VIA Rail – Canadian Rockies Rail Service
v Our rail journey in 2011 and 2012 will be on VIA Rail - "The Canadian" between Vancouver and Jasper
v VIA Rail is partially owned by the government and is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar refurbishment of all their railcars.
Ø Our guests will be guaranteed to travel in the refurbished cars.
Ø The cars will have a new color scheme throughout as well as all new softgoods on the beds.
Ø All chairs, seating arrangements, tables etc. will be updated.
v Guests will overnight onboard the railcars.
Ø Pre-cruise guests will board the cars in the afternoon in Jasper and have dinner onboard while enjoying the scenery of the Canadian Rockies all the way through to Kamloops. The travel whilst they are sleeping is through the Fraser Valley (mainly farmlands and not the attractive scenery of the Rockies). In the morning they will awake as the train begins to arrive into Vancouver and they will enjoy breakfast onboard.
Ø Post-cruise guests will board the cars in the evening and have a champagne toast as they are leaving Vancouver. Guests will be sleeping through the Fraser Valley and awake just as the train travels through Kamloops and heads to the "official" entry of the Canadian Rockies at Blue River. They will have breakfast and lunch onboard the cars before disembarking in Jasper to continue on their Rockies tour.
v All guests booked through Celebrity have access to the domed cars (the Skylines car or the Panorama car) without having to pay an upgrade.
v The guests can travel between any of the railcars at their convenience or remain privately in their cabin.
v All meals are made to order and prepared fresh in the kitchens of the dining car. There is a full wait staff in the dining room and meals are served on linen table clothes and on china with proper silverware.
v There is no smoking on any of the cars.
v There is no internet service and cell service is spotty as you are traveling through the mountains.
v Guests who are confined to a wheelchair can be accommodated but they have limited access and are only able to be in their cabin. Therefore as always we do not advertise these packages as handicapped accessible packages. Guests need to be able to walk short distances and ascend/descend stairs without assistance.
VIA Rail Onboard Accommodations
v Guests will be accommodated in double occupancy “Sleeper Touring Class” cabins.
Ø If they are booked as triples or quads the will be accommodated in two cabins. For a triple booking they will be in a double and a single sleeper cabin. For a quad booking they will be in two double cabins.
Ø Each cabin has a toilet and vanity/sink.
Ø Each sleeper car has a shower.
Ø Each sleeper car also has an attendant available to the guests at all times. The attendant is responsible for making up the rooms for the night-time accommodations as well as the day-time accommodations.
Ø Upgrade options are available. Please see the VIA Rail upgrade options/instructions.
Sleeper Touring Class Double Berth Cabin – Night time configuration
Sleeper Touring Class Double Berth Cabin – Daytime configuration
v There will no longer be rail travel on the Whistler tours. These will operate all by motorcoach as the highway between Vancouver and Whistler has been substantially improved thus decreasing the travel time and allowing guests more time in Whistler.
If you need anymore information on Via Rail you can go to www.viarail.ca.en
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