Canadian Rockies Land Tour with Princess

[MLinFL]

Has anyone on this board done the Canadian Rockies land tour from Princess before an Alaskan cruise? We are going to do this 8/1 and have a couple of questions. My first is I am wondering if you are limited as to the number of pieces of luggage you can take for the coach portion of the tour? Once when we did a land trip in Europe (not in conjunction with a cruise, though), we were limited to one large suitcase each because the bus couldn't handle any more than that. We were hoping that this would not be the case on this trip.

 

Also, any suggestions are welcome, along with what your favorite parts of the trip were. If anyone has any reviews, I would really love to read them.

Thanks! :)

Mary Lou

[fuzz]

I hope you get a reply. We are booked on the same trip arriving in Calgary August 29. I have posted on this and the Princess boards but have yet to have anyone to answer. I will say that my TA has had several clients to do this trip and she said they all raved about the whole experiance. She is very good and in 5 years has not pointed me in a wrong direction. I have also spoken to several friends who have been in the Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper area and all say it is the most beautiful spot in the world.

She did say that we would need an overnight bag for the Kamloops portion because the larger bags would not be available.

When you get your documents I would appreciate a post if there is additional information on the land portion of the trip.

I am envious that you are very near your departure and I hope you have a wonderful time.

[Host Caroline]

THis is a wonderful tour but you will come home planning to return when you have more time. We spent 8 days in the Canadian Rockies with short side trip to Glacier National Park but it wasn't enough time.. It is lovely. If you have time visit the gardens in Banff.. take the path along the Bow River into town.. and you may just end up sharing it with one of hte local elk. As long as you let them have their space and don't startle them, etc. it's quite common and they wont' bother you. Trams in both locations (Jasper, Banff) give you some of the most amazing views but don't bother on cloudy day. If you are intersted and have time try to do rafting in Jasper.. we sort of "ditched' the tour to do that and it was wonderful -- I can give you name of a couple operators if you are interested.

Train will be highlight.. and you will need overnight bags for that. Any more questions feel free to post! or email me at carocruiser@aol.com

[fuzz]

Thanks fellow Tar Heel. We are very excited about our first trip to this area of the world. Two initial questions. first, what about evening wear. I relize we will be staying at world class hotels but is the evening dining formal or is casual acceptable? Second, what class rapids are on the rafting trip you spoke of in Jasper.

[MLinFL]

I did some searching on the web, and found the following reviews:

http://www.weloveourlife.com/vacation/canada/ This is a review of a land only tour. They took the trip in 2000

http://reviews.iserver.net/PrincessCruises/DawnPrincess16.htm This sounds exactly like our tour except for the Alaska land portion. The reviewer took this trip in 1997.

It really is difficult to find reviews on this trip. We will have to make a point to write one when we return.

Mary Lou :)

[fuzz]

Mary Lou

 

Thanks so much for finding the reviews. The one you mentioned as your itenerary is the same for us. We start in Calgary and end in Vancouver with a transfer to Seattle. I did notice that one of the trips seemed to be handled through Princess and the other through the rail company.

When we last cruised Alaska two years ago Princess processed us for the ship while we were at the hotel in Vancouver. I hope we are able to do this again because it shortens the embarkation process.

Please write up a review when you return and I will do the same. I will lookforward toreading about your trip.

 

Thanks again

[EPD]

You will all just love this tour. We have never taken it but the Rockies are our back yard. It is some of the most beautiful country in the world. Lots of trees and if you are lucky lots of animals. Watch carefully and you never know what you may see!!! Bring lots of film with you because there will be tons of things to take pictures of.

[Host Caroline]

Thanks fellow Tar Heel. We are very excited about our first trip to this area of the world. Two initial questions. first, what about evening wear. I relize we will be staying at world class hotels but is the evening dining formal or is casual acceptable? Second, what class rapids are on the rafting trip you spoke of in Jasper.

The dining rooms vary in Banff.. are meals included? We stayed at Banff Park Lodge.. rather upscale and what I would call "business casual" for dinner.. For Chateau Lake Louise sport coat for the men? We didn't actually stay there.

 

I sent you an email with some info on rafters up there in Jasper... one has some class III but their websites are pretty accurate.. Feel free to copy the names of those on here if others are interested (since I for some reason cannot get back on AOL to copy from my sent mail:confused: )