I took this tour, by luck, on one of the most beautiful days in the summer. The trip started with a bus picking us up at our hotel in Anchorage. The drive to Whittier was about 1.5 hours. We stopped at a scenic area on Turnagain Arm and then again at a rest stop for a bathroom break. The driver (Eddie) told us all about everything we were seeing and was really excited about it. I had a great time on the bus and would have taken that as a tour! On the way back, the driver didn't talk much until we saw some beluga whales. It was a peacful drive, as we were all worn out from the excitement of the cruise.

This cruise was really about wildlife and the Surprise Glacier. The captian would tell us whenever he saw any animals and would slow the boat down for pictures. We saw sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, jumping salmon (at a hatchery!) and Dall's porpoises.

We saw a ton of glaciers on our route, but only got really close to one. We spent about a half hour there and saw an AMAZING calving. I can't believe how lucky we were.

The food was ok, I'm from Maryland and I was pretty interesed in trying a west-coast crab cake. I like ours better, but it was great to try something different. They offered chicken and veggie meals as well. We brought a water bottle - but they had plenty of water and lemonade to drink. I'm sure you could pack extra snacks in your bag if needed.

Dress warmly. Even though the air temperature was in the high 50s, the boat moves quickly and that is a COLD wind while you try to take pictures! I wish I had my hat and gloves. Prepare for rain with all waterproof clothing, too. Have a big memory card with a fully charged battery. My camera battery died near the end of the cruise because I had taken so many pictures!!

We went on the Prince William Sound Glacier Adventure cruise using our Alaskan Toursaver, and were regrettably disappointed. Wished we had paid more to go on the other cruises (Major Marine or other one). We saw that their boats were much nicer, and got much closer to the glaciers. Our boat was old, stinky of fuel, noisy with the rumbling engine, and the crew was low energy and lackluster. The food was barely edible, except for the delicious chocolate chip cookies at the end. We didn't see any glaciers calving, which was my most-wished on this trip to Alaska. I know this can't be guaranteed, but can't help but wonder if it was because we were so FAR away from them. We saw other boats get much closer and stay much longer. We chose this cruise over the Phillips 26 glaciers because we thought it would spend more time at the glaciers, and it did, but the Phillips boat got much closer and stayed longer (probably because their newere ship was easier to maneuver). The narration from the Captain was just average- he had a few humorous remarks, but didn't seem that knowledgeable or anything. All in all, wished we could have taken back the experience and gone on the other cruises that we saw while we were stuck on ours. It was not worth saving the extra $100.

I took several glacier tours in June 2008 from Whittier, Seward and Valdez and they were all good. So if you have to pick one, don't worry too much and take the one most convenient to you/your itinerary.

What you really need is good weather i.e. no rain. This is something no tour company can control.

I took Prince William Sound Glacier Tour from Whittier before my cruise departure in the evening. I also bought their motorcoach transportation from Anchorage which is also cheaper than the cruise company's bus from Anchorage. The tour company's bus picked me at my hotel in Anchorage. It was a proper motorcoach and not a small shuttle so they also stored my bags properly in the coach. The coach dropped me off at the tour boat dock (bags stayed locked in the coach the whole day) and after the tour the same coach dropped me and my bags at the cruise ship check-in in Whittier.

The tour itself was very nice and showed us up-close view (within 250 feet) of Surprise Glacier. Other than salmon, otters and birds you don't see any other wildlife in this part of the sound.

The tour also serves free lunch including a nice vegetarian lunch. Free coffee is also available the whole day. Other snacks and beverages are available for purchase at very reasonable prices (like 1.00 or 2.00 USD). No rip-off at all.

The difference between Prince William Sound tour and 26 Glacier tour is the first one shows you 1-2 glaciers and wildlife up-close and peacefully, will stay close to the galcier for 30 minutes allowing everyone to take enough pictures. The second one shows you only glaciers (no wildlife) spending only a few minutes at each. It does show you 26 but most of them are at the top of mountains, up-close are only 3-4.

Overall a very positive experience.