celebrity excursions in icy strait

[BeeSkip]

Hi Cruisers.

 

I'm looking to get information on what is the the best Celebrity excursion in Icy Strait....WE have ship board credit we need to  use.  We do not want to do anything airborne ( helicopter or float plane)  The bear search in the valley looks good but it seems like your paying $100+ to hike???  Anybody have experience with the Jeep excursion?   With the whale watch excursions, do you really see the whales or a passing fin breaking the surface of the water????   Anybody do the halibut fishing>???

 

Thanks Cruisers.

 

Bee

[AKStafford]

Icy Strait Point is a great place for seeing whales.

[Northern Aurora]

Some of the trip reports, organized by year, at the top of this forum page contain photos of whale watching excursions.  Those photos provide a realistic expectation of what to expect.

[Bearvet]

We booked independently with Glacier Winds - we definitely saw more than fins!!

[moneeman]

No personal experience, but I have read many good reviews on the whale watching.  Full breaches should not be expected (though possible), but you should see numerous (likely many) blows followed by a humpback and a beautiful tail.  If you are lucky, there may be some bubble net feeding, the waving of a fin, and possibly a breach.  You will be quite close to some massive creatures.

 

The bear excursion reviews are more mixed, and results vary greatly depending on time of year.  If the salmon are running, then the viewings will be MUCH better.  The tour is basically a bus ride in a reportedly older bus that eventually stops at a trail.  You then hike about a half mile down to 3 decks over the river.  I have seen a couple of reviews where one or two bears were spotted during the drive, and the bus stopped for a while.  In both of those reviews, no bears were seen at the river.  My guess is the operators have a pretty good idea whether there are bears at the river before they leave, but if not at the river, they are hoping to see one along the road.  I'm sure people that go when the salmon are running enjoy the tour more.  Just expect to be a ways away from the bears while on the viewing area (which can be a good thing!).

[masterdrago]

On 6/16/2019 at 7:28 AM, Bearvet said:

We booked independently with Glacier Winds - we definitely saw more than fins!!

Absolutely agree with bearvet. We saw hundreds of fins and tail but I just posted recommending Glacier Winds ...