Seward
Seward glacier cruise: every sailing out of the small boat harbour
Seward is a town of about two and a half thousand people at the head of a fjord, and in summer it is the busiest boat harbour in this part of Alaska. Everything that goes into Kenai Fjords National Park leaves from here. This page is the departures, the check-in, the parking, and how to reach the town in the first place.
Quick answer
A Seward glacier cruise runs from $116 for four hours in Resurrection Bay to $272 for eight hours at Northwestern Fjord, with the standard six-hour national park cruise at $250. All of them check in an hour before departure at desks on Fourth Avenue and leave from the small boat harbour. Seward is two and a half hours from Anchorage by road and about four by the Alaska Railroad.
Seward, at a glance
- Where it is
- Head of Resurrection Bay127 miles south of Anchorage
- From Anchorage
- 2.5 h by roadabout 4 h by the Alaska Railroad
- Departures here
- Eight of the fifteenplus the two flights on this page
- Check-in
- 1 hour beforeat desks on Fourth Avenue, not at the boat
- Parking
- Paid public lotby the harbour, and it fills in July
- Cheapest
- $116four hours, early season only
- Most booked
- $250six hours, 921 reviews at 4.9
- Longest
- $272eight hours, Northwestern Fjord
- Also here
- Alaska SeaLife Centerfive minutes from the harbour
- Season
- Mid-May to mid-Septhe fleet is out of the water outside it
Why everything leaves from here
Seward is the only road-accessible door into the park
A sheltered fjord with a railway at the end of it. That is why the fleet is here and not somewhere else.
Kenai Fjords National Park has about six hundred thousand acres of coastline and one short road, which goes to Exit Glacier and stops. Everything else is water.
Seward sits at the head of Resurrection Bay, a deep fjord that opens south into the Gulf of Alaska. That geography is the whole reason the town exists: it is an ice-free port with a railway to Anchorage, and it has been the peninsula’s sea door since the railroad was built. For a tour boat it means a sheltered first hour and a straight run out to the park coastline.
It also means the town is small and the harbour is busy. In July the boardwalk is crowded, the parking lot fills, and three or four large catamarans leave within the same half hour. Checking in an hour ahead is not padding.
One practical consequence of the geography: the first hour of every sailing is inside the bay and is flat. The moment the boat rounds Caines Head and clears the headland, it is in the Gulf of Alaska. Almost everyone who has a difficult time on these trips has it in the twenty minutes after that turn.
Every trip, current fare
Every departure from Seward and the other two ports
Seward sailings are the Kenai Fjords ones. Whittier is Prince William Sound, and the Anchorage departures include a coach at each end.
| Cruise | Length | Price | Tidewater glacier | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Wildlife CruiseThe cheapest way onto the water, early season | 4 h | $116 | No | $29.00 | 5.0 · 44 |
| Half-Day Resurrection Bay CruiseHalf a day of wildlife in sheltered water | 4 h | $156 | No | $39.00 | 4.7 · 302 |
| Whittier–Anchorage Scenic TransferThe road back from Whittier, turned into a wildlife day | 6 h | $187 | No | $31.17 | 5.0 · 7 |
| Blackstone Glacier Small GroupA small boat and a beach nobody else is on | 3.5 h | $196 | Yes, Blackstone | $56.00 | New |
| Kenai Fjords Glacier & Wildlife CruiseSix hours to the ice, with lunch | 6 h | $218 | Yes | $36.33 | 4.8 · 185 |
| Captain's Choice Kenai Fjords TourThe captain picks the fjord on the morning | 7 h | $241 | Yes | $34.43 | 5.0 · 33 |
| Glacier & Wildlife Discovery TourThe glacier day that starts in Anchorage | 7 h | $244 | Yes | $34.86 | 4.8 · 23 |
| Prince William Sound 26 Glacier CruiseTwenty-six glaciers on sheltered water | 5.5 h | $245 | Twenty-six, from the water | $44.55 | 4.8 · 189 |
| Kenai Fjords Glacier Cruise with LunchThe full-day Kenai Fjords cruise, most booked here | 6 h | $250 | Yes | $41.67 | 4.9 · 921 |
| Wilderness, Wildlife & Glacier DayBears and moose, with ice as the backdrop | 6 h | $269 | From the shore | $44.83 | 4.8 · 107 |
| Northwestern Fjord Full-Day TourEight hours, and the most time at the ice | 8 h | $272 | Yes, Northwestern | $34.00 | 4.9 · 36 |
| Turnagain Arm Glacier & Tram DayCruise, wildlife centre and the aerial tram | 8 h | $366 | Yes | $45.75 | 4.8 · 4 |
| Bear Glacier Scenic FlightThirty minutes over a lagoon no boat reaches | 30 min | $376 | From the air | $752.00 | New |
| Helicopter Glacier Dog SleddingA dog team on the snow at the top of a glacier | 1.5 h | $593 | You land on it | $395.33 | 5.0 · 21 |
| Knik Glacier Helicopter & Ice ClimbingA rope on a blue ice wall inside a crevasse | 4 h | $1,334 | You climb it | $333.50 | New |
The practical detail
Seven things about the morning of the cruise
None of this is on the listing and all of it decides whether the day starts well.
- Check in on Fourth Avenue, not at the boat
The operators run ticket desks on the street a short walk from the dock. That is where the queue is, and where you are told which vessel and which boarding group you are in.
- An hour before means an hour before
In July the desks are genuinely busy, and boarding is called by group. Turning up twenty minutes ahead means boarding last and taking whatever seat is left.
- The public lot is paid, and it fills
Parking is across the street from the harbour and it is not free. On a July morning with four boats leaving at once it fills early.
- The train arrives later than the good departures
The Alaska Railroad from Anchorage is a beautiful ride and it does not get in early enough for the eight o’clock sailings. If you are coming by train, book an afternoon or a shorter trip, or stay the night before.
- Ask which side of the boat to sit
On a fixed-route sailing the crew know which side gets the rookeries and which gets the glacier. They will tell you if you ask at boarding, and not otherwise.
- There is no shop on board on most boats
Seven of the twelve cruises here do not include food. Buy what you want in town before you board; the last shop is on Fourth Avenue.
- The SeaLife Center is the weather plan
If your sailing is cancelled for weather — which happens — the Alaska SeaLife Center is a five-minute walk from the harbour and is the obvious replacement.
Whittier is the other port, an hour from Anchorage through a one-lane tunnel. It is sheltered water and twenty-six glaciers rather than one.
The 26 Glacier Cruise→Getting to Seward
Three ways, and what each one costs you in time
Two and a half hours by road, four by train, and the train does not get you to the morning boat.
Driving. Two and a half hours from Anchorage on the Seward Highway, which is a National Scenic Byway and deserves the title: it runs along Turnagain Arm with beluga sightings on one side and Dall sheep on the cliffs on the other. For an eight o’clock departure that means leaving Anchorage around five, in the dark at each end of the season.
The Alaska Railroad. Four hours, and the finest way to arrive anywhere in this state. The line climbs through country with no road access at all. The catch is timing: the southbound service does not reach Seward in time for the morning sailings, so it works as an arrival the day before rather than as transport to the boat.
A shuttle or a tour that includes transport. Two of the departures on this page start and end in Anchorage with the coach built into the ticket. You lose some flexibility and you do not drive a mountain road at five in the morning.
The honest recommendation: if you can spare the night, sleep in Seward. It turns an eleven-hour day into a six-hour one, and the town in the evening after the day boats are back is a completely different place from the town at eleven in the morning.
Common questions
Seward glacier cruises, answered
How much is a glacier cruise from Seward?
From $116 for a four-hour wildlife cruise in Resurrection Bay to $272 for eight hours at Northwestern Fjord. The standard six-hour national park cruise with lunch is $250.
Can you see glaciers in Seward?
Not from the town itself. Exit Glacier is a short drive away and is reachable on foot, but the tidewater glaciers — the ones that end in the sea — are outside Resurrection Bay and need a boat of at least six hours.
How far is Seward from Anchorage?
About 127 miles, which is two and a half hours by road on the Seward Highway or roughly four hours on the Alaska Railroad.
What time do the cruises leave?
The full-day sailings generally leave between eight and nine in the morning, with check-in an hour before at desks on Fourth Avenue. Half-day trips run later in the day as well.
Is there parking at the harbour?
Yes, in a paid public lot across the street from the small boat harbour. It fills on busy July mornings, so arrive earlier than the check-in time implies.
What is there to do in Seward after the cruise?
The Alaska SeaLife Center is five minutes from the harbour and is the standard answer, including when weather cancels a sailing. The harbour boardwalk and the road out to Exit Glacier fill the rest of an afternoon.
Go deeper
More on cruising to a glacier in Alaska
What an Alaska glacier cruise costs
Fifteen departures priced per person and per hour, from $116 to $1,334.
Kenai FjordsThe Kenai Fjords glacier cruise
Aialik, Holgate and Northwestern — which boat reaches which face, and for how long.
VerdictThe best Alaska glacier cruise
Fifteen departures ranked for one decision, with a straight answer at the end.
WhalesWhale watching on an Alaska cruise
Humpbacks feed here rather than pass through — what that means for your odds.
WhittierThe 26 Glacier Cruise
Prince William Sound, twenty-six named glaciers, and the tunnel you have to time.
Boat toursKenai Fjords boat tours
The park is reachable only by water or air. This is what the boats actually do.
