RCL excursions in Icy Strait Point Alaska

[pem309]

Has anyone booked the whale watching excursion in Icy Strait Point through the ship (Radiance of the Sea)?  I have heard that whale watching excursions book on the ship are on very big boats that hold a lot of people.  Is this true?  How was it?

 

Also, has anyone done Kayaking, fishing or the zip line in this port?  How does the zip line work?  Can you schedule a specific time?  It appears it can only be booked through the cruise line?

 

Any help you can give me for this port would be very much appreciated.  We are a multigenerational group (78-14) with varied interests but I think almost all want to do the whale watching.

Thanks for any help/suggestions you may have.

[LeeW]

They were putting a lot of people on the whale watch boats - maybe 50 people each when we were there in September.  Zip line ends at the port where Royal docks.  To use it you take the lift to the other port (free) and then a second lift to the top of the hill.  They were selling tickets in the port building but doing a zip line in heavy rain would not have been much fun.

 

You can walk along the water to the old cannery building and on some trails.  Really only the one shopping building.  They were also selling the ATV tour on the day we were there.

 

The whale watch area is near the entrance to Glacier Bay - a major humpback feeding area (although mostly gone by September). 

 

We prefer taking private whale watch tours out of Juneau (company called alaskashouretours.com does tours in several ports;  our son prefers Harv and Marv).  Private tours put fewer people on the boat for the same price or less.  We've been on their boats multiple times since company was called Orca Enterprises back in 2006 or so.  We usually have 15-20 people on the boat.

[Mikamarii]

We did the zip line about 5 years ago while on celebrity. I'm pretty sure I booked it on our own through the company directly where you book a time slot. So just make sure you give yourself enough time to get there from the ship and any delays. The start of the line wasn't for from the ship at all. Pretty much right after the welcome center. It was a bit of a drive up so you get kinda of a tour of the area as well which was fun. 

It was an amazing experience and beautiful view on the way down. 

 

Eta: went to the website and yes looks like you can only book through the cruiseline so sorry fornthe misinfo. Now I cant remember how we booked it. Either way it was a tonne lf fun and we'd definitely do it again if ever back. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Mikamarii

[LindaD22]

We were on Radiance this past June. In ISP, we booked a whale watching excursion with Glacier Wind. There were 8 people on the boat plus the captain it was the best excursion! Because of the small group, the captain could slow down depending on what we were interested in and he really made it a great experience. And they serve very good hot cocoa!

[reallyitsmema]

We would also recommend booking with Glacier Wind.  They are a small, family run company with two boats, one that seats 6 and the other 13.  We have gone with them twice in the past and would not hesitate to use them again.  They have their own van which picks you up at the excursion hub and takes you directly to the dock in Hoonah.  We saw lots of whales the two times we went with them.  They were really good at adapting to a late arrival of our ship into ISP the last time we used them.  I had contacted them to let them know of the change and everyone on our boat was on our ship anyway, so easy to adjust.  We have had the smaller boat with Captain Shawn and the "larger" new boat with Captain Casey , Shawn's son.  Both were excellent.  Teresa, Shawn's wife, is the van driver and organizer of everything.  I also agree with the hot cocoa comment above!

[swmichigan cruiser]

We have done whale watching twice in ISP. First time was on the ship excursion to many people last time was with Glacier Winds and that was great only 6 of us much better. 

[thetwoofus1]

We did the Glacier Winds tour also.  FANTASTIC!!  Saw mother and baby humpback.  Baby was so close to boat it bumped the motor.  I believe they have the go-pro video on their website.  There wer 8 of us on the tour.

 

JIm

 

(907) 978-9651 • glacierwindshawn@gmail.com • g-wind.com

[Italy52]

Have gone out with Glacier Wind many times --- wonderful experiences and well run operation.

[pem309]

Thank you so much for your information.  It is extremely helpful.  Unfortunately we are a group of 15 so Glacier Wind is not an option.  I had contacted them an their 13 passenger boat in already partially booked. I have contacted Hoonah adventure tours and it looks like they can accommodate us.  Has anyone used them.

 

I also have a question about kayaking.  A few of us were interested in this but they have heard because of the cold water temperatures you are very closely monitored and you see very little and you don’t really leave the shore.  Is this true?  

 

On the zip line is the line extremely long?  Are you ticketed by a time slot?  Is it just one zip line or several?

 

Greatly appreciate all your help!

[Kathscof]

We did the kayaking and it was fun,  but we didn’t go “out” into the water much, we were probably within 100 yards of the shore.  It was fun, we saw a lot of eagles, but not much else wildlife wise.  It wasn’t because of the water coldness,  but because of the amount of people (probably 15-20) we were always as slow as the slowest paddler.  It was fun being out in the kayaks, just for another view besides another boat, but this year we are doing whale watching.  

[Mikamarii]

9 hours ago, pem309 said:

 

 

On the zip line is the line extremely long?  Are you ticketed by a time slot?  Is it just one zip line or several?

 

Greatly appreciate all your help!

I think they say this is the largest zipline in North America. 

 

There are 6 lines that all go at once and they are pretty efficient moving people through.  From what i can remember You are given a time slot and that moves pretty efficiently. If there are 15 of you you would go 6 ppl Over 3 runs. I'm not sure how booking for that would work but should be able to get you all in. They should be able to get loads of people through if they are only booking through the cruise line.

 

The zip line itself only lasts a couple minutes but In zip line time that's pretty long. The website says you get up to 60 mph. I think the drive up was 30-40 min though. 

[pem309]

Thank you!