Kenai Fjords cruise advice
 

Hi, We are planning a trip to Alaska in Aug 06, and want to take a day cruise and need some input. I had thought to do Kenai Fjords, 6 hr cruise..not too long, long enough to actually see something. The goal was more of wildlife than just glacier...although either would be good. I don't have any problems with boats...2 family members have potential to be queasy...but I figure Bonine will be a big help and if it is really choppy, we won't go.
Does it make sense to stick with Kenai and not do PWS? Also...any pros or cons to doing early AM vs evening? We won't have the choice to take the 11:30 due to schedules, but could take either the afternoon cruise the day we arrive in Seward or take the 8AM on the day we are departing. What suggestions would you have? Thanks!

We took the Kenai Fjords cruise....it was 7-1/2 houra and stopped at Fox Island for lunch. A great cruise. WE saw sea otters, puffins, cormorants, gulls, murres, shearwaters, seagulls, sea lions, young and old bald eagles. And a couple of porpoises played with the boat for awhile. It was nice to be up front and close to the glaciers. Take warm jackets. It was cold (September).

I took the Kenai Fjords six hour cruise instead of the Fox Island stopover one (90 minutes longer) and was very happy to munch my fried chicken and fish at our table on the boat. We saw everything I expected and more in the water - and even a black bear scrambling up a hill on our way back!

I chose Kenai over a PWS cruise and wasn't disappointed in the least, But dress warmly as it's cold near the glacier!

Ohas far as the time goes, we went early in the morning and were glad we did, as heavy fog came in mid-afternoon!

It won't make any difference in your wildlife potential re the times, go with what fits your schedule best. You won't have the opportunity to "not go" unless you are willing to loose your money as most have a one week cancelation?? Verify all cancelation policies.

I do recommend you reserve ahead if you were planning not to?? Although if you go between the three major companies, you may find space, you may not too. If you have a toursaver, you will definately need advance reservations with Renown.

We did both of these cruises as day trips out of Anchorage. Bus picked us up in the morning at the hotel for the PWS cruise (all day w/lunch), and we rented a car and drove to Seward for the Kenai tour. The drive to Seward was easy and beautiful and we took the afternoon tour which was about 4-5 hours. The weather for Kenai cruise was cold, misty, foggy and it became very rough about 1/2 way through--very rocky boat, which was much smaller than the one at PWS! Both cruises were spectacular and it would be hard to choose between them, but if forced to, I would take PWS simply because of the glaciers. To sit in silence and hear the calving is awesome! I think the afternoon timeframe would be better than early morning. Have a great time! and stay warm!

I've also been trying to decide whether to book PWS as well as Kenai Fjords. Interestingly, I just called to book Renown for KF and in asking advise as to which company to use for PWS, I was told that there was a certain redundancy (all 3 types of glaciers are seen on both, but there are more glaciers in PWS and more wildlife in KF) and that it might not be worth the time and expense to do both! Now I'm not sure what to do.

I did both PWS and KF (6 hour) boat trips. I enjoyed both for different reasons. For Glaciers the PWS trip is the best. You see so many different ones. This cruise was calmer because the sound is protected. That might be a plus to avoid seasickness.

For Wildlife it's the KF trip. I also settled for eating lunch on the boat instead of stopping at fox island. The day we went we saw lots of different bird, killer whales, dolphines, seals, sea lions etc. The day was mostly sunny and calm. But some parts were very bumpy.

You really can't go wrong with either trip. If forced to choice I would pick the KF trip because you still see several glacier and the wildlife is more abundant.

Thanks for the input so far. I knew I would get some great input here!
BudgetQueen, yes, I know I will lose the money if we cancel...BUT if the weather is bad, I definitely will just lose the money...or go by myself and let the others shop. It's not worth any amount of money for them to be seriously seasick. We took the CAT to Nova Scotia a couple of years ago, and had hurricane-effected oceans..it was BAD, and I am lucky to even get them to consider a boat trip again :)

I suggest you get Transderm Scop patches before you go to Alaska if doing the 6+ hr boat trips. Don't let a little rough seas spoil an incredible experience for anyone in your group. We used them last year in rainy weather and the sea did get rough occasionally but we didn't have any problems with sea sickness. An ounce of prevention . . . .