Kenai Fjords National Park Day Cruise Tour

We are planning to be in Anchorage in late July (7/28/07-7/30/07).

On the Sunday I plan on taking the 11:30 - 6 hour Kenai Fjords National Park tour out of Seward. The two operators I was looking at were Kenai Fjords Tours (Mariah?) or Renown Tours. The prices appear the same and both have a transportation package (although I still might rent a car and drive myself)

Any recommendations on which company to use?

Also if I take the combo motorcoach (AM) train (PM) transportation package the cruise ends at 5:30 %26amp; the train leaves at 6:00, when do you eat dinner?

Thanks

Marty

Kenai Fjords National Park Day Cruise Tour

We used the Kenai Fjords company and were very satisfied with their professionalism

Kenai Fjords National Park Day Cruise Tour

Renown Tours had a coupon in the 2-1 Alaskan Tour book this year. The book cost $99.00; the tour cost $130.00. So you save $31.00 even if you use no other coupons. The tour included a nice lunch onboard of alaskan salad, cream cheese, bagel, apple, large chocolate chip cooki, and a beverage.

I also took the 6pm train back to Anchorage. The train stop is a few blocks from the dock. I opted to walk instead of waiting for the van to fill up.

Dinner onboard is served by car. When seats become available in the dining car, the next passenger car is called.

I wish I had gotten a take out for the train ride, because the food was pretty lousy, IMO. And expensive. However, it was fun to eat on the train with the large picture windows. We even observed a black bear near the tracks.

Kenai Fjords Tours is the winner in my book. From what I know, they operate newer boats, and the price is similar. They also have a better meal than Renown. My understanding is that if at all possible, taking the 3 PM (same tour, different time) is astounding because you are the only boat out on the water at that time of day.

We used Major Marine tours.There were 4 of us originally booked.Unfortunately one of our friends fell breaking his arm and dislocating his elbow forcing a return to australia.On cancelling their tour with Major Marine and explaining the circumstances they got a full refund-the only place to do so.We felt this certainly is the mark of a professional yet caring organisation.

The cruise itself was enjoyable-we took the full day cruise.other boats were only seen in the distance.Unfortunately we had been spoilt by having a small boat cruise in the Inside Passage.Even 200 passengers seems a crowd after only 8.The meal was quite reasonable with second helpings allowed.More time was spent when something interesting happened such as a young whale lunge feeding when we were viewing the puffins.I would reccomend them.

We went on Renown, in August. I didn%26#39;t think the boat was old and the food was fine, actually the smoked salmon was great. Having a ranger on board was also great, because we were able to ask plenty of questions and have some interesting conversations. Kenai Fjords Tours doesn%26#39;t have a ranger on board. Are you going to go up to the captain if you have a question? Renown boat is also the only catamaran there, which is supposedly more stable and it%26#39;s the only boat company the offers the buy one get one free coupon in the Toursaver book (at least it was in 2006). You can get this book much cheaper on ebay than buying new, by the way.

Are you going to have a car in Anchorage anyway? If you are or if you can rent one for a day then I would definitely suggest you drive to Seward. But make sure you can rent the car the day before or very early in the morning. We rented from Hertz downtown on a Saturday morning. They didn%26#39;t open until 9am and then it took the one person working over an hour to rent to the 2 customers before us. If you will have a car then you will have more flexibility. After the boat tour you can go have dinner in Seward, then drive to Exit Glacier and stop on the way back to Anchorage at the viewpoints along the water (notice how fast the tide is moving in or out), anywhere you want to photograph the mountains, and if you see any wildlife along the road. It will be a long day but it wouldn%26#39;t get dark until very late, so you have time to explore.

I agree that it seems to make sense to go on a tour with a boat that has a Park Ranger on Board. That would narrow it down to Renown tours or Major Marine Tours.

Right now I%26#39;m leaning toward Major Marine Tours because of their better dinning option. They Depart at 11:45 AM and return at 7:45 PM. Anyone have exp with the Salmon %26amp; Prime Rib Feast?

If I take this option I%26#39;ll be renting a car and driving from Anchorage to Seward.

How do people feel about this tour versus Renown?

thanks

Marty