The ship pulled into Resurrection Bay on a crystalline August morning, snow-capped mountains rising directly from the water on all sides and bald eagles circling lazily overhead. I stood on deck with my coffee watching the approach, and the air smelled of salt water, glacier silt, and the promise of wildlife. Seward is small — maybe 3,000 permanent residents — but it punches far above its weight as a cruise destination. This is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, and I'd been told that the day cruise into the fjords was the single best wildlife experience in Alaska. I was skeptical of that claim. I shouldn't have been.

We had booked the full 8-hour Kenai Fjords cruise with Major Marine Tours ($225 per person), and by 8:30 AM we were motoring out of Resurrection Bay into the Gulf of Alaska. The captain hadn't even finished his safety briefing when someone yelled "Orcas!" A pod of six transient killer whales was hunting Dall's porpoise about 200 yards off our port side. I watched through binoculars as they worked together, the distinctive black dorsal fins cutting through gray water, then erupting in a coordinated attack. The porpoise didn't make it. I understood then why they're called killer whales — it was raw, brutal, magnificent nature happening right beside our boat.

We continued past Chiswell Islands, where Steller sea lions by the hundreds hauled out on rocky ledges, barking and jostling and occasionally launching themselves into the water to fish. Horned puffins nested in the cliff faces, their orange beaks unmistakable even from the boat. I counted at least eight bald eagles on one small islet. The naturalist on board pointed out tufted puffins, common murres, cormorants, and pigeon guillemots — the place was thick with seabirds in a way I'd never experienced before.

Then came the humpbacks. We encountered three separate groups — including a mother and calf — and spent nearly an hour watching them lunge-feed on herring, their massive mouths breaking the surface, baleen filtering tons of water. One whale surfaced so close I could smell its breath (fishy, in case you wondered). The captain cut engines and we drifted in silence except for the blow of whales surfacing around us. However, the highlight was still to come.

Aialik Glacier is a tidewater glacier — meaning it flows directly into the ocean — and it's actively calving. The captain nosed our boat within a quarter mile of the glacier face, a wall of blue and white ice 300 feet tall stretching across the fjord. We sat there for twenty minutes listening to the groans and cracks of ice under pressure, watching house-sized chunks break free and explode into the water. The crew chipped ice off a small berg for "glacier margaritas" — tequila poured over 10,000-year-old ice. We toasted to Kenai Fjords while the glacier continued its ancient work of grinding mountains into the sea.

Back in Seward by late afternoon, I walked to the Alaska SeaLife Center ($27 admission) — Alaska's only public aquarium and marine wildlife rescue facility. I touched sea stars in the tide pool exhibit, watched puffins dive in the aviary, and observed a rescued Steller sea lion doing flips for fish. The center rescues and rehabilitates injured marine mammals; some can be released while others become permanent residents and ambassadors for their species. It's genuinely educational rather than just entertaining.

Dinner was halibut cheeks at Ray's Waterfront ($32) — buttery, sweet, better than lobster — while watching fishing boats return to harbor. I walked the waterfront afterward, reading about how the 1964 Good Friday earthquake nearly destroyed Seward. The 9.2 magnitude quake triggered massive waves and fires that flattened the waterfront, killed 13 people, and collapsed the economy. Although the devastation was nearly total, the town rebuilt itself as the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. That resilience is part of what gives Seward its character today.

The pros: world-class wildlife viewing — legitimately the best single-day wildlife experience I've had anywhere. Charming small-town atmosphere, excellent Alaska SeaLife Center, the famous Alaska Railroad connection to Anchorage. Kenai Fjords delivers on every promise.

The cons: weather can cancel or significantly impact fjord cruises — the Gulf of Alaska is rough, and seas too high mean a shorter trip or no trip at all. Take seasickness medication even if you don't think you need it. The 8-hour cruise is a long day, especially combined with a transfer to Anchorage afterward.

The bottom line: if your Alaska cruise stops in Seward and you only do one excursion the entire trip, make it the Kenai Fjords cruise. Nothing else comes close. Book ahead through your cruise line for guaranteed return to ship, or book independent if you're willing to accept the (small) risk of a delay.