I took a 6-hour cruise around Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park. Between the glaciers and wildlife, it was an unbelievable ride. (2024)

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Our boarding process was smooth.

After exploring the downtown area of the small seaside community of Seward, Alaska, we lined up to board our home for the afternoon: a roughly 80-foot catamaran operated by Major Marine Tours.

We were led to our table, which sat six people. Since it was just my husband and I, we were seated with two retired couples from Arizona.

After swapping stories of moose we'd seen, we felt the boat rev up and slowly leave port at 11:30 a.m.

This is when my husband and I headed for the outdoor-deck area. From here, we saw several bald eagles, an otter lounging on its back, dolphins swimming by, and "quite possibly the last puffin of the season," our captain said.

It was a brisk mid-September day, so after getting some good photos, we headed back inside to enjoy our included lunch: a deli sandwich, chips, a granola bar, a brownie, and a soft drink. The cruise also offered unlimited tea, coffee, and water throughout the tour.

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At one point, a superpod of orcas surrounded us.

During our trip to Alaska, an orca was one of the animals I wanted to see most. So you can imagine how quickly I hopped up when the captain announced that she'd spotted some killer whales ahead.

We hightailed it to the front of the boat, which had stadium-style metal benches for viewing, but since it'd started to rain, we stood instead.

In any direction you looked, you'd see a splash — some close, some in the distance. We chatted with a crew member, who said we were in the middle of a superpod of orcas — a combination of different pods of orca families.

He estimated there were upwards of 70 orcas around us. In his three years working with this tour company, he said he'd only seen something similar a few times.

Here, we idled for roughly 30 minutes, moving slightly to approach different groups of whales from safe distances.

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The main attraction of the cruise was the Holgate Glacier.

After the orca party, we headed toward our destination: the Holgate Glacier.

It's almost otherworldly to see a glacier in person. This incredibly blue mass of ice seemed so solid, but before long, a whole section of the glacier slid off with a boom into the water below.

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We even drank margaritas made with glacier ice.

Unbeknownst to us, the crew took this opportunity to scoop up some of the big ice chunks floating around our ship and made margaritas with glacier ice.

As they churned out the drinks, they cranked some "Margaritaville" in honor of Jimmy Buffett.

There was a jovial energy aboard the ship, and we found out our tour was one of the last of the year. As the crew celebrated the coming end of their season, we couldn't help joining in.

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The trip back was filled with more animal sightings.

On our trip back to Seward, we stopped a few more times to see seals, gorgeous rock formations, and a black bear on a remote beach.

After reaching the harbor at 5:30 p.m., we walked to the train station. We boarded our train back to Anchorage, which was timed to leave promptly after the Kenai Fjords cruises returned.

While we were lucky with all our animal encounters, the Kenai Fjords cruise is worth it for the beautiful landscapes and glacier viewing alone.