Consider yourself lucky if your ship stops here. Opening its doors for the first time in 2003, Icy Strait Point is unique among Alaska cruise ports–ship visits are limited to one at a time, and the facility–a renovated cannery next to a Tlingit native village is surrounded by wilderness. If you’ve cruised Alaska before, you know how congested the other towns can get with four or five ships in port at once, so making a visit here is a welcome change.
Passengers come ashore by lighter to the cannery dock where there is a museum, cafe/restaurant, and numerous shops. Cannery life was a major cultural and economic element in coastal Alaska and this is an excellent chance to get a close look. There are walking trails around the site and additionally there is a shuttle bus to nearby Hoonah, the largest Tlingit village in Alaska. The facility is owned by a native corporation and the richness of Tlingit culture is a strong element throughout.
Icy Strait Point is located in Port Federick, just across Icy Strait from the entrance to Glacier Bay.
