wsqr
wilmington oh
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Which cruise tour should we take - Port William Sound or Cook Inlet? Or is there one that does both? What tour did you take and how was the experience? Should we depart from Seward, Homer or Valdez?
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garym114
Bluff Dale, Texas
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Joined: 07/24/2006
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Prince William Sound, which would depart from Valdez. Shorter tours from Whittier.
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The Texan
Home: Idaho - Location: Texas
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Have done both and each is different, so both would be our recommendation. If only doing one, then Prince William Sound is by far the most scenic and would be the best.
Bob & Betsy(FishNFanatic) - USN Aviation Ret'd '78 & FL LEO Ret'd '03 & "Oath Keeper Forever"
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loggenrock
New Hampshire
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In '08 we enjoyed a trip from Seward to Kenai Fjords NP. Thought it was great. But our FAVORITE cruise ended up being from Haines to Juneau for the day. See http://alaskafjordlines.com/ - small boat, GREAT staff, saw tons of wildlife. Our intent was just to get to Juneau, but it became soooo much more! When deciding on a cruise, make sure you check out the Alaska Toursaver book http://www.toursaver.com/alaska-deals/ - book costs $100, but you more than save the cost of the book with a single cruise to Kenai Fjords, etc. ST
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answerswillvary
eastern washington
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Moved to RVing in Alaska from RV Parks, National Parks, and State Campgrounds
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Jim Shoe
Amelia, OH
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When I was there in 2005, Seward seemed to be the port for excursion cruises from the Kenai Peninsula, while Homer was more about fishing charters. I wasn't in Valdez.
Retired and visiting as much of this beautiful country as I can.
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robanddi
Burton TX USA
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Joined: 08/11/2003
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We have done day cruises out of Homer, Seward, Valdez/Whittier and Juneau multiple times and an overnighter (by air from Haines) to Gustavus then Glacier Bay National Park. I find most people like where they saw the most wildlife; however, that can vary from trip to trip and certainly from day to day. We have been most lucky out of Seward; however, Valdez is one of our favorite places in or out of a boat. Our least favorite boat trip was out of Homer to Seldovia (but we do love staying in Homer).
Diann
P.S. Total agree with getting the Alaska Savers Book. You will pay for it with only one day cruise and then everything else is gravy.
Robert & Diann
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Burton TX
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GrandmaCarol
Cadiz, KY
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Why didn't you like to trip to Seldovia? We were considering that for this year, so I'm wondering!
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Can-AmDuo
Maryland
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We took 3 tours:
1. Prince William Sound out of Whittier with Major Marine
2. Kenai Fjords National Park and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge tour from Seward with Kenai Fjords Tours
3. The Columbia Glacier Tour from Valdez with Stan Stephens
The captains and crews of all vessels were top-notch.
For glaciers we loved the Whittier tour and for wildlife it was the Seward tour. The Valdez tour was a good one but disappointing for us as the ship could not get within 10 miles of the glacier due to enormous amounts of ice in the bay. Apparently the Glacier was calving more than usual.
It is possible too that we were toured out by then, however I am very glad we did all 3 as we experienced 3 very different areas. We also did an unscheduled inside passage trip with 3 night stop in Juneau as our exit from Alaska.
Safe travels.
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joe b.
Florida
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In Valdez, our favorite boat tour is the Stan Stephens, Two Glacier tour. It goes by Columbia Glacier, mentioned above and on to Meers Glacier which can be approached by the tour boat. AS glaciers retreat, they leave large piles of terminal moraine on the bottom as the ice melts. The water is front of Columbia is too shallow for many of the deeper draft boats to safely navigate through. Some of the glaciers in the Prince William Sound area are retreating, some are advancing. The one nice thing about all the boat tours is, that I have never read anyone say they didn't enjoy the one they took. All appear to be first rate, some just a bit better, for that person and their interests.
My wife and I only have a couple of "must does" on our trips to Alaska, one is the Frantic Follies Can Can show in Whitehorse and the second is the Two Glacier tour in Valdez. Everything else is optional.
A few seals on the ice in front of Meers Glacier
Our last Capitan "Amanda" Extremely knowledgeable of the area, wildlife and a good skipper handling the boat.
Some beautiful scenery along the way, lots of wildlife as mentioned above, it was foggy in Valdez where we departed, but 5 miles out of town, the fog dissipated and we had a great day of sight seeing. Excellent lunch served on board as well.
There are sea lions basking on the bouys. Noisy critters.
A better shot of Meers.
And the fast catamaran boat of Stan Stephens Tours, a family owned business, that we were on the last 3 tours we have taken with them.
* This post was
edited 02/05/12 11:14am by joe b. *
joe b.
Stuart Florida
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