EDITORS NOTE: Cruises to Anchorage, Alaska use one of three different cruise port terminals. The first is in Anchorage itself, and the other two are further afield at Seward and Whittier.
SEWARD - ALASKA - USA
PORT INFORMATION
photo courtesy Princess Cruises
Although Seward is actually named after William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, who successfully fought for the US purchase of Alaska from Russia, the town is better known for being one of one of Alaska’s oldest and most picturesque communities complete with an historic downtown area, shops and art galleries.
Cruise Terminal in Seward, Alaska
Half of all Alaska cruise passengers begin or end their trip from Seward.
Most cruise lines offer add-on options to their cruises for the train or motor coach transfer to Seward from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The motor coach is the quicker route at 3 hours, but the train journey is more like a shore excursion and takes up to 5 hours.
For those wanting to be independent, Hertz car rentals serves Seward from Anchorage Airport.
By car, the 127 mile Seward Highway (Alaska Route 1 and 9) connects Seward with Anchorage.
The dock for the cruise ships is a very short half mile from the centre of town and its attractions and it is not an unpleasant walk.
Cruise Lines using Seward, Alaska Terminal as an Embarkation / Disembarking Port
Using the Port of Seward, Alaska as their port of embarkation and disembarking are Celebrity Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Holland America Line, and Silversea Cruises.
Must See Attractions in Seward, Alaska
Within walking distance of the Seward Cruise Terminal you’ll find Seward’s historic downtown district filled with quaint shops and art galleries.
Alaska SeaLife Center: This Center is home to all manner of marine life and colorful interpretive displays all aimed at introducing visitors to life on Alaska’s coast. Underwater viewing tanks, interactive exhibits and live displays take visitors up-close to Steller sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, puffins, king crab, salmon, octopus and a variety of deep sea fishes. Behind-the-Scenes tours enable visitors to watch biologists and animal researchers at work to protect life on the coast.
Seward Museum: Also known as the Resurrection Bay Historical Society Museum, the museum showcases the chief points of Seward's history – its Russian roots, the steamship port, the Iditarod and Alaska Railroad beginnings, its WWII military role – through photographs, artifacts and documents.
Qutekcak Cultural & Community Center: Share in the history and traditions of the Qutekcak Native Tribe at the Qutekcak Cultural & Community Center on 3rd Ave.
Seward is known as the 'Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park' and the Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing trail starts here.
Two of the major attractions are about an hour from the Seward Cruise Terminal along the beautiful Seward Highway.
At the Portage Lake Glacier, the most visited glacier in Alaska, and the Begich Boggs Visitor Center there visitors can learn about glaciers, glacial lakes, the arctic landscape and arctic wildlife from interpretive displays and from the Forest Service naturalists. There are spectacular views of Portage Lake and the icebergs that calf from Portage Glacier at the far end of the lake.
Near Portage is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center which cares for and provides spacious habitats for orphaned, injured and displace Alaskan wildlife such as bison, bears, grizzlies, moose, elk, musk ox, deer, caribou and lynx, coyotes, foxes and birds of prey. Animals that cannot be released into the wild are given a permanent home at the center.
