Icy Straight Point vs Glacier Bay

[Homosassa]

I have what seems to be a minority view of Icy Strait Point.

 

While looking at glaciers can be a stunning experience, Icy Strait Point can offer a very different experience if one takes the time to relax, look, and doesn't require  canned thrills.

 

We stopped at ISP on a cruise which was a family reunion cruise and members of the family all had different experiences to talk about.

 

Some went on an excursion that involved a nature walk with a guide to enjoy the beauty of the plant and wild life of the area.  The guide was  knowledgeable and they were fortunate enough to see  brown bears.

 

One, however, didn't need the excursion to see wild life. Bald eagles nested and thrived in the area. Seals were playing in the water by the cannery. Some passengers were enjoying walking the beach just before the ramp over to the visitors center.

 

My daughter, an elementary school teacher, became aware that the profit made from certain items in the gift shop (children's books are some of the items)  went directly to support the local school in Hoonah.

 

She  was planning to browse the books to see if she could find any books to add to her in class library.  One of the women working the shop was a local teacher on the island. The two of them ended up talking for about a half hour hour about teaching students about other cultures and beliefs (my daughter's school has a large immigrant population, the island teacher has a class comprised of the local Huna Tingit children on the island). My daughter ended up several books recommended by her fellow teacher and both, according to her, gained insight to the challenges of their respective classrooms.

 

My husband and I were in the group that just ambled our way around enjoying the beauty of the area. We also took a bus man's holiday by enjoying the salmon cannery museum as we had both spent time inspecting canneries during our careers.

 

We also had a unique experience that was solely due to the fact that we were in no rush.

 

After spending several hours just enjoying the uniqueness of the setting, we decided to take a shuttle golf cart back to the ship because my bad knee was starting to bother me.

 

We went out to the shuttle station just outside the doors leading into the space that had the entrance to the gift shop.

 

A golf cart came up to us and the driver said he would be right back because he needed to use the rest room or we could just get in and let him stop at the rest room.

 

My response was "when you gotta go, you gotta go" and we didn't mind the stop as we were not in a hurry.  

 

When the driver came out, he was hailed by a fellow islander and asked for a ride back over to Hoonah. The driver agreed but told him he needed to drop us at the ship first unless we wanted to take a ride.

 

We agreed to the ride.  What followed was an hour and a half  ride as we toured Hoonah and various other local places as a result of our interest in what life was like on an island in Alaska as we came from about just as far a climate from his home and still be in the US  (Nature Coast, Florida).

 

Despite the vast differences in climate, we found interesting correlations in our local experiences. He had grizzly bears come through his yard, we have Ocala black bears  (also a bobcat, foxes, and coyotes) in our yard.

 

He watched whales and seals in his local waters, we have manatees, alligators  and otters in ours.

 

We both have bald eagles nesting nearby.

 

He has narrow minded cruise ship passengers to content with, we have snowbirds.

 

It was a very enjoyable total of two hours.

 

We all enjoyed ICP for various reasons (especially talking to the local people) and all agreed that we would enjoy a return visit.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Homosassa

[swmichigan cruiser]

You can't go wrong with either one as we have done both. But for next September we are doing a B2B on the Bliss because I really like ISP because those two cruises do ISP and Sitka. And the Encore doesn't. In ISP we have already booked a whale watching cruise we have used before and they were great and we only had 6 passengers on their boat  much better than the cruise line tour that had about 100 people on it. We just cruised Iceland and Greenland this summer so got to see glaciers and icebergs not that long ago.

[hopstepper]

I'd like to speak up for ISP. We did a whale watching tour with Glacier Winds that was spectacular. We saw humpbacks bubble-net feeding about 3 or 4 times. All the people onboard were so engrossed that we were disappointed when seal lions went swimming by hoping that they were whales.

We also saw about 25-30 Dall's purpoises which swam in our bow wave for about 20 minutes. We saw dozens of sea otters too.

 

However, the best thing was back on O'Sheehans on the Jewel. While we indulged in a well earned libation after our tour, immediately below us 4 massive humpback whales rose out of the water demonstrating their bubblenet feeding technique - it was breathtaking.

[Homosassa]

39 minutes ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

 In ISP we have already booked a whale watching cruise we have used before and they were great and we only had 6 passengers on their boat  much better than the cruise line tour that had about 100 people on it.

One of the stops our gold cart driver made on our impromptu tour was him taking us to one of his favorite spots to look out to the water. 

 

There was a whale out in the water.

[ChiefMateJRK]

Just a minor point of clarification.  Some in this thread seem to be equating Bliss itineraries with ISP and not Glacier Bay.  While this is most common, there are some Bliss sailings that visit Glacier Bay and not ISP.  New cruisers should check the NCL itineraries closely to see what they are getting.

[cruise*enthusiast]

5 hours ago, Homosassa said:

I have what seems to be a minority view of Icy Strait Point.

 

While looking at glaciers can be a stunning experience, Icy Strait Point can offer a very different experience if one takes the time to relax, look, and doesn't require  canned thrills.

 

We stopped at ISP on a cruise which was a family reunion cruise and members of the family all had different experiences to talk about.

 

Some went on an excursion that involved a nature walk with a guide to enjoy the beauty of the plant and wild life of the area.  The guide was  knowledgeable and they were fortunate enough to see  brown bears.

 

One, however, didn't need the excursion to see wild life. Bald eagles nested and thrived in the area. Seals were playing in the water by the cannery. Some passengers were enjoying walking the beach just before the ramp over to the visitors center.

 

My daughter, an elementary school teacher, became aware that the profit made from certain items in the gift shop (children's books are some of the items)  went directly to support the local school in Hoonah.

 

She  was planning to browse the books to see if she could find any books to add to her in class library.  One of the women working the shop was a local teacher on the island. The two of them ended up talking for about a half hour hour about teaching students about other cultures and beliefs (my daughter's school has a large immigrant population, the island teacher has a class comprised of the local Huna Tingit children on the island). My daughter ended up several books recommended by her fellow teacher and both, according to her, gained insight to the challenges of their respective classrooms.

 

My husband and I were in the group that just ambled our way around enjoying the beauty of the area. We also took a bus man's holiday by enjoying the salmon cannery museum as we had both spent time inspecting canneries during our careers.

 

We also had a unique experience that was solely due to the fact that we were in no rush.

 

After spending several hours just enjoying the uniqueness of the setting, we decided to take a shuttle golf cart back to the ship because my bad knee was starting to bother me.

 

We went out to the shuttle station just outside the doors leading into the space that had the entrance to the gift shop.

 

A golf cart came up to us and the driver said he would be right back because he needed to use the rest room or we could just get in and let him stop at the rest room.

 

My response was "when you gotta go, you gotta go" and we didn't mind the stop as we were not in a hurry.  

 

When the driver came out, he was hailed by a fellow islander and asked for a ride back over to Hoonah. The driver agreed but told him he needed to drop us at the ship first unless we wanted to take a ride.

 

We agreed to the ride.  What followed was an hour and a half  ride as we toured Hoonah and various other local places as a result of our interest in what life was like on an island in Alaska as we came from about just as far a climate from his home and still be in the US  (Nature Coast, Florida).

 

Despite the vast differences in climate, we found interesting correlations in our local experiences. He had grizzly bears come through his yard, we have Ocala black bears  (also a bobcat, foxes, and coyotes) in our yard.

 

He watched whales and seals in his local waters, we have manatees, alligators  and otters in ours.

 

We both have bald eagles nesting nearby.

 

He has narrow minded cruise ship passengers to content with, we have snowbirds.

 

It was a very enjoyable total of two hours.

 

We all enjoyed ICP for various reasons (especially talking to the local people) and all agreed that we would enjoy a return visit.

 

Thank you so much for the wealth of information!