Over the past fortnight, since returning from our wonderful adventure, we have had a marvellous time sorting through the thousands, literally thousands, of photos and videos we took of this spectacular part of the world. There were many highlights in the three weeks but the day spent in Glacier Bay stands out for me. Possibly because we visited in mid
...read more summer, or more likely because of good luck, we experienced excellent visibility this day ( after the early morning fog lifted! ) as we did in the Rockies too, viewing peaks and summits not seen for weeks prior to our visit. Glacier Bay was a definite prerequisite for our trip because of friends' advice. Now we strongly recommend choosing an itinerary including Glacier Bay when cruising the Inside Passage.
We have been regular overseas travellers but this was our first experience of a fully organised tour. This Trafalgar tour met all our expectations. The organisation was seamless, with punctuality, cleanliness and comfort featuring. The Tour Director and Coach Driver were both outstanding. The passion and knowledge of the Tour Leader was a special feature of the tour. We learnt so much of the history, geography, geology and anthropology of Western Canada while at the same time being entertained with humour and an easygoing caring manner. It was especially wonderful to have luggage organised each day, to find it waiting in your hotel room, and not once was there a hitch with our luggage. This is a great help for us seniors!
All the accommodation was of a high standard. We enjoyed the variety of styles and appreciated the convenient position of the hotels in the towns.
Thank you Yvonne for your work in planning and booking our trip. We found the online booking process quite seamless too and really appreciated your quick responses to any queries and your immediate availability. The written information we received certainly covered every detail of the tour and every component was met. On hindsight we would choose to do the cruise part of the tour last rather than the Rocky Mountaineer. Cruising is very relaxing and although the luxury of the Gold Class Rocky Mountaineer experience was breathtaking, and an experience I fully recommend to others, we encountered some bad luck. A four and a half hour delay at the beginning of day one resulted in all passengers leaving the train at 7pm and completing the journey, a three hour trip, in buses. Train delays are common, we learnt, but the length of this delay was exceptional. We have since received an email from the Rocky Mountaineer offering us $300.00 pp compensation which we accepted but as yet we have not received it. Had this delay occurred on day two our flight home may have been jeopardised. In light of this we believe it would be wise to suggest travellers spend a night in a hotel at the conclusion of the train journey rather than going directly to the airport for the long flight home.
In conclusion let me say the tour you booked provided us a magnificent experience. We will wholeheartedly recommend Holland America Line cruises, superb, Trafalgar Tours and the unique Rocky Mountaineer experience. Global Journeys will definitely be included in our recommendations and if we are fortunate enough to travel again we will be back in contact.