Icy Strait Point-Anyone been on Glacier Wind Charters?

[Clarabel]

We are thinking of booking with Glacier Wind Charters for a whale,wildlife cruise in Icy Strait Point and wondered whether anyone had been with them and had any reviews (good or bad).

[Yukon]

If you use the Search you'll find lots of responses to this same question.

[kathynorth]

We took a whale watch with Glacier Wind Charters in July 2008 and thought it was great. If you ask about doing a full day tour they will charge you a little more $$$ for a 5 hour trip. The captain, Sean, is a retired teacher and has lots of information about the geology and/or ecology of the region if you're interested. If not then he'll leave you to commune with nature. My husband bent his ear while I daydreamed! His wife made us a delicious salmon dip to snack on during the trip. They also provided us with soda and water. The boat itself is very clean and well kept. I think it can hold 6-8 adults, but the day we went out it was just 4 passengers plus the captain. We drove up to Point Adolphus and waited for the whales. Once they arrived they methodically traveled back and forth through the pass, so close that we had to keep moving out of the way. It was incredible. I will book with Glacier Wind again if we ever make it back to Icy Strait Point.

[StarTrkGeek]

We took a whale watch with Glacier Wind Charters in July 2008 and thought it was great. If you ask about doing a full day tour they will charge you a little more $$$ for a 5 hour trip. The captain, Sean, is a retired teacher and has lots of information about the geology and/or ecology of the region if you're interested. If not then he'll leave you to commune with nature. My husband bent his ear while I daydreamed! His wife made us a delicious salmon dip to snack on during the trip. They also provided us with soda and water. The boat itself is very clean and well kept. I think it can hold 6-8 adults, but the day we went out it was just 4 passengers plus the captain. We drove up to Point Adolphus and waited for the whales. Once they arrived they methodically traveled back and forth through the pass, so close that we had to keep moving out of the way. It was incredible. I will book with Glacier Wind again if we ever make it back to Icy Strait Point.

We are considering Glacier Wind and TECKK Outfitters. Do you know anything about TECKK?

[GranMona]

We've been on a whale watch with TECKK. It was great. Keith has a new boat for this season and it is going to have a whale listening audio system! We have done a whale watch, bear search and fishing with TECKK and are looking forward to going back to Hoonah in August to do it all over again. www.teckkoutfittersicystrait.com

Whoever you decide to go with, I've not seen bad reviews from any of the Hoonah tours. Enjoy Icy Strait Point!

[StarTrkGeek]

Glacier Wind has gone silent. Has anyone heard from them since they returned from vacation?

[mountainhouse]

Glacier Wind has gone silent. Has anyone heard from them since they returned from vacation?

 

Last heard from them on the 20th.

[handwcruisers]

I left a message with Glacier last Thurs and they called me back on Fri to schedule my fishing in Aug. He was out of town at the time

[Dreamakermom]

I have been investigating and have only heard good things!!! :D

[Snookum]

We are booked with them (Glacier Winds) for August and they have been absolutely wonderful in accommodating us. Has offered our choice in hot chocolate, sodas, water, tea, crackers, salmon dip, etc. Has always been very responsive. Teckk I haven't had good luck with as far as responsiveness and once before in 2008 they hooked me up with someone to take us whale touring and he was not very good. No bathroom on boat and very small. He asked what Teckk had told us the charge would be and when I told him he said he didn't get that but barely over half of it and was suppose to get majority of it all and he was very upset with Teckk so I could only assumed they took a big chunk of that and told him a falsehood as to what was charged to us. Also Teckk quoted us a higher price compared to other tour groups. Just got the feeling we were not handled fairly by them but that they might have taken advantage of the other guy.:rolleyes:

[coolrider]

That statement about TECKK taking half of the money for booking is very untrue! I know Edna and she is NOT like that. They started booking for others a few years ago and stopped shortly afterwards. The cost of their tour was $165 per per plus the cost of city tax. TECKK paid all Captains $150 and kept a small fee for credit card charges. No one should really work for free, but she almost did, and she did it just to HELP others who were just getting started and didn't have the connections or credit card machine. Before you go and say bad things about someone get to know their charter, if you don't what you say is merely gossip!

[coolrider]

That was $150 per person and they didn't have to do any of the city paper work!!

[Snookum]

Well Coolridge the boat owner of the boat is who I quoted and of course I wouldn't know for sure but then again no one really knows for SURE do they. He very well could have gotten more than he said but he sure was mad I know that. So just passing along info requested so poster can consider all when making a decision. If you don't agree with that then that's your right. Also our fee was more than $150!

[tjcox9]

Although we can't speak from experience this year, we have used them the last two years and have nothing to say except - SEAN and TERESA, you are the best.

 

We found them very accommodating in all respects of our trips. Sean does know where the whales are and loves what he does. He and my DH also shared stories as someone else mentioned earlier.

 

The first time with them, Teresa dropped us off at "The Office" (interpret local pub) for crab and beer. Great fun as the Seahawks were playing and there was much excitement amongst the locals. Unfortunately, last year, we we too early for crabs, but had another great whale watch and a nice walk around after we returned.

 

They are really nice people. The boat is small, so if you have any problem with water movement, than perhaps your best bet is with the ship's excursion. We loved both our experiences and hope to get back again. Too bad Princess discontinued their 14 cruise which visited there!!

[StarTrkGeek]

Too bad Princess discontinued their 14 cruise which visited there!!

Holland America still has a 14-day cruise that stops at Icy Strait Point.

Alan

[Budget Queen]

I just spent the day with Teckk in May and have gone with them previously. I highly recommend them.

 

Some above posts haven't even been on tours yet, but are making "recommendations" based on the booking process???

[Budget Queen]

We are booked with them (Glacier Winds) for August and they have been absolutely wonderful in accommodating us. Has offered our choice in hot chocolate, sodas, water, tea, crackers, salmon dip, etc. Has always been very responsive. Teckk I haven't had good luck with as far as responsiveness and once before in 2008 they hooked me up with someone to take us whale touring and he was not very good. No bathroom on boat and very small. He asked what Teckk had told us the charge would be and when I told him he said he didn't get that but barely over half of it and was suppose to get majority of it all and he was very upset with Teckk so I could only assumed they took a big chunk of that and told him a falsehood as to what was charged to us. Also Teckk quoted us a higher price compared to other tour groups. Just got the feeling we were not handled fairly by them but that they might have taken advantage of the other guy.:rolleyes:

 

So you are assuming your boat operator is factual and have made up your mind that Teckk is not?? How do YOU know this. You got one account which could have been used to get a bigger tip out of you for all you know?? You have chosen your own slant on this story, which may not be true.

[Snookum]

Budget Queen....Look after reading a lot of your obvious knowledgeable facts because you are fortunate to "travel" so much you don't always answer others posts and come across shall we say understanding or always kind of cut to the quick with some things. I'm not even referring to mine but over the few years I've read here I've seen it time and time again and thought "wow that's not what people want to hear" but always kept my thoughts to myself. It is wonderful to know so much but sometimes people aren't trying to be a smart....... or be a "know it all" but just delivering what their personal experience was. Yes I have been on tours here as well and so it is not just through the "booking process". That being said I wasn't trying to trash anyone but just telling what I had heard from others and what limited experience I had with the tour operators and yes I've had some:eek:. This gives folks a chance to know what's being said out there as well as actual experience others have had. If so many come back with great experiences that's wonderful and they can say so. Actually there aren't an overwhelming amount of posts on this company. when I first contacted them in 2008 I hardly found anything on CC. Since you "first introduced them to CC" you may have a certain loyalty to them and that too is fine. When posters ask for opinions on tours or tour companies we should each be able to pass along what we know without someone else jumping in and getting off track to complain about what info another poster gave that original poster who post the question. You can say what you want which you usually do but it is a rare occurrence when I get on here and post an opinion about any tour company or tour person. My first thought, is oh no someone will just come back and jump on what I said so I'm not commenting. Well here you go.

[briarglen]

I agree with you Snookum - well said!!!

[cdnishk]

One thing you're right about Teckk is that they certainly do not have hot chocolate let alone salmon dip onboard. We're tentatively booked with them for in 2 wks time. We're v late in booking and they're the only operator that still has space. And she did tell me that they'll have water, just water onboard and so we'll need to bring our own hot beverage if we want. Feeling a bit nervous after reading the exchanges here. Thanks for your input anyway.

[fleckle]

We have gone out whale watching with both Teckk and Glacier Wind, at different times on different Alaska cruises. The people from both companies were friendly and very nice. They used similar size boats and we had enjoyable experiences with both.

 

They take you out to the Pt. Adolphus area and you get to see whatever wildlife is out there and along the way traveling there and back that day. You will definitely see humpbacks and may or may not see orcas, bears, eagles, seals or other wildlife as well. We go for the wildlife viewing and could not care less about what kind of snacks they have.

 

Really don't understand what the drama and fuss is about. Reading the arguments here I am reminded of those reality shows where they try to stir up rivalry and controversy to attract attention.

 

I am not doubting that it is possible for someone to have a bad experience on occasion with any vendor, but in general I think you would do fine with either of these companies and they will do their best, within reason, to try and make you happy.

[jeniferlyn]

We just returned from our Alaskan vacation. We went whale watching with Sean this past Wednesday. It was a fabulous experience. We saw a lot of humpback whales plus my son and nephew were able to see a whale breech. Sean was very friendly and we had a great time. The boat was very comfortable and spotless. Sean and his wife did a wonderful job!!

[dukeofearl44]

My wife and I used Glacier Wind Charters for a whale watching trip. Sean & Teresa are very nice people who treated us well. The boat is clean & well maintained. The weather was terrible and there were seven foot waves so we did not go to Point Adolphus where the whales tend to be. So we cruised the harbor (along with two or three other boats our size) chasing one bored whale who wasn't in the mood for doing anything spectacular. We decided to book the smaller boat over the larger one offered by the cruise line as we thought that we could get a closer experience. It turned out to be a mistake. We talked with other people on our ship who took the ship's tour and they saw many whales breaching and bubble netting at Point Adolphus. Their larger boat was able to handle the waves but ours was not. The cost of the two tours were about the same-$165 per person. Given the unpredictability of the weather and the similarity of the costs, I would recommend going on the larger boat to increase your chances of seeing lots of whales. We spent $330 for a boat tour of the harbor in the pouring rain and a nice chat with Sean.

[MightyQuinn]

.... We decided to book the smaller boat over the larger one offered by the cruise line as we thought that we could get a closer experience. It turned out to be a mistake. We talked with other people on our ship who took the ship's tour and they saw many whales breaching and bubble netting at Point Adolphus. Their larger boat was able to handle the waves but ours was not....

That sucks. We made the same choice - initially booked an ISP whale watch thru HAL and then cancelled it to go with Glacier Wind. Did you get a sense of how often Glacier Wind doesn't make it to Point Adolphus? I will be desperately disappointed if we end up having a dreary harbor cruise while the big boys see the good stuff.

[dukeofearl44]

That sucks. We made the same choice - initially booked an ISP whale watch thru HAL and then cancelled it to go with Glacier Wind. Did you get a sense of how often Glacier Wind doesn't make it to Point Adolphus? I will be desperately disappointed if we end up having a dreary harbor cruise while the big boys see the good stuff.

 

I have no way of knowing nor do they because the weather is very unpredictable. We should have known better from past experience. We took the cruise line whale watching tour in Cabo San Lucas last year and got to see several whales breaching up close. The water was rough so the smaller boats were not able to go out as far as we could and they missed out on a great show. You should be OK if the weather is good.