Kenai Fjords Tours vs. Major Marine Tours in Seward 2023

[VacationCharlene]

Looking for opinions and reviews from people who have recently used either one of these companies.  Interested in Resurrection Bay including Fox Island or the National Park cruise.  Any and all lengths of time reviews welcome as they seem to have 3.5, 4.5, 6plus hour excursions.  Also, if booking on our own are they easily accessible/walkable from the cruise ship port in Seward?  Thanks everyone!

[donaldsc]

We have done the 7.5 hour tour w Major Marine 3x including last summer.  This includes a visit to 2 glaciers.  We obviously liked the tours.  We have never done a Kenai Fjords tour but looking at their WEB site it appears as if the Kenai Fjords 6 hour tour also hits 2 glaciers.  I wonder about how they appear to cover the same places in a much shorter time.  I would compare both of them and then call them and ask them the same question that you have asked us.  Also Major Marine gave us a reserved table for the entire cruise so we did not have to worry about someone else trying to take our table.  Check as to how Kenai handles tables.

 

DON

[Northern Aurora]

A number of years ago we did a day trip out of Seward on Kenai Fjords.  At least at that time Kenai Fjords didn't assign tables and we had a family select tables on both sides of the vessel.  This family group was not large enough to need two tables.  They could have used one table.  This was just table hogging pure and simple.

 

Major Marine assigns tables.  It is so nice to have "your" table where you leave your day packs, jackets and so forth.  No one table hogs.  There is also a generous amount of space on outer decks so people wander around on the outer decks.  You are not mandated to sit at your assigned table.

[Northern Aurora]

Oops -- forgot to answer that Major Marine is an easy walk from the Seward cruise terminal.  The cruise terminal (think warehouse) is one side of the small boat harbor and Major Marine check-in counter is in the lobby of the Marine 360 hotel.  Major Marine purchased the Marine 360 property a number of years ago.  It was originally a Holiday Inn Express.

[KruisinKath]

We did the Kenai Fjords Tours 6 hr tour. If I recall, it only went to one glacier (their 7.5 hr tour goes to two I think). No issues with not having an assigned table. Once you get your table, you’ll have your stuff there. It’s not like you’re playing musical chairs every time you come back inside. We spent more time outside checking out the Orcas in the bay, and getting clear shots of all the other wildlife we saw.  Highly recommend!

[disneyochem]

I have done cruises on both lines and much prefer Major Marine.  Customer service just seems better with them!  Also, I think the food is better on Major Marine.  I like the deli sandwich lunch over the Caesar chicken wrap.  
 

We were assigned tables on both lines.  We’ve also been on the Fox Island lunch cruise.  I’d save the money and spend more time on the water!  The lunch is just a buffet and then you spend time waiting afterwards to get back on the boat.  (We stayed a couple of nights on Fox Island and would watch the folks wander aimlessly on the beach until it was departure time.  The beach is roped off so you only get limited access on 5he island.)

 

I always recommend folks to take the longest cruise that they can.  The more time on the water = more wildlife sightings possibilities.

[KruisinKath]

Both companies do have similar tours of differing lengths. I would not do the version that has dinner at Fox Island either, but some folks seem to enjoy it. I just did the straight 6 hour tour. I know there’s a 7.5 hour one that goes to 2 glaciers, but one of us isn’t thrilled with boats in general, so 6 hours was plenty. 

[VacationCharlene]

I guess I was not aware that the additional FOX ISLAND was just adding the food part.  We want to SEE lots of cool stuff.  Really appreciating the comments so far....keep them coming!!

[canloan]

In case it impacts your decision, in past years Major Marine has offered a 40% discount on tours booked over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.

 

[NothingBeatsBaseball]

I took advantage of the Major Marine Cyber Monday discount last year (December 2022) for a six-hour cruise in June 2023. Well worth it as it's an expensive trip.

 

It was a very well run cruise. We had a foggy day, which meant we didn't end up with some of the great sights that others have shared photos of. So saving some money on the booking with the discount was nice.

 

It seemed like they had lots of boats going out the day we went as our dock was right by Kenai's offices. We ended up buying some souveniers there instead of Major Marine since we were much closer to it. 

[SirTomster]

Hehe, all these posts about Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are making me regret booking my trip for next year.   

 

But too late, I jumped on booking my time to be safe.   I will just have to avoid their site when the sales happen.

 

[VacationCharlene]

11 minutes ago, SirTomster said:

Hehe, all these posts about Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are making me regret booking my trip for next year.   

 

But too late, I jumped on booking my time to be safe.   I will just have to avoid their site when the sales happen.

 

KEEP your reservation and MAYBE re-book at a cheaper fare?  At least you know you have the excursion you want 🙂