Lu-Lu Belle Glacier Wildlife Cruise: Tour Review

When I think back on our epic Alaskan vacation adventure, there are so many highlights. The sheer size and grandeur of Alaska pretty much guarantees that. However, pretty much every day we had a ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure. One of the best excursions we did (and one that we still talk about!) was definitely the Lu-Lu Belle Glacier Wildlife Cruise. Check out this in-depth review of our experience and what to expect!

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Introduction to the Lu-Lu Belle

There are quite a few places in Alaska where you can take a wildlife and glacier day cruise. I had already experienced the 27 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier, Alaska and the Kenai Fjords Cruise out of Seward, Alaska (multiple times). The Lu-Lu Belle Cruise is based out of Valdez, Alaska.

There are two main cruise operations in Valdez, Alaska, Stan Stephens and Lu-Lu Belle. Both are phenomenal and have super high visitor ratings. Both day cruise companies in Valdez are basically going to the same place– Columbia Glacier. The cruises typically take 7+ hours round trip and along the way you see tons of wildlife and the pristine Prince William Sound.

Our cruise ended up being well over 9 hours (I will tell you why in a bit) and it was spectacular! The Lu-Lu Belle does offer private charters and, if you are looking for a unique experience… Chapel on the Sea for an hour every Sunday (and it’s FREE!).

Do I need a Reservation?

I would highly recommend booking your cruise online as soon as you know that Valdez will be part of your Alaska vacation itinerary. These tours are incredibly popular and often fill up well ahead of cruising season (June-August).

In 2025, the cost for the day cruise is $181/person. Every tour starts at 1030AM and you are asked to visit the office in Valdez before boarding time to get your boarding pass. The office is about 1/4 mile walk (if that) from the dock. And there are public parking lots close to both the dock and the office.

Why did We Choose The Lu-Lu Belle?

To be honest, you can’t go wrong with either cruise operation in Valdez. But Lu-Lu Belle is smaller. The ship is a bit smaller and they only take 40 people per cruise. That is super nice because you aren’t jostling your way around 20 other people to see wildlife or a glacier calving.

Also, I really loved the story of the Lu-Lu Belle. You can read the entire story on their website, but essentially, Captain Fred Rodolf not only built the Lu-Lu Belle himself, but has piloted basically every tour since the boat started operations in 1986. And yes, he was our pilot too. In the reviews online I had read that Captain Fred was one of the huge selling points for this tour, and that was absolutely our experience.

Captain Fred, his wife Megan (Admiral Megan), and their family still run the tours exclusively. The more intimate family feel of this tour was one of the many reasons it was so fantastic. Plus, Captain Fred is clearly such an expert on the Prince William Sound. And that experience really paid off in spades on our day trip!

What is the Lu-Lu Belle like?

The photo above is the Lu-Lu Belle in port. I believe the Stan Stephens cruise ship is two ships over on the dock. So, it is quite a bit bigger and holds more visitors.

The inside of the Lu-Lu Belle is so pretty and cozy. It is a custom-made wooden interior with nice carpets (I think I have similar carpets in our home) and you can choose to hang out in the living room area or sit at a table. Yes, when you are on a day cruise like this you will definitely spend a lot of time outside looking at things. However, it’s nice to have someplace warm to come back to. And the Lu-Lu Belle is sooo cozy and warm!

You can absolutely bring your own food. It’s a 7+ hour cruise so that covers at least 1 meal plus snacks. The Lu-Lu Belle also has a snack/lunch menu. We thoroughly enjoyed our chili dogs and the warm brownie later in the cruise!

The goal of the tour is to visit the Columbia Glacier and see a ton of wildlife. But this is nature.. and nothing is predictable. Because the Lu-Lu Belle is a smaller ship, and due to Captain Fred’s passion for the area, we really had the flexibility to take our time and go to places that larger cruise ships literally couldn’t go.

Every tour is different based on the conditions of the glacier and the weather, but the rest of this post will show you what we saw on our 9+ hour trip!

Local Fishermen

Cruising out of the Port of Valdez and into Prince William Sound we encountered a ton of fishermen. Captain Fred piloted near the Northwestern, a fishing vessel made famous in The Deadliest Catch, and we watched them haul salmon (I think it was salmon) on board. That was a really cool experience.

Wildlife Viewing

Sea Otters

I know my photos aren’t super clear (sorry) but we saw a ton of sea otters! These little sea puppies are so playful. They hang out in pods (groups?) and are just so curious about the boat and why we were hanging out in their area.

Dall’s Porpoises

Speaking of playful, we were fortunate enough to catch the attention of a pod of Dall’s Porpoises! They swam alongside the Lu-Lu Belle for quite a long time, jumping in and out of the water.

Sea Lions

As far as wildlife sightings go, the Sea Lions were the runaway hit! Because of the Lu-Lu Belle’s size, we were able to get super close to the sea lion habitat (but still far enough away to not disturb them). There were literally hundreds of these portly sea lions out sunning themselves and having a cozy time in the Alaskan summer.

Check out these chunky monkey’s! For real, they are so cute. Every minute or so one or more would decide to slip into the water and they would waddle out. So cute!

Did you know that sea lions bark like a dog? Well, they bark.. I think it’s much louder than a dog. And as much as their life is one of lounging on the shore, some of the sea lions were quite feisty too! This dude (pictured below) was in the middle of defending his perch and he got pretty cranky (and super loud) with some of his buddies.

And we got a front row seat to it all!

Whales

We were also very fortunate to catch some amazing whale sightings!

In my experience, in most whale watching tour areas (Alaska and other places too), all the tour operators work together to scout for whales, porpoises, and other sea creatures. Why? Because it’s really like finding a needle in a haystack. Skilled pilots basically know the general area where whales might be hanging out. But since nature and animals are so unpredictable, you never really know what you might see.

Thankfully, we saw more than a couple whale spouts, surfacings, and then these beautiful fins! And the Lu-Lu Belle was perfect for whale watching because again, it could linger longer and really follow the sea life once we spotted the animals!

There are a number of other animals and wildlife you can see on this cruise. We did not see puffins, eagles, killer whales, or mountain goats. But I don’t think anyone was really complaining. We saw so many animals!!!

Waterfalls and Caves

Before you even get to the glacier areas, there is so much pristine wilderness to explore in the Prince William Sound! These waterfalls were so spectacular and I loved how the water in the inlet was such a deep emerald green/blue.

The Lu-Lu Belle was able to hug the coastline a bit because of it’s small size. And we were in for a treat! The ship snuggled up to these cliffs and sea caves in hopes of seeing puffins and other birds. We weren’t lucky on that front, but the caves themselves were really so cool.

Inside the cove was a natural water spout. And we got so close to the shore. It felt like we were going to disappear into the caves too! My daughter was at the front of the ship and she could almost touch the cliff walls. That’s how close we were.

A larger ship would never be able to do something like this.

I mean, doesn’t this just look like something to fuel your imagination? What little fairies or mermaids live in there? How fun!

And we really did get super close. Check out the photo below for perspective. I bet the dude in the blue parka could have touched the sides of the cove.

Approaching the Glaciers

Once we left mermaid cove (that’s what I am calling it.. not the real name), we headed back into the open sea and set our course for the glaciers! As we cruised on it got noticeably colder.

Once we saw our first big blue ice mountain, it was clear the focus of the cruise had shifted.

The icebergs were so much bigger than I thought they would be. And yes, they were really that blue. Apparently, because icebergs are so dense it has very few air bubbles. So, when the light goes through it, it appears blue.. the shorter wavelength of the color blue makes it more visible. And that is your physics lesson for the day!

The closer we got to the glaciers the more the ocean was literally a sea of ice and icebergs.

At some point the big chunks of ice started hitting up against the side of the Lu-Lu Belle. That was eerie, but Captain Fred absolutely is the expert on navigating icy waters.

These photos (above and below) show you the scope and size of some of these icebergs. They really were ginormous!

At some point, I am sure I started humming ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celion Dion. It certainly felt like we could ram into a hidden iceberg at any point and sink like the Titanic. Ok, not really. Again, Captain Fred is the expert.. and we were going safe and slow.

There was so much ice though!

After slugging through the iceberg seas, we did make it to the glaciers.

Glaciers? As in multiples? Yes!

The Glaciers

The Glacier Wildlife Cruise actually shows off a few glaciers. This is an important point to make because the Columbia Glacier is not always visible. And it is not always safe to access.

This was actually the case on the day of our cruise. We saw the Columbia Glacier.. kind of.. in the far distance. But because of the fog and the calving activity, it wasn’t safe to get much closer than we did.

But that doesn’t mean we didn’t see glaciers. Oh, we saw glaciers! There is a pair of glaciers that are on the way to the Columbia Glacier. They are easier (and safer) to get close to. So, we traded an up close view of Columbia Glacier for an up close view of both the Shoup and Anderson glaciers.

I was speechless. Literally.. it was that cold. Ha! But also, the beauty of both glaciers was just ‘take your breath away’ gorgeous.

We were able to get really close to these glaciers. You could constantly hear the popping and creaking of the glacial ice moving. And yes, we saw not one.. but probably a dozen glacial calvings.

Check out how blue the glacial ice is!

The reason there is so much ice in the water here is because the glacier was constantly calving. Every time there was ice calving, the mini icebergs flooded the water.

The photo above gives you a sense of how close we were able to get to the glacier.

And below.. I managed to get a photo of an ice calving. We were lucky enough to see some ginormous chunks of the glacier fall into the water. The thunderous clap of the glacier meeting the water was something I will never forget. Raw nature.. so powerful and so beautiful!

The fog in the distance of the photos below is basically what we saw of Columbia Glacier. Yes, it would have been nice to see it. But no.. it would not have been nice to sink into that icy water! Wow.. so much ice! By the time we got to this point in the tour, we were all so cold too!

I don’t feel like the experience was diminished at all for not having seen the face of Columbia Glacier clearly. And seeing the other glaciers definitely made up for it!

Heading Back to Valdez

After getting as close to the Columbia Glacier as we could safely, it was time to head back.

Oh, and check out that sea lion hanging out on the glacial ice. If you look closely you can see quite a few sea lions. They are the kings of the polar bear plunge!

Ok, I have to share one more photo of the glaciers. Isn’t this a spectacular view?

Once we turned around to head back to Valdez, the crew baked up some delicious brownies. A warm chocolate brownie and hot cocoa definitely warmed us up!

Things to Do In Valdez

Other Day Trip and Excursion Options

We were only in Valdez for two nights and one day. And the day was completely filled with the Lu-Lu Belle Glacier and Wildlife Tour. I would have loved more time in Valdez but was thoroughly happy with the cruise! It was a day well spent!

There are other options for day trips and outdoor adventures that center around Valdez. Lu-Lu Belle and Stan Stephens are the two main Glacier and Wildlife day cruise companies. They are both highly rated. I can’t say enough great things about the Lu-Lu Belle though!

If you want to try your hand at kayaking, Pangaea Adventures is absolutely the way to go! They offer kayaking day trips, multi-day trips, whitewater rafting, and more. We originally booked this tour because it just sounded so cool to kayak to a glacier. And then the fact that none of us had ever kayaked before sunk in.. and we changed our plans to the day cruise. If you want a great review of Pangaea, check out Earth Trekkers experience!

Additional Valdez Activities that won’t take all day

For great and (maybe) quick options for other activities in Valdez and the area, check out these ideas!

Visit Worthington Glacier
Check out Bridal Veil and Horsetail Falls
Visit the Solomon Gulch Hatchery
Shop and Eat in the Valdez Small Port Harbor area. We ate at the Fat Mermaid and it was fantastic!

If you would like more information on spending a day or two in the Valdez area, check out my 1-day Valdez guide!

Lu-Lu Belle Glacier Wildlife Cruise: Tour Review