Alaskan Splendor: Icy Strait Point

By
Saint Greg

August 5, 2022

Good morning! Today we’re going to be in Icy Strait Point. This port was originally scheduled to be Skagway. A couple months ago they changed the port to Icy Strait Point. I had a Whale and Bear combo tour booked for this port. That excursion was canceled on the first day of the cruise. That left me with a choice between bear or whale excursions. The bear excursion quickly sold out so I booked the whale watching excursion last night.

My excursion ticket was delivered overnight.

We have not yet arrived at Icy Strait Point.

Here is today’s schedule of events.

I’m getting a coffee at Juice & Java.

She left me a little shy.

Maybe I should’ve gone to JavaBlue. There isn’t much of a line there.

I found the smoking area. I’m standing in it. You have a good view of the adults only Serenity deck from here.

They have a lot of clamshells on this ship.

This is the kid’s splash area. No swim diapers allowed.

They have full court basketball with bleacher seating.

There are plenty of clamshells.

This is the big water park.

This is the skydome which covers the main pool deck.

This is the mini golf course.

I’m ready for another coffee so I’m stopping by JavaBlue.

I put in a request for a breakfast table. While I wait for that I’m going to grab a screwdriver from the atrium bar to take with me.

This is the parfait. I haven’t had one since my 2019 Magic cruise when I had something hard in my parfait.

And the safe bet. French toast with bacon and hash browns.

I think the girl doing trivia here must be from Russia. The question was the closest country to Alaska. The answer was Russia. But then she said If anyone has questions on Russia to ask her.

We are docking at Icy Strait Point.

That’s the big zip line.

I stopped by the atrium bar for a bloody mary.

The reflection of Icy Strait Point in the bridge windows.

And my window.

I’m going with a shot of fireball before I get off of the ship.

I wanted to scope out Icy Strait Point to see if I could get a bear excursion before my whale one. Otherwise looking for food and drinks.

All I could find in the adventure center was the cable car that takes you to the mountain top for $50/day and carnival excursions meeting places. I didn’t notice the last minute tours sign behind the desk. Maybe they could’ve sold me something else.

I’m keeping this place in mind for later.

And this one.

This place looked like they might be able to sell me a bear excursion ticket since they have a “wildlife search” sign. But they told me all they’re selling are tickets to town on the shuttle.

I stopped by the crab house and met the bartender from New Orleans. I may be back.

These are private residences.

At first I was confused by this. There’s a sign that says it’s free. But I know they were selling tram tickets for $50 in the adventure center. Later I’d find out this is a free transporter that takes you over to where the pay tram is.

Eric the eagle lives in the port area. I’m going back to my room to change into a lighter jacket and get my excursion ticket.

You can see Eric pretty good from the secret deck outside of my room.

I grabbed a seat at the Duck Point bar and ordered an Alaskan Amber.

I took the beer over to the smokehouse and ordered grilled salmon for lunch.

You can see Eric from here.

After eating I grabbed another seat at the bar and ordered a Kassiks oatmeal stout.

I went with a Cannery red ale next. I hid my cup because the bartender reused my last one. I didn’t like that very much. If it were the same beer that would be one thing. But he put oatmeal stout in my amber cup.

This is the Cannery red ale.

Fred the whale also lives by the port. You can see him from the Duck Point bar.

There’s a walk up line for the bar.

Areosmith’s “Don’t wanna miss a thing” starts playing. People in line start singing. With my back to them I say “I think karaoke is in the Red Frog Pub.”

When I turn around I realize it’s the playlist cast. I wait until they get right up by me…and I throw out the bait. “It’s a good thing y’all don’t sing for a living.” I got the one in the blue hoodie. “Actually we do.” I say “I know who you are I’m just messing with you.”

I was trying to get to the 12:30 show but since the bartender decided to take care of his entire walk-up line before closing me out, I was late. They have no appetite for tardiness here. The show was locked up. I did stick around to get a picture of the inside though. It looks like the show lasted 20 minutes.

At the Crab House I was caught behind the bar reading the taps. “Can I hep you?” Well if you had the actual beers on the menu instead of “Alaskan beers,” that might help.

I was looking for local beers they didn’t have at Duck Point. I snagged a blueberry. Then realized the WiFi doesn’t come in here. I have to go. First I’m going to finish this and get another beer to go.

They didn’t have Alaskan Summer Ale at Duck Point either. I’ll give that a try next.

It’s a nice day here. It’s lower 60’s and sunny.

A guy standing next to me says “It’s warm in Alaska.” The guy down on the beach pushing his stroller looks up and says “I’m glad I brought my shorts!”

It’s time for my Whale Watching excursion. For full coverage of that check out. Icy Strait Point: Whale Watching.

After the excursion I found out this transporter was free so I decided to check it out.

There is a dock over here. Those look like the boats from my Whale Watching excursion.

Yep. Those are the Whale Watching tour guides. They said they go to Duck Point bar after they’re done for the day.

I figured I had to decide if I wanted to tram up to the top of the mountain or go to town and eat dinner. I probably don’t have the time for both. The guy’s selling the tram tickets told me later in the season they have a taco truck up on the mountain but it’s not there yet. I couldn’t tell if they were serious or not.

I opted for the shuttle to town for food. I walked all the way back down to that shuttle ticket booth.

I get to the shuttle booth and I don’t see anyone coming or going. I asked the shuttle ticket people if it was worth going to town to eat or if I should just eat here. They all said stay here. I asked where I should eat. They said duck point. I said I already had their salmon. They said get the halibut pizza.

The Playlist cast is still..playing. I’m not going to spread any rumors about how drunk they may have gotten or how they may have ended up in the water…because I don’t spread rumors.

Halibut pizza.

It’s really good! Probably all of their pizzas are good but this one is particularly good.

I am heading back to the ship. For more details on the port, check out Icy Strait Point Cruise Port.

I got back on the ship, showered and changed clothes then I headed to alchemy bar. The alchemy was full so I headed down to the to Red Frog Pub. The Red Frog Pub was doing karaoke which I don’t have an appetite for. I just thought about basketball playoffs. I checked the ESPN app. The Celtics and Heat are on. I headed to the sports bar.