Kenai Fjords/Renown tours

[lundys21]

Both of these tours are in the 2009 tour saver book, both are 6 hour tours going to the same locations. The Kenai Fjords National Park price is $139.00 and the time schulde is 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. The Renown tour price is $149.00 comes with a Smoked Salmon lunch and has a ranger on board. the time schulde is 11:30 am to 5:30 pm. The date I am going to take one of these tours is July 13/14/09. Is there any advantage to taking one over the other???

[Chenega]

No advantage. They cover the same territory and the captains on Kenai Fjords tours are as well trained as the rangers. Go with the best deal.

[GlacierLady]

The 11:30-5:30 will alot busier because of the train. The timing is scheduled so passengers can ride down to do the wildlife cruise and then head back the same day.

[lundys21]

The 11:30-5:30 will alot busier because of the train. The timing is scheduled so passengers can ride down to do the wildlife cruise and then head back the same day.

 

Do you think we ( 4 couples ) will be able to book either of these tours on the same day we take them. Because we will be using the two for one tour saver coupons do we have to book in advance? I was wondering about this in case the weather was bad on the 13th, of July. I was also wondering ( on average) if there was any difference on the roughness of the ocean taking the early morning tour vs the afternoon one??

[NancyIL]

If you're using a coupon, you ought to reserve the tour in advance. They may accept only so many discount coupons, and July is peak season.

[Chenega]

No real way to tell how rough the ocean will be and there's no correlation between seas in am and pm. I've been on trips with rainy days and glassy seas as well as clear, sunny, and pretty good waves. It really depends on what is going on in the Gulf of Alaska.

[Helabama]

We did the Renown tour the first of Sept. It was raining and the seas were too rough to do the whole tour so it was shortened to 4 hours and we received a partial refund. We did see a lot of animals, a mother whale and her calf performed for us for quite a while, we saw sea otters, puffins, seals, a couple eagles, cormorants, etc., also lots of spectacular scenery.

 

The boat was very nice, very comfortable. If you tend to be seasick, stay on the lower deck, it is a much smoother ride. The park ranger was very informative and personable and the crew was great. The smoked salmon lunch is a box lunch with a piece of vacuum-wrapped salmon with a roll, some chips and stuff and a soft drink or you could have several slices of lunch-meat type turkey instead of salmon. It was okay--the rolls were fresh from a bakery in Seward and were delicious.

 

Nothing against the other tour company but I would definitely take the Renown tour again.