The Canadian Rockies with Alaska Cruise Reviews

Our trip to the Rockies and Inland Passage was full of fantastic scenery and activities. The Rockies and Alaska is truly vast and there is so much to see and experience. Every activity was a stand-alone experience, From leaving home and getting to Vancouver and then on to the cruise, everything went smoothly and everything was well organised. Our tour read more director and driver were exceptional. Using three different digital platforms for Global journeys, Cosmos and Holland America at times was challenging, but we seemed to have completed everything correctly.

It was as a great tour of B C. The tour leader Brad couldn’t have been better. He was punctual, courteous, knowledgeable and kind. Our bus driver Dave was an excellent, safe driver which was needed on the many hair-pin bends or roads with precipitous drops! Some lunch stops were in service areas so the food options together with the scenery or shade read more were limited. Accommodation was comfortable with the highlight being in Victoria on Vancouver Island at the Royal Scot hotel. The hotel in Kolawan was in an area distant from the main attractions and the beautiful lake, so that location was a disappointment. Excursions offered, especially the marine-life watching off Victoria where we saw Orcas and Hump Back whales, were an enjoyable part of the trip. The lake excursion to Spirit Island was sublime.

The Alaskan cruise was probably the most decadent experience of my life. Royalty could not have been better treated! The food in the dining room and service were unsurpassed! Be sure to book a stateroom with at least a window though! I’d book a Cosmos tour again! I’d recommend it for value, interest and professionalism. Happy travels!

Good trip, but found hotel eateries sometime closed. I am mobility impaired so was unable to walk too far. Rooms were lovely and coach was clean and new. Guide was excellent, so other than the food situation it was a good trip. The cruise part was excellent.

Rachel was a wonderful support as our contact agent from Global Journeys and answered all our questions and concerns immediately. The tour was wonderful and so much more spectacular than we thought. It was a shame the Colombia Icefield Explorer wasn't open but we did receive a refund. James our tour guide was exceptional with his incredible depth of read more knowledge and attention to detail on every aspect of the tour. Todd our driver was excellent also, his coach was always immaculately clean, very safe driving, always helping with our luggage with a smile. There were fantastic highlights just about everyday with lots of wow moments. James ensured everyone had a wonderful holiday with lots of great memories.

The Alaskan Cruise was run by Holland America. Unfortunately there were a few issues with our room, with the toilet becoming blocked twice, the room temperature way to hot to be comfortable let alone sleep. All issues reported. Toilet fixed twice, but no change in room temperature all week. We were somehow put on a German Group table every night for dinner. It was eventually sorted but were told we needed to eat at 5pm or eat with strangers.

Getting off for shore excursions was completely unorganised especially at the Juneau Port. It was unsafe with the crowd swell and number of elderly requiring assistance but unable to get it in the stairwells . We chose not to do any further excursions. Glacier Bay on the cruise was excellent. In the Fine Dining, portions were way too small and unfortunately the crowds and no seating at the Lido was not a pleasant experience. Unfortunately we wouldn't recommend the Alaska cruise week component. We would rate the land component as 4 stars, the cruise 2 stars.

This tour was a good balance between group sightseeing and built-in free days to explore on our own. Special mention goes to our bus driver Mike who drove us safely on winding mountain roads and through tight city traffic, and also our tour Leader Ken who kept us entertained and informed throughout or trip. We learnt so much from him about Canada that read more we never would have known had we travelled on our own. Our accommodation was clean and comfortable, with some locations actually well exceeding our expectations.

The weather this time of year was mostly sunny with only a couple of rainy days, and the Autumn leaves were just starting to change colour. We were unfortunately not able to visit Jasper as planned due to the recent wildfires, but Cosmos strived to compensate us with another night in Banff and a complimentary lake cruise, which we appreciated.

We enjoyed our Alaskan cruise with Holland America, and we were impressed by how clean the ship was and how smoothly everything seemed to run. Our travel advisor Maisie from Global journeys was easy to communicate with and responded quickly to any questions we had. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Cosmos and look forward to travelling with them again some time in the future.

We arrived to a very wet Vancouver. Had a day touring this city & Stanley Park. What a beautiful place. We then learnt that there would be changes to our itinerary due to all the wild fires. All the changes were handled with great professionalism. There wasn’t much snow around due to the unseasonal high temperatures. The whole tour was really great. read more The tour guide was very knowledgeable. We would highly recommend Global Journeys for any future tours.

Thank you Cosmos. I can honestly say that this holiday was the one of the best. Loved every minute of it. Heather our tour guide was fantastic, her organisation and knowledge was the best!! And to Neil our coach driver, thank you for keeping us safe. I’d do it over again!!!

Wonderful trip through the Rockies. Our guide Renato was fantastic, full of knowledge of the area and very helpful. Doug our driver was wonderful, always making sure our luggage was always there. Magic cruise through the inside passage and the Glaciers. Cons: Sandman on Davie in Vancouver was not a good area to stay in.

Very excited to fly from Melbourne to Sydney to catch an Air Canada flight to Vancouver. What a disappointment Air Canada is. The plane was a Dreamliner, that could not have been more uncomfortable if they tried. Served a hot meal within an hour of take off. An alcoholic drink was offered straight after. We were required to ask a hostess for a drink read more after nearly 6 hours of nothing on offer, which was given begrudgingly. Finally we arrived in Vancouver, where we caught the train to Davie Street to our hotel - Sandman Suites on Davie. An old building in the centre of the Gay Centre of Vancouver. A sex shop across the road, and a gay bar a few doors up. We met our tour director, Heather in the foyer. Next day we commenced our 14 day journey stopping at places like Kelowna, Banff, Jasper, Sun Peaks, Whistler and Victoria. One stop had no public toilet/washroom, but we could pay $12 Canadian dollars to use the toilets in a museum. No amount of requests from the tour director would convince the proprietor to allow us entry, but agreed we could use them for only $6.00.

Unfortunately, we were given no breakfast meals for the 14 days. This meant having to walk often distances in excess of 2 km each way to get some food in for breakfast the next day. Other bus tours cancelled going to Jasper due to a major fire causing smoke and breathing difficulties for the people of Jasper. We continued and stayed in a hotel with such features as no power except with a generator on half power, meaning no television, no air conditioning, and no internet. Shops were at a distance, so far to walk older passengers couldn't do it, and no other means of transport to get there. We regularly had to wait to our first stop to purchase breakfast and coffee.

Be prepared to pay gratuities for everything, starting at 15% up to 25% then add the tax paid on most things, particularly alcohol, this can add quite a bit to any bill, then add any fees for converting Canadian/American dollar to Australian. A $440 dollar bill ended up paying over $600.
Finally we arrived back at Vancouver Canada place where we were to embark on our ship, Holland American Lines Koningsdam. This would have been the best example of poor organisation ever. We have cruised from both Sydney and Melbourne with no bother boarding within 30 minutes. Embarkation took 2 1/2 hours of lining up and being herded like sheep. The whole episode was farcical.

We paid over $1800 extra on the price of the cruise to be upgraded to a porthole. Imagine our surprise to find the Aussie in the room next to us who paid less than us minus the upgrade to get a porthole, or the couple who $600 extra on the price of the cabin to get a balcony. I enquired with the ship purser who advised that this was something arranged through the travel agent who could have arranged this with other packages such as a drink package, an Internet package or a free upgrade. The internet was available to all for ONLY $29.99 for a day, or $140 for the week.

Our first port was Juneau, this consisted of 3 separate shops, a jewellery shop, a souvenir shop or a clothing shop. Throw in one or two other shops, it was hardly worth leaving the ship for. Second port was Skagway, a pleasant shopping street with many variety of shops. The White Pass and Yukon Route train is well worth the trip for 3 hours. The scenery is unbelievable. The third port was Ketchikan, a pretty town with many interesting tours available. Overall the cruise was enjoyable and the views are breath taking, unfortunately the cruise was the second last for the season and as such many items such as fruit juice was unavailable , or certain wines due to no restocking.

We arrived back in Vancouver for our return flight to Sydney. After putting our suitcases thru, the man from Air Canada stated the seat allocation would occur 4 hours prior to the flight at the gate. We waited at the gate for someone from Air Canada to arrive at the given time, but unfortunately they didn't show for a further 4 hours. I approached the representative from Air Canada, and advised him that we were checked in but had no seat allocation. He informed me that it was highly unlikely we would get a seat as the plane was over booked and required people to offer to catch a later flight the next day. I advised him we also had a connecting flight in Sydney. He said he would try to get us on board but we would be sitting separately. Eventually we were allocated seats together and boarded. Due to nobody checking the carry on luggage there was insufficient room for all the bags so this caused further dramas and delays. After this was finally sorted, we left Vancouver nearly an hour late, which caused a chain reaction for the numerous passengers with connecting flights.

On arrival in Sydney alternative flights had to be arranged by Air Canada, including ours. We flew out an hour and a half later than our original flights. An adventurous 3 weeks with many ups, but just as many downs. Sights were unbelievable and make it worth the money.

The bus trip was wonderful but on my previous two Cosmos trips breakfast was included. This time it was not and leaving so early some mornings it was difficult to get anything. The Alaskan Cruise was INCREDIBLE and the Zuiderdam a great ship. However, flying Air Canada was a nightmare and no communication via email or at the airport. I will never go read more Cosmos again if I have to fly Air Canada.

First time traveller with Cosmos. Bit concerned when it had no meals included but found it easy to source meals. Our tour guide was brilliant and our bus driver did a fantastic job getting us around. Highlight of our trip was the great bunch of people on our tour. Would definitely travel with Cosmos again.

We travelled to Canada for a 13 night coach trip from Vancouver to Banff, Sun Peaks, Jasper, Whistler and Victoria on Vancouver Island. The coach was very comfy and the accommodation was nice. Our tour director was very knowledgeable and very approachable. We then went on a 7 day cruise up to Alaska which was magical. I cannot fault any part of this read more trip. Everything went perfectly with no hiccups and was handled extremely professionally.

We thoroughly enjoyed our experience to Canada and Alaska. It was all organised and the tour with Cosmos was amazing! Our tour guide was so friendly and knowledgeable. The accommodation was fantastic, very comfortable! Would highly recommend this tour, including the stunning cruise through Alaska.

What an amazing journey we had with Cosmos. I'm asked what were the highlights - it was all highlights! The scenery, the hotels we stayed in were all amazing. The fellow passengers were all wonderful, we made some wonderful friendships along the way. I would recommend Global Journeys any day - Jemma was amazing answering all our questions and so helpful.

We had an absolutely amazing holiday, couldn't be happier with the tour we booked through Global Journeys starting with Jemma Rosen who booked our holiday and helped with any questions I had. The Cosmos Majestic Canadian Rockies tour was perfect with 2 day stays in Vancouver, Banff, Jasper, Whistler and Victoria all with great accommodation. Tour highlights read more were Lake Louise & Ice Explorer. We travelled in August and had perfect weather. Our tour director Neela and driver Neil were amazing, that made our holiday very memorable. Our coach was always on time thanks to the great group of people we had lots of laughs. Loved the coach tour. We cruised on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam - beautiful ship, great food but we were disappointed in the lack of entertainment onboard. My cruise highlight was Glacier Bay.

Very good tour. Two nights in lots of places, plenty of time to explore. Cosmos offers really good value tours and all accommodation was pretty good. Some better than others but we have no complaints. The scenery on this tour was magnificent and our August tour had perfect weather. Offered some great highlights and good laughs with tour group. Cruise read more to Alaska is a must do. Time to relax and indulge! Glacier scenery was magical. See it all before it is too late. Highly recommend Cosmos. Booking with Global Journeys made it all so easy. Thank you Jodie for keeping us informed along the way. Will book with you again.

Every where you look on this trip from the moment you set foot in Canada you are surrounded by postcard views. This is a "must do" tour. The bus touring was a joy.To see grizzly and black bears, moose, goats, sheep from the coach made for an exciting time, helped by our great driver Derick who would stop and go back for us to see better. The travel read more was not too fast and the accommodation was all good, (could do with USB ports). The whole trip, coach and ship was a seamless operation. Can highly recommend this trip to all and all ages, you won't be disappointed. We went in May /June the end of winter, got the best of both seasons.

The hotel in Jasper was disappointing (Marmot Lodge), the food and service in the restaurant were really bad. The tour director and driver were excellent. Fellow travellers got along really well.

The scenery in the Rockies was unreal, Tareq the guide was excellent, very organised and good people on tour. The only negative was the cruise, a $600 deposit which is just an excuse for interest and $20 AUS per drink after taxes and tips?

This was our 4th tour with Cosmos and we were not disappointed. Very organised tour guide. Pace was quite slow allowing plenty of time to do your own thing. Cruise was good but being a smaller boat the activities on board were not as good as previous cruises. In saying that the smaller boat was able to dock at every port when another larger boat missed read more the port of Juneau due to size and weather. Our tour did not include the Rocky Mountaineer and we felt we saw as much including a bear beside the road.