year's Serenade cruise with the group here.

Thanks for the info.

Annieeee

Annieeee

Good luck with the decision making process. If you have the time and the budget to do a cruise tour, you must! When you think about it, a cruise to Alaska is only to SE Alaska and you only see less than 10% of the state. To really appreciate the greatness of Alaska, you need to travel into its interior and up north, the way a cruise tour will do for you.

And in Alaska, its more about the ports definitely than the cabin. Alaska is only half a trip without the excursions. The ports and the activities to do there are what make Alaska so wonderful.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Hi there...we are taking the so-called "Alaska Fjord" cruise on Vision of the Seas in June. RCCL dropped Tracy Arm Fjord from the itinerary but added 4 hours to our stop at Juneau - allegedly there was a "conflict in planned call times in Tracy Arm", whatever that means...

We'll have 12 hours in Juneau, 9 hours in Skagway and 9 hours in Icy Strait Point. This is our first visit to Alaska. RCCL says they are providing a complimentary transportation to Mendenhall glacier during the extended stay in Juneau, but from what I have read, that's no big deal.

We would like to do whale watching, see a glacier and general sightseeing. Any suggestions on what to do at each of these ports? In other words, which port is best for the each of the above activities??

Your help is welcomed, oh wise one...

Thanks very much!

LL

Wow. Ok, lets see what I can say here.

I've never been to Tracy Arm, so I can't really say much about it. I've heard that its gorgeous. However, its a vary narrow canal. Its basically like the approach to Skagway. Its a canal and at the head of the canal is Skagway, or in this case you sail through Tracy Fjord (the canal part) and at the head of the canal is the twin Sawyer Glaciers. Most people say that this area is really nice, but that the weather can be unpredictable, and more often than not ships don't make it too far up the fjord before they need to turn back due to either thick fog or bad ice conditions.

The extra time in Juneau could be nice. The free trip out to Mendenhall is a nice gesture. The bus ride is about 20-25 minutes. You'll get a good view of Gastineau channel and might be able to spot some bald eagles. You're right, its not that big of a deal, but at least its something. You could get the bus out to Mendenhall on your own for $10 roundtrip when you arrived at Juneau, or take the public bus there and go roundtrip fro $2.50 (although I have never done this). Depending on how much time you spend at the visitors center and if you walk down the path to the edge of the lake or not, you could be at Mendenhall for 1.5-2 hours.

I have a question for you. you said you want to see a glacier. do you just want to see a glacier, or are you willing to take a helicopter flightseeing trip to land on a glacier and walk around?

if its the first and you just want to see one, then you need to go to Mendenhall. This will be your ONLY way to see a glacier up close (visitor's center is 1 mile from face of the glacier) without having to get on a helicopter.

Ok, lets see if I can get to your other questions. whale watching. there are only 2 places to go on Whale Watching excursions on your cruise: Juneau and ISP. At Skagway they don't offer whale watching excursions, however if you are diligent and watchful, you can often times see whales as you sail in and out of Skagway. Having never been to ISP, I can't talk about what whale watching there is like. The whale watching out of Juneau is pretty good and virtually guaranteed. You'll leave out of Auke Bay, about a 30-35 minute drive outside of Juneau. Not only can you see humpbacks, but if you're lucky you'll see orca, bald eagles, and harbor seals.

Seeing a Glacier. I'm not sure what (if anything) is offered at ISP in terms of a helicopter trip. In Skagway through TEMSCO and in Juneau through TEMSCO, ERA or Coastal you have plenty of options for helicopter trips. I would say that since you'll be in Juneau longer, that you may want to consider doing your helicopter trip here in Jueanu. Both are spectacular and I have done both.

Skagway. With 9 hours in Skagway here is what I would say are Must Do: White Pass & Yukon Route. take some variation of this trip, either by train both ways to the White Pass Summit, by train both ways into Carcross in Canada, some combo of train and bus. Walk through town. Its really small and easily walked. Stop in the Red Onion Saloon. You can even take a free National Park Service walking tour of the town. If you do a shorter train trip in say the morning, then you would have time for a helicopter trip or dog sledding here in the afternoon. If you do some sort of city tour it will probably take you out to Liarsville which can be pretty entertaining as well.

Juneau. Since you have the longest amount of time here, I would suggest doing either the whale watching or the helicopter flightseeing here. You could do both, but that would make for a tiring day on top of trying to see Mendenhall. So choose one. If you do whale watching here, then do the helicopter in Skagway. If you do the helicopter here then do the whale watching in ISP. If you have time walk around the area. You can ride the Mt Roberts Tram to the top of Mt Roberts for some spectacular views of Juneau and there is a nice hiking trail up there (ticket is $25 pp). Stop at the Red Dog Saloon for some good food and entertainment. If you like beer, visit the Great Alaskan Brewery. Alaskan's drink the amber ale produced here more than any other beer. Of course go out to Mendenhall.

Ok, I hope that answered some of your questions, or at least answered them more than it confused you.

If you want anything clarified or if you have further questions, please feel free to ask!

I was a little disapointed to hear the Tracy Arm was dropped for the season but then the last 2 times we were up there we could not get very close anyway.

I am guessing that they will have a number of buses going back and forth to Mendenhall all day. We have seen it before and will probably do it again this year.

Back to the original question.
IPS is a new port and we have never been there.
I am also interested in hearing from anyone that goes there.

LL:

I forgot to mention, one of the best places in SE Alaska to see humpback whales is about 2 hours outside of Juneau. I don't know if it will be 2-3 hours prior to your arrive or 2-3 hours after your departure, depends on which direction the ship is sailing.

Anyhow, its at an area called Admiralty Island. There are always humpbacks there. Most of the time the captain will tell you about it ahead of time and then when he spots the humpbacks an annoucement will come over the intercom system.

When I was there in July, it was 2-3 hours after we left Juneau, so it was about 7 at night.. we saw more humpbacks there in that one spot than I had seen on my previous 2 Alaska cruises. We counted between 25-30 humpbacks.

Just a note, the annoucements about spotting wildlife can't be heard in the dining room, so if you have early dining, you may just have to keep your eyes peeled out the windows since you can't hear anything.