26 Glacier Cruise vs Kenai Fjord Cruise?

[mkkao924]

We have 8 people (2 seniors, 3 adults, and 3 kids from 3 to 8 ) will be taking SB cruise from Seward in June 2020. We plan to fly to Anchorage a few days before so we can visit around Kenai before cruise. I was told 3 days is not enough to do Denali, so we will be doing Kenai instead.

 

That being said, both Seward and Whittier offer cruise see glacier and wildlife up close. Though they all look nice, we will probably pick one. In this case, will you recommend the 26 glacier cruise (Whittier) or Kenai Fjord Cruise (Seward)? As a group, I think adult will more appreciate glaciers but the kids, especially the 3 yr old,  may like wildlife more.

[CruiserBruce]

Not sure how many have done both, and can compare, but we did the 26 Glacier tour in June, had absolutely perfect conditions, and it was awesome...really amazing. I think the name "26 Glaciers" actually understates the number...but that might be because there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and we could see all sorts of glaciers.

 

We saw whales, dolphins and various birds, but no other land creatures.

[epixx]

With kids ages 3-8 and your cruise departing from Seward, I see no reason to trek to Whittier.  Furthermore, the Kenai Fjords Tour is known more for the wildlife, while the Whittier glacier cruises are known more for the scenery.

 

However, will the younger kids (like the 3 year old) enjoy being on a boat for 6 hours, which is the minimum time to reliably reach the wildlife areas?

[mkkao924]

2 hours ago, epixx said:

However, will the younger kids (like the 3 year old) enjoy being on a boat for 6 hours, which is the minimum time to reliably reach the wildlife areas?

 

That's a really good question. To be honest I haven't thought about it. I was thinking since we will be on a cruise for 7 days, with this cruise that he can see wildlife and glacier (or just big chunk of ice to him), it shouldn't be too bad?

[Suzanne123]

Will you have a car, or are you taking the train to Seward?

If you can get to Whittier from Seward ( and it won’t be cheap), the 26 glacier cruise will guarantee no seasickness, whereas the Kenai Fjords will be a much rougher ride if you don’t get lucky, and you won’t know  the sea conditions until the day of the tour.

 If the kids want to see animals, the Seward Sealife Center is great.  You can even catch a glimpse of some sea otters in the bay from the benches outside the center.

The tours from both Whittier and Seward are long days for little ones.

 

[CruiserBruce]

"Guarantee no sea sickness"??? How can they do that?

[strickerj]

On 10/2/2019 at 12:48 PM, CruiserBruce said:

"Guarantee no sea sickness"??? How can they do that?

 

Looks like it's a money-back guarantee. Prince William Sound is surrounded by mountains and islands so I'm guessing it's typically pretty smooth.