I took a 6-hour cruise around Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park. Between the glaciers and wildlife, it was an unbelievable ride.

After exploring the downtown area of the small seaside community of Seward, Alaska, we lined up to board our home for the afternoon: a roughly 80-foot catamaran operated by Major Marine Tours.

We were led to our table, which held six people in total. Since it was just myself and my husband, we were seated with two retired couples from Arizona.

After swapping stories of moose we'd seen, we felt the boat rev up and slowly leave port at 11:30 a.m.

This is when my husband and I headed for the outdoor deck area. From here, we saw several bald eagles, an otter lounging on its back, dolphins swimming by, and "quite possibly the last puffin of the season," according to our captain.

It was a brisk mid-September day, so after getting some good photos, we headed back inside to enjoy our included lunch: a deli sandwich, chips, a granola bar, a brownie, and a soft drink. There was also unlimited tea, coffee, and water offered throughout the tour.

During our trip to Alaska, one of the animals I wanted to see most was an orca. So you can imagine how quickly I hopped up when the captain announced that she had spotted some killer whales ahead.

We hightailed it to the front of the boat, which had stadium-style metal benches for viewing. Since it started to rain, we opted to stand instead.

In any direction you looked, you'd see a splash — some close, some in the distance. We chatted with a crew member, who said we were in the middle of a superpod of orcas — a combination of different pods of orca families.

He estimated there were upwards of 70 orcas spread out around us. In his three years working with this tour company, he'd only seen something like this a few times.

Here, we idled for roughly 30 minutes, moving slightly to approach different groups of whales from a safe distance.

After the orca party, we headed toward our destination: the Holgate Glacier.

It's almost otherworldly to see a glacier in person. This incredibly blue mass of ice seems so solid; but before long, we witnessed a whole section of the glacier slide off with a boom into the water below.

Unbeknownst to us, the crew took this opportunity to scoop up some of the big chunks of ice floating around our ship and make margaritas with glacier ice.

As they churned out the drinks, they cranked some "Margaritaville" in honor of the late Jimmy Buffett.

There really was a jovial energy aboard the ship. It was then that we discovered our tour was one of the last of the year. As the crew celebrated the end of their season, we couldn't help but join in.

On our trip back to Seward, we stopped a few more times to see seals, gorgeous rock formations, and even a black bear on a remote beach.

After we reached the harbor at 5:30 p.m., we walked over to the train station. We boarded our train back to Anchorage, which was timed to leave promptly after the Kenai Fjords cruises returned.

While we were lucky with all the animal encounters we had, the Kenai Fjords cruise is worth it for the beautiful landscapes and glacier viewing alone.