Just back Century June 1 with CA rockies tour

[phnett]

We are just home from our June 1st Century Alaska Cruise with Tour to CA Rockies.

We booked balcony cabin 8149 and loved being on that side of ship going up and back on this inside passage.

We had a wonderful trip and very good weather.

We had late setting and never made it to shows.

We did visit the Rendez vous lounge for a little dancing, and the Martini bar.

The martini bar had little to no action going on in it. A bit Disapointing :cool: compared to our last cruise on the Connie.

Michaels club was closed and only open for the suite guest as their lounge.:confused:

Sunset bar is a great place after sail away to have drinks and watch Vancouver Island go past as we sail away to AK . Don't miss going up to bow to watch going under the Lions Gate bridge.

The Captains club hostess Jonette was awesome and really took care of the very few Elites we had on the ship.

We were invited to the 2 formal dinner night to the Captain’s table hosted by the Hotels director Chris Scaliotis that evening.

And last sea day we were invited to a bridge tour done by the captain Theo Zakkas

This was a first on these events for us on any line!;)

 

The crew were very visible and out around the ship and out on the pier on port days greeting everyone.

 

We had a spectacular visibility at Hubbard Glacier and got within ½ mile of the Glacier.

Lots of Calving. We went out to the bow and the Helipad as soon as it opened and stayed there until we pulled away to leave. You access this via the theater.

 

In Icy Straights we did a private whale tour with Hoonah Travel Adventures. I highly recommend them. There were three humpbacks in the bay and we followed them around for the 3hrs and got awesome shots of them bubble feeding and tail shots too. There are Bald Eagles everywhere as well.

The town of Icy Straights has not much to do in it, so I would suggest doing sometime of shore excursion at this port. The people who did not book something got off and saw the cannery shops and then got back on ship. Very small town.:rolleyes:

 

We had one dinner at Murano I was not impressed and would not do this again for the money.:confused:

It might have been what we chose. I had the lobster and it was done table side. It was a bit chewy, the mushroom soup was ok not great and the desert selection was poor.

Nothing compared to the meals I have had at RCCL Chops or Disney’s Remmey, or even Palos.

 

In Juneau we book the helicopter Glacier tour. We had a blast. They took us to the Taku glacier and did a landing and we spent time walking about.

Would suggest this trip for sure.

 

In Ketchikan we did the misty Fjords float plane trip.

We had a nice time on this too, however warning for those with a weak stomach I was just a bit sick with the air pockets this plan up lifts and so did my stomach.

 

We had no rough sea days.:D

Don’t miss the Fair-weather mountain range views, you will see them coming in to Hubbard glacier about 30min to 2 hr before and then again leaving. They are amazing and what you think Mt Everest must look like. Mt Fair-weather was very visible for us this day as skies were clear for us.

 

After the post reading I found we did not use binoculars at all? Was all worried about choosing the right ones and we did not need them.

But we did get off the boat to do the cruse tour for whales close up and I had my Cannon with a Zoom lens up so I was looking in it too at the Glacier.

I still think if you do a whale tour, you just really wont need to take a pair.

 

Let me know if you have questions.

 

I will break up the Cruse tour part next to help this long review.

Edited June 20, 2014 by phnett

[phnett]

Back in Vancouver we started our Cruise tour.

Brewster rep met us at baggage claim with our booklets and we did a city tour.

When done we were let out back at the Fairmont and had cab transfer to use to train station. At train station the same Brewster rep was there to make sure we were checked in ok for out over night on the train. All luggage was already on train. I had a bottle of wine left over and the rep held on to this for us and gave back at station so that I did not have to keep up with this all day during the city tour.

We did not have dinner on the train and were advised to eat dinner before we boarded. We had dinner at pub in town.

 

We had a total of group 16 that were on this tour with us all the way.

 

We did have a champagne toast and ‘ordurves for our pull away party.

The sleeping accommodations on the train are a bit small and I had to be the top bunk but we were in our own cabin and had our own toilet and sink area. Hubby chose to do shower in hall I opted out and took one when we got to Jasper Lake lodge.

Breakfast and lunch on the train were wonderful. Try the Canadian Ice Wine during lunch, it was only 7$ and very yummy! It 38$ a class on the ship.

 

Jasper lake lodge: we arrived about 4:30 to Jasper and claimed our bags.

There was a Brewster bus waiting for us at station that took us to the lodge just out of the town of Jasper. I wish we would have had some time to see the down town area, but once we got to the lodge we were quite tired and I was of need of that shower.

Luckily it does not get dark until 10 pm here like Alaska so after dinner we still had lots of time to walk around the lodge and lake to see the wonderful views.

Of the Fairmont’s, this one is more like a the old Train stations lodges out west in the USA much like North Rim lodge.

Rooms are out cabins, Note these do not have AC in them. They do have heated tile floors which I am sure is nice in the cold winter days. Not really needed during our June 8 visits. We opened all the windows and screen doors but our room did cool down to need covers and feel comfortable for us until about 4 am.

The bed was nice, pillows could have been better but after a night on the train we had no real complaints.

The mountains around the lodge were amazing as you feel they circle around you everywhere.

Be warned we did not walk much after dark as they have many bears, and we saw some just off the road as we started out of town.

 

Next night we head to Lake Louise via a few stops to see waterfalls and the via Columbia Ice fields.

The Canadian Rockies are Amazing and the views do not stop everywhere you look more snow toped mountains and a few frozen lakes still. The ice field was amazing and we were taken out on the field to walk around on glacier.

The Fairmont Lake Louise will take your breath away. The lake was frozen just the day before we got there and just broke up for our stay.

We hiked around one side of lake and tried to go up to one overlook, but the trail still had a lot of ice on it and we turned back on that.

We had dinner Fondue, it was wonderful and worth the extra price at this restaurant in the hotel.

Again this hotel did not have AC but the beds and pillows were wonderful and the rooms lovely. We did not have a lake view as I am sure those for a lot of $$

 

Next day we head to Banff springs Hotel we a stop to Emerald lake on the way, one scheduled stop had road closed but no worries we had much to see on route to the Hotel.

This hotel did have AC and the beds were wonderful again. I only wish we had more time in Banff and this hotel as we had to be out by 8am the next morning.

We did take a cab in town to eat and have some local food Elk steaks and burgers.

 

Last day up early and do a city tour and out see the falls and Hoodoos then a bus transfer to different coach that took us to Calgary Palliser.

We got in to Calgary about 4:30 we checked in and took our tickets to the Calgary tower just by the Hotel. It has a great tour don’t miss this.

We made reservations at steak house a few blocks from the hotel at Vintage and had a nice dinner.

We booked one extra night a this hotel on our own and slept in, then walked to the Bow museum across the street and spent the day here. Wonderful Museum if you have the time.

That night we went to 8th street and had dinner at a wine and cheese restaurant.

 

I have lots of info on the tour and cruise if anyone has questions.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip report.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a wonderful time.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Cookiecookie]

Thanks for your review, my hubby and I are doing RCI Canadian Rockies Alaskan Cruisetour in August. It's the tour 1st finishing in Vancouver for the cruise. So excited

 

Gaynor

[Alberta Quilter]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and your tour in our country!

 

Just one small correction to your report, in case anyone else wants to check out the museum in Calgary - it's the Glenbow Museum.

[phnett]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and your tour in our country!

 

Just one small correction to your report, in case anyone else wants to check out the museum in Calgary - it's the Glenbow Museum.

 

Yes you are correct.

Thank you, and it is a wonderful Museum. We started on the top floor and worked out way down.

I would suggest this so you see more of the History first before you tire out.

[themerle]

Thanks for sharing you cruise and tour. I was wondering if the scenery from the train was good as you entered Jasper? About how long was the train ride from Vancouver to Jasper?

[phnett]

Thanks for sharing you cruise and tour. I was wondering if the scenery from the train was good as you entered Jasper? About how long was the train ride from Vancouver to Jasper?

 

We got on the train at 7:30 pm and re arrived the next day in Jasper at 4:30 pm

Not much view the first evening leaving out of town and it got dusk fairly quick but that morning we woke up early and yes the views were great several water falls , lakes and lots of wonderful mountain views. .

[joyfulone]

Sounds like you had an amazing time. My husband and I are doing the very same tour leaving vancouver on 17 Aug. We are finishing ours with car hire for 8 days travelling back through Banff, lake Louise, Jasper, then onto Kamloops and whistler, before arriving back into vancouver.

What you have said In your review has made me think we are doing the right thing, as you say you would have like more time in some of the places

We felt that with such great scenery we would need longer to take it all in.

The cruisetour ticked a couple of boxes for us though, with the train trip and all the beautifull fairmont hotels.

Really excited after reading your review.....thank you

Joy