Date trip: 8/12/00
Trip: 6 hours on Catamaran through Kenai Fjords National Park
Cruise Organization: Wild Life Quest
Price: $100 (expensive, prices don't differ much per company)

How to get there from Anchorage
I’m staying in Anchorage and decided to take a cruise in Seward to see Kenai Fjords National Park. There are different ways to reach Seward. Some tours will take you from Anchorage by bus to Seward. You can take the train too. I went by car. The trip took 2-½ hour with one short stop. There is road construction just before Seward. Start with a full tank. There are not many gas stations along the way. The scenery to Seward is very nice. Visit the Seward Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center. It’s just before you reach the harbor on your right. They have an overview of all cruises and have discount coupons. No coupon for WLQ though. Today I realized they offer AAA discount. Long-term parking is a few minutes walk from small boat harbor, where the cruises leave.

Which cruise to take
I made no reservations. Not advisable for high season though. The longer the cruise, the further the boat will go and the more you pay. There is no guarantee that you will see whales. If more time is spend on finding whales, less time will remain to see other animals and glaciers. Most tours last 3, 4 or 6 hours. A lot of 6 hours cruises leave at 11-11.30. The difference between the companies is in the extras they offer. Some have buffet. Wild Life Quest travels by Catamaran and include complementary sodas, coffee, thee and lunch (6 inch Subway sandwich, 2 types: vegetarian or not). In 6 hours you see the most and on the fast catamaran I hoped to see even more. Not everyone goes to the Northwestern Glacier and WLQ doesn’t go there all the time! Ask around. The catamaran is stable. No see-sickness here.

The cruise in Kenai Fjords National Park
The park is beautiful. Some of the mountains still had snow. I enjoyed the scenery. We saw sea otters, bald eagles, sea lions, little dolphins and we saw whales. We were very lucky. The first time we saw just the top of the whale. On a picture nobody will guess it is a whale. The second time we saw the tail of mom whale and the back of baby whale. That was fantastic! Another highlight was Northwestern Glacier. The other glaciers are nothing compared to this one. The catamaran went as close as it could get. You could see and hear the ice falling down with a lot of noise. The glacier was shining blue in the sun. It was a great trip.

What to expect on the cruise
If you take the cruise to enjoy the scenery and see some animals and birds, then you will have a lot of fun on the trip. If you expect to see a lot of different animals, you could be disappointed. You don’t always see whales. We didn’t see a bear. Our boat had several binoculars that could be used. A lot of birds will be too far away to find back on your picture, even with a 300mm lens. Take enough clothes with you. It will be cool when the boat is on full speed.




Recommended: Yes