TravelGuides

(TGA) - My wife and I taking our first trip to Alaska and will spend our last two days in either Seward or Whittier, to catch a cruise ship South. We'd like to take a 6-8 hour scenic boat ride while there. Let us know if one would be better, or the differences between the two towns. Thanks.
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Have you already booked your cruise? Do you have 2 nights or just 1? What kind of transportation do you have? A rental car would open up your options. Seward is the better place to spend 2 days. You can take a 6+hr Ressurrection Bay cruse, visit the Sealife Center, do a dogsled tour, eat at The Salmon Bake and visit Exit Glacier. Whittier is nice but your only activity would be a Prince William Sound glacier cruise. If you want to Kayak or do some hiking you can do both these activities in either town. If you would really like to do a Prince William Sound tour you could stop on your way to Seward if time allows or if your ship sails from Whittier spend a couple days in Seward and then on your day of sailing do a Prince William Sound tour before you sail.
Seward is a port with the usual docks, shops and downtown area. It is very pretty and easy to walk around. Whittier was built by the military, it has one large building where most residents live, it has a port and some shops but is much smaller and limiting than Seward. I do not know if I would find enough to do there for 2-3 days unless I did a long hike or kayak in the sound.
Edited: 10:22 am, March 17, 2010
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Spacefry's questions are right on the mark. We really need more info. Is your cruise already booked? If so, where is it departing from? In any case, I would not overnight in Whittier.
>>I do not know if I would find enough to do there for 2-3 days unless I did a long hike or kayak in the sound.
Spacefry, even a "long" hike in Whittier wouldn't take 2-3 days :-). The Portage Pass Trail (the most convenient to town) is at most an overnight hike, but usually just a few hours!
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I agree with the last post Seward is your better choice. Whittier is a unique place but it has almost no services to speak of. We did the Kenai Fjord tour two years ago and will be doing it again this June. We came through Whittier on our cruise last year and from what we saw I liked Seward better. Just my opinion though.
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Seward! :)
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Seward has so much more to offer and usually better weather. :)
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Thanks for all your great feedback! We have not booked our cruise south yet, but based on your input we will spend our 2 nights in Seward, and depart from there. Now we're comparing the Resurrection Bay 6+ hour scenic cruise from Seward, to the same length cruise in Prince William Sound, to see if it is worth a separate trip to Whittier. In addition to Seward, my wife and I will spend two nights in Homer, and two nights in Kenai, unless somebody has a better recommendation. If we hope to not rent a car for our June 2010 visit, can we travel between these 3 towns and Anchorage using public buses and trains?