Phillips Cruises & Tours, LLC — Local services in Alaska

The 26 glacier cruise was an amazing experience. We went in June and thankfully we were prepared for the cold weather because the best views are from the deck of the boat, and it is FREEZING out on the deck. I wore long johns, waterproof pants, and a lightweight waterproof jacket as well as gloves, wool socks, waterproof boots, and a fur lined snow hat. If I hadn't come dressed this way for the cruise, I would have had to spend the entire time indoors. We loved the assigned seating simply because it gave us a homebase to keep our belongings safe and together. We only sat in those seats to eat though. The food was decent and what you would expect for a "complimentary" meal. In addition to the main course, a small bag of chips and a bag of gummies came with the hotdog. A micro salad and some crackers come with the chowder. I was very skeptical about the no seasickness guarantee. I took Dramamine prior to boarding, wore Seabands, and wore motion sickness prevention pads behind my ears and on my navel. Other than a tiny bit of motion sickness at the very beginning of the cruise, I was pleasantly relieved that I had no further issues. I feel I can attest to their guarantee because there are plenty of times I've gotten motion sick on a twenty minute drive; I am that sensitive to it. Later that evening and especially the day following the cruise, I definitely had some balance issues and had trouble with feeling like I was constantly swaying in place. It was an odd feeling and got worse in small spaces like while I was taking a shower. The views from the cruise ship are stunning. We saw beautiful scenery we would not have been able to see if we hadn't taken this cruise. Although there are countless glaciers that you can see from the road or on the train ride, there was something special about how close we were able to get to certain glaciers while on the boat. That being said, the only wildlife we saw were some sea otters, so this cruise was aptly named. The staff was all courteous and kind; none of us had any complaints about them at all. I know this experience is pricey; we have 4 kids so I feel that hard hit to the wallet, but we really felt like it was worth it. I definitely wouldn't recommend any longer than the 5.5 hour cruise that we went on because it was simply too long and we were all ready to be back on land. Our youngest is 13 and at about 2.5 hours into our adventure, she was already asking how much longer. If you have younger children than teens, I would definitely recommend bringing them something to keep them entertained. Kids can only look at glaciers for so long before being ready to move onto the next thing. One of our teenagers mentioned that he wished he'd have brought a deck of cards, and I agreed with him. We were allowed to bring food, drinks, and snacks on with us without any questioning from the staff, so I'd recommend packing some extra snacks too. We enjoyed this experience and I definitely recommend it, but it was a one and done...

If you are not using a travel agency, DO NOT TAKE THIS CRUISE. I spoke on the phone and was told to "walk up" to the booth on the day of the cruise and would be accommodated on the "26 Glacier Cruise", but after driving 90 minutes, showing up 3 hours before the cruise to make sure I could get a ticket, nope - wasted trip. They made me wait 2 hours to get a ticket, then due to boat equipment issues, was told they would not be able to sell me a ticket, but they were busy accommodating their travel agency guests and didn't have any more information for me. 1) They didn't tell me when I arrived that there were issues, so I could find another cruise in the area. 2) They were rude when I asked about other options to take a competitor cruise. 3) They even charged me $13 for parking in their lot and didn't offer to refund anything. I did find a great cruise in Whittier after some searching, but no help from Phillips and it was unnecessarily stressful. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TOUR COMPANY, OTHER BETTER OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE (TRY LAZY...

I went on the train plus 26 glacier cruise package in the middle of July. It was an awesome experience. The Alaskan Railroad train ride was great, the train cars are comfortable and smooth with restrooms. Once we arrived in Whittier it was just a short walk across the street to the boat check in. The catamaran boat was really smooth and doesn’t rock at all. There are restrooms on board, heated cabin with restaurant style type tables and seats and several outside viewing areas. Service was good and the clam chowder lunch was good. The views of the glaciers were amazing. The boat gets close to several glaciers so there are plenty of photo opportunities included some spots to photograph wildlife. Overall it was definitely a 5 Star experience. If you’re debating which tour to take, it depends on how much time you have. If you have all day, I’d recommend the 26 glacier tour. I’d also recommend dressing in layers so you can bundle up as needed and bring a windbreaker type jacket with a hood as your outer layer if you plan to go...