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Call us! (855)627-8473
To learn more:
DreamVacations.com
Call us! (855)627-8473
Transcription: The Luxury Train Vacations Experience - Rocky Mountaineer
Greg Shuss 0:00
Welcome to dream vacation with Laurie and Greg Shuss. If you love to travel, we're here to help you plan that special vacation. We are so glad you joined us today. So enjoy the show.
Charlie McDermott 0:17
And what a show we have once again, Charlie McDermott, producer, and I am here with Laurie and Greg and guys, I am psyched. You gave me a little teaser. I always loved trains as a kid and UPS I'm going to spoil ever, ever to keep quiet, Greg and Laurie, who do you have here with us today?
Greg Shuss 0:36
Well, Charlie, we're so pleased to have Jeff Cesar from Rocky Mountaineer. He is our business development manager. And Jeff and his sales team have been been excellent to work with, as we've been able to put our clients on his trains. But again, Jeff is going to tell us all about fantastic luxury train vacations in Canada and the USA.
Charlie McDermott 1:04
Thanks for joining. Welcome, Jeff.
Jeff Caesar 1:07
Thank you. I appreciate you all being here. And thank you all for listening or watching whether you're watching this live or not time that works best for you. I have to tell you, you're working with some of the best of the best Greg and Laurie Shuss have really an amazing amount of experience, not just with luxury rail travel, which we'll get into today. But river cruising ocean cruising all inclusives know that they are amazing at what they do. And it's so nice to be able to tell them what you want to do when you want to do it with a budget that works best for you. So utilize these experts. And I hope they can definitely plan a trip for for you over the near future a trip of a lifetime.
Charlie McDermott 1:43
Yeah, yeah, that they are amazing. And if you had a chance to listen to some of the past episodes, but you know, I've just I was just sharing for our listeners off Mike. You know, I love it when we record these podcasts because the that night at dinner, and typically it's like the next night and the next night, you know, I'm talking to my wife about oh, my goodness. And then this time we were talking about river cruises that and then this time we're talking about, you know, and what I love about what you do, Jeff, it's it's one of those vacations that you don't think about it until you think about until someone presents it like Laurie and Greg and you go oh my god. Yeah, that's such a great idea. I've always wanted to do that. But you forget it. I'm really jazzed to hear what you have to say.
Jeff Caesar 2:28
Yeah, I'm happy to share everything that I know. And I've been with a company for over nine years. So you can say I have just that much experience to share with you all.
Charlie McDermott 2:37
Awesome. Awesome. So for someone who is a novice, because I'm sure you get once once someone does a luxury train vacation, they come back but you know, someone who's just looking for the first time What's that experience like?
Jeff Caesar 2:53
So what our experiences are going to be like it's a it's a daytime traveling train, our average speed is only 3 miles an hour. We slow down for all the bridges, the waterfalls, the wildlife, the wilderness on board, and you're traveling through some of those beautiful parts in the Canadian Rockies. So from Vancouver into places like Banff lake, Jasper, and then also in the US Rockies, Denver, Colorado, and then heading over westbound into Moab, Utah, which is home to arches and Canyonlands and Deadhorse point where Thelma and Louise went off the cliff. So it's all about getting to some of the most iconic, beautiful sights and scenery close to home, if not in your backyard, depending where you're located. And we do it in a very luxurious, seamless experience.
Charlie McDermott 3:48
Wow. Well, you mentioned Jasper and Banff we actually named our dog Jasper years ago, we took our kids there. It was just so gorgeous. So I've we've never seen anything like it. So and and that was the old fashioned plane and cars. I can't imagine what it'd be like in these these modern train inventions that we've Oh no, I'm sorry. Trains have been around a long, long time. What? Inside, you know, I have so many questions in what's the experience like inside the train.
Jeff Caesar 4:22
So we have two different types of train cars that we use the majority of the time. One is called Silverleaf. And the other is called Goldleaf. Silverleaf just to kind of describe it because I don't have an image of it. It's a single storey car panoramic views with an arch window at the top. All of these train cars have an outdoor vestibule area or outdoor veranda space that you can access anytime you like while on board. So you can go outside and soak in the scenery as it passes by such as such a slow speed onboard the Silverleaf you have three hosts or hostesses are gonna handle all the commentary. They're going to talk about what's coming up ahead. They're going to do storytelling. They're going to tell jokes, they'll keep you entertained, aware and up to date of everything. You have all inclusive alcohol, everything on board the train is all inclusive. And then you have of course meals on certainly these are prepared a few feet away from where you're sitting delivered right to your seat with one to two appetizer options, two to three entree options, and a dessert option that change daily for breakfast lunch, sometimes dinner pending your itinerary. Now switching over to gold leaf. This is a two story by level coach dome 360 degree dome windows on the top level. On the downstairs you also have an outdoor veranda space the holds around 15 to 20 people comfortably This is about three times a size larger than what we have on Silverleaf in the dining area, which is also below the top level where you're sitting so you sit prep premier in the top level with a 360 degree dome Windows upstairs full dining car. So instead of eating at your seat like you would on Silverleaf you have Michelin trained chefs who can make to order food, literally a few feet away from where you're sitting. Here you have a lot more variety of options to choose from a much bigger kitchen. So we're looking at two to three appetizer options, five to six entree options, multiple dessert options that changes daily for all of your meals on board. And finally upstairs you have four hosts as opposed to three all inclusive alcohol as well. It is truly fine dining luxury experience all the way.
Charlie McDermott 6:24
Holy cow. Wow. Wow. So are there different destinations different length of trips, how does that work?
Jeff Caesar 6:34
Yeah. So you know the the average length that people love to do and I think it's mirrored off of the your cruise experience or river cruise experience, our seven nights eight nights, but we can really be quite customizable to work with your budget to work with the time you have available. The best thing about this type of trip is you have once again Greg and Laurie to go to and say I got this much money I want to spend I want to go this time of the year, make it happen. And they will do their best because with us, we handle everything for you. Remember, you never sleep onboard. You stay in hotels every yes because if you're sleeping, you're missing the scenery, the wildlife, the wilderness. We don't want you to be sleeping in some of those beautiful sightseeing parks along the whole entire trip. We'll handle all the hotels for you. And you can be customizable with your budget choosing between three star properties and five star properties. You can add nights take away nights add tours take away tours do what makes sense for your time. You can do this trip as quick as four nights five days averages seven nights, you can go as long as 1520 Nights, once again, being quite customizable. We have multiple different itineraries in the Canadian Rockies going eastbound westbound or round trip Vancouver or round trip Calgary and in the US. We also have trips that go either eastbound westbound, you can start or end your trip in either Denver, Moab, Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, or Las Vegas, Nevada. And we will different touring options that gets you into Bryce and Zion and coral serif Park and Monument Valley in arches and Canyonlands. And so far, they can keep going on. So it's a lot to unpack. And I don't want to overwhelm everyone who's listening to this somewhat slower speed. So you can all take it in. But if you're enticed by what I'm telling you, once again, reach out to Greg reach out to Lori, ask them just for a quick experience video. These are one to two minute videos that will just showcase what it's like a snapshot on the train into the beautiful Canadian Rockies, touring and sightseeing or in the US, between Denver and Moab and into the beautiful southwest national parks we have in our own country. He's one of the two minute videos can be viewed that easily just by asking for it. And that's a great way to get a good, you know, an insight to what this is all about.
Charlie McDermott 9:00
Yeah, yeah. Jeff,
Greg Shuss 9:01
I have to tell you, we have clients that we sent on rocky mountain here from Vancouver to Calgary and they stopped in Lake Louise.
Jeff Caesar 9:12
Remember the hotel there that Lake Louise by fair?
Greg Shuss 9:15
That's right. They were in the chateau. And what they told me was they had a beautiful breakfast there. And then it overlooks the lake. And I guess at the end of the day, they you know, they had to leave and and they had to drag them out basically. I mean, first of all, they love the trip and the scenery and the wildlife was spectacular. But they got to that hotel and they were like, This was like the pinnacle of their trip and they just loved every every part of it. Everybody.
Jeff Caesar 9:43
If you don't mind, I just add one little line to that. Greg, one big recommendation I have is when you get to these places, please do not just do one night because you'll check in in the evening and checkout first thing in the morning and regret rushing through this beautiful part of the world. Charlie, you'll you'll probably agree with me about Jasper Yeah, we got to spend At least two nights you can do more, but at least two so you have a full day of leisure or if you're extremely active and you want to be touring and sightseeing right when you wake up you can add on tours you can do what makes sense for each its own but it's slow time down and enjoy where you are.
Charlie McDermott 10:16
Yeah, that's that's a great great tip. I'm if so much to see and do and hiking. Oh my lord. Glaciers. Well, glaciers 20 years ago. I don't know if they still exist. Wow. Yeah.
Laurie Shuss 10:31
Jeff, what are some of the excursions you can take from the train trip?
Jeff Caesar 10:34
Yeah, so with a lot of our touring well we do is when you are going between Jasper and like the weeks or like the Eastern Band or vice versa, because once again, you could start in Calgary, and head westbound to Vancouver, or start in Vancouver and head eastbound or roundtrip, it's all up to you. But the touring component comes in when we're taking you from point A to point B and then from point B to point C. So for example, between Jasper and Lake least you are at the Columbia Icefield Parkway been one of the most scenic highway in the world. We will stop every 10 to 15 minutes at different viewpoints different glaciers, different waterfalls and lakes and of course wildlife. You'll have an opportunity to the ice explorer, a mammoth monster truck that takes onto Athabasca glacier we can go play in the snow. There's a glacial skywalk there, both in Jasper and Banff. We have gondolas, they'll take you to the tops of these incredible mountains in in Banff is called scope for mountain. And so you have so different touring and slicing outside of the main towns you're in. So if you want to sightsee and see not only downtown Banff, but the some of the beautiful waterfalls both falls the Hutus which is some unique topography and the mountain ranges, go to the top of a mountain and get a 360 view of the incredible glaciers and National Park. This right there, National Park all brought in and put together into the touring components. We have half day tours full day tours, but the majority of tours that are bundled into the package are the ones that people love, rave and review about just being the best the best, though we've been able to build those into all of our different packages, especially in the Canadian Rockies, in the US. We have different touring components. These are all set up through a third party called a millon adventure syndrome. And we just started this US round one. So and Canadian Rockies we've been operating there for 33 years. And of course as you know, as time moves on, we're able to truly I guess, really develop our relationships with certain third parties. So Canada seamless and it honestly is a really we've we've said these partnerships for many years for the US Route. It is not as I would say all the tours are built in but we give you the option to add on sizing if you want to do a river cruise off the Colorado River or if you want to do a What's the there's there's Jeep Tours, there's hiking into arches and Canyonlands we are making sure we set you up for the transfers to the Moab adventure center and off you go to experience whatever you want to do. We do have some things bundled in. But Canadian Rockies is definitely where we have a lot more tour options. The US there are still plenty to choose from, but not as as much as the Canadian Rockies.
Laurie Shuss 13:32
So if we're ready to book that train trip, what's the best time of year
Jeff Caesar 13:36
so for the Canadian Rockies we operate from mid April to end of October to mid October and then for the US it's mid April to end of October. So Canada mid October us end of October. My personal opinion and I've done this trip in the Canadian Rockies over 10 times. I love mid May to mid June and it's for four great reasons. First, more wildlife statistically get a lot of wildlife sightings second the weather is around mid 70s or the day mid 60s at night. Third, less crowds less traffic less congestion. And then finally when it comes to hotels, you can save around 1000 to $2,000 per couple by going at this time of the year. And if you were to go before mid May, you will get a majority of those points I brought up except weather where you may get a lot more rain showers and I just kind of think rain dampens the whole experience. Another very popular time and time that I highly recommend for the Canadian Rockies would be September with fall foilage in the leaves changing color which is just amazing in the US because it's a desert how in Utah and and Nevada and all that area. I don't highly recommend going this summer but if you do you dress accordingly take lots of water but the best time to go I think we're going to be April May June and then you have September and October we'll be there our top you know booking seasons we have for the US
Laurie Shuss 15:00
Do what makes Rocky Mountaineer stand out among all the others.
Jeff Caesar 15:03
Oh, there's so much I mean, first I've already mentioned it, you never sleep on board stay in hotels every night. The fact that we have are able to customize and provide different experiences pending the budget you have between three and five star properties and adding on certain touring components, making it unique and difference really makes us stand out the fact that our trains are all brand new. We have over 20 engines over 65 train cars, they've all been completely refurbished. And they are exceptional experience equipment that we use, with amazing fine dining food on board. On top of that, with the speed that we travel at such a slow speed, the amazing attention and storytelling by our hosts and hostesses on board. I mean, you can definitely look at us on TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor, if you don't know is a place where people spew hate and anger negative feedback. We've been on there since we started maintaining a 4.5 or higher every single season. It's a it's out of 5.0. So you just think you're out of 10 4.5 is failing, out of five, zero to five, it's winning. And we've been really maintaining exceptional experiences and service for every single year that we've been operating. We're only going to be expanding in the US which I think is quite exciting as there is no luxury train we have Amtrak via rail up in Canada these are commuter trains not so much the luxury experience where you're going to pay for a hotdog with us it's true fine dining on board all inclusive alcohol it's there's there's so many things that really make us quite unique. And one more thing to add that I didn't get before is about enhancing your Alaska cruise it because many have done Denali they've seen anchorage I've seen Denali, they've done the whole Alaska experience, but perhaps they want to go back to Alaska do the cruise, but instead of doing the whole Alaska State Park again, at us as a priori post cruise tour, option enhancing you're experiencing and if it was my recommendation, I would do it as opposed cruise tour or just do Rocky Mountain you're alone as a trip of a lifetime starting in Vancouver and heading eastbound. Because when you head east, the hills become mountains, the mountains become glaciers, the wildlife gets so much more amazing. And the best the best is yet to come places like Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff. And that will truly be like icing on the cake after your cruise. So it was just some points to your question. I don't want to keep going on rambling but there's so many reasons what makes us really stand out and be quite unique.
Charlie McDermott 17:37
Well sign me Yeah. Gladly. Wow. So Laurie, and Greg, you you've been all over the world. Any tips, tricks, recommendations, like we were it's funny, Jeff mentioned, the Alaska journey. And we talked about that in a previous episode. Great episode for listeners, make sure you go back and listen to that. But you talked about, you know, the one thing that if you go that dog not great. But you know, mushing, Yep, thank you. Thank you. Any must dues on the, you know, the luxury train vacation that comes to mind?
Greg Shuss 18:20
Well, first of all, you've got to go to Vancouver. Okay. I mean, that's one of our favorite places on earth. And there's so many things to see there. And I think we spent a whole day at Stanley Park, we went to the aquarium. I think I stepped on a couple of kids. But other than that, it was really, really nice. But it's, you know, this such a special town. And if you really get a chance to, you know, really spend some time there. We send a lot of clients that end their cruise in Vancouver. So I guess our tip would be why don't you call us we'll put you on a cruise for you know, for Alaska that ends in Vancouver. And then you can take Rocky Mountain near after that from Vancouver to Calgary, which would be how awesome would that
Laurie Shuss 19:04
that's the perfect combination?
Charlie McDermott 19:06
Yeah, I love that idea. Wow. Good.
Jeff Caesar 19:10
I would just add to that saying that, you know, we're seeing an increase year over year of those who are on Rocky Mountain, you're having a pre or post cruise tour attachment is becoming much more popular. And, you know, I think the best way you can definitely do this is by working with a travel agent because there's so many options you have when it comes to Rocky Mountain near from hotels, tours, transfers, and the amount of days and the budget you want to spend. And I'm just being honest with you, we don't discount we don't work with companies like Costco we don't rebate. So by going to a pro and experience advisor such as Greg and Lori, you're truly going to just make your life so much more stress free. And they're going to pretty much make sure that you have the most accepted exceptional experience the entire time, and they know what really makes a true Have a whole lifetime. They've done it so many times, and they can easily kind of, you know, make something exactly how you want to do it with the budget that works best for you.
Laurie Shuss 20:08
Hey, Jeff, we appreciate that. Of course,
Jeff Caesar 20:11
I, I'm very thankful that you're we're so smart and so well together, and you've supported me so well. So I just want to make sure that they understand how good you are. Because it's true.
Greg Shuss 20:21
Yeah, and thanks to you and your sales team, because every time we've run into any kind of hits, or had any kind of question or problem that they've been, they've jumped on it right away and taken care of it. So thank you again, for you know, for all the help from from you and your sales team. I really do appreciate that. Jeff, thanks.
Jeff Caesar 20:37
Of course.
Charlie McDermott 20:39
Jeff, this has been awesome. And you over delivered boy I was teased with the the train journey and my lord who knew So, Greg and Laurie I know we have listeners who are like, boy, sign me up for this or at least want to learn more, right? So for our listeners, what's the best way for them to reach out and to learn more?
Laurie Shuss 20:59
Reach 239603040 Or at Bonita Springs travel.com or on Facebook cruise with Laurie, and you will find all kinds of vacation, exciting news, specials, perks, all kinds of things that we offer.
Charlie McDermott 21:18
Love it. Love it. And do you have any journeys coming up, but anything over the next few weeks? A few months? Well, we
Laurie Shuss 21:27
just returned from Europe for a month with traveling with clients of ours doing some touring and river cruises and train trips. It was a fabulous trip of a lifetime that we would recommend to anybody. Oh, wow.
Charlie McDermott 21:42
Wow. So what's the count now you're like mid 90s number of cruises that you
Laurie Shuss 21:48
create. We just wow.
Charlie McDermott 21:53
You're gonna do something for for number 100 or so.
Laurie Shuss 21:57
We're gonna celebrate big time.
Charlie McDermott 22:01
We'll have to do a live episode for that one.
Laurie Shuss 22:03
There you go.
Charlie McDermott 22:07
Well, Jeff, thanks for being part of the show. And, man, I look forward to getting your message out there and what a trip and Laurie and Greg will see you with maybe at some point episode or not episode cruise number 100. Maybe a little before definitely. Right after Right.
Laurie Shuss 22:27
Absolutely. Thank you.
Greg Shuss 22:31
Thanks for listening to dream vacations with Laurie and Greg Shas. To learn more about our travel business. You can go to bonitaspringstravel.com. You can call us at 239-603-6040 or email gshuss@dreamvacations.com . Now until next time, have an awesome day.