Need answers about Icy Strait Point

[Erie cruiser]

We are looking to take a cruise in July out of Vancover with RCCL. Can anyone tell me if you are tendered in Icy Strait Point and the Tracy Arm Fjord. Do they take you into a town? Any information you could give me would be appreciated. Thanks

 

P.S. DH wants to fish. Can you recomend any good spots?

[CincinnatiGal]

We are taking a fishing trip with this Dream Fish Charters

http://dreamfishalaska.com/

 

Check this link out is is helpful

http://www.explorenorth.com/alaska/hoonah.html

 

We are on the Radiance of the Seas June 5 sailing. It is our second trip to Alaska. First trip on the Coral Princess and now we are back to RCCL.

[mii]

Icy Strait Point is a tender port. You are tendered onto a pier which has former fishing warehouses. In those warehouses now are shops, a couple of restaurants and a museum. A shuttle can take you into Hoonah which is about 1 mile. Lots of people have walked there or you can take the shuttle. the town is extremely small but what I liked about that whole area was that it did not have all of teh jewelry stores etc as Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan has. It is a wonderful place just like the old alaska used to be. the scenery around there is breaktaking. Just do a search and put in Icy Strait Point and all sorts of info comes up. I do not know about fishing.

 

Marilyn

[Budget Queen]

This port is Hoonah, and yes you are tendered here. Does have excellent fishing options. Tracy Arm is a 30 mile long fjord, not a port. It's scenic sailing. But the success of getting the full transit is low and IF glacier viewing is a priority, then you need to book some type of glacier excursion.

[MercedMike]

This port is Hoonah, and yes you are tendered here. Does have excellent fishing options. Tracy Arm is a 30 mile long fjord, not a port. It's scenic sailing. But the success of getting the full transit is low and IF glacier viewing is a priority, then you need to book some type of glacier excursion.

 

Just to expand on that a bit ...

 

Tracy Arm is a beautiful fjord. Think of Yosemite Valley with water in the bottom. The scenery is spectacular. The water is often filled with beautiful chunks of that gorgeous blue glacier ice. Wildlife viewing is exceptional. It is definitely worth a trip.

 

But it is true that many ships, especially early in the season, are not able to reach the end where the "twin Sawyer glaciers" are located. If you do reach the end, the Sawyer Glaciers are by no means the most spectacular usually visited by cruise ships.

 

We love Tracy Arm. But it seems that is is sometimes substituted for either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. That is what is meant when it is said that you need some other type of glacier viewing.

 

An ideal itinerary would include both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. Check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaskaZ.html

for such a cruise on HAL Zuiderdam. We loved it.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Erie cruiser]

Thank you so much for all your information. I think Alaska sounds incredible. Thanks

[SEPyle]

Just to expand on that a bit ...

 

Tracy Arm is a beautiful fjord. Think of Yosemite Valley with water in the bottom. The scenery is spectacular. The water is often filled with beautiful chunks of that gorgeous blue glacier ice. Wildlife viewing is exceptional. It is definitely worth a trip.

 

But it is true that many ships, especially early in the season, are not able to reach the end where the "twin Sawyer glaciers" are located. If you do reach the end, the Sawyer Glaciers are by no means the most spectacular usually visited by cruise ships.

 

We love Tracy Arm. But it seems that is is sometimes substituted for either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. That is what is meant when it is said that you need some other type of glacier viewing.

 

An ideal itinerary would include both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. Check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaskaZ.html

for such a cruise on HAL Zuiderdam. We loved it.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

 

And to expand on Mike's post...

 

If you're looking at Royal Caribbean, you'll be visiting Icy Strait Point/Hoonah and Hubbard Glacier. Hoonah is my very favorite place in Alaska. In my opinion doing a whale watching trip out of this port is incredible taking you to Point Adolpus. I've been to both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. Both incredible and hard to pick which one I would recommend. Hubbard is considered the Grand-daddy of glaciers in Alaska as it's 6 miles across and has abundant calving.

 

I admit: I love Hoonah, so I say you can't go wrong with Icy Strait Point/Hoonah...but then again; I admit, I'm very biased!:) It's a very short tender trip, and you may even see whales right in the harbor!

 

Enjoy the wonders of Alaska!

[Cruisin'Round]

CinncinatiGirl,

 

Are you back? How did the Dream Fish Charter go in ISP? I am considering booking with them and wanted your opinion. I really want salmon rather then halibut.

 

Thanks in advance...

[coolrider]

You also could contact Shawn with Glacier Winds www.g-wind.com or Keith with TECKK www.teckkoutfittersicystrait.com for fishing, both are very good and have been around for awhile.

[sredish]

Talk to Keith with TECKK. He's the BEST!! We took a tour with him on our cruise two weeks ago and our time with him was a major highlight of our cruise. He's a third generation local and he really knows his stuff. He tooks us on a bear tour, but I know he does fishing and whale watching, too.

[RoofingPrincess]

Just to expand on that a bit ...

Tracy Arm is a beautiful fjord. Think of Yosemite Valley with water in the bottom. The scenery is spectacular. The water is often filled with beautiful chunks of that gorgeous blue glacier ice. Wildlife viewing is exceptional. It is definitely worth a trip.

But it is true that many ships, especially early in the season, are not able to reach the end where the "twin Sawyer glaciers" are located. If you do reach the end, the Sawyer Glaciers are by no means the most spectacular usually visited by cruise ships.

We love Tracy Arm. But it seems that is is sometimes substituted for either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. That is what is meant when it is said that you need some other type of glacier viewing.

An ideal itinerary would include both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. Check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaskaZ.html

for such a cruise on HAL Zuiderdam. We loved it.

Have a GREAT cruise!

I was on the 30 May sailing of the Serenade. Captain Michel got on the PA the night before the Tracy Arm day and told us they were monitoring conditions in both Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm, and that we'd be going into whichever one had the best conditions.

In the morning, he announced it would be Endicott. Which was gorgeous. We got all the way down to Dawes Glacier at the end of it. And a bunch of the ship's crew went out on a Zodiac boat, took video, played king of the hill on an iceberg, etc. The boat did at least six complete 360-degree turns so everyone could get their fill of the glacier.

In the Newark airport on my way home I was chatting with two guys who'd been on a Princess cruise over the same timeframe. Their captain took them into Tracy Arm. They only got about halfway up and then couldn't go any further due to ice.

 

And to go back to the OP's original question, you are not tendered in Tracy Arm - there is no opportunity to get off the ship. You're just cruising down the fjord at a leisurely pace, taking in the scenery.

 

And to address SEPyle's post, the Serenade is not scheduled to go to Hubbard any more. They changed it to Tracy.

Radiance (doing the one-way trips) is still scheduled for Hubbard.

 

If anyone wants to see pix from the Serenade, ISP and Endicott/Dawes, follow the link in my signature.....

[Budget Queen]

I was on the 30 May sailing of the Serenade. Captain Michel got on the PA the night before the Tracy Arm day and told us they were monitoring conditions in both Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm, and that we'd be going into whichever one had the best conditions.

In the morning, he announced it would be Endicott. Which was gorgeous. We got all the way down to Dawes Glacier at the end of it. And a bunch of the ship's crew went out on a Zodiac boat, took video, played king of the hill on an iceberg, etc. The boat did at least six complete 360-degree turns so everyone could get their fill of the glacier.

In the Newark airport on my way home I was chatting with two guys who'd been on a Princess cruise over the same timeframe. Their captain took them into Tracy Arm. They only got about halfway up and then couldn't go any further due to ice.

 

And to go back to the OP's original question, you are not tendered in Tracy Arm - there is no opportunity to get off the ship. You're just cruising down the fjord at a leisurely pace, taking in the scenery.

 

QUOTE]

 

However, Tracy Arm is a superior scenic sailing area, and if you do get the the Sawyers, much more "exciting" compared to Dawes, which on a "glacier scale" is not a top choice in my opinion.

 

A great option is with NCL and their add on Tracy Arm boat tours, just excellent, so your "getting off the ship" comment is not entirely correct. NCL/Regent is an exception with their tour option.

[GranMona]

If anyone wants to see pix from the Serenade, ISP and Endicott/Dawes, follow the link in my signature.....

 

Beautiful pictures! I could sit all day and watch whales! When we go fishing out of Hoonah, (we use TECKK) there are whales and seals swimming all around. It is just a beautiful day AND we catch halibut, yum!

Thanks for sharing.

[boingy300]

We tried the Halibut Pizza in town and it was excellent. Heard there were good fish N chips across the street but the pizza is enough. It's so good that they sell the Halibut Pizza to Red Dog in Juneau, we agree. The two places are across from each other, but I can't recall the name. We walked back to town from the ship, easy walk. Loved FISHES whale watching!

Karen

[GranMona]

We tried the Halibut Pizza in town and it was excellent. Heard there were good fish N chips across the street but the pizza is enough.

The halibut pizza probably was at the Galley. The fish n chips maybe at Grandma Nina's or The Office Bar. The Office Bar is more famous for their fresh dungeness crab!

[psblin99]

Dont forget the worlds longest zipline!

[gottagoacruzn]

The halibut pizza probably was at the Galley. The fish n chips maybe at Grandma Nina's or The Office Bar. The Office Bar is more famous for their fresh dungeness crab!

 

Yup, dont miss goin to the Office Bar, and dont forget to sign the guest book, while you're there. The crab is very good, an the place gets crowded and it aint fancy.

 

virginia

[admiral nelson]

We went with Shawn at Glacier Wind and had a great time. He does both fishing tours and whale watches, depending on the day. He grew up in Hoonah and seems to have lasers for eyes so if there's a whale anywhere between you and the horizon he'll spot it.