Sandy4

We plan to take the 26 Glaciers tour out of Anchorage. Are the two tours, Major Marine and Kenai Coastal Tour (both out of Seward), repetitive of the 26 Glacier tour? Which would be the better choice for whale-watching? Thanks, Sandy

BudgetQueen

For clairfication- the "glacier tour" is out of Whittier 1+ hour from Anchorage. Nope the Kenai Fjords tours are very different and the Kenai Fjords tours far more likely for wildlife so out of Seward is better for whale watching- BUT the tours go on a route and whales are NOT guaranteed. For sure whale watching go out of Juneau for Humpbacks or Friday Harbor Wa/Victoria BC for orcas. Kenai fjords offers VARIED wildlife opportunities.

lilipad

The above response is correct - also, the difference between tours out of Seward is you can take the Kinai Fjords or the Mariah Tours - Kinai and Major marine are similar in that they are on larger upto 100 people boats while w/Mariah Tours it's a 42 foot boat w/only 16 passenger capacity so while you will get a lot closer to the wildlife and possibly whales (on our trip they swam right next to us and under the boat - Orcas, so 10 feet away tops), you have to be able to stomach the smaller boat - so, it's a question of what you can handle.

Sandy4

Very helpful, thank you. Lilipad, at what time of year did you have this great experience? We do have a queezy person in our party. Hate to suggest this if the timing is wrong. We'll be there the last 2 weeks of August.

BudgetQueen

For ANY Kenai Fjords boat trip- take precautions- I have seen sick passsengers on every trip. As for "timing", mid to late August has the possibilities for your whale watching- and as stated above NO guarantees as it is not a "whale watching" tour. For clairfication- you get just as close to wildlife on the "regular" boats.

Sandy4

Budget Queen, you are the best. Do you live in Alaska?????

BudgetQueen

Nope- live in New York, just a frequent Alaska visitor, just completing my 16th trip. Next will again be in March with several days in Barrow, polar bear watching.

Sandy4

Amazing. As a group of seniors, we feel this will be our only trip to Alaska. That's why we want to take the cream off of the top in 2 weeks. I'm confused as to whether that is Glacier Bay out of Juneau, or 26 Glaciers out of Anchorage, or Kenai tours. Want to see glaciers calving and whales jumping. Would you do them all or ???? Also want to do Aero Talkeetna, but would save 2 days if we did it from Denali instead of Talkeetna. Does it make a difference. If we skipped Talkeetna, we could go to Juneau. Thanks for your help. Sandy

world_traveler

If i had to pick only one of the three (kenai fjords, 26 glacier or Glacier bay), then my recommendation would be Glacier bay.
I beleive Talkeetna Aero flies out of Denali as well, however those ones are slightly more expensive than the ones that originate out of Talkeetna. No major difference other than price.
I am sure than once you get a taste of Alaska you will want to go back again...

BudgetQueen

For clairfication- are you taking a cruise??? It will involve considerable expense to go to Juneau and Glacier Bay without one. It is an excellent deal to take a 7 day one way cruise- offers something spectactular every day and is geared toward sightseeing with good opportunities. If whales are a must do on your list- then Juneau is your best choice. No guarantees on calving glaciers but the more seen the more possible calving- some glaciers are also clearly more active than others. Since Talkeetna is on the way to Denali Park- yes I do always make a stop there myself, I think it is a must do. If you overnight here the first night up from Anchorage- with stops along the way, you could take a flight that afternoon then be at Denali Park by lunch time the next day??? Talkeetna is not really a 2 day trip and to fly back and forth to Juneau would be longer in my opinion to make up for a costly flight and to allow full touring and a side trip to Glacier Bay, Skagway, Haines, Tracy Arm etc.

Sandy4

No we're not taking a cruise. Here's how it's shaping up. Anchorage 3 nights (2.5 days) 26 Glacier tour; Homer 2 nights - bear watching tour; Seward 3 nights - Kenai or Major Marine tour, Ididaride sled, Exit Glacier, Sealife Center, coastal hike; Talkeetna 2 nights - Aero flight; Denali 3 nights - shuttle bus, hike; Anchorage 1 night & home. The airfare from LAX to Juneau & then to Anchorage was not expensive (I think about $40), but we would only have time to see Glacier Bay. But if we do that, we can spend one less night in Anchorage & skip the 26 Glaciers & spend one night less in Talkeetna. What do you think? And thanks for your time. Sandy

BudgetQueen

I wouldn't spend 3 nights in Seward or Anchorage nor 2 nights in Talkeetna. Reserach fully your activities, you could also cut a day at Denali Park, making the Juneau trip?? You have too much time in areas that may not offer as much as you think. Alaska is a place to be on the "move" and not as good for day trips over several days from the same area due to the vast distances. You could certainly do Juneau for 3 days with some adjustments.

Sandy4

Thank you. Back to the drawing board.

Dottie

Hi,

We were in Homer the third week of July in 2002.We took an all day whale watching tour with Rainbow tours that was amazing. We were not excepting much as everyone told us we should go to Seward to see whales.Since we had just come from Seward,and been out on the all day fjord tour;and had not seen whales;we were sure we were not going to see anything in Homer either. We went thinking that at least we would see some beautiful scenry.We hadn't been out long before we saw our first Humpback Whales. It was a mother and her calf not to far from us. I was thrilled, this tour was already a winner, even if we didn't see any more. We had been watching the pair for just a little bit when we began to notice whales breaching off in the distance.Off we went to get a closer look. Boy! did we ever, we ended up seeing 40 plus Humpbacks what day. Many breaches all around us.At one point the captain turned the motor off and we just watched in amazement the awesome sights of the very active whales all around us.Just when we thought it couldn't get any better then, this it did. I watched as two whales glided in and out of the water toward us.One came right up along the side of the boat and I made eye contact with this magnificent being.We looked at each other and I could see that this was a very intellegent animal looking back at me.It was enjoying the moment as much as I and it was magical.If whale watching is high on your list, stay one less day in Anchorage. There isn't much there anyway and take an extra day in Homer and give this day tour a try.If the Humpbacks are in the area you are in for a real treat.Rainbow tours has a website.