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Just to be clear, I don't think this is an "excursion" available from the cruise ship. You need to book direct with Major Marine or Kenai Fjords tours. Both great operators.

Cruise lines are doing a disservice to their customers by extending the Alaska cruise season into October.

Find a way to make it happen. The tour of Kenai Fjords may be the highlight of your cruise. If 8 hours sounds like too much, take the 6 hour. I've now done both and they are both awesome, even if weather not cooperating. Are you doing a B2B that does its turnaround in Seward?

Sounds awfully spendy. I'm guessing there are cheaper ways to do it.

I disembarked the Spirit on June 28 in Seward. I had a reservation on the 8 hour Kenai Fjords tour to Northwestern Glacier that departs Seward at 8:30 a.m. I carried my bags off the ship and caught the Kenai Fjords shuttle just outside the cruise terminal. It was a 5 minute drive to the Kenai Fjords office at the dock. The shuttle folks even took my big bag to the Alaska Railroad depot since I was departing on the train at 6:00 p.m. that evening to Anchorage. My boat tour got back around 5 p.m. and it was a short shuttle ride to the train depot. I got back to Anchorage about 10:30 and my big bag was waiting for me. I've been impressed by how well the cruise ship arrival/departure, the train schedule and the Kenai tours are all pretty much in sync.

Well done.

Quit listening to Sarah.

I have to assume that if you can afford to cruise, that you are/were VERY well paid and are in no need of any special treatment at the pier or on the ship. Count your blessings and don't ***** about what working people make.

Happy to see that I have another trip report to follow. Your's are very entertaining and informative.

People commenting on the adequacy of other working people's wages bothers me. That's just me.

Define "VERY livable wage".

There were two small cartons of Flow water waiting for me in my cabin in June. I am lowest tier Latitudes member.

Disclaimer: I have been to Hubbard several times, and gotten pretty close to the face a few times, but have never taken the small boat excursion. Having said that, I would be very surprised if the Hubbard excursion offers the same variety of wildlife and stunning scenic views as Kenai Fjords. On my trip last month to the Kenai out of Seward, I saw humpbacks, orcas, harbor seals, sea otters, puffins, bald eagles, murres and probably some I've forgotten -- all on a single trip. Not to mentioned several calving glaciers. Hubbard is spectacular, but I don't recall seeing the variety of wildlife that I've seen in Kenai. In addition, the Kenai trips are much more likely to run during less than ideal weather; your cruise ship and excursion boat might not even make it into the Yakutat Bay due to fog, as was the case on my trip last month.

You will not be cited.

Well excuuuuuuuuse me!

Sigh.

I was on a Glacier Wind whale watching trip out of Icy Strait several years ago and our small boat was surrounded by a pod of Dall's porpoises. They were swimming with the boat, under the boat and in front of the boat for what seemed like 10 minutes. Great entertainment.

I agree with Coral. If the weather is decent, I might consider instead getting fish tacos at Deckhand Dave's and then walking down to the Mt. Roberts tram.

I was thinking of doing something mid to late August, but a family health issue looks it will make that impossible. If I did, I was going to see how cheap I could do it as a single. For me, that means: 1. Seattle RT (no flights) 2. Inside cabin 3. No drinky package. 4. Maybe one specialty restaurant. I don't really care for Seattle itineraries but it is more convenient for me. I can drive up or take the train. My next trip on the Kenai (one of my favorites places on the planet along with the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland; Dingle, Ireland; Vernazza, Italy; and Krakow, Poland.) will have to wait for next year. I'm thinking an inside cabin, in addition to being a lot cheaper, might force me to less time in my room and get out on the ship more. I usually treat a cruise as comfortable transportation between the ports where I do photography. I have been less interested in what's going on on the ship.

Lots of people on my recent cruise would exclaim "there's an orca! There's an orca!" I didn't have the heart to tell them it was a Dall's porpoise.

Reminds me of Nixon walking on the beach in Oregon in 1968.

One has to savor those beautiful Alaska sunsets. On my last Alaska cruise, I had one sunset night, and that was between Vancouver and Victoria. It didn't really count.

Looks like a nice evening leaving Icy Strait.

I used my 100-400 5.6-8 with my R5 and my R7 (crop sensor) a couple of weeks ago in Alaska. Chose to leave my big, heavy 150-600 at home. Pretty happy with the results. I wish it was faster, but then it would be heavier and more expensive. I also brought my 24-240 for landscape/glacier face shots. Between the two lenses and my iphone, I felt I was pretty well covered. Pictures below were all taken with R5 and 100-400. Cropped and minor sharpening adjustments. Very grey day out out of Seward.

Tap the credit/debit card app on your phone at the turnstile. You don't have to fuss with cash or tickets. Trust me, it works. BTW, the walk from Canada Place to Waterfront Terminal is slightly uphill.