Alaska Cruise Tours
 

I would appreciate input regarding 3 cruises we are considering - Glacier Bay, 26 Glaciers in Prince Williams Sound, and Kenai Fjords out of Seward. If we could only do one, which would be the best? Please rank from 1 to 3. We would love to see/hear calving!

Thanks for your help.

P.S. We plan to be in Alaska this July

I thought this was going to be a driving tour starting and ending in Anchorage. Unless that's changed, Glacier Bay is going to be extremely expensive and inconvenient, as it's located close to Juneau in Southeast Alaska, and reachable only by air from Anchorage (around 600 air miles.) Several cruise ships stop at Glacier Bay on their itineraries, or you can get there by boat from Juneau, but it's not a destination you can reach by car from anywhere.

Of the two remaining, they're quite different. The Whittier tours (Phillips and Major Marine) will take you close to numerous tidewater glaciers, which may or may not be calving, although you'll usually see some ice falling.

Kenai Fjords tours include some glaciers, but the main attraction of those tours is wildlife - whales, seals, otters, often animals on shore, birds... You might see some wildlife on the Whittier tours but the Kenai Fjords tours will have a much higher chance of close encounters. The scenery on both is marvelous, however be advised that part of the Kenai Fjords tours cross open ocean, so seasickness is a risk for those who are prone to it.

I'd do both, personally.

I can't speak about Glacier Bay, but we have done Kenai Fjords and the cruise from Whittier. We enjoyed Whittier and were lucky it was a beautiful day. We have done Kenai Fjords twice and would do it again if we get back to Seward. Both times it was cold in late August and we spent most of our time sitting on the top deck-we dressed warm.

The wildlife was great both times on the Kenai Fjord cruise. We went to a glacier (can't remember the name) and saw it calve. The crew picked up some ice and brought it on-board. During the tour in August 2015 we saw 2 pods of Orcas with both adults and young. It was spectacular. If I could only do 1 cruise, it would be Kenai Fjords, although as Gardyloo says, you are on the open ocean. It can be a bit rough at times.

We did the Kenai Fjord cruise and 26 Glacier cruise in July, 2016, and enjoyed them both for the reasons others have stated.

The cruise out of Whittier was on a beautiful catamaran with a crew that was much more attentive than the crew on the Seward cruise.

Were I to cruise out of Seward again, I would carefully research whether one of the smaller cruise operators offers a more personalized experience than the one that ropes in the most tourists.

HTtY

Our trip is in two parts; First we start by flying in to Ketchikan and Juneau; boat to Skagway; then we fly to Anchorage and rent a car for part two. SO, I am trying to decide if Glacier Bay should be a stop while in Juneau...