Rocky Mountaineer Station — Local services in Vancouver

The Rocky Mountaineer Gold Leaf experience is a robbery. I would not recommend taking an elderly loved one on this train.

My intention is for you to make an informed decision. This isn’t a feedback for the company, this is a feedback for you.

(30% of review had to be cut - character limit)

Dates: July 15/16 2024 Train: Vancouver to Banff Cost for 4 people: $12,400 Rail car: CB08

Cons: There is no dignity for people with disabilities. The lift stopped working day 1. There was no attempt to accommodate having no lift for my mother. Rocky Mountaineer is not wheelchair accessible although they falsely advertised as such. When the elevator stopped working on Day 1, the crew asked my mum to take the stairs and all throughout Day 2. The 4 employees on our train were all gracious and caring. One person, every time mum was forced to take the stairs, stood in front of my mum to break her fall if she slipped. Management never spoke to us once for the whole trip. He mingled with many & checked on others. He walked by us but never stopped. Mum was exhausted and it was evident to patrons on the train, who asked if she was okay, but management never checked on us. Day 1. Mums birthday. Air conditioner stopped working 2pm-6:30pm heading into Kamloops. The condition is similar to locking a dog in a hot car for 4+ hours and having no windows on the upper level. It felt like 40 degrees inside. We had all the symptoms of heat exhaustion (this lasted for 2 days). We resorted to asking for glasses of ice that we would just place on our neck, face & forehead. It melted within 10 min easily with the heat. Heat exhaustion is a serious matter and the air conditioning breaking down on the trains was a KNOWN issue for the Rocky Mountaineer team. Intentionally, they put patrons in harms way. Working conditions for staff. This heat issue has to be a health & safety violation. I will reach out to WorkSafe BC regarding this. I felt deeply for the staff running around trying to care for everyone in full uniform! I ran into a couple who took the train 3 days prior. They had a similar issue with no air conditioning and roasted in their rail car. Same trip destination, different rail car number. Paying $12,400 dollars to have this Gold Leaf experience should be enough to deter you from going on this train. Spend your money elsewhere. Any extra stress on my mother’s health is a cost to her length of life. Rocky Mountaineer can’t promise that your basic needs will be met. We were told no air conditioning is a one off for the past couple of weeks and that it’s an engine thing. Their new slogan should be The Little Engine That Couldn’t. Zero compensation was offered to people who cooked. ZERO. Assigned seats. There are emergency exits spots you do not want to be assigned to. I have attached a photo so you can know it’s a waste of money if you’re stuck in one of those seats. Rocky Mountaineer gives you 1 newspaper to take away per 2 guests and 1 post card per 2 guests. It’s minor but cheap.

Recognize we did not share this feedback on the train when I want my mother to feel pampered, loved and spoiled. She doesn’t want us to cause any grief and it would have stressed her out more if we addressed it on the spot. She wouldn’t want that attention drawn to her.

Something about this whole experience didn’t feel honest to me. We found out more information ONLY by asking direct questions and speaking to other people who have been on the train. The ‘it’s a one off’ energy that was being announced I personally don’t believe to be true. I think the trains are old and are beyond repair. Hence the malfunction. But it’s all about advertising that it’s a luxury train when it truly is not. The staff are luxury no question on that! The train however, as I’ve experienced, is in disrepair.

I ask kindly that you leave a feedback review if you cooked this summer in their rail car. The train is not equipped in operating reliably and future potential patrons need to see the volume of people impacted.

Take care and take care of...

Superb and responsive service from vacation consultant Julia Simpson.

We booked a "Journey through the Clouds" trip from Vancouver to Calgary, and we had a fantastic time. We were saddened by what was happening in Jasper and were disappointed that a portion of our trip had to be rerouted. However, we were very pleased with our hotel and room assignments (see below). We were also super fortunate with the weather throughout our trip.

First and second nights in Vancouver: Hotel: Fairmont Waterfront Room type: Deluxe partial harbour view Comment: Check-in process was smooth at the Concourse Level. Staff was warm and super welcoming. We received our Rocky Mountaineer pins at the check-in counter.

(Rocky Mountaineer Goldleaf service from Vancouver to Kamloops) Comment: We were seated near an emergency exit window, but we were compensated by four seats to ourselves so we got access to a large window too.

Third night in Kamloops: Hotel: Delta Hotel Comment: Probably the worst hotel in our entire trip, but it was conveniently situated at the heart of Kamloops and our stay was brief anyway.

(Rocky Mountaineer Goldleaf service from Kamloops to Banff)

Fourth and fifth nights in Banff (rerouted from Jasper): Hotel: Hotel Canoe Room type: Superior suite (no mountain view) Comment: We were switched to Hotel Canoe from Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge given the wildfire in Jasper. Hotel Canoe was very nice. They've got a nice restaurant called Sudden Sally for breakfast and meals. Bus stop to Lake Minnewanka is right in front of the hotel. The only downside is that their shampoo and body gel have bizarre smells (e.g. rosemary + mint).

(Brewster Coach transfer from Banff to Lake Louise: Emerald Lake, Spiral Tunnel, Natural Bridge)

Sixth and seventh nights in Lake Louise: Hotel: Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Room type: Deluxe lakeview Comment: Gorgeous hotel, as expected, with a super nice view of Lake Louise. We stayed on the 1st floor (which is actually the third floor since there are a basement and M level below). In my opinion, lower levels have a much prettier view of the lake than higher levels.

(Brewster day trip - Mountain Lakes & Waterfalls: Moraine Lake, Emerald Lake, Spiral Tunnel, Natural Bridge, Takakkaw Falls) (Brewster day trip - Columbia Icefield Discovery: Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, Glacier Skywalk, Columbia Icefield Adventure) The Columbia Icefield transfer from Jasper to Banff was cancelled and refunded so we had to book this second day trip ourselves.

Eighth and nineth nights in Banff: Hotel: Rimrock Hotel Room type: Deluxe view Comment: Nice hotel with a nice mountain view. Despite access to Banff shuttle system and the hotel's own shuttle, the hotel is the farthest hotel from Banff town centre so beware when choosing this hotel.

Tenth night in Calgary: Hotel: Fairmonth Palliser Room type: Junior suite Comment: We took Air Canada's afternoon flight back to Vancouver.

The whole trip costs us about $18,000 CAD in total + tips to drivers.

Customers should be aware that we do not get refunds from any disruptions that are out of Rocky Mountaineer's control (e.g. cancellation or rerouting due to wildfires, strike, etc). Rocky Mountaineer does refund add-on trips/transfers that come with the tour package (e.g. coach transfer trip from Jasper to Lake Louise that also includes visit to the...

This was a hard review to write. There were parts of our tour we absolutely loved, and others that were lacking tremendously. Overall, before going into the train experience, the views you will have just by being on the railway and seeing the natural beauty of BC and Alberta are breathtaking. You also get to experience things like the Spiral Tunnels that you won’t have by driving. So that alone makes the train worth doing once in your lifetime.

So starting with the likes. First off, the train cars themselves where you will be spending your day are well apportioned, well designed and quite comfortable to spend a day on the rails. The food on the train is also,amazing, especially given you are on a train. I’d recommend then Soufle for breakfast and the Port Chop for lunch. The snacks throughout the trip that are provided are also amazing. The hotels they have partnered with, including in Kamloops are all great. And given that they move your luggage between hotels and organise the tours in each city (like Jasper, Banff, etc.) it is an easy vacation.

Now for the dislikes/misses. I would say a lot of your experience on the train comes down to the train hosts. First off, in Gold Leaf, despite their commitment to four hosts per train, that wasn’t the case, likely due to challenges in staffing. And on one legs of our trip, from Vancouver to Jasper, the hosts were all with Rocky Mountaineer for 3 months or less so the quality of the stories suffered, as did the quality of the drinks. On the Banff to Vancouver route we had a host with 11 years of experience, and you could taste the difference but also there was way more stories that were on point. Another obvious miss was in Vancouver on the bus from the hotel to the train. They had a host on the bus who seemed like they should know the details of Vancouver, but pointed our numerous things incorrectly (easy to tell when you live here) but also whom didn’t seem to know how to use a microphone. Finally in Banff they had one agent doing check ins for the return trip. But there was over 100 people to check in so most of that evening was wasted in line when they offer “online checkin” (which the agent told us wasn’t valid for reasons unknown).

A few changes I would make doing it again is add extra days in Jasper and Lake Louise. Being there for only one night doesn’t seem like enough time. It will also give you time to recharge as the train and tour buses almost every day can be draining and just having a day to rest here and there are beneficial.

Also, make sure to bring your own snacks (as hunger can strike at odd times like on a bus) and be ready for the unexpected. Our train got delayed in Boston Bar due to a police incident ahead and we spent many hours just waiting in the train. They keep the food and drink coming but the communications seemed a little lacking. Especially when they said the train manager had to walk a couple of kilometres into town to get info. I would expect they would have a satellite phone on board in case of...