Icy Straight Point vs Glacier Bay

[cruise*enthusiast]

We are looking at 2 different Alaskan itineraries and are trying to choose between one that sails Glacier Bay and another one that visits Icy Straight Point. Which one wins out?

[bluesea777]

4 minutes ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

We are looking at 2 different Alaskan itineraries and are trying to choose between one that sails Glacier Bay and another one that visits Icy Straight Point. Which one wins out?

Which ships and dates? Need to see the rest of itinerary for each. 
 

 

[CaptainBazz]

Glacier bay is definitely the best in my view. You will see lots of glaciers...there was also a forest ranger that came on the ship and talked about the area and the wildlife.. There is very little at ISP...you walk or take the cable car through the woods to an old salmon cannery that is now a museum. There is also a fish restaurant. 2 hours covered everything.

[Pitzel]

Glacier Bay, 100%! Icy Straight Point was very commercialized when we went and felt like it was developed just for cruise passengers. Glacier Bay, on the other hand, is an amazing sight to be seen, especially if your ship can get nice and close to the glaciers.

 

[cruise*enthusiast]

1 hour ago, bluesea777 said:

Which ships and dates? Need to see the rest of itinerary for each. 
 

 

 

NCL Encore and NCL Bliss

[cruise*enthusiast]

19 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

Glacier Bay, 100%! Icy Straight Point was very commercialized when we went and felt like it was developed just for cruise passengers. Glacier Bay, on the other hand, is an amazing sight to be seen, especially if your ship can get nice and close to the glaciers.

 

 

Thank you!  BTW, we are neighbors.  I live in NH!

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

We are looking at 2 different Alaskan itineraries and are trying to choose between one that sails Glacier Bay and another one that visits Icy Straight Point. Which one wins out?

Glacier Bay.
 

ISP has very little to do, unless you take a whale watching cruise. Been there 4 times. 

[9tee2Sea]

on my last Alaskan Cruise, the ship could not enter the channel for Glacier Bay ( Tracy Arm) due to too much ice floats.   Did not get to do the turn around and marvel at the glacier.  Luckily I have done that cruise many times, so I still saw it in my mind.  

[cruise*enthusiast]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

Glacier Bay.
 

ISP has very little to do, unless you take a whale watching cruise. Been there 4 times. 

 

Thanks!

[cruise*enthusiast]

Just now, 9tee2Sea said:

on my last Alaskan Cruise, the ship could not enter the channel for Glacier Bay ( Tracy Arm) due to too much ice floats.   Did not get to do the turn around and marvel at the glacier.  Luckily I have done that cruise many times, so I still saw it in my mind.  

 

Oh no!  Should we choose to do that itinerary, I hope that doesn't happen to us!  When did you sail that you had that happen?  Looking at a May 31st or August 31 departure.

[9tee2Sea]

Just now, cruise*enthusiast said:

 

Oh no!  Should we choose to do that itinerary, I hope that doesn't happen to us!  When did you sail that you had that happen?  Looking at a May 31st or August 31 departure.

mine was pretty early in the season.  April or mid may I think.  Hopefully you will be fine.  take binoculars.  so may waterfalls coming down the mountains

[dfilpus]

5 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

on my last Alaskan Cruise, the ship could not enter the channel for Glacier Bay ( Tracy Arm) due to too much ice floats.   Did not get to do the turn around and marvel at the glacier.  Luckily I have done that cruise many times, so I still saw it in my mind.  

Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay are two entirely different places. Tracy Arm s often closed due to ice. Glacier Bay is almost never closed due to ice. Individual fjords within the Glacier Bay complex may be iced in, but there is almost always some glaciers that the cruise ship can get to in Glacier Bay,

[bluesea777]

40 minutes ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

 

NCL Encore and NCL Bliss

 

These two are 7 days cruise with shorter port hours in some ports.

 

How about the SUN's 9 days cruises - they have longer port hours in Juneau (but it's tender, BUT tendering is easy and you tender straight to the Cruise Terminal in middle of downtown. They have all  Sitka, Icy Strait Point and Glacier Bay in the itineraries. This is an ultimate Alaskan cruise for you if you haven't been to Alaska before.

 

Sun is 2000 pax, nice sized (but older) ship with Observation lounge.

 

Bliss & Encore are 4000-5000 pax, huge ships.

 

Edit to add: Jewel also does Alaska - one way between Vancouver and Seward. The northbound has Glacier Bay, and the southbound has Hubbard Glacier, and the port hours are longer!

 

We did two B2B on Spirit this summer - from Seward-Vancouver-Seward - and it was fantastic. Seward is a great embarkation port - we travelled down there from Anchorage by train 2 days before cruise and it was superb.

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by bluesea777

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

Find a cruise with both!!   Glacier Bay for the glaciers and Icy Strait Point to sit with some long drinks looking for whales.

[cruise*enthusiast]

12 minutes ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

Find a cruise with both!!   Glacier Bay for the glaciers and Icy Strait Point to sit with some long drinks looking for whales.

We have a free cruise on NCL

[bluesea777]

5 minutes ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

We have a free cruise on NCL

 

Then, a 7 days one-way Jewel cruise from Vancouver to Seward end of May, with a couple post-cruise days in Seward (the 7.5 hours Kenai Fjords Glacier Park cruise excursion (Major Marine) is a must do!), then a train to Anchorage? 

 

😁

 

 

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@cruise*enthusiast

 

Or the reverse cruise from Seward to Vancouver on the Jewel 22 April.

[bonvoyagie]

4 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

on my last Alaskan Cruise, the ship could not enter the channel for Glacier Bay ( Tracy Arm) due to too much ice floats.   Did not get to do the turn around and marvel at the glacier.  Luckily I have done that cruise many times, so I still saw it in my mind.  

Sorry but Tracy Arm ends up in Sawyer Glacier not Glacier Bay. Usually the alternate is Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. These two glaciers are outside of Juneau while Glacier Bay is closer to Icy Strait Point.

 

To the OP I would also choose Glacier Bay over ISP any day - there is no comparison between the two.

[destar]

4 hours ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

NCL Encore and NCL Bliss

We originally book the Bliss, but after reading on CC about Glacier Bay, ended up changing our cruise to Encore next May.

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

We are looking at 2 different Alaskan itineraries and are trying to choose between one that sails Glacier Bay and another one that visits Icy Straight Point. Which one wins out?

Glacier Bay - absolutely!

Edited December 12, 2023 by cruiser2015

[OhioTony]

We did Glacier Bay on The Bliss recently with a balcony.

We secured a spot outside front and center on the way in.

Watched from our balcony on the way out. Eagles perched on icebergs. Sea Otter all around. 

It was stunning!

[zgscl]

16 hours ago, cruise*enthusiast said:

We are looking at 2 different Alaskan itineraries and are trying to choose between one that sails Glacier Bay and another one that visits Icy Straight Point. Which one wins out?

Short version - Easy choice. Book Glacier Bay. Absolutely, 100%

 

Long version - You will find that the Encore sailings with Glacier Bay are more expensive than the Bliss ones with Icy Strait Point. There is a good reason for this - Glacier Bay is absolutely stunning. Regardless of the premium, it is worth the cost. You spend the day in a beautiful bay looking at multiple stunning glaciers and rock formations. The Bliss will go to Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier for scenic cruising. This is scenic, but not really comparable to Glacier Bay either. Additionally as others have noted you can get much closer to the glaciers in Glacier Bay and it is extremely rare to have to cancel. Glacier Bay would be on every itinerary but it is restricted to 2 ships a day and the cruise lines have to fight over who has access - HAL and Princess get the most slots because they started sailing to Alaska first. The other cruise lines get Glacier Bay if they can and then have to use Endicott Arm (Dawes Glacier) or Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier) or in the case of North/South cruises Hubbard Glacier. While all are beautiful, I would choose Glacier Bay every single time. 

Icy Strait Point is basically a fake town built for the cruise lines next to the native village of Hoonah. It is a tourist trap built for the cruise lines. Think of it as a shared cruise line private island without the beaches and water sports. There is the world's longest zip line (roughly $185 for a pass to ride as many times as you want), a gondola ride, a couple tours featuring native culture, and overpriced gift shops. Holland America stops there for 3 hours after Glacier Bay on some itineraries. IMO this is more than enough time there. An 8 hour day is really pushing it. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

We're some of the few cruisers that actually like Icy Strait Point, but would absolutely pick Glacier Bay over it. 

 

Icy Strait Point a restored salmon cannery from 1912, and unlike most of the cruise line manufactured ports, it's fully owned and staffed entirely by the Huna Tlingit people. That means you won't find Diamonds International or Cariloha here, only shops and restaurants run by actual locals, including a fair amount of artisans. Since opening, the port has become more developed (piers instead of tenders, the cable car network), but we still find it charming. There's a rocky beach, bonfires, restaurants, bars, and constant wildlife viewing... there's sometimes a resident humpback that likes to chill out just offshore. People really despise ISP, but we've found it much nicer and more authentic than something like Ward Cove (where NCL docks in Ketchikan). 

 

All of that said, I'd highly recommend the Glacier Bay option if you've never been. NCL doesn't staff a full-time naturalist onboard their Alaskan sailings, so the only time you'll get narrated scenic cruising is when the NPS rangers come on board in Glacier Bay. There's something truly spectacular about watching glaciers calving into the water, and it's likely you'll have tons of wildlife encounters if you're out on deck with binoculars.  

[cruise*enthusiast]

3 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

We're some of the few cruisers that actually like Icy Strait Point, but would absolutely pick Glacier Bay over it. 

 

Icy Strait Point a restored salmon cannery from 1912, and unlike most of the cruise line manufactured ports, it's fully owned and staffed entirely by the Huna Tlingit people. That means you won't find Diamonds International or Cariloha here, only shops and restaurants run by actual locals, including a fair amount of artisans. Since opening, the port has become more developed (piers instead of tenders, the cable car network), but we still find it charming. There's a rocky beach, bonfires, restaurants, bars, and constant wildlife viewing... there's sometimes a resident humpback that likes to chill out just offshore. People really despise ISP, but we've found it much nicer and more authentic than something like Ward Cove (where NCL docks in Ketchikan). 

 

All of that said, I'd highly recommend the Glacier Bay option if you've never been. NCL doesn't staff a full-time naturalist onboard their Alaskan sailings, so the only time you'll get narrated scenic cruising is when the NPS rangers come on board in Glacier Bay. There's something truly spectacular about watching glaciers calving into the water, and it's likely you'll have tons of wildlife encounters if you're out on deck with binoculars.  

Thank you sooo much.  That was very informative!

[cruise*enthusiast]

4 hours ago, zgscl said:

Short version - Easy choice. Book Glacier Bay. Absolutely, 100%

 

Long version - You will find that the Encore sailings with Glacier Bay are more expensive than the Bliss ones with Icy Strait Point. There is a good reason for this - Glacier Bay is absolutely stunning. Regardless of the premium, it is worth the cost. You spend the day in a beautiful bay looking at multiple stunning glaciers and rock formations. The Bliss will go to Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier for scenic cruising. This is scenic, but not really comparable to Glacier Bay either. Additionally as others have noted you can get much closer to the glaciers in Glacier Bay and it is extremely rare to have to cancel. Glacier Bay would be on every itinerary but it is restricted to 2 ships a day and the cruise lines have to fight over who has access - HAL and Princess get the most slots because they started sailing to Alaska first. The other cruise lines get Glacier Bay if they can and then have to use Endicott Arm (Dawes Glacier) or Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier) or in the case of North/South cruises Hubbard Glacier. While all are beautiful, I would choose Glacier Bay every single time. 

Icy Strait Point is basically a fake town built for the cruise lines next to the native village of Hoonah. It is a tourist trap built for the cruise lines. Think of it as a shared cruise line private island without the beaches and water sports. There is the world's longest zip line (roughly $185 for a pass to ride as many times as you want), a gondola ride, a couple tours featuring native culture, and overpriced gift shops. Holland America stops there for 3 hours after Glacier Bay on some itineraries. IMO this is more than enough time there. An 8 hour day is really pushing it. 

Thank you so much.  I think my mind is made up!