Icy Strait Point, AK

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

The rain caught up with us today in Icy Strait Point. What a wet, soggy day it was!

Icy Strait Point isn’t really a town in Alaska; it’s a privately-owned cruise ship port on Chichagof Island. Many different cruise lines make stops at Icy Strait Point while traveling through southeast Alaska.

Andi and I weren’t particularly excited about today’s destination. Online reviews were mixed at Icy Strait Point; some people said they enjoyed the shopping area and cannery museum, or the 2-mile walk to the nearby town of Hoonah. Other reports said there wasn’t much to do. We could have booked an official excursion (whale / bird / bear watching, or zip lining), but those tours cost more than we were interested in spending. Plus, today’s weather wouldn’t have made those activities very fun anyway.

Andi and I decided we’d take our time getting off the ship. We went to the ship’s gym first-thing this morning, and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Janie and Jim in the Oceanview Cafe.

It was pouring rain outside and about 60 degrees, so the weather didn’t nudge us off the ship any faster. As we were heading out, we saw several groups of people coming back to the ship sopping wet. They told us it was cold and miserable out there. Great.

Janie had an optimistic attitude about the inclement weather. “It’s won’t be bad,” she said, “so long as we dress for it.” The six of us wore every piece of waterproof gear we brought with us, but it didn’t much matter. The steady streams of rainfall eventually soaked through everything we were wearing.

Are we having fun yet??

There are two cruise ship docks at Icy Strait Point connected by a walking path or a free transponder tram. Luckily, our ship — the Celebrity Summit — docked at the closer port, so we were able to walk directly off the ship to the shopping area. Other cruisers had to take the free tram over, and the line was really long.

Together, our crew sloshed through puddles as we made our way to the shopping area inside an old cannery building. I wish I could have stopped to read all the signage detailing information about the old cannery, but there were hundreds of people pushing through the building in one big cluster. At one point, Andi and his parents got separated from Tory, Aden, and I & I started to panic when I couldn’t find them anywhere. Fifteen minutes later, we finally reconnected and it turns out we were all in the building at the same time — I just couldn’t see them amongst the crowd of people.

We left the shopping area as quickly as we could, and made our way to the walking path connecting Icy Strait Point to the small village of Hoonah. A flat, paved, two-mile sidewalk connects the cruise port to the indigenous Tlingit community. This walk had all the potential to be a beautiful stroll along the oceanfront, but not today. It rained on us the whole way. We were all wet and cold.

Poor Aden — his rain jacket was too small for him, so he was soaked to the bone. I kicked myself for not having him try the jacket on before we left for this trip. Darn kids grow so fast! Teenage Tory was mad at Andi and I because we made her wear her rain coat. She said she didn’t like it because it didn’t match her outfit, and she would “never be caught wearing a rain jacket again.” She also carried an umbrella which was her preferred method of rain deterrent (though it didn’t help keep her dry either).

There was a shuttle that took cruise ship passengers from the shopping area to Hoonah for $10/round trip/per person, but for some reason we thought it was a better idea to get some steps in by walking which would also serve as our activity for the day. This proved to be the wrong choice.

About half way into our 2-mile walk (that felt more like 20 miles), Aden plopped himself down on a curb and started to cry. “I’m not walking any further,” he wailed, “I don’t want to do this anymore!”

“I’m sorry, buddy,” I responded. “There is no other choice but to continue walking. We’re almost there.” The six of us slogged on toward Hoonah. When we arrived, all of us were grumpy, cold, and having a miserable time.

To make matters worse, there was nothing to see or do in Hoonah. We saw one bar, one gift shop, and a few others tourists aimlessly wandering the streets. We happened to see a few people gathered underneath a tent looking at a totem pole carving, so we walked closer to check it out.

Under the awning, we listened to the local carver tell the crowd about the totem pole which was set to be erected in town later in the week. He described what each of the markings meant, how long it took to make, and about his background as a wood carver. It was really interesting. I’m sure this guy gets tired of repeating his facts and stories a hundred times a week, but he was gracious to everyone who approached him with questions.

Our experienced with this kind man redeemed our interest in Hoonah. Next, the six of us walked across the street to Hoonah Treasures — a hodge-podge mixture of souvenirs, books, and local handicrafts. The owner of the store was so welcoming and friendly; we ended up talking with him about the Alaskan landscape, Wisconsin beef jerky, his family, and time & experience in the military. Andi felt obligated to buy something, so he picked out a Christmas ornament and Jim purchased a book to take home with him.

As we left the store, we saw the shuttle bus pull up to the bus stop. “I wonder how much it costs to ride back to the cruise port? I’m going to go ask,” Janie told us. The shuttle driver told her it was $5/per person, but we needed to buy tickets inside the Duck Point Bar. Hurry, the driver warned us — she was only stopped for a minute.

I’ve never seen Janie run so fast! She and Andi rushed inside the bar to buy us tickets, then the six of us raced back to the shuttle to catch a ride back to the port. We all collapsed into the few remaining bus seats, feeling tired, wet, and overall disgusting.

“I didn’t think Dad was going to pay for those tickets,” Aden whispered over my shoulder, “but I’m so glad he did.” It’s safe to say that none of us were excited for that 2-mile walk back to the ship.

Back on board, we beelined it to our staterooms to change out of our wet clothes and agreed to meet at the Oceanview Cafe for a late lunch. We had to be quick because the buffet was scheduled to close in 30 minutes.

What a comfort we felt to be welcomed back onto the dry, luxurious cruise ship after a pretty crappy day in Icy Strait Point. A plethora of hot lunch options were waiting for us, in addition to happy, smiling faces of the ship staff. On today’s lunch menu, they served American BBQ which was really tasty — ribs, bbq chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob, and macaron & cheese. It tasted delicious.

While we were seated in the dining room, we saw several pods of whales swimming beside our ship. The Icy Strait Point area is known to be a great place to see whales, and it was cool to see them so close to the ship. It’s easy to tell if there’s wildlife outside because there’s a crowd of people gathered by the windows with their cell phone and iPad cameras clicking away.

Jim decided to go to a nature talk after lunch in the ship’s main theatre. Aden wanted to go to Camp at Sea, so he left for the afternoon kids programming. Andi had some work to do. Janie, Tory, and I ended up sitting in the Oceanview Cafe dining room all afternoon visiting and watching out the window. It was so relaxing! It might’ve been one of my favorite afternoons of the whole trip. Several groups of people stayed in the dining room playing cards at the table, reading books, and watching out the big picture windows.

None of us were hungry for our dinner reservation at 5:30pm since we’d eaten a late dinner, so we agreed to go to the show in the main theatre at 7:00pm and grab dinner at the buffet afterwards. Tonight’s performance was a second show by the Celebrity Summit singers and dancers. It was a fantastic show. My favorite part was aerobatics. Overall, we’ve been so impressed by the nightly performances on this ship.

Tomorrow, the Celebrity Summit will do a “drive by” of Hubbard Glacier. We won’t get off the ship there, but we’ve heard the captain noses the cruise ship right up to the glacier. Excited to see what that’s all about. More to come…