Rocky Mountaineer

[babs135]

Best before or after a cruise?  Things I need to take into consideration when choosing?

[cruiseryyc]

The Rocky Mountaineer is a very over priced, over hyped train that takes you to the Rocky Mountains; not through them.

 

It depends on when your cruise is whether you want to go before or after; if before make sure you book it to arrive in Vancouver at least one day prior your cruise.

 

The best way to see the Rocky Mountains is to either rent a car and drive, but you need about two weeks to do it properly.  Or fly to Calgary and drive to Banff and Jasper from there; one week would make that a good trip.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I have met many Australians (I know that the OP is British) who will fly into Canada, do the Rocky Mountaineer, then come to Seattle to embark on their Alaska cruise.  After the cruise they visit San Francisco, then fly home (possibly stopping off in Hawaii along the way).

So your short answer is - take the train trip first.

[em-sk]

On 2/10/2022 at 1:42 AM, babs135 said:

Best before or after a cruise?  Things I need to take into consideration when choosing?

 

You have several options.  If you like trains then the Rocky Mountaineer is a great option.  This geared around being a tourist.  This is tourist oriented service.

 

The other option is VIA rail on Edmonton to Vancouver or Vice Versa.  VIA Rail does not stop and have everyone overnight in a hotel.  Instead you can book a cabin on the train.  

 

The last option, is to just fly to Calgary and then rent a car or take a shuttle bus to Banff and spend a night or two in Banff. 

 

WestJet has been discounting their flights quite a bit between Vancouver and Calgary.  They also do Gatwick to Vancouver and Calgary.  The Calgary Heathrow flight is new.

[Alberta Quilter]

The problem with Via is that it travels through the most scenic parts of the mountains during the dark.  Rocky Mountaineer travels during daylight hours.  Yes, it's expensive (for Canadians) but not so much for Americans and Britons with the favourable exchange rates.  We thoroughly enjoyed our RM trip last year and will be doing another this year.  I highly recommend it but go for Goldleaf Service, if it's within your budget.  

 

To answer the OP's question, I would do the train first.  They're long days, even if only two or three of them (depending on your itinerary).  You can rest a bit on your cruise.  But if timing doesn't work out to do it first, I'm sure it will be just as enjoyable after the cruise.

 

Enjoy both the Rocky Mountaineer and your cruise!

[Mary229]

Just off the RM.  overpriced, overhyped and pray all goes well.  If anything goes wrong with weather, operations or any failure they do not perform well.  They blame others and cannot seem to get reorganized.  They get angry if you ask polite questions about the next step.  The true measure of a tour company is how they react when things go badly and RM fails in this regard 

[Alberta Quilter]

Wow, Mary, I'm surprised (and sorry) to hear that. Would you please provide more details about what happened and where the failures occurred?  My trip last year was less than perfect but they rallied very well to make up for delays then.  Were some of the issues due to wildfires in the area?  I know Jasper has been having a tough time with wildfires...

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Wow, Mary, I'm surprised (and sorry) to hear that. Would you please provide more details about what happened and where the failures occurred?  My trip last year was less than perfect but they rallied very well to make up for delays then.  Were some of the issues due to wildfires in the area?  I know Jasper has been having a tough time with wildfires...

The issues was their lack of communication, planning, execution and solutions following the Jasper situation.  They just couldn’t seem to get it together, I am still on the journey and we are more than a week after the Jasper outages playing it hour by hour hoping the next step will happen, never sure what the step will really be or will it actually happen.  The worst part was I was told by 4 separate employees, independently, “ it is not our fault, you should rebook everything yourself at your own cost”. Some fellow travelers actually did that only to find out that it is slowly being pieced together, day by day.   I am not upset by the situation but I am taken aback by their reaction. I don’t think I could ever recommend them. 
 

of course there are always some outstanding employees who shine in difficult situations and without their assurances we would have gone home or spent the remainder of our time in Calgary.    We hope to complete this journey but we are ever alert that we may have to manage the next day on our own.

 

BTW,  I don’t know if you are in Calgary but we were blown away by the city and look forward to coming back again.  It is  very nice and for us is a geological wonderland.  I am already planning my next visit. I now regret passing on that job many years ago🥲.  

[cruiseryyc]

There are many of us on here and Trip Advisor that advise against the Rocky Mountaineer, as you said over-hyped and over-priced.  If you're trying to see the Rocky Mountains, driving yourself is a much better option.

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, cruiseryyc said:

There are many of us on here and Trip Advisor that advise against the Rocky Mountaineer, as you said over-hyped and over-priced.  If you're trying to see the Rocky Mountains, driving yourself is a much better option.

I agree.  I showed the DH the reviews but he wanted to go anyway.  Hey, he accompanies me on a lot of trips so I took one for the team 

 

let me add to my review - it is if run by teenagers.  When it is quitting time they go home. Whatever problems may remain are yours to deal with at your own expense 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mary229

[cruiseryyc]

"When it is quitting time they go home."

 

Sadly that now seems to be the case of most service industries since Covid 😞

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by cruiseryyc

[em-sk]

On 9/17/2022 at 1:27 PM, Mary229 said:

I agree.  I showed the DH the reviews but he wanted to go anyway.  Hey, he accompanies me on a lot of trips so I took one for the team 

 

let me add to my review - it is if run by teenagers.  When it is quitting time they go home. Whatever problems may remain are yours to deal with at your own expense 

 

Honestly not surprising.  With COVID many of these hospitality business let go of their staff and two years later when they hired back this is what you end up with. 

 

The baby boomers in Canada are entering retirement age and the 20 year old demographic is much smaller.  Canada has ramped up immigration but it is still a hard to find people wanting to go into industries like hospitality.  

 

[misguy]

We took the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff, and we loved the trip.  The before or after question would depend on your cruise.  My suggestion would be to fly to Calgary, and transfer to Banff, and spend two or more days there.  Banff is incredible place to visit, then take the train to Vancouver and spend a couple of days there because that is another destination with a lot to see and do, then a northbound cruise flying home from Anchorage.  Northbound cruises are more likely to visit Glacier Bay.

 

The first picture was taken in the park in downtown Banf along the Bow River.  He was about 15 feet from me. The second picture was at Lake Louise, the day was a little rainy, but a beautiful spot.