Whale Watching Plus Kenai Fjords Cruise Overkill?

[Amy5000]

Ok....maybe "overkill" is not the right word. I'm planning to do a wildlife cruise with either Major Marine or Kenai Fjords in Seward. I was also planning to do "Whale Watching" probaby with Harv and Marv in Jeaneu. Are these duplicative. Are they similar experiences?

 

I understand that the Kenai Fjords will be a much bigger boat. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks, Amy

[frugaltravel]

Similar? Not really. You might see whales on the Kenai Fjords trip; you will see whales on the Juneau trip. You will see mountains on both trips. You will see sea lions on both trips. Other than that, very different experiences.

 

I have taken multiple boat trips on the same Alaska trip. Even if they do "duplicate" each other, that is a very loose use of the word, since every trip is different, even every whale watch trip.

[CTDesign11]

We did both excursions and would do both again. The longest Kenai excursion will provide the better wildlife opportunities.

We left the Harv and Marv tour at Mendenhall and took a bus back to the dock.

[WalleyeLJ]

Ok....maybe "overkill" is not the right word. I'm planning to do a wildlife cruise with either Major Marine or Kenai Fjords in Seward. I was also planning to do "Whale Watching" probaby with Harv and Marv in Jeaneu. Are these duplicative. Are they similar experiences?

 

I understand that the Kenai Fjords will be a much bigger boat. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks, Amy

 

Amy,

 

Both terrific experiences. We loved our trip into Kenai Fjords (whales, sea lions, Dall Porposies, Harbor seals) our first trip to Alaska, and we were scheduled for a 7.5 hour trip this last July unitl high winds forced two days of trip cancellations, including our day. We may be biased, however, as we do as many ship/boat/kayak trips as possible when we are in Alaska. This past July we actually did two trips in one day with Harv & Marv (after doing one with them our first trip) as we love the small boat whale watching experience with them so much. We had two different captains (Jay and his daughter Jayleen), two different boats, one was in the AM, one was late afternoon/early evening. Tons of whale activity on each trip. We could whale watch every day and never get bored, because there is so much great scenery, and often, lots of other critters and creatures to see as well. In any case, have fun and enjoy!

 

L.J.

[lar]

It is really not fair to compare the two experiences. In Juneau you will be heading out specifically to find whales so the boat will be going out just for that. If you happen to see sea lions and eagles and seals that will be a bonus. Plus the geography of the Juneau whale watching area is very different than the area at the Kenai Fjords National Park. The Kenai Fjords trip will give you a very different experience of geology & terrain as you go into the fjords carved out by the glaciers. On these trips you do look out for whales but the boats are also searching out sea lions & puffins & mountain goats & bears & sea otters - well you get the idea. I would do BOTH! You will get to see so much more by spending time on the water in each location.