Anyone done the Canadian Rockies land tour with an Alaskan cruise?

[acruisefan]

We are thinking of joining friends on an Alaska cruise and land package next September (2019). We went to Alaska on Princess about 8 years ago but would be happy to go back. I am a little concerned about the land cruise - it raises the price considerably and sounds like there could be a lot of time on the bus and a different hotel each night - albeit lovely Fairmont hotels!

 

We gave up bigger cruises years ago and have been quite happy on Windstar and River cruises since then, however, we are happy to spend time with our friends and this would be a great way to do it! We cruised with Celebrity once in the Caribbean many years ago with other families when our son was young - it was our favorite of the big cruise lines.

 

The land tour is the Canadian Rockies tour including a day in Vancouver, overnight train, then Jasper, Banff, Calvary.

A few questions - I'm trying to figure out additional costs:

-Is breakfast included at the hotels? It is on the train but no mention for the hotels. I know that just a few other meals are included.

-There are some included excursions, but otherwise, are other optional excursions a 'don't miss' ?

-Did you spend many hours on the bus each day? I'm not a huge fan of that.....

-I thought it seemed rather pricey vs. cost of the cruise for 7 days - is it worth it?

-Were you happy you did the land portion or would you have wished you had chosen something else?

 

Thanks!

[SoCalTraveler]

We recently did the Rocky Mountaineer following a Pacific Coast cruise.

 

A few things.

 

First, A/C failed in our Gold Class car on the first day. The car was intolerable and DW passed out. Rocky Mountaineer has been unwilling to do anything for the premium price they charged. I would never use them again and do not recommend anyone else use them. Read the reviews on Trip Advisor. Every now and then something goes wrong and RM is the least responsive company around.

 

Second, the bus is more comfortable than the train because the bus stops with regularity and you get to wander about. The train is frequently sidetracked by freight trains. On our second day (there are only two train days) we were on the train for about 14 hours and the staff made us dinner because we were so late.

 

The best way to see the Canadian Rockies is from Calgary. First, there are several interesting things to see there including the zoo (they have pandas!) and the Heritage Park. Then rent a car and drive 50 miles to Banff. Stay in one of the motels on Banff Avenue, very accessible by foot to anything. Some hotels will give you a pass for the bus system.

 

Then drive to Lake Louise. Stay at the Fairmont. Very expensive, but that's where you want to be. Extraordinary scenery. We had a lake view room. Fantastic. Join the Fairmont President's Club and you get free wi fi.

 

Use that as a base to drive West up Ice Fields Parkway. Go on a glacier. See the scenery.

Third, we had breakfast in most places. I believe we used a deal from Rocky Mountaineer to choose that option. Breakfast at the Fairmont Lake Louise was great. Breakfast elsewhere was very pedestrian.

[fleckle]

I second the recommendation to rent a car or van and take the drive through the Canadian Rockies on your own, in either direction, but I don't necessarily second the recommendation on where to stay overnight along the way.

The scenery is incredible, and since you are not tied to somebody else's schedule when you drive yourself, you can stop whenever and wherever you like along the way, for as long as you wish.

You can take this trip at whatever price point works for you, but I would recommend adding enough extra time to include the spectacular Icefields Parkway.

 

It is not necessary to stay overnight at the most expensive hotels.

They are open to the public, so you can spend all day enjoying the grounds, the amazing views and the public rooms at places like the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, even if you spend no money there at all.

However much or little you choose to spend there is up to you.

You can sit outside enjoying a drink on their patio, hike around the lake, and even have lunch or dinner there if you wish.

But for overnight, there are clean and comfortable accommodations available down the road for much lower prices.

Even if you choose to book top price overnight accommodations at the fanciest hotel, your eyes are closed most of the night while you are sleeping anyway.

But we all have different priorities.

[Silkroad]

I’ve only visited the Canadian Rockies by car. I agree that it would be best to visit this spectacularly beautiful region via car. I actually drove from my native state, California, through the northwestern US, entering Alberta from the Idaho panhandle. I spent as much time in Alberta as possible, and returned to the US at the Montana border, visiting Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons on the way home. On a tight budget, I camped everywhere except Calgary, where I splashed out on a mid-range hotel (possibly Best Western). Now, living on the east coast, I’d fly to Calgary, rent a vehicle, and follow a similar itinerary to those proposed by the previous two posters.

[Provence55always]

Definitely do by car. We are flying into Calgary in September renting a car for 9 nights and touring Banff 3 nights Jasper 3 nights and Lake Louise 2 nights. We then return the car to Calgary and fly to Vancouver Island 4 nights and Ferry over to Vancouver for 4 nights. Loads of advice on the Canadian Rockies Tripadvisor Forum.

 

We have all our accommodation booked since January. I would advise book your accommodation ASAP if you decide to do a road trip. Friend who did the RM felt they saw very little of the Rockies but enjoyed lots of food and drinking! We decided not to do the Alaska Cruise but you could do the road trip 1st and then cruise.

 

Hope the above helps in you planning.

[Redtravel]

I did it many years ago on RCCL. Booked a pre cruise Candain Rocky tour and Alaskan cruise. When we booked we had no clue what to expect. We flew into Calagary and then spent a week going to Vancouver where we went on an Alaskan cruise. The land part was fabulous. It was booked through RCCL. They used Brewster for the tours. It was not like the usual bus tour where you have the same group and a guide. We had a book of vouchers and an itinerary. Each day was perfectly executed. We were picked up, taken on tours( some alone and some with a few other people), and returned to hotels at night. All entry fees were included, guides at each location were excellent, buses were prompt, hotels were good, and included breakfasts were excellent. Some lunches and dinners were also included. Most meals we were able to eat where we wanted to. We liked the freedom to pick our own dinner time and type of food. Part of the fun of traveling is eating in local places. We paid for some optional excursions during the free time in Banff. There was some free time to shop,dine, rest or explore by yourself. It was a great tour. A few years later, I did a Canadian Rocky tour with a big name supposedly deluxe company. The hotels were very nice. However, I saw less on that tour and paid twice the price. We spent too much time eating very heavy meals and less time exploring.

[acruisefan]

Thanks for all of your replies. My DH is not a fan of changing hotels each night and I am not a fan of long days on a bus - so this is not sounding like a land tour plan for us! Sounds easy to do a DIY for the Rockies!

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks for all of your replies. My DH is not a fan of changing hotels each night and I am not a fan of long days on a bus - so this is not sounding like a land tour plan for us! Sounds easy to do a DIY for the Rockies!

 

It's very easy to do it yourself and really a lovely drive. If you do it out of Vancouver you could also divert one way through our wine country.

[Papillon612]

My husband and I just did the Canadian Rockies land tour in conjunction with Celebrity's Pacific Coastal 7 day cruise in August of this year.  WE ABSOLUTELY LOVED the land tour!  I completely understand everything that was said in earlier comments, but our experience was spectacular!  This is a small group tour.  There were only 10 of us and, believe it or not, we liked every single person on this tour very much! 

The problems with VIARAIL mentioned above have been somewhat corrected in that their schedule has been altered (delays were mostly due to the freight trains which get priority in Canada).  We were heading west from Jasper to Vancouver by train and it meant that we did not get the wonderful mountain views out of Jasper as expected, since with the new schedule, the train did not leave until 7 PM, and that also meant that we had to cancel our plans in Vancouver since we didn't arrive in time for our day there.   That was disappointing, but we had been to Vancouver before.  The room (as expected) on the train was very small, but was an experience to remember.  The food was included and rather good. 

Except for the rail portion (the VIARAIL schedule was out of the tour company's control), we felt that the value we received on this tour was well worth the cost.  Now, having said that, if you don't like staying in high end hotels, this is not the tour for you.  Our view from the Banff Springs Fairmont was to die for!!!  I can't wait to go back, and we plan to do so!  The bus ride was comfortable with convenient stops and the guides gave narration of the spectacular scenery and history of the area.  Everything was timed perfectly and done for us.  We didn't have to make reservations for excursions, buy tickets, stand in long lines, or do anything but enjoy the experience!  Most meals are NOT included, but that gives you options to eat what, where, when, and with whom you want. 

This was a first class tour in my book!   It ranks up there with the Alaska land tour we took in June 2017 through Celebrity (Great Frontier CruiseTour #8B by domed rail car - phenomenal trip).  I highly recommend either of these land tours!!!

Janice