PWS or Kenai Fjords
 

Sailing from Whittier on 8/24 and have one full day for a tour (staying in Girdwood)...debating the PWS tour or Kenai Fjords...how much duplication of the cruise would there be in tour from Whittier, as opposed to taking one out of Seward (may be the only chance to visit there)....and what would the difference in driving time be? Thanks for any help.

My first question would be, what are your plans prior to Whittier? PWS sails from Whiittier so you will already be gaining the experience of Whittier from your cruise. Next question, how are you getting to Whittier? To get to Seward for the Kenai Fjords tour, you must have some kind of transportation. The train from Seward does not go dierectly back to Whittier, separate train is needed, so I think you would need 2 days.

Didn't spell this out too good. We'll be in Girdwood for wedding celebration 9Sat). We have a couple of days to plan day stuff and will have a car. We'd drive to Seward and make a day out of it. I think we've kind of settled on that, but still may do the PWS if there's more time (another day)-- I did wonder whether the cruise leaving from Whittier might be a duplication. Thanks

The PWS cruise goes from from glacier to glacier. The longer PWS cruise goes to the pink salmon Wally Noerenberg Hatchery as well as stopping at the various glaciers. The trip from Seward is more for the whales and view of glaciers. There is a train that goes to Grandview, round trip in 1 day. You can get the train from Girdwood. I recently purchased 2 for 1 tickets for the trip. Check out the Alaska Railroad for info. I got the dicount by calling to make reservation as web reservations did not offer the discount.

As a charter boat operator from Whittier, you will not duplicate your glacier cruise from your cruise ship. Your ship normally does not arrive into Whittier until after 9:00 pm and you may see a glacier or two up to 10 miles away. Your cruise ship also does not travel through any fjords that make up the tour. From Girdwood to Whittier (tunnel toll) is 21 miles. Girdwood to Seward is 88 miles. Disadvantage to Whittier: The entrance/exit to Whittier is N. America's longest tunnel of 2.5miles. The tunnel is not open 24/7. To enter Whittier, the tunnel opens to allow one lane traffic to enter begining at 5:30 am and every hour at the bottom of the hour until 10:30pm. To depart Whittier, the tunnel allows one lane traffic to depart begining at 6:00 am and every hour at the top of the hour until 11:00 pm. The toll r/t is $12 then you will have to pay to park within Whittier.

PWS offers considerably calmer waters although the weather system differs from Seward (whether it's raining or not). I moved my operations from Seward to Whittier because of the calm protected waters. We are still veiwing whales in PWS and will continue to until late September.

Hope this helps and hope your trip to Alaska is enjoyable.

thank you for very informative and helpful advice...We might try to do both, given enough time.