Rocky Mountaineer Cruise Tour

[easytoplease]

We are doing the Rocky Mountaineer Cruise Tour on the Serenade of the Seas leaving Calgary June 15th. Is anyone else doing this or have done it. I would love some information. It is like pulling teeth to get any information on this. Thank you so much for any help.

[OHCruisinDad]

We are doing the Rocky Mountaineer Cruise Tour on the Serenade of the Seas leaving Calgary June 15th. Is anyone else doing this or have done it. I would love some information. It is like pulling teeth to get any information on this. Thank you so much for any help.

 

We did the Vancouver to Banff rail trip last fall but strictly as a land trip. What would you like to know? Post your questions and I'll do my best to answer regarding the rail portion of the trip. I won't be able to answer the cruise related questions.

[jhodg56010]

Our family of 4, my wife and I, and our two grown children flew from Cleveland, Ohio to Calgary, Alberta in July, 2005 and stayed overnight there. The next morning we boarded a bus which took us to Banff where we had plenty of time to explore this lovely town, eat at the Banff Springs Hotel and sleep in a nearby cheaper hotel. The next morning we boarded the Rockeymountain train in a glass domed car and traversed the beautiful Canadian Rockies. We stayed overnight in Kamloops between two mountain ranges, and then back on the train through gorgous countryside. snow capped peaks, waterfalls, lakes, streams, woods, logging camps etc. All very scenic. We ended up in Vancouver in the morning, toured beautiful Vancouver, including lovely Stanley Park, some shopping, and then in the afternoon boarded the Radiance of the Seas for a wonderful 7 night round trip to Alaska and back. We flew home from Vancouver to Ohio. It was a wonderful trip in every respect. We all loved it. Jim

[easytoplease]

Do you remember how much luggage you can take? Are you limited to one suitcase. Also is there two gold upgrades or just one? Thanks so much! Would love to know which hotels Royal Caribbean is using this year.

[OHCruisinDad]

Do you remember how much luggage you can take? Are you limited to one suitcase. Also is there two gold upgrades or just one? Thanks so much! Would love to know which hotels Royal Caribbean is using this year.

 

As far as luggage is concerned, we had one bag each plus our carryon bags but we were only away for 6 nights with two in Vancouver, one in Kamloomps, two in Banff and one in Calgary as we did the opposite trip and went from west to east. Some of the passengers on our train had more and it was all accomodated in the bagage car by the train staff.

 

Our rail trip had Red Leaf service and Gold Leaf service. The Gold Leaf service gets the glass top observation cars and the full meal service - very similar to the main dining room of the cruise ships with the menu offerings. We also got free wine with our lunches. It was very accomodating with excellent personal service - much like Chops or Portofino. :)

 

Enjoy your trip!

[easytoplease]

Thank you so much! Did you get up early to board the buses and the trains or where the mornings for exploring. Thank you for all your help

[OHCruisinDad]

Thank you so much! Did you get up early to board the buses and the trains or where the mornings for exploring. Thank you for all your help

 

We were up early for departure from the train stations. As I recall, we left Vancouver on the first day around 7 - 7:30 as breakfast was served on the train. I know it was early as there was little traffic getting to the station and after we departed we headed east up the Fraser River Valley and there was a lot of early morning mist on the water until the sun burned it off. The second morning in Kamloops we boarded our bus at the hotel to get back to the train around 8 or so but I don't recall the exact time. You will spend the days on the train with little time to sight see in the morning unless you are a real earlybird. That's why we spent two days in Vancouver before and two days in Banff after our "railcruise".

 

One item to note in Kamloops is that we were given dinner vouchers and we found a great little place down in town that wasn't on the list but readily welcomed the rail passengers. They even has a separate menu for those of us from the Mountaineer. It was probalby a 4 or 5 block walk down to Main Street from our hotel which gave us a chance to explore the town. If you are interested I will try to dig through my trip folder and find the name and address of the restaurant we went to.

[easytoplease]

That would be great thank you! Where did you eat in banff?

[OHCruisinDad]

That would be great thank you! Where did you eat in banff?

 

The local restaurant we found in Kamloomps was Ric's Mediterranean Grill (yes, I know the name is a stretch for being in the Canadian Rockies). The restaurant is located at 227 Victoria Street in Kamloomps. Phone 250-372-7771. It was a nice local place that was reasonably busy and I'm guessing more enjoyable than the small hotel restaurant that many of the passengers from our train ended up eating at.

 

Our package included two nights at the Fairmount Banff Springs which was beautiful. We ate there both nights (in different restaurants). We did have lunch in one of the small cafe's during our day strolling through town (sorry - I don't have the name). There are quite a few restaurants in town. I suggest exploring a little and checking out the menus as you walk around town.

 

In Vancouver, we ate lunch on Granville Island at one of the many stands in the food marketplace near the brewery. That was a lot of fun. We had a lovely dinner at a very nice upscale restaurant called CinCin, located at 1154 Robson Street, between Thurlow and Bute. Their phone is 604-688-7338. The hotel concierge was able to get us in. I had read about in in the United Airlines 3 Days in Vancouver article and it was everything and more in service, food, local wines, and overall atmosphere. Be warned that it is expensive. Allow $100 - $120 CAD each without a bottle of wine but including a drink or two and dessert.

 

Hope this info helps. Enjoy your trip.