Seward
Practical Travel Advice for Seniors: Seward, Alaska
Seward was our last stop on the cruise-portion of our Alaskan tour and believe it or not, eleven days was enough on board a ship and we were ready to move on! We were never bored and everything on the ship was great, just ready to dive in to Alaska’s interiors in route to Denali!
The land portion of the trip is completely different than the water portion. It’s still a lot of travel time between sights, but it seems like you get more interface with people who live in the area. So more interface, more opportunities to hear their amazing stories of life in Alaska. It also gives you an opportunity to get to know the 20-25 people that you are land touring with, providing an opportunity to make some new travel buddies.
But let’s not forget to enjoy Seward first! Mainly, the must-see stop here is the Alaskan SeaLife Center and it is well worth a visit! Sea lions, octopus, seals and plenty of fish. But the big draw for us was the puffins! They had an entire enclosed area for bird life, featuring gulls, kittiwakes, seaducks, murres, pigeon guilemots and more. Mom has kind of a thing for puffins and we spent a great deal of time watching them do their dances in the water. Fascinating to watch not only because they are unique and beautiful birds, but also because they were doing some pretty interesting courtship and bonding moves!
The SeaLife Center is a research and rescue facility as well as public aquarium and many of the animals we saw there were indeed rescued/were being rehabilitated. Plan to spend at least an hour there. It’s a little confusing to get around to all of the sights inside it, so take a picture of the Center layout at the reception. I did, and we still had to go back to find the bird center! The SeaLife Center is fully accessible.
Seward was our last stop for excursions along the water. Kenai Fjords were a close boat ride away as well as rafting, kayaking and river floating on Resurrection Bay looking for wildlife, helicoptering to glaciers, glacier hiking and sled dog attractions. We were nearing the land of sled dog mushing so my antenna were up! More on that later.
Seward also is the southern most point of the Alaska Railroad, which we will have the opportunity to ride later in the land portion of the Alaska tour. While the city has its own sights and attractions, it is mainly an arrival/departure for large cruise ships. This is where we get off and head into the interior of Alaska for the next phase of our tour!
So, we said goodbye to our home of the last eleven days and moved into an un-floating hotel for the next phase of the trip! There was so much to see and do, we loved our ship time, but were very much looking forward to the second part of our trip on land. Denali here we come!
Where we stayed: On board a small cruise ship. Limited accessibility: Wide aisles and elevators, but only some penthouses have accessible restrooms. Also, in rough seas mobility in the aisle ways can be tricky.
How we got there: Flight from US to Vancouver, then sailing through the Inside Passage and up to Seward. This was part of an eleven-day Inside Passage cruise followed by a seven-day land tour from Seward to Denali National Park and Fairbanks.
General Accessibility Information: Alaska is in the US, so most sights, hotels, shops, restaurants and infrastructure are accessible. But it is still best to call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements. Some of the towns, sights and excursions may have uneven ground and some of the conveyances (small planes, kayaks, etc.) may not be accessible. Larger cities will have curb cuts, etc, but some smaller towns may not. See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.
