Icy Strait Point

If you have cruised Alaska in the past and don't recognize this port, you are not alone.  This is a private port for cruise ship guests exclusively, established in 2001 on the site of an old Hoonah Packing Company salmon cannery.  The cannery closed operations in 1953 and the facilities were used for fishing fleet maintenance for decades.  The first cruise ships arrived in 2004 and last year, 69 ships visited.  There are many excursions available along with shops operated almost exclusively by the Tlingit people who live in nearby Hoonah.  This stop allows us to experience pristine Alaska wildlife, but also the culture of those whose ancestors have made this remote, scenic outpost their home for generations.

This is the entirely new dock recently completed.  Up until now, ships tendered guests onto shore.

This is our bus that will take us out to the river where we go for the bear search.