Icy Strait Point gondola! I took the free gondola near Icy Strait Point cruise port 🏔 Alaska cruise travel blog

Hi there!

 

There are actually 2 gondolas in Icy Strait Point.

One gondola in Icy Strait Point is free, another costs money.

I took a gondola in Icy Strait Point and here’s what you need to know!

 

 

There are 2 spots that a cruise ship will dock in Icy Strait Point.

Depending on where your cruise ship is docked, you will be at different parts of the gondola loop.

But either way, you will be near a gondola, maybe 2.

You will either be at the bottom of the free gondola or the top of the free gondola.

When starting at the bottom of the free gondola, the free gondola leads to the paid gondola.

If your cruise ship arrives near the top of the free gondola, then that means you will already be at the start of the paid gondola that will take you to the highest point.

If your cruise ship arrives near the top of the free gondola, then you will need to go down in order to get to the main part of Icy Strait Point (and to go to Hoonah).

You can either take the gondola down, or you can take a leisurely walk through the forest to get down.

As long as there are no bears on the trail… If bears are spotted on the trail, then they will close the trail… which is what happened right as I was finishing up the trail!

 

 

No matter what, you should at least ride the free gondola because… why not?!

Well, if there’s a long line maybe you won’t want to wait around. 🤪

 

 

How I took the free gondola in Icy Strait Point cruise port

It was towards the end of the day when I took the gondola.

In the morning, I did a whale watching tour.

 

 

After that, I walked from Icy Strait Point to Hoonah along the coastal Hoonah Sea Walk.

 

 

Once in Hoonah, I went to the cafe called Fisherman’s Daughter since it seemed to have good reviews. (map)

Then, I took the shuttle back to Icy Strait Point.

You can’t buy tickets on the shuttle, so I bought a roundtrip ticket in Icy Strait Point before I left. It was $5. They don’t sell one-way tickets. The reality was that the bus driver didn’t check for tickets on the way back. So if you originally were going to walk both ways and then change your mind… I don’t think it’s a big deal to get on the shuttle. Of course, if you know you will be taking the shuttle back, you should buy the ticket ahead of time!

So once back in Icy Strait Point, I then did the nature trail that is located right near the cruise port.

It was a nice leisurely walk through the forest.

 

 

 

Once I got to one end of a trail, I just happened to be at a gondola loading spot.

Actually it was the area that you could take 2 gondolas.

I could take the paid gondola to go up, or I could take the free gondola to go down.

The paid gondola in Icy Strait Point costs $50. You can buy tickets when you are there.

Down is where my cruise ship was docked.

I took the free gondola back down to the cruise port!

And then… because I wanted the experience of taking the gondola UP, once I got off the gondola to go down… I got back on the gondola to go back UP! 🤣

And then once I was up, I had to go back down, so I got back on the gondola to go down! 🤣

Yes, it really is a free gondola that you can take as many times as you want! 🤣

 

And that’s a little about the free gondola at Icy Strait Point cruise port!

 

 

HAPPY GONDOLA RIDE IN ICY STRAIT POINT!