Canadian Rail Adventure

PAULA GELLERT

Canadian Rail Adventure screwed up every part of this vacation they were responsible for.

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Susan

I have been looking forward to this trip since 2020. It did not disappoint. One has to remember that Vacations by Rail is a travel agent, not a tour company. This trip is "independent" travel of sorts in that you don't have a guide doing things for you. Shortly before your departure date, you receive a final itinerary along with vouchers for hotel rooms, tours, train travel, etc. You are responsible for getting to the appropriate places on time. No big deal as long as you don't expect a tour guide to take care of you. You will be with many of the same people throughout your travels so you have the opportunity to make friends along the way. The Rocky Mountaineer portion was a wonderful experience. I would recommend getting a seat on the left side of the train (we sat on the right side) as 98% of the points of interest were on the left. We booked the Gold Leaf service and I would recommend it. Sitting in the elevated dome car gave you an awesome view of the Rockies and surrounding area. The hosts (upstairs and downstairs) were excellent - efficient, helpful, informative. The meals (breakfast & lunch) were tasty and filling. You were also offered snacks and beverages throughout the day. It was nice going down to the dining car to eat meals and sitting with new people. There were 750+ people on our train. If you are traveling with someone, you'll need to make sure it's noted somewhere so you'll be assigned to the same train. The hotels (we booked all Fairmont Hotels except for in the one in Kamloops which Rocky Mountaineer booked) were first class. Our view of Lake Louise was stunning. The Fairmont in Toronto was right across the street from the Toronto train station. The Brewster Sightseeing tours (in Banff, between Banff/Lake Louise, and Lake Louise/Jasper) were all informative; and, the guides/drivers-guides were friendly, patient, and fun. I wish the Niagara Falls tour company was more flexible with what was covered. I would have liked to spend more time at the Falls themselves. That tour gave us a spectacular view of the Falls...on land and on the water. That sightseeing company was a bit disorganized as they told people the incorrect departure time and didn't specify a location (the hotel wasn't sure either)...but it all turned out fine. I love train travel so I enjoyed the VIA train from Jasper to Toronto. Some people did not realize that the bags they checked were not accessible until they reached their final destination. The rooms are much too small to accommodate full-sized luggage. We had a Sleeper Plus for two people. It had a toilet (in a separate small room) & a sink. The bunk bed are set up/take down by the room steward daily (we elected to keep them down) since we occupied the public areas during the day. Breakfast is first come, first serve. Lunch and Supper are scheduled - there are 3 seating times for each (you reserve your first dinner slot at the station in Jasper before you board the train.). The customer facing staff from Jasper (they started in Vancouver) to Winnipeg were outstanding. They were so efficient, friendly, and knowledgeable; the staff from Jasper to Toronto were fine, but not outstanding. I would have appreciated having transport arranged to take us from the hotel in Toronto to the airport. We weren't told that the arranged transport wasn't available early in the morning. There should be a note stating the hours of availability so customers can schedule their flights accordingly. The Toronto airport has been experiencing personnel shortages so it is a mess. They really mean it when they say get there 3 hours in advance. People should know there is a phone number they can call to speak to someone at the airport. That person can confirm the departure terminal and how early folks need to arrive. Remember, if you're returning to USA, you go through Border Patrol screening to clear travel into the USA in Toronto. Having NEXUS or Global Entry eased the chaos. NOTE: tips are not included. I hate having to figure out tips. The travel guides usually recommend you tip a certain percentage of what you paid. It's helpful to figure that out before you leave home. We tipped at the table during meal services but there are many others who rely on tips to augment their wages - hosts on Rocky Mountaineer, guides/drives on tour buses, staff on the VIA train, porters, etc. I'm recommending this trip to my friends. I would book with Vactions by Rail again.

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JILL RAINE

The tour was well thought out and executed but negative events, not brought on by Vacations by Rail, created difficulties for your customers. The tours and hotels involved were excellent. Photo shows the first Bermudian taken by this tour group and deposited on the glacier!

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CATHLEEN ARMSTRONG

It was a wonderful trip, beautiful scenery and gorgeous hotels. Service and food on the trains was spectacular. All the tour guides knew the areas well and were very friendly and informative. I highly recommend Rocky Mountaineer and Vacations by Rail.

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Jane

This itinerary was packed with beautiful scenery, local places of interest and interesting food. The tour manager and bus driver were outstanding. The Ocean train was very tiny. Adding a dome car would be most helpful. It was only for one night, but large and very tall people beware tof close quarters.

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Tricia

The Canadian Rail adventure is very nice and I recommend it. Vacations by Rail is another matter. They insisted that we be picked up for the various tours included at the local Fairmont Hotel which was often pretty far from where we were actually staying. When I talked to the tour providers they were happy to pick us up at our hotel. To me, this is just laziness on the part of Vacations by Rail. On our last day in Toronto (9/22) transfer to the airport was included in the trip. We wanted to spend some time exploring Toronto and I booked a flight back to Vancouver for 9:15 am on September 23. We wanted to spend the night of the 22nd close to the airport since we had and early flight. I booked an airport hotel and asked for transport to the airport at 4:30, planning to spend the day in Toronto. Vacations by Rail seemed totally unable to deal with this slight variation in their usual plan. I explained to our agent what we wanted to do. When we got our final papers our transport was scheduled for 12:30. I called and explained what we wanted and was told that it wouldn't work because we had a 4:00 pm flight. WHAT!! We never had a 4:00pm flight and I have no idea where they got that from. Finally after explaining the whole thing four different times by email and on the phone I received an updated transfer voucher for 4:30 on the 22nd. When we got to Toronto I decided to check in with the transport company. They said we have you scheduled for 12:30 because you have a 4:00 pm flight. Unfortunately we don't have space available at 4:30. This is a very long winded way of saying that if want to take this trip either book it yourself or book thru a different agency. Vacations by Rail is close to useless.

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