Alaskan cruise Viking pre/post excursion Rocky Mountaineer

[busyretiredRN]

Hi! We're on the Viking Orion 7/22=8/1 Alaskan Cruiese and have booked a pre excursion "Rocky Mountaineer. We're looking for budget friendly Restaurants near Rimrock Resort Banff, Hotel 540 Kamloops, and Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver. Almost all meals on this excursion are "on our own". TIA!

 

This is our first Alaskan cruise and first Viking Cruise to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.

 

 

[Ontario/AZ]

Haven't been in that area for a few years but there always has been 'budget' restaurants in any of those areas.  Eat lots of breakfast as it is normally included.  We have done many extensions with no dinners but have usually found something in the area that fits our budget.  In Beiging we weren't sure exactly what the meat was in the noodle shop (lol)!

[CurlerRob]

13 hours ago, busyretiredRN said:

Hi! We're on the Viking Orion 7/22=8/1 Alaskan Cruiese and have booked a pre excursion "Rocky Mountaineer. We're looking for budget friendly Restaurants near Rimrock Resort Banff, Hotel 540 Kamloops, and Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver. Almost all meals on this excursion are "on our own". TIA!

 

This is our first Alaskan cruise and first Viking Cruise to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.

 

 

Suggest you open Google Maps, type in the hotel name, then click the "Restaurants" button. That will inundate you with options, and the relative pricing is shown by the number of $ signs beside each restaurant on the left.

 

You'll have to go into Banff from the Rimrock - about 10 mins by car. In Vancouver, you are right downtown, so all prices will be higher due to that. There are a couple of decent pubs near the Kamloops hotel.

 

All that said, you're on a special trip - why limit yourselves?  🍺🥌

[oakridger]

In Vancouver I enjoyed The Cactus Club next to the convention center across the street from the Fairmont Waterfront.  Cactus Club is next to the Olympic Torch and had great views of the seaplanes.  I enjoyed their food!  Last time there was 2018 though.

 

Coal Harbour Restaurant | Cactus Club Cafe Vancouver

 

Have fun,

~Nancy

Edited June 16, 2022 by oakridger

[duquephart]

We had a great time at "Coast", a seafood restaurant. Sit at the excellent bar and order off the appitizer menu. They had several varieties of local oysters that were "buck a shuck" at happy hour.

[Hazel52]

We did the Rocky Mountaineer in May. The 2 days you are on the train they give you ssssoooo much food you may not want much for dinner. The day to Kamloops was long (11 hrs?) so we only had popcorn in our room for dinner! 2 restaurants we loved in Banff were The Block and Shoku Izakaya. We stayed right in Banff but I think there was a shuttle for those staying at the Rimrock.

[Heidi13]

On 6/15/2022 at 5:35 AM, busyretiredRN said:

Hi! We're on the Viking Orion 7/22=8/1 Alaskan Cruiese and have booked a pre excursion "Rocky Mountaineer. We're looking for budget friendly Restaurants near Rimrock Resort Banff, Hotel 540 Kamloops, and Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver. Almost all meals on this excursion are "on our own". TIA!

 

This is our first Alaskan cruise and first Viking Cruise to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.

 

 

 

It's been a couple of years since we stopped in Banff, but the Rimrock is at least a couple of miles outside the town. As a tourist town in a national park, we find nothing in Banff is budget friendly. Don't know if they have a shuttle/bus service into town, so you may require a cab, otherwise you might only have the hotel restaurants available.

 

Kamloops - we only drive through without stopping, so can't comment

 

Vancouver - The Fairmont Waterfront is right downtown, across the street from Canada Harbour Place. Downtown Vancouver has a plethora of restaurants available to meet every taste. Budget friendly??? Regardless, you will find many options available that are reasonably priced. 

[busyretiredRN]

Heidi, 

 

Thank you for the response. I did read the Rimrock has a free shuttle service. Maybe shuttle to airport but hopefully to downtown Banff as well!

[busyretiredRN]

On 6/15/2022 at 9:12 PM, CurlerRob said:

Suggest you open Google Maps, type in the hotel name, then click the "Restaurants" button. That will inundate you with options, and the relative pricing is shown by the number of $ signs beside each restaurant on the left.

 

You'll have to go into Banff from the Rimrock - about 10 mins by car. In Vancouver, you are right downtown, so all prices will be higher due to that. There are a couple of decent pubs near the Kamloops hotel.

 

All that said, you're on a special trip - why limit yourselves?  🍺🥌

 

On 6/15/2022 at 8:26 AM, Ontario/AZ said:

 

Curler, thank you for your advice. In answer to your question about limiting ourselves, When we booked The Rocky Mountaineer only paying such an extravagant price as we're celebrating our 44th anniversary but we didn't see only a few meals are included sooo thought I'd try to find some less expensive eateries to take the sting our of my hubby's wallet. You do make a good point though! Thank you!

[busyretiredRN]

Hi everyone!

 

My husband and I are taking the Rocky Mountaineerr pre-excursion before a Viking Alaskan cruise. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips to share with us we'd so appreciate any suggestions ie: which day of the excursion offers a 2 hour tour of Yoho National Park, average temps in mid July for packing tips. TIA — looking for recommendations.

[busyretiredRN]

On 6/16/2022 at 10:25 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

It's been a couple of years since we stopped in Banff, but the Rimrock is at least a couple of miles outside the town. As a tourist town in a national park, we find nothing in Banff is budget friendly. Don't know if they have a shuttle/bus service into town, so you may require a cab, otherwise you might only have the hotel restaurants available.

 

Kamloops - we only drive through without stopping, so can't comment

 

Vancouver - The Fairmont Waterfront is right downtown, across the street from Canada Harbour Place. Downtown Vancouver has a plethora of restaurants available to meet every taste. Budget friendly??? Regardless, you will find many options available that are reasonably priced. 

 

Thank you Debbie! If it helps anyone else: I just learned from the Rimrock Hotel that they include free shuttle passes to get you into downtown using the shuttle "ROAM"

[CDR2001]

No experience with the train, but we did a fly and drive trip to Banff and multiple Canadian parks in July 2019. Most days the high was 50-60F with freezing cold starts. We packed layers and a puffy jacket as well as rain jackets and pants. We’re hikers so we wanted to be out regardless of the temps. A few days were ok in short shirt sleeves. My rule for any mountain trip is to be prepared for a range of temperatures. Thin layers that can go on and off throughout the day for the win! (Same advice for the Alaska cruise.)

Edited June 18, 2022 by CDR2001

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, busyretiredRN said:

 

Thank you Debbie! If it helps anyone else: I just learned from the Rimrock Hotel that they include free shuttle passes to get you into downtown using the shuttle "ROAM"

Just FYI - I think spellcheck struck  ... Heidi13 is actually "Andy" - go figure (sorry Andy!). 🍺🥌

[snookie1]

Just got back from our Rocky Mountaineer vacation 2 weeks ago.  Spent a couple of days in Vancouver pre-trip.  We stayed at the Pan Pacific, right across the street, I think, from your hotel.  We walked a few blocks into Gastown and found a nice place called The Local Eatery.  Food and wine were good, and prices not too bad.  Unfortunately, there did not seem to be any inexpensive restaurants in Vancouver.  We also ate one afternoon in Chinatown, and of course you get a lot of food there, so that can be very economical also.  We stayed in downtown Banff, so we walked up and down the main street there (Banff Ave).  There are a lot of good places to eat, but expect to pay around $26 (Canadian) for a burger.  We would eat our dinner at lunch time, which we do at home anyhow, and many times meals could be had more economically then.  But the area is gorgeous.  We were celebrating our 50th.  Enjoy!!