Chenega

Misty Fjords National Monument is not one fjord but many. My wife and I spent an entire day sailing through it on the Uncruise Safari Endeavor last May. It was spectacular.

The closest a large cruise ship can get to it is Ketchikan. From there you can take a separate sightseeing tour by small plane, small boat, or a combination of the two.

Unless you are on a small cruise ship like Lindblad or Uncruise, you're not going to get into Misty Fjords on the big ships. If you want to see it, the excursion is a good idea. You can also fly over it but weather can often be an issue.

That is making things a bit tight. As the previous poster noted, that trip from Seward can easily take more time due to ongoing road projects in the summer. Better to take a later flight to LAX; you might also want to look into return trips to BUR, SNA, or other local LA airports. They will involve a connection in either Seattle or Portland.

Hello from one Bruin to another (class of 72). I've lived in Alaska since graduation from Westwood (teaching job at UAA) and there is lots to see as you apparently know.

If you want to do Denali, it is a three day investment and I'd rent a van or a SUV that holds six. It's at least a five hour drive from Anchorage depending on road construction. If you want to save some money, stay in Healy vs. the main visitor area of the park. It's about 15 miles north of the area but less crowded. You can even get some cabins there; just do a google search for Healy Alaska lodging.

As a resident, I'm partial to going out on the water. I love the small boat trips from Whittier to see the glaciers of Prince William Sound or Seward to go into the fjords of Kenai Fjords National Park. Seward is a great place to overnight although, like most of Alaska, the prices are high during the summer season.

That 6pm train from Seward does not go to the airport. It will take you to the Alaska Railroad Depot in downtown Anchorage which is about 20 minutes by cab from the airport.

Word of warning: ESPN often carries west coast regional games at that time in the afternoon. If so, you could probably still get the score.

A photo for you from Juneau, showing humpback whales bubble net feeding:

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/12-10bubblenetting.jpg

 

A photo of Surprise Glacier on the Kenai Fjords tour:

 

https://twocruisingsisters.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/8-8surpriseglacier.jpg

 

As gpb11 mentioned, weather will be unpredictable.

Surprise! Surprise Glacier is seen on the Prince William Sound trips from Whittier, not the Kenai Fjords trips from Seward. Both are excellent excursions. :D

Sorry, what do you mean when you say this caused you to quit working as "naturalists"?

Twice we had scheduled presentations canceled and/or moved because of these shopping "infomercials". We would be scheduled and then told that they had to do the shopping programs. After a few times, we simply said this was not the environment we wanted to work in and so gave up the naturalist stint.

There are exceptions of course but I don't think the cruise lines value offering an educational experience about Alaska.

My wife and I quit working as naturalists precisely because of these hard-sell techniques from the cruise lines promoting certain retailers that come up here from the Caribbean. Most of these jewelry stores carry very little that is local to Alaska.

Problem is that reality shows are cheap to make although using the term "reality" is a real cheat.

Those shows on Alaska have really resemblance to real life up here but people still buy into the illusion they create.

P.S. I'm waiting for versions of "Naked And Afraid" or "Dating Naked" set in Alaska. Now that would be the ultimate :)

We've stayed there several times. Other than June's Bed and Breakfast in the Begich Towers and the Anchor Inn, the Inn at Whittier is pretty much the only game in town.

Be sure to get a waterfront/ocean view room since the mountain view also includes the parking lot, a gas station, and tracks from the Alaska Railroad. They have a decent restaurant which has varied in quality over the years but there are a few other few choices in town including the Swiftwater Cafe, Wild Catch Cafe, and a Chinese restaurant.

The Inn can be rather noisy when a cruise ship comes in at midnight but that only happens twice a week. The day cruises are right next door.

I think the prices are too high but that is very common throughout the state during the tourist season.

Like Alaska, downtown Seattle hotel rates are outrageous at this time of year. I agree with the suggestions to stay near the airport. The Hilton, the Crowne Plaza, and the Marriott are within a short walking distance to the light rail link; for $3.00 you go right to the Westlake plaza in about 45 minutes which is close to Pikes Market and a monorail ride to Seattle Center. Fun to ride the train and watch all the traffic back-ups below you. In my opinion, downtown Seattle traffic is a nightmare now with all the construction going on.

As others have posted, there are companies that will shuttle you to the cruise dock.

Ouch on the view! Here's a view of Dawes from the Un-cruise Safari Endeavor taken in early May this year. The bottom picture is a glacier in Blackstone Bay (Prince William Sound - also taken from a small ship). The difference for glacier viewing is significant on a small ship vs. a cruise ship.

So do the smaller ships get into Tracy Arm? We are considering a Tracy Arm excursion from Juneau with a private company (Adventure Bound, Allen Marine, etc). It's a long day tour so want it to be worth it.

The smaller ships are worth it since you get much closer. Been to Tracy Arm three times and Endicott twice, both on a smaller boat.

Tracy Arm and Hubbard are widely viewed by the travel industry up here as alternative destinations for large cruise lines that do not have permits from the National Park Service to sail into Glacier Bay. It's an application process and some lines simply choose not to apply since only two ships a day can enter.

Numerous factors affect access to Tracy Arm including ice conditions, tides, and availability and hours of the required pilots that come aboard and escort the vessel. I was a cruise ship naturalist for several years and had an experience in Tracy Arm where we had to turn due to the hours allocated to the pilot; I was told by the ship's cruise director to announce that we were turning due to the ice conditions:confused:

Hubbard Glacier is also weather dependent and ice can also determine how far the ship enters. Glacier Bay doesn't have these problems.

Personally I'm a fan of the less-visited Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. Here's a picture of Dawes taken from an Un-cruise ship in early May this year. The bottom picture was taken of a glacier in Blackstone Bay (Prince William Sound).

Further information from KTUU news in Anchorage:

http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Glacial-flooding-prompts-closures-at-popular-Southeast-Alaska-tourism-area--385262701.html

Here's a second to the outstanding experience aboard an UnCruise. My wife and I took the initial trip of the Alaska season in early May aboard the Safari Endeavor from Seattle to Juneau. It was a 12 day excursion so we literally poked our way up the inside passage of Canada and Alaska. Weather was spectacularly beautiful with no rain and lots of sunny days. The ports were Ketchikan and Wrangell but the real focus was the scenery along the way. Best two days were cruising through Misty Fjords and a breathtaking trip to Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm. Saw lots of whales throughout the trip as well.

This is our second Uncruise trip and we are planning one to the Sea of Cortez in the future. Have been on the "big guys" like Royal Caribbean but Uncruise has really spoiled us.

So nice you were able to experience Un-Cruise again. We did the Seattle-Juneau trip several years ago. We too had beautiful weather and actually had the opportunity to waterski behind the zodiacs at Misty Fjords in Punchbowl cove. Being able to use the kayaks that were onboard was a treat. It’s not for everyone but we’d do it every year if we could. We had 24 people on our trip.

We used to work as naturalists on the big cruise lines but my wife didn't care for them; too big and too much emphasis on shopping and pricey excursions for her taste.

Un-Cruise is our speed. Nothing great about the cabin but everyone has a window in their compact room. Best of all, we were in no particular hurry to go from port to port. Spent an entire day and evening in Misty Fjords and whale watched in the evening just outside the entrance to Tracy Arm Fjord.

Already planning our next Un-Cruise to the Sea of Cortez. :)

Agree completely. Wife and I just came back from an Un-Cruise trip from Seattle to Juneau. We traveled through areas no large cruise ship would get near. Two personal favorites were Misty Fjords and Dawes Glacier/Endicott Arm. Weather was spectacular; even got sunburned.

Ship held eighty four people. No casino, no gift shops, no expensive excursions since the ship's route is the excursion itself. Highly recommended.

The tram to Cape Fox was out of order a few weeks ago. Maintenance issues :)

Thank you so much everyone. Since I originally posted, I've been hit pretty hard with morning sickness so I think the calmer waters of PWS are going to be the deciding factor for this trip. It's also really helpful to know that you don't get to a lot of the highlights in Kenai without a very long sail.

 

Mapleleaves, I hadn't seen much about Byron Glacier but our toddler has never seen snow and I think it would be exciting for the whole family (for a few minutes at least!)-- we will have a rental car, is it easy to drive/hike to? Thank you for the link to the trip report-- I'm almost afraid to share it with the family as those are some incredible photos that might raise expectations too high. ;)

 

Chenega- Thank you for the additional information comparing the tours. I think we're going to try to do Surprise Glacier. Is that the same as the 21 (26?) glacier tour?

 

GeezerCouple-- I know that on some days you can get around from Seward to Whittier by Alaska Railroad, but we're traveling before peak season so it's not available. Some of the experts around here might know of better options.

Yes, the Surprise Glacier is the 26 Glacier tour. They also run a shorter one to Blackstone Bay but the Surprise Glacier is their top trip. Phillips Cruises and Major Marine both do fantastic jobs on these trips. The glacier picture below was taken on one of the tours in Prince William Sound.

I think the shortest tour in Seward is 6 hrs, other than the Bay tour which isn't really worthwhile IMHO. Also, even on a nice day, there's a rough stretch when the boat enters the Gulf of Alaska.

 

The PWS tours are 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 hrs so Whittier might be a better option for you since the cruise time was important to you. PWS has calmer waters which might be another positive.

 

I've only done the kenai cruises so sorry, can't offer a comparison.

 

Alyeska Resort is a lovely spot. And if the weather's bad you can always hang out at the pool. It's also very close to the Wildlife Conservation Center and to Byron Glacier if you want to play in the snow.

 

This trip report from BrusselsGirl has some great photos of the PWS cruise ... they did a private tour with Lazy Otter and had wonderful weather. And they saw otters ! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2093748&page=4

I can speak with some experience on this since my wife has worked for boat tour companies out of Whittier and Seward.

One thing to keep in mind is that the waters past Resurrection Bay in Seward can get a little rough depending on the weather. I was on a whale watching trip two weeks ago and things got a little dicey for some passengers. A six hour trip into Kenai Fjords National Park is beautiful but the weather and conditions of the seas can be an issue.

The tours out of Whittier have calmer waters and the focus is on glaciers. You can take a shorter trip to Blackstone Bay or the longer tour through Esther Passes to Surprise Glacier in Harriman Fjord. There are plenty of otters on the longer trip to Surprise.

I'd second Simon and Seaforts. They have a great view of Cook Inlet as well.

Yes, it does get warm in Alaska. We hit nearly 64 degrees yesterday at our house just north of Anchorage. We virtually had no winter with little snow and temperatures never dropping below zero.

As for temperatures in July, you never know given the variables that influence our weather. Last summer we had a high of 84 degrees on a day in July.

I've lived in Alaska for 45 years and have visited the Grand Canyon more times than I can count (both south and north rim).

Still, my home state is magnificent. In fact, my wife and I are taking an UnCruise trip in May from Seattle to Juneau which allows us to meander through the beautiful Alaskan Southeast. No comparison.