Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours
We celebrated a milestone birthday for my partner, Korri, during our recent trip to Alaska, and one of his favorite places on Earth is Seward, Alaska. Seward is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, his favorite U.S. national park. He talks about both ALL of the time; I think he’d move there tomorrow if he could! So, of course, we had to spend at least a day visiting his favorite town and national park in Alaska.
It was my first trip to Alaska, so everything was new to me, including Kenai Fjords National Park! If you know me, you know I love national parks, so I was excited to see why Korri loved Kenai Fjords so much. I also brought my national parks passport book along so I could get it stamped, of course!
Korri worked with his grandma (an Anchorage resident along with his grandpa, uncle, and a few cousins) to book tickets for a group of us to experience the 7-hour Captain’s Choice National Park Tour aboard a boat navigated by the fine folks at Kenai Fjords Tours, the “original wildlife and glacier cruise for Kenai Fjords National Park”.
If you’re also looking at Kenai Fjords cruises and wondering if a tour with Kenai Fjords Tours is worth it, this post is for you! I shared why we booked with Kenai Fjords Tours plus dove deep into our full day aboard the Alaskan Explorer, including logistics, our cruise route, what we saw, what we ate, what I recommend wearing/bringing on board, and more.
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Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours
We had nothing booked for our Alaska trip ahead of time (besides flights, of course), but doing a Kenai Fjords cruise was the number one thing on Korri’s to-do list. After consulting the weather forecast and models (we’re both meteorologists!), Korri decided that our best option was to head to Seward on July 4 and hope that the low clouds (marine layer) wouldn’t linger all day!
Why Choose Kenai Fjords Tours?
Korri wanted to cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours because he loves that they’re the OG Kenai Fjords National Park cruise operator. There are a few other competitors, including Major Marine and private cruise options. Note: Our cruise was not comped or gifted, and this post was not sponsored!
How to Book a Cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours
Cruise tickets with Kenai Fjords Tours start at $269 for adults (anyone 12 years or older) and $134.50 for children (ages 2–11). Hot lunch is included. If you are an Alaska resident, you can enjoy 20% off all cruises. Book direct or via Viator, Tripadvisor, GetYourGuide, or Booking.com.
What to Wear for a Kenai Fjords Cruise
If you booked a cruise to Kenai Fjords National Park, congratulations! Now it’s time to figure out what to wear. Our cruise was in early July (the 4th, to be exact), so you might think it’d be warm because it’s summer. Don’t be fooled! Even if the weather is nice, you’ll be out on the open water and get close to a glacier, so you’ll definitely want to dress properly.
I was surprised by how many people on our cruise were wearing shorts, and I even saw a couple of people in t-shirts AND shorts. Brr! A lot of people went inside when the boat was moving quickly because of the cold air. I stayed outside the whole time (mostly so I didn’t miss anything!).
What I wore for our Kenai Fjords cruise:
Uniqlo Heattech tank top
Insulated rain jacket
Sunglasses
Beanie
Gloves
Even though I wore all of that, I still felt like I was a bit underdressed. I felt pretty cold as we were making our way from Resurrection Bay to Aialik Bay and then up the bay to Aialik Glacier. I also packed a long-sleeved Heattech tee, and I should have worn that instead of the tank top (or at least wore a different long-sleeved layer between the tank top and sweatshirt).
My legs also felt cold at times, but I think another layer would have added too much bulk. If you have insulated rain/hiking pants, those seemed to be popular options that a few others on our cruise wore. I only brought my rain jacket with me to Alaska, but a packable puffer coat would’ve been a good choice, though you’ll want something waterproof if it’s going to be rainy!
What Korri wore for our Kenai Fjords cruise:
Short-sleeved t-shirt
Hooded sweatshirt
Jeans
Waterproof rain jacket (a shell, basically)
Sunglasses
Like me, Korri also got cold at times and wished he had on another layer. When you pack for your trip to Alaska, I definitely recommend packing a couple tank tops or short-sleeved t-shirts plus long-sleeved tees so you have options for different activities, like doing this cruise. Make sure to also bring a waterproof outer layer. I was also SO happy that I remembered to pack (and bring) my beanie and gloves!
What to Bring on a Kenai Fjords Cruise
In addition to dressing properly for the conditions, you’ll also probably want to bring a few things along on your Kenai Fjords cruise. If you don’t want to wear all of your layers, definitely bring them along!
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect for our cruise, but I did pack a small backpack (the one I usually take for hiking) with my beanie and gloves, a water bottle, a few snacks, my point-and-shoot camera, my Kindle, my national parks passport book, and a bunch of medicine and other remedies for seasickness (patches, wristbands).
I don’t typically get motion sickness, but if I do, it’ll be on a boat… so I wanted to be prepared (also because I would have had an anxiety attack if I saw anyone near me get sick). Luckily, I did not get sick and had no idea if anyone was seasick! I didn’t see or hear anything. I did take one Bonine before boarding just in case. We had a decent swell heading out of Resurrection Bay (4+ feet) but that was the worst of it.
If you’re not sure if you can handle being on a small boat for seven hours, definitely bring medicine just in case. The crew on board also carries remedies with them in case folks don’t feel well.
Out of everything I brought along, I did not read my Kindle (lol) or eat the snacks (I ate the lunch and cookie that was provided to us). It wouldn’t be a bad idea to pack a thin poncho if your jacket isn’t waterproof, and a blanket would be nice to have if you plan to spend most of your time outside. You could also bring binoculars to see wildlife better from a distance!
How to Get to Seward, Alaska
You can get to Seward for your Kenai Fjords National Park cruise a few different ways: by car, by bus, or by train. From Anchorage, you can rent a car (the drive is about 2 to 2.5 hours), order a ride, book a shuttle, or take the scenic 4-hour train.
Do keep in mind that if you plan to take the train to Seward and want to do the Captain’s Choice National Park Tour that departs at 9 am (or any other cruise that starts in the morning), you’ll need to catch the train the day before and stay a night in Seward because it will not arrive on time.
We started our morning bright and early in Anchorage (6:30 am—the sun was out!) and drove the two hours down to Seward, arriving around 8:30 am for the 9 am tour departure.
The parking lot in front of Kenai Fjords Tours is only for short-term parking, so if you plan to drive, be sure to park in the designated area a few blocks away and hop on the short shuttle to the building.
Captain’s Choice National Park Tour Review
The Captain’s Choice National Park Tour is new cruise offered by Kenai Fjords Tours as of 2025! This 7-hour-long tour runs daily from June 7 to August 24, 2025. Spoiler alert: We loved our experience! Hopefully they’ll bring it back in future years.
After taking the shuttle to Kenai Fjords Tours in Seward, our party of five checked in at the self-service kiosks. Each person had to electronically sign waivers (and Korri’s uncle had to sign for his kids). There are bathrooms and a gift shop inside the building. Definitely take advantage of the bathrooms!
The employees directed us to the back of the building, where our boat, Alaskan Explorer, was waiting for us. You walk down a slanted boardwalk to all of the boats, and some of the crew were standing by the boat waiting for everyone. We had to show our tickets (which I believe were on Korri’s phone) and confirm our lunch choice (they asked if any of us needed a vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free meal).
We boarded relatively late (just before departure); by the time we boarded, pretty much every seat inside was occupied, so we ended up on the top deck outside. There are two decks; there are tables and chairs inside the first level along with some other standalone seats in the middle that face forward. There is more indoor space upstairs and a large open area at the back of the top deck with seats.
As we departed Seward, we passed by a bald eagle sitting on a pole with Mount Marathon in the background. We were there on July 4th, the day of the Mount Marathon race. Basically, racers run from downtown Seward up to the top of Mount Marathon (3,000 feet higher than Seward) and back as fast as possible.
We continued south through Resurrection Bay, passing sea otters, and as we neared the islands at the end of the bay, our captain, Emma from Kansas, spotted orcas! We hung around there for a bit and watched a couple of groups swim around. They didn’t jump or do anything crazy, but it was so cool to see them in the wild! (I had previously only seen Keiko, the whale that played Willy in the movie Free Willy, at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.)
It was sad to leave the orcas behind, but we had to eventually so we could see all the other cool things! On our way out, a few Dall’s porpoises (they look like tiny orcas) played in the boat wake. We headed south and around the end of the fjord to Aialik Bay. This was when the boat was interacting the most with the swell, and there was a lot of up and down motion.
As we traveled north through Aialik Bay, we passed by Holgate Glacier, which is a normal stop for other tours. Our captain wanted to get us to Aialik Glacier at the end of the bay because she had heard it was active (calving!). We enjoyed the scenery while eating our hot lunch (southwest chicken burrito with chips and salsa).
Oh my gosh, it was crazy to feel the temperature change as we drove into icy water and then approached the glacier. That was my first time seeing icebergs (albeit tiny!) and a glacier! Aialik Glacier is over 500 feet high and over a mile wide. It’s hard to capture the scale in a photo, but I did see some people who had kayaked to the base of the glacier and were hiking by is and snapped a photo so you can really see how big it was!
The boats don’t get any closer to the glacier than a quarter mile because of the risk of a huge chunk of ice calving off. And just as Captain Emma had heard, there was some calving while we were there! It was just small chunks, but they all sounded like fireworks when they broke off and hit the water. SO cool.
A crew member also grabbed a chunk of ice from the water and brought it up to the back of the boat so people could hold it and take photos with it! Korri’s young cousin got to hold it, and he held it like a baby—it was so cute.
As we left the glacier, we spotted seals lounging on some of the ice nearby. Captain Emma was most excited for our very last stop, so we had to keep going to make it work timing-wise! She took us south past Harbor Island to around the Chiswell Islands, where we saw beautiful foliage and lots of birds, including puffins! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a great photo of them.
There was a large group of Steller sea lions lounging on the rocks in the Chiswell Islands on our way to the last stop on the south side (Gulf of Alaska side) of the islands. There, we witnessed a group of humpback whales bubble net feeding! There were a ton of seagulls flying around and trying to guess where the whales would come up so they could snatch some of the food, too.
On the ocean side of the islands, the swell was more prominent again and we got thrown around a bit while trying to capture the bubble net feeding. It was worth it, though! We watched the group of whales come up to feed a few times before Emma said we really needed to get back, and she booked it back to Seward.
Not only did we see so much wildlife, we also had incredible scenery, and I can see why Korri loves Kenai Fjords so much! The rugged snow-covered mountains adjacent to the blue waters…chef’s kiss. I especially loved the green foliage, grey rock, blue water color combination.
We all enjoyed the Captain’s Choice tour so much; I’d definitely do it again someday! Our captain and crew were all excellent and so nice. The food was good. (You could purchase snacks and drinks on board if you wanted to! I never did, but I saw lots of other folks with drinks.) We were lucky to have great weather (the clouds parted at times, and Korri and I both got a little sunburnt—Korri a little more because he didn’t have a hat). The scenery and wildlife exceeded my expectations.
Seven hours may sound like a long time on the way, but it went by SO fast. I was surprised at how quick it flew by! It would be hard to see as many cool things if you only booked a half-day cruise.
After your cruise is complete, don’t forget to check out the gift shop (I picked out an ornament), use the restrooms again if needed, and walk to the Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center to get your national parks passport book stamped (if you haven’t done so already)!
Kenai Fjords Cruise Route
The best part of the Captain’s Cruise cruise is the fact that there was no set-in-stone route that we had to follow. Our route was 100% dependent on where the wildlife was spotted and which glacier was most active. Because of that, every Captain’s Choice tour is different! Your cruise will likely go to some different spots, and you may even get a chance to see some wildlife that we didn’t see on our cruise.
Here’s where our Captain’s Choice tour went (yours may vary!):
South through Resurrection Bay (spotted orcas on the south end in between Bear Glacier and Rugged Island)
North through Aialik Bay to Aialik Glacier (skipped Holgate Glacier, which is another glacier they can stop at)
South past Harbor Island and around the Chiswell Islands (saw puffins, watched a group of humpback whales bubble feeding on the Gulf of Alaska side)
North through Resurrection Bay back to Seward
Captain Emma was absolutely amazing! She always pointed out cool things to see (mainly wildlife) along the way, and she had a lot of history and fun facts to share, too. You could tell that she really loved her job and loved sharing Kenai Fjords with all of us on board! (And what a cool job to have!)
Kenai Fjords Wildlife
I’ve mentioned a few times the variety of wildlife that we saw during our Kenai Fjords cruise, but there are also some others that we didn’t see that you may spot on your own cruise!
During our 7-hour-long Captain’s Choice cruise, we saw: a bald eagle, sea otters, resident orcas, Dall’s porpoises, seals, puffins, Steller sea lions, humpback whales, and not to be outdone… lots and lots of seagulls (😆).
Other wildlife you could see include gray whales (typically only in spring), fin whales, mountain goats, black bears (sometimes), and a lot of different bird species.
