twoaussies

We are trying to decide which of the Kenai Fjord cruises we should take. Leaning towards (following suggestions here) to the 9.30 hour one. Cannot find on any website what size the boats are? Dont want one with 200 passengers!
Looking at August 29 - too late for the Mariah tours.

Kristinesonja

I took the 6 hour National park tour with Fox Island dinner in July 2007 with Kenai Fjord and it was a 90 ft boat.

We had 105 passengers, not crowded.Upper deck was open to veiw, lower deck was closed in with two tiny bathrooms, comfortable upholstered chairs and big windows.

HTH

kktravels

i recommend the 9 hr..u will see more and if u going out u may as well go all the way..we were there last june..boat was large but hardly any people on it..

spirobulldog

We enjoyed a tour with Renown, although the boat does have a pretty good amount of people on it. If it were to do over, I would probably try to go Kayaking Ailik Glacier on a much smaller boat. That said, we did see plenty of wildlife and glaciers calving. Saw humpback with calf, dall porpoise and much much more. They have a catameran and it is smooth and fast. So you get there not sick and quicker. Their food is pretty lame, so take a snack with you.

jczinn

If you prefer a smaller boat, similar to Mariah, there is a trip which is run by Alaska Saltwater lodge (also a 16-passenger boat.) You might check to see if they run past the dates of Mariah.

http://www.alaskasaltwaterlodge.com/...e_watching.htm

twoaussies

Like the sound of the 16 passenger boat - just concerned about seasickness.
I am going to call tomorrow. Many thanks.

BudgetQueen

Alaska Heritage uses their regular size boats for the Northwestern Fjords, but always their fastest. (know a mechanic) There is no way to predict the loads. But overall,on the many trips I have been on, most people are unprepared in their attire and stick indoors, with the well prepared having no problem with viewing.

dcd

We took the Salt Water Lodge's "combo" tour (fishing and wildlife viewing) last year around the same time you are planning to go. Here's my comments on that trip from another thread:

We learned that most of the Kenai glacier/wildlife excursions are shutting down around the beginning of Sept each year due to increasingly bad weather on the high seas. We were in Seward Aug 25 last year. The combo trip taken the day before ours had glorious weather (of course). But our day was very much touch and go. The people at the Salt Water Lodge, where we stayed, said the weather forecasts that time of year are not very predictable, meaning the decision of whether the trip is a "go" is made at the last minute.

We ended up going but weren't 20 minutes into it when we were told the water was too choppy to go all the way to the glacier (a disappointment but what can you do) so we ended up doing a lot more fishing which was successful. The wildlife viewing was only so-so. On that same day, the larger boats went to the glacier but the reports were that a lot of those folks got seasick. We felt pretty fortunate to have been on our combo trip because we could at least spend the day fishing. The folks on the larger boats must have been pretty miserable killing time, especially considering that the wildlife viewing that day wasn't very good and it was cold and rainy.

For the combo trip, make sure you bring gloves, a warm hat, and dress in layers with the outer layer being waterproof.

rongolf

I just got back from Alaska(kenai P.) and my son and I took the 9 hr Saltwater Lodge boat 14 people(Nate was co-captain) . Definitely the way to go on line booking is 159.With the samall boats u get more personilized service and discussions not over a loud speaker plus they can get into shore easier and move around faster. We got a nice calm day with afternoon winds. I get sea sickness but took the necessary things and felt just fine all day. We saw everything including, black bear and mtm goats. Got lucky to see a pd of Orcas and they even breached. I just purchased a new cannon zoom camera and my pictures caught all the action. It was awesome having lunch in front of glaciers with no boats around(which is odd) but as we left two pulled in . If u need any more help ask