Until the mid 1960's, any quality vacation included a train trip aboard a great train like the City of San Francisco or Broadway Limited, combined with a grand ocean liner like the ss Mauretania or ss Statendam. The entire holiday was carefree without the indignities of red-eye flights, airport security checks and strip searches. Therefore, it is with special pleasure that we revive this stylish manner of travel for a marvelous late summer vacation to Alaska, 'The Great Land', by classic streamliner train and Dutch ocean liner. This allows guests to depart any California point by train and travel in comfort and style to Alaska, all without a single flight, airport or bus ride. Your Great Alaskan Adventure begins with train travel from any point in California to San Francisco where our guests enjoy an overnight stay at the superbly located Hilton at Fisherman's Wharf. There is plenty of free time to enjoy Union Square, a visit to Alcatraz or a cable car ride. Your vacation begins with a very special welcome dinner at fabled Trader Vic's before boarding a special private train bound for Seattle over the 'Cascade' Route of the Union Pacific. Onboard, there is a swank lounge and dining room and all guests enjoy comfortable Pullman sleeping car accommodations, all with beds and in-room restroom facilities. Onboard, all meals, wines and spirits are included and luxury amenities abound, from welcome gifts to afternoon tea. There is an attentive staff, fresh flowers and excellent dining overseen by famed chef Regina Charboneau. The journey north is beautiful with a daylight crossing of the Cascade Mountain Range and a passage along Puget Sound before an evening arrival in Seattle.

Guests enjoy two nights in Seattle at the excellent Warwick Hotel in the heart of downtown with plenty of time to take in all that the Emerald City has to offer before a short scenic ride north to Vancouver on the Talgo train. Here too, deluxe accommodations await at the Hyatt Regency. Enjoy a tour of this beautiful city along with afternoon tea overlooking English Bay. Due to the schedule of the ms Zuiderdam, passengers enjoy two full days in Vancouver. Setting sail under Lions Gate Bridge, the ms Zuiderdam travels up the gorgeous Inside Passage to Alaska with port calls in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan with a highlight being a cruise through seldom-visited Tracy Arm. Guests will enjoy another day in Vancouver when the ms Zuiderdam calls there for a day before continuing the voyage south to San Diego. The three-day passage from Vancouver to San Diego is the perfect relaxing end to the trip, a chance to enjoy sea travel at its best with time for sleeping in and enjoying breakfast in bed, lunch on deck with new found friends, afternoon tea, taking in a movie, and visiting the spa.

This tour includes special amenities onboard the ms Zuiderdam including intimate cocktail parties, dinner in the Pinnacle Grill one evening and much more. Upon arrival in San Diego, transfer to the train station for free connecting travel home to any California point. This is a rare opportunity to travel all the way to the Great Land in comfort and style without flying. There are two major drawbacks to this holiday: it operates only once and that the special train can accommodate only 30 lucky passengers so prompt reservations are encouraged.

Limited to a maximum of 32 passengers.

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• Fully hosted by professional tour manager from start to finish to handle all of the details with special parties & events ashore and aboard ship.
• Private train travel from Los Angeles to Seattle aboard our own 'Great Westerm Limited', a scenic overnight journey via the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Railroads. All guests enjoy private Pullman sleeping car accommodations, all with in-room facilities. All meals, wines & spirits whilst aboard are included with luxury amenities and welcome gifts, Afternoon Tea and a stylish dining room and lounge.
• Two-night stay in Seattle at the superbly located Warwick Hotel in the heart of downtown along with free time for enjoying the 'Emerald City'. Transfers to &'from the train station are included. Train travel from Seattle to Vancouver aboard the sleek 'Talgo' train, a beautiful 3.5 hour train trip along the Puget Sound.
• Deluxe accommodations in Vancouver at the excellent Hyatt Regency along with a Vancouver city sightseeing tour including Afternoon Tea and transfer to ship on sailing day.
• 12-day Alaska Inside Passage cruise aboard the ms Zuiderdam of Holland America Line from Vancouver to Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm, Ketchikan and ending in San Diego. Happily, our guests have another day in Vancouver after our Inside Passage cruise, with more time to enjoy this lovely city.
• Luxury amenities during the Alaska voyage including welcome aboard champagne, dinner in the Pinnacle Grill one evening and stylish cocktail parties.

Day 1: The 'GREAT WESTERN LIMITED'
Depart Los Angeles and all California points aboard the vintage train via the Coast Route of the Union Pacific, welcome reception & dinner. (R, D)

Day 2: Seattle Washington
Arrive Seattle this evening, transfer to the Warwick Hotel for a two night stay.

Day 3: Seatle Washington
Morning sightseeing, afternoon at leisure, overnight in Seattle.

Day 4: Vancouver British Columbia
We depart the hotel this morning and travel aboard the sleek European designed Talgo train north to Vancouver, a pretty 3.5 hour ride along the Puget Sound and the best way to travel between these two cities. Arriving in Vancouver at noon, we have a city sightseeing tour of this extraordinary city followed by Afternoon Tea overlooking English Bay before our arrival at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the heart of downtown. (AT)

Day 5: Vancouver British Columbia
All day free to enjoy Vancouver. Be sure to see lovely Queen Elizabeth Park.

Day 6: ms Zuiderdam
All morning to sleep in or further sightsee in Vancouver since we do not leave the hotel for the pier until 2pm. At 5pm, Zuiderdan sets sail for Alaska, the Great Land. (D)

Day 7: Cruising the Inside Passage
The Inside Passage is one of the most scenic sea-lanes in the world, and one of the few where deep-draft vessels can sail close to steep mountain walls. The scenery is unbelievable, with forests, tumbling glaciers, and evocative towns. (B, L, D)

Day 8: Tracy Arm & Juneau
This narrow, 26-mile-long fjord is another of Alaska's most dramatic glacier settings. The lush rain forest recedes to reveal a stunning canyon of bare rock. The panorama of 7,000-foot mountain peaks and nearly vertical rock cliffs is astounding. Waterfalls appear at every turn. And tucked away at the end of this remarkable waterway are two very active reminders of the Ice Age - the twin Sawyer Glaciers, calving icebergs. Kittiwakes, mountain goats and seals are a common sight. Located at the foot of grand mountain peaks on the Gastineau Channel, the town of Juneau has the massive Mendenhall Glacier and the Juneau Icefields at its back door. Juneau is the place to let your imagination run wild. Explore the lush Tongass National Forest. (B, L, D)

Day 9: Skagway Alaska
The sidewalks are all but rolled up in Skagway come winter, so you can only imagine the frightful conditions endured by the gold prospectors who passed through en route to the Yukon, with a mandatory ton of supplies to be hauled with them over the steep and treacherous Trail of '98. Today, summertime visits to Skagway require nothing of the sort, but you can still ride the antique White Pass & Yukon narrow-gauge railway up through silvery-purple rock faces, past Deadhorse Gulch, to see what it was like back then. To complete the picture of those rip-roaring days, visit the nostalgic Trail of '98 Museum. The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park boasts restored buildings and wooden boardwalks that invite you to take a stroll into the past. (B, L, D)

Day 10: Glacier Bay National Park
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Glacier Bay National Park; protects an ever-changing glacial landscape. How does it feel when a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and crashes into the sea? The sound is like thunder. The impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. Glacier Bay has more actively calving tidewater glaciers than anyplace else in the world. (B, L, D)

Day 11: Ketchikan Alaska
Built out over the water, Ketchikan clings to the shores of Tongass Narrows and drapes the mountains with a cheerful air. Besides the main attractions - Creek Street, the Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Bight State Park try a flightseeing trip to breathtaking Misty Fjords National Monument--an adventure not to be missed. These deep water fjords left by retreating glaciers left granite cliffs towering thousands of feet above the sea and countless waterfalls cascading into placid waters. (B, L, D)

Day 12: Inside Passage
(B, L, D)

Day 13: Vancouver British Columbia
(B, L, D)

Day 14: Astoria Oregon
Zuiderdam makes a rare call at Astoria, OR today at the mouth of the Columbia River. (B, L, D)

Day 15: At Sea
(B, L, D)

Day 16: At Sea
(B, L, D)

Day 17: San Diego California
Disembark in San Diego after breakfast at 9 a.m. Complimentary Business Class train travel back to all CA points. (B)

Meals (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner)

Great destinations deserve a great train and we have re-created a classic 1950's era streamliner train, similar to such legends as the North Coast Limited, the City of San Francisco and the Denver Zephyr to convey our guests from Chicago to and from the National Parks in great style and comfort. With a choice of comfortable Pullman sleeping car accommodations (all with in-room facilities), an inviting lounge area with large windows for taking in all of the wonders of the west, our Great Western Limited provides a level of accommodation, dining & service not found on any Amtrak train. With our own attentive staff, superb dining (all meals, wines & spirits are included while aboard!), plenty of room and a delightful ambiance with such amenities as fresh flowers, afternoon tea, nightly turn-down service and much more, there is simply no finer way to see the West. Best of all, our journey to Utah takes us over the storied Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad 'Main Line through the Rockies' with a daylight passage through stunning Glenwood Canyon and the Front Range of the Rockies and there can be no nicer entrée to the magnificent vistas that await you on this entire holiday.

Standard Double Bedroom Upper and lower berths. Private enclosed bathroom with toilet and washbasin.

Superior Double Bedroom One large room with upper and lower berths and private enclosed bathroom with toilet and washbasin. Perfect for couples traveling together.

Suite Accommodations on Train Two Double Bedrooms combined to guarantee two lower beds or a large queen bed. Includes two picture windows, and two separate bathrooms with washbasins and toilets! Suite availability is very limited. Approximate suite size is 14' x 7'.

Two Roomettes Two individual single rooms offering individual lower beds, Individual washbasin and toilets in each room. Perfect for friends traveling together.