Kenai Fjords Cruise questions

[joe_cruiser]

I have read the forums regarding the Kenai Fjords Cruise. Given our schedule we are considering the 6 hour (11:30AM departure) with Kenai Fjords. We are departing Seward on the Summit at 9:00PM on May 27th and will be coming in from Anchorage the same day. I have a few questions maybe some kind soul can help me out with:

 

If we take the train or bus in that morning, how do we get to the dock, will the cruise operator meet us? What do we do with all of our luggage, since we will just be getting off the train and not checked in on the ship yet. Will the cruise operator hold the luggage for us? We do not currently have any transportation setup with Celebrity. I am currently trying to decide on transportation from Anchorage to Seward as well.

 

I read a post that water conditions on the 6 hour cruise can get rough and there is a tendency toward sea sickness. Has this been your experience? We have some people in our group that would probably not do well. Are we likely to experience rough conditions in the latter part of May?

 

Major Marines full day doesn't come back until 7:30PM, which would be cutting it too close. Is the shorter cruise by Major Marine or Kenai Fjords worth doing?

 

Thanks

[ladysail2]

Joe Cruiser...I cannot answer all of your questions..but can answer a few of them.

First, the train from Anchorage arrives in Seward at 11:05 am. I don't know if the tour company will meet you at the train station.

Budget Queen told me that the tour company will store your suitcases while you are on the tour.

If you go to www.sewardak.org you will (eventually) find a map of Seward that will give you some idea of distance between train station, dock area, etc. It really is a nice map.

I will be disembarking the Summit on May 27th (boohoo), and will be going to the SeaLife Centre and doing a bit of shopping that day before I board the train to Anchorage to catch my flight home.

Enjoy your cruise!

[vharbaugh]

We took the half day trip with Major Marine and it was excellent. Be sure to buy their prime rib and salmon buffet. It was wonderful. Fresh baked salmon, fresh green salad, rice, hot bread, prime rib, fresh fruit and a variety of desserts for $15.00. I tend to get sea sick so I took a Dramamine before we left sure. Sailing was pretty calm until we got to the gulf of Alaska and then the seas were rough for the 30 to 60 minutes that we were there. I felt a little queasy, but soon we were seeing whales breaching and I forgot about the sickness and was fine. We saw bald eagles, mountain goats, sea otters, sea lions, hump back whales, puffin birds, kitty waite birds, plus numerous glaciers on this trip. You get a whole different perspective of the animals from a small boat that from on the ship.

 

As I recall, the train station is just a block or so down from the pier. Our ship was docked directly across the bay from the Marjor Marine boat.

 

-Vickie

[GlacierLady]

The train gets here when it gets here,but usually around 11am, have seen it a couple hrs late before. No worries if your on a tour like Kenai Fjords or Major Marine, they have buses waiting to take you the one long block to the harbor area.They will wait till the train arrives or would lose too much money.I've seen luggage handled for people going on the cruises in various different ways.On your own to the ship is a long 4 block walk that has railroad tracks and gravel parking lot to tackle or $5 taxi shuttle per van.You don't actually "check" your luggage at the ship.There are big bins that you put your luggage in.Make sure you have your cabin tag attached.It then goes through x-ray/security before it's delivered to your room.The buses deliver you right to the cruise ship terminal.Most buses arrive late in the afternoon and don't give much time to see Seward and most are too worried about missing the ship to venture off.There will be 2 ships in port on May 27 so if you really want to do something that requires a reservation book it early!

[Kenwoody]

Where is the information on how many ships will be in port? We will be leaving Seward on June 3rd. Thanks.

[ladysail2]

Kenwoody...go to www.sewardak.org they have a cruise ship listing. Glacier Lady told me about this wonderful website....lots of info about Seward. :D

[Budget Queen]

Best is to have light packed quality rolling bags, then you just can walk to the Kenai Fjords office and they will store your bags. Then you would cab to the ship. AND indeed yes, I see sick passengers EVERY trip I'm on. Take precautions. Rarely are there even 2 ships in port with Princess and Carnival sailing out of Whittier.

[GlacierLady]

Where is the information on how many ships will be in port? We will be leaving Seward on June 3rd. Thanks.

The cruise ship's schedules have never changed even with Princess and Carnival moving to Whittier.Whittier is Princess on saturdays,mondays and Carnival wedsdays. Seward is Holland on friday,sunday. Every other friday we have 2 ships .. Statendam and Summit and on 2 of those fridays we will have 3 ships in...6/10 and 8/19. Fridays are always busy here.Vision of the Seas is here every other friday alone.Weds is Norwegian Dream which is making Seward a port of call 6 times this year.Will be interesting having Seward as a port of call instead of a jumping off and on port that everyone seems to overlook.I'm excited! So to sum it up...every 2 weeks the same ship is in for Seward and Whittier.7 days to Vancouver and another 7 days back. Someone might find this interesting in scheduling their cruise to start for a certain day or with a certain line.