This day will be hard to top. We went on the Kenai Fjords National Park Tour by Major Marine Tours. We chose MMT for a couple of reasons; it is an Alaskan owned business and they have a National Park Ranger onboard daily and the girls in the sales office were friendly and very helpful.
To begin an incredibly friendly young man picked us up at our campground, he knew our names and which cruise we had scheduled. There was one other couple from Stoney Creek that on the same cruise we chose. Another couple, who were scheduled for a different cruise, came to the pickup point just before the shuttle arrived. The driver told them they could join us and then walk around in Seward instead of just waiting there. There was another stop to pickup another group for our cruise, then in to Seward. When we dropped off the couple going on a different cruise the driver explained they would board their boat at a different dock and he would drop them where they needed to be. Not only did he drop them at their correct place he walked them in to show them where to check-in. He dropped us off at the front door of our check-in spot and told us he would be there when the tour ended for our return trip to the campground. During the drive, both ways he engaged in interesting conversation about the cruise, Seward, and himself.
When we checked in, we were directed to go ahead and board the Glacier Express where we were assigned a table and a couple from California joined us there. The table assignment was mainly for a place to stow our things and eat lunch. Otherwise, we were free to move about as we pleased. The captain and crew was all female and they were a great team. The only exception to the all female crew was the National Park Ranger, Joseph. He wasn't actually a crew member, though. He was outside on the bow when there was something for us to be watching; in just his shirt sleeves, short sleeves at that. I don't know how he managed that. I was dressed in layers with a warm jacket and wondered why I didn't wear more. He shared his wealth of knowledge with us and answered our questions throughout the cruise. Ranger Joseph had a plethora of activities for the children on board and before the end of the day there were 22 new Junior Rangers sworn in.
Much of the time was spent outside on the bow. It was cold there, too. The warmth of the inside along with hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate were very welcomed when we came in from the cold. As lunchtime came around the captain instructed us how the system worked and everything went smoothly. The food, salmon and prime rib, salad, rice, a veggie and sourdough bread was all good and if someone wanted seconds or even thirds they were permitted to return after everyone had been served once. There was so much to see, I had only time and desire for only one serving. Later, during the return trip mixed fruit, cheesecake and a brownie was served. No one should have left that boat hungry.
In just a matter of minutes after leaving the harbor, the captain announced she had spotted some humpback whales feeding. We spent a nice amount of time watching those whales. Dall porpoises, they resemble Orca whales, played along side the boat for a while. There was a Fin whale, sea otters, sea lions, puffins, more humpbacks, mountain goats, and a family of Orcas. I was able to get pictures of everything we saw with only one exception, the Fin whale. There was only one, the sighting was brief and I was on the wrong side of the boat for a good shot. The captain was very fair about turning the boat to allow everyone a good view.
We saw Bear Glacier, the closest glacier in the park to Seward, and two tidewater glaciers, Holgate and Aialik (i-AL-ik). Everyone was very quiet while we watched and listened to the glaciers, pop, crack, creak and sometimes sound like thunder. Yes, we witnessed the glaciers calving, too. In case you were wondering about our seeing mountain goats, it occurred while we were pulled up near Holgate Glacier. Before leaving Aialik Glacier, a couple of the crew fished some large chunks of glacier ice from the bay and minutes later they were making Glacier Ice Margaritas.
We saw so much today, the captain said we were behind schedule a bit. She must have done a good job making up time because we were less than 5 minutes late returning to the dock. There was a Holland America Cruise Ship at the dock so I'm sure some folks on our tour had to get back to that ship as well as the ones who were taking the train to Anchorage. They certainly keep things to the schedule so no one is left behind. It was a marvelous day! I wrote a short post on Facebook about what a fantastic day we had and shortly after that I saw 2 others post similar things.
