Category Archives: autumn

2014, 2015, advice, Alaska Cruise, alberta, April, august, autumn, available, banff, banff national park, british columbia, calgary, Canada, canadian rockies, change, discount, early-bird-discount, early-booking, fall, holiday, holiday-package, holidays, information, jasper, jasper national park, July, June, lake louise, may, north america, notification, october, official, photo, photos, preparation, prices, rail, rates, resorts of the canadian rockies, resource, Rocky Mountain Vacations, rocky-mountain, rocky-mountain-holidays, rocky-mountaineer, rocky-mountaineer-holiday, schedule, sea to sky, seattle, september, spring, summer, summer vacations, summer-holiday, tickets, tips, tourism, tours, train, travel, u.k., U.S.A., update, USA, vacation, Vacations Canada, vancouver, vancouver-whistler-train, washington, western-canada, whistler, whistler-mountaineer, YVR, YYC

Rocky Mountaineer release 2015 Rail Schedule & Rates

Leave a comment

Rocky Mountain Holidays posted Rocky Mountaineer’s anticipated rail schedule and rates for 2015 today. We have highlighted the main changes below.

Rocky Mountaineer's Coastal Passage Route
The Rocky Mountaineer train travelling north from Seattle to Vancouver  [Coastal Passage Route]
After Rocky Mountaineer’s launch of their successful Coastal Passage Route in 2013, which connects Seattle to Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies, they have introduced a planned 18 northbound and southbound departures, up from 12 departures this year (2014). The Coastal Passage Route can still only be booked in conjunction with 2-day rail, it cannot be booked as a standalone product.

The Rocky Mountaineer 2-day rail departures for 2015 remain the same, however, there will be no break in 2015 during the first week of August as per previous years. This break was due to annual maintenance of the trains but they have now changed this schedule to ensure a continuous service.

Rates have increased significantly for 2-day rail over their 2014 rates and at time of press, Rocky Mountain Holidays were still offering 2014 Rocky Mountaineer vacation package pricing for 2015.

In 2015, there are no longer two price bands of April through to May, and June through to October. In the past, April and May departures for 2-day rail were reduced to encourage guests to travel earlier in the season. As a result of this change, there have been some significant price hikes, especially for travel in April and May:

2-day Rail – Vancouver to the Canadian Rockies [Jasper, Lake Louise or Banff]

For April and May train departures in 2015:

  • RedLeaf = +26% rate increase over 2014
  • SilverLeaf = +12% rate increase over 2014
  • GoldLeaf = +10.5% rate increase over 2014

For June through to October train departures in 2015:

  • RedLeaf = +14.6% rate increase over 2014
  • SilverLeaf = +5% rate increase over 2014
  • GoldLeaf =  +5% rate increase over 2014
Rocky Mountaineer Train, Morant's Curve
The Rocky Mountaineer train in Banff National Park, travelling eastwards between Lake Louise and Banff [Morant’s Curve]

2-day Rail – Vancouver through the Canadian Rockies to Calgary

For April and May train departures in 2015:

  • RedLeaf = +23.4% rate increase over 2014
  • SilverLeaf = +11% rate increase over 2014
  • GoldLeaf = +9.8% rate increase over 2014

For June through to October train departures in 2015:

  • RedLeaf = +13.2% rate increase over 2014
  • SilverLeaf = +4.6% rate increase over 2014
  • GoldLeaf =  +4.7% rate increase over 2014

Vancouver to Whistler 3.5 hour train [Sea-to-Sky Climb]

For May through to September train departures in 2015:

  • Classic Service – One Way = Almost 18% rate increase over 2014
  • Classic Service – Return =  Over 11% rate increase over 2014

Seattle to Vancouver train [Coastal Passage Route]

  • SilverLeaf = +10% rate increase over 2014 ($50 increase per person)
  • GoldLeaf = +7.1% rate increase over 2014 ($50 increase per person)

Why such dramatic rate increases in 2015?

Our assumption is that rising operating costs, updates to their GoldLeaf dome coaches, along with expansion into the United States are all reasons for increased rates. The weakening of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar has also contributed to potential increased costs in 2015.

The upgrade margins between RedLeaf, SilverLeaf and GoldLeaf service have been narrowed to entice guests to indulge in the ultimate luxury of GoldLeaf service onboard.

From November 1st, 2013, Rocky Mountaineer imposed rail fuel surcharges on all of their routes in 2014 due to rising oil prices, so taking that into consideration, the actual percentage rate increases from 2014 are less (as long as more fuel surcharges aren’t imposed for 2015). Rocky Mountain Holidays are still currently offering “rail and cruise fuel surcharge protection” on all of their Rocky Mountaineer bookings, so they will pay any fuel surcharges imposed on your behalf when you book through them.

The Canadian Dollar ["Loonie"]
The Canadian dollar has weakened significantly over the past year, most dramatically over the past few months.

How do these rate increases affect you?

The good news for most international guests is that the Canadian dollar has weakened significantly over the past year, most dramatically over the past few months.

For example:

  • The U.K. pound has increased in value against the Canadian dollar by 17% over the past year
  • The U.S. dollar has increased in value against the Canadian dollar by 10% over the past year

Unfortunately, Australians have seen a 5% decline in the Australian dollar against the Canadian dollar over the past year and most guests who live in Canada will not see any benefit in a weakened Canadian dollar.

That being said, the early-bird booking deals set to be offered for 2015 will be very attractive to encourage guests to book far in advance.

What do you think about these changes? Feel free to comment below.

Source: Rocky Mountain Holidays

2011, accommodation, advice, alberta, august, autumn, banff, banff national park, blackcomb, british columbia, brochure downloads, calgary, Canada, canadian rockies, canmore, coach holidays, deal, discount, discounted-package, download-brochure, early-bird-discount, early-booking, eastern canada, fairmont-package, fall, Fernie, free-vancouver-tour, heavy snowfall, holiday, holiday-package, holidays, hotel, information, itinerary, jasper, July, kicking horse, kicking_horse, kimberley, lake louise, links, may, new year, north america, october, package, packages, panorama, powder, preparation, prices, rail, rates, reference, resorts of the canadian rockies, resource, rocky-mountain, rocky-mountain-holidays, rocky-mountaineer, rocky-mountaineer-holiday, round-trip, Sale, self-drive, snow, snowfall, special, spring, storm, summer, summer vacations, summer-holiday, things-to-do, things-to-remember, tips, tourism, tours, train, travel, update, vacation, vancouver, vancouver-whistler-train, victoria, western-canada, whistler, whistler blackcomb, whistler-mountaineer

2011 Summer Holiday Packages – Canada

Leave a comment

What a great start we have had to 2011 with about a metre of snow received by the ski resorts across Western Canada over the past week! Now that we are into 2011, the busy summer season does not seem so far away. With the early-bird deals starting to “fizzle” out or become less attractive for the summer, especially with the Rocky Mountaineer train packages, now is a good time to get a good deal on a 2011 spring, summer or autumn/fall package. Rocky Mountain Holidays have brochure downloads in PDF (Portable Document Format) and as always, we have provided the links below for easy reference. These packages can be easily customised based on your preferences (as long as the changes fit in with the rail or cruise schedule). Be sure to take advantage of specials such as free nights and activities in Vancouver – value added rather than discounts are the way to go.

Self-drive holidays are becoming increasingly popular in the Canadian Rockies as it gives you the independence but you also have full support when you are out here and the peace of mind that you won’t struggle to find accommodation during the peak season months in the Canadian Rockies. When booking a self-drive package, check to see if you have Loss Damage Waiver insurance coverage with your credit card provider as this can save you about $30 per day. Also, check out what the one way drop-off fees are from Vancouver to Calgary for example. When you book independently they can be as much as several hundred dollars whereas through a tour operator, typically the rates are about $75-$100.

Other things to look out for if you are shopping around are hidden fees such as “credit card surcharges”. This is a common technique used by some companies to squeeze some extra cash out of you after you have already agreed to the booking. It is also good to ask the straight question – “what extra costs will I have to pay in additional to the package price?”. Any good tour operator will be able to list these for you immediately so you know where you stand with the total of your holiday cost.

Here are the holiday brochures for 2011 – available for download through RockyMountainHolidays.com.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2011.

2010, 2011, 50% off, accommodation, autumn, banff, banff national park, Canada, canadian rockies, canmore, deal, discount, early-bird-discount, fall, ha-ling peak, heavy snowfall, holiday, holiday-package, holidays, information, october, package, packages, panorama, panorama-mountain-village, photo, photos, promotion, rail, rocky-mountain-holidays, rocky-mountaineer, rocky-mountaineer-holiday, ski, ski banff, ski holidays, ski holidays canada, ski-holiday, snow, snowfall, special, summer, summer-2010, train, update, western-canada, winter

Good Bye Summer, Hello Autumn

Leave a comment

The summer seems to have flown by this year.

It’s September 30 2010 and less than 2 weeks ago, the ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies received 20cm of fresh snow and we experienced way below average temperatures. The Canada Ski Blog posted some photos of this September snow. This last week, we have experienced above average temperatures (in the 20s°C) with sunny skies giving us another opportunity to take advantage of the many summer activities in the Canadian Rockies. This is typical of the Canadian Rockies as we are in the mountains at higher elevations.

Just check out the colours in the recent pictures taken in the Canadian Rockies. This is what we love about the autumn.

Autumn in Canmore

Cascade Mountain, Bow River, in the Autumn

The Rocky Mountaineer train departing tomorrow from Vancouver, October 1st 2010, is the company’s largest departure in their history, and will set a record for largest passenger rail train in North American history – a total of 1331 guests! This is one of the last Rocky Mountaineer train departures for 2010, but we already have 2011 packages in place with early-bird savings of up to $1,400 per couple.

50%OFF Panorama Lodging early-bird deal ended today but we have many early-bird deals for the 2010-2011 winter season, some of which are soon to expire. We are seeing some of the best ski accommodation deals in Banff this year with free nights accommodation and free ski deals for stays of 7 or more nights.

The early-birds will definitely be getting the best deals on ski packages and summer packages.

We hope you had a great summer and we thank you for reading our blog. We always love to hear from our readers so please feel free to post any relevant comments you may have.  Wishing you safe and happy travels.

advice, alberta, animal, autumn, backcountry, banff, bear, black bear, bow valley parkway, canadian rockies, elk, fall, gizzly-bear, grizzly_bear, hike, hiking, information, jasper, lake louise, moose, park, prevention, spring, summer, things-to-remember, tourism, trail, warning, western-canada, wildlife

Prevent conflicts with wildlife

Leave a comment

They may sometimes appear unconcerned by our presence, but all park animals are unpredictable and potentially dangerous.

Keep your distance from wildlife

Always keep your distance.

Do not approach or entice wildlife. Use binoculars or a telephoto lens instead.

Remain at least:

– 100 metres (10 bus lengths) away from BEARS, COUGARS and WOLVES

– 30 metres (3 bus lengths) away from ELK, DEER, SHEEP, GOATS and MOOSE

Never leave food attractants out for wildlife.

Food attractants include:

– coolers (they are NOT bearproof!)

– food scraps or leftovers

– dishwater

– dirty dishes, pots or barbecues

– empty bottles, cans or wrappers

– toothpaste, soap or other toiletries

– pets

– pet food dishes (full or empty)

Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Because it is impossible to predict how wildlife will react in any situation, avoiding encounters is the only sure way to keep people safe and wildlife wild.

– Always be on the lookout for animals or signs of their presence.

– Carefully supervise children whenever outdoors.

Source: Parks Canada