The Canadian Rockies with Alaska Cruise Reviews

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 ...read more 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.

We were first timers for booking a tour so we didn't know what to expect! What can we say, besides it was a fantastic way to spend 3 wonderful weeks in 2 countries. From the booking of the tour with Jemma who made it so effortless to a great tour guide named Brad we couldn't have asked for more. We made great friends on both the bus and cruise and got ...read more to see so many different things. The bus driver was always accommodating and made sure we stopped and saw any interesting things along the route. We always had a laugh and were part of a great group however there was plenty of time to do your own thing on those free days. This is certainly a time I will cherish amongst my fondest memories. Thank you to everyone involved!!

We had a great time on our holiday and have the following suggestions that may help future trips.
I suggest that Cosmos (or Global) highlight the risks associated with the bushfire season in Canada. This has been a regular problem for three years now and significantly detracts from the scenic expectations of the whole tour. I understand that it is ...read more a natural issue and beyond anyone's control but a warning may have helped when selecting a date for the holiday.

Our tour guide and driver were fantastic and hotels were great with one exception. We would not pick a tour again that included The Sandman Hotel in Vancouver. The room was too small (could not open two suitcases) and very noisy.

On any future cruise we contemplate we would need to know how it interacts with other cruise line timetables. Arriving at small towns (eg: Ketchikan) with four other cruise ships does not allow an enjoyable port experience.

Hope these points help.

My husband and I had a great time on our tour. The pace of the tour suited our needs and our tour director Brad and our driver Mickey were fantastic. Thank you to Madeline for making the booking process so easy. Words cannot describe the beauty of Canada and Alaska and I would encourage anyone thinking of doing this tour to do it.

The whole experience was wonderful. From when we were greeted by our tour director Alma till we disembarked from the ship at the end of the cruise. Everything went smoothly, and we didn't have to think of what we would do next, because it would be explained by our Cosmos guide very clearly, and always answered our questions. Accommodation was very good. ...read more Extras were the best. Alma our guide was able to talk some hotels to supply continental breakfast, a bonus.

The ship Nieuw Amsterdam was a lovely ship, although we had an inside cabin, it didn't matter. There were plenty of vantage points, and decided to hire a cabana for the week (very much worth it). The ships decor was lovely. The food outstanding. All in all it was a brilliant time away, both land and ship tours. I would recommend it to anyone. Anything I saw not right, was minor.

Madeline, thank you very much for you help in organizing our trip. You did an amazing job and look forward to our next trip with you. Thank you. Will recommend you Madeline and Global Journeys to anyone.

Was a very great trip - the tour guide Serena for the land component of the tour was excellent and she was incredibly knowledgeable, caring and accessible.

We had a great tour director in Alma. She had so much enthusiasm for her country and the wildlife and was totally efficient in ensuring our accommodation was always ready for us after a day of travelling. We stayed in quality motels and were shown most of the highlights in this part of the world. The mountains covered with snow took our breath away ...read more - very spectacular.

One of the down spots to the trip was arriving via Air Canada at 7am and not being able to get our hotel room until 3pm after a 14 hour trip. The Holland/America cruise ship Volendam for our trip to Alaska was excellent but there were no Cosmos reps on board. Felt a bit out of it with all the Scenic, APT etc people who all had there own tour director. We chose our own excursions on line before we left and all were great, especially in Skagway which was the highlight of our trip. Cosmos really looked after us on the bus tour in Canada.