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There’s more to the Rockies than Denver and Yellowstone National Park. Lots more. Just ask anyone who’s been to the Canadian Rockies.
The Rocky Mountains stretch 3,000 miles from Alaska, through western Canada, to the Mexican border. Only South America’s Andes chain is longer. Varying from 70 to 300 miles wide, the crest of the Rockies defines the Continental Divide, separating streams that run east to the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, from those that empty into the Pacific and Sea of Cortez.
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| But there are two, almost magical, stretches
of rail and road that wind their way through the Canadian Rockies, which have to be seen to be believed. It’s no wonder that just about every major cruise line offers a Canadian Rockies tour. Read on and find out why. |
Which cruise lines offer Canadian Rockies packages and cruise tours:
• Celebrity
• Holland America
• Princess
• Royal Caribbean |
Where the land portion of your cruise tour begins:
• Calgary (for cruises departing from Vancouver)
• Vancouver (for cruises arriving in Vancouver) |
Where the land portion of your cruise tour ends:
• Vancouver (for cruises departing from Vancouver)
• Calgary (for cruises arriving in Vancouver) |
Length of your cruise tour:
• Cruise: 7-nights/8-days
• Land: 4-6-nights/ 5-7 days depending on tour itinerary |
Highlights of your cruise tour:
• 7-Night Inside Passage or Gulf of Alaska cruise
(all cruise tours)
• Overnight accommodations in deluxe, wilderness hotels
• Overnight accommodations in Calgary and Vancouver
• Selected meals and entertainment
• Scenic mountain gondola or tram rides
• Scenic railway ride on the Rocky Mountaineer
(on some tours)
• Snocoach rides atop the Athabasca Glacier
• Unforgettable mountain scenery |
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Optional Activities on your cruise tour:
• City tours of Vancouver and Calgary
• Upgrades on Rocky Mountaineer scenic railway |
Cruise tour destinations and attractions:
While each tour succeeds in offering a well-rounded list of sights and attractions, no tour can do it all. Every cruise tour of the Canadian Rockies includes at least some of the destinations and major attractions listed alphabetically below. |
 Banff: Banff National Park was Canada’s first national park. Covering a vast area that includes glaciers, waterfalls, ice fields, snow-covered peaks, crystal lakes, raging rivers, and dense forests, it’s no surprise that the place is so popular. Over 4 million visitors travel to Canada’s national parks each year, some staying overnight in tents, some vacationing for weeks in lavish resorts.
The summertime population of this little town can swell to 50,000 daily visitors, making it the largest, most “urban” center for any national park, anywhere in the world. Traffic can be astonishingly busy in this mountain town. Cruise tour passengers do not overnight in town, however. Bow Falls, Tunnel Mountain, and Surprise Corner are some of the attractions you’ll see on route to your rustic, mountain retreat. Rustic? You’ll feel like royalty as your motorcoach pulls up to the baronial-looking Banff Springs Hotel, a popular accommodation for cruise tour passengers. |
Calgary: Call it the “Gateway to the Canadian Rockies.” Call it “Banff’s Backdoor.” Call it “Cowtown.” Just don’t call it small. Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, counts around 850,000 residents. Native Americans began settling the area about 12,000 years ago. European fur trappers moved in about 200 years ago; the railroad arrived in the 1880’s, and tourists have been flocking in ever since. So, Calgary is a likely place to begin or conclude your cruise tour of the Canadian Rockies.
The city is cosmopolitan, with more than just its world-famous Calgary Exhibition and Stampede to attract residents and tourists. It offers a diverse culture, great shopping, terrific museums, live theater, professional sport teams, and an exciting nightlife to match. |
| Chase: Chase, a town just east of Kamploops on the Trans Canada Highway, is a popular cruise tour stop for passengers traveling between Kamloops and Banff National Park. East of Chase is the town of Craigellachie, the site where the final spike, completing Canada’s transcontinental rail link was driven in 1885. |
 Jasper: Kiss, kiss, kiss! Where do cruise tour visitors stay in Jasper? Smack in the middle of the woods, smack in the middle of Jasper National Park, smack in the middle of the Canadian Rockies. They’re hardly in tents or lean-tos, however. These Canadian Rockies’ lodges are deluxe by any standards.
Most tours through the Canadian Rockies include Jasper. Yellowhead Highway leads off to the west, the Icefields Parkway winds in from the east, snow-capped peaks tower above, and incredibly blue lakes sparkle below. Jasper sits right in the middle of them all. Yet it’s just enough off the beaten path (the Trans-Canada Highway crosses a hundred miles to the south) to maintain a quaint and quiet atmosphere. Banff may be busier, but it’s also more tourist-y, leaving the lucky to roam Jasper at their leisure. A visit to Maligne Canyon, Mt. Edith Cavell, and Mt. Robson (at almost 13,000 feet it’s the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies), a Snocoach ride on the Athabasca Glacier, and a visit to the thundering Athabasca Falls – all are just some of the attractions that may come your way when you’re in Jasper. Plus, most tours include an overnight here at a beautiful mountain resort. Give Jasper one more kiss! |
Kamloops: Your journey through the Canadian Rockies inevitably includes Kamploops, a city on the banks of the winding North Thompson River. This scenic, valley city (or the nearby Sun Peaks resort village in the mountains) usually hosts an overnight stay for cruise tour passengers.
Kamploops is often a transfer point for cruise tour passengers opting for the famous Rocky Mountaineer rail trip through the Rockies (see below). |
 Lake Louise: At one time it was called the “Lake of Little Fishes” (no doubt attracting little in the way of sports fishermen!). The lake was renamed Emerald Lake due to its sparkling, deep green, gem-like water. But alas, that name didn’t stick either. Finally, it was named after Princess Louise, the wife of the then Governor-General of Canada.
Visitors to this “Gem of the Rockies,” usually spend their days at the luxurious Chateau Lake Louise, a hotel that looks like something straight from the pages of a fairytale book. With all due respect to the grand hotel, however, its beauty is overshadowed by the surrounding mountain majesty.
One of the best ways to take in the scenery is on the Lake Louise gondola ride. The gondola, Canada’s longest, treats riders to a 20-minute ride up the face of Mount Whitehorn, for sweeping views of the ice-age glaciers and the jagged peaks of the Continental Divide. If the weather cooperates, maybe you’ll be treated to views of Moraine Lake in the Valley of Ten Peaks before heading back to your castle-like hotel. |
| Scenic Railway: The Rocky Mountaineer is a featured portion of many Canadian Rockies cruise tours. The overnight train connects Vancouver with Jasper or Banff, but most tours include only the daytime portions of the run with overnights at resort accommodations along the route. Highlights of the ride include Mt. Robson, Pyramid Falls, and the snow-capped Monashee Mountains. The Rocky Mountaineer also offers remote, mountain scenery that can only be seen from the window of a train. |
| Sun Peaks: This all-season resort village, nestled at the western edge of the Rocky Mountains just north of Kamloops, welcomes overnight cruise tour passengers. An evening dip in a heated pool under the stars can be the perfect end to the day’s sightseeing. |
 Vancouver: There are few cities in the world that can top Vancouver’s mix of cosmopolitan shopping and culture; majestic, mountain and marine scenery; varied attractions to suit everyone in your cruise tour group; and genuine friendliness. All Canadian Rockies tours include at least one overnight in Vancouver, but we suggest you schedule in two. Use your first day for a tour overview, and your second as a chance to re-visit your favorite sights or attractions. Or, make that extra day your chance to see beautiful Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. |
It’s big. It’s beautiful. And it’s in your backyard.
Alaska & Canada!
Find the best tour price by calling one of our Cruise Specialists at: (800) 242-1781 |
CELEBRITY CRUISES 13-night “Canadian Rockies” – a Canadian Rockies tour featuring the Celebrity Summit – offers Inside Cabins at just $2,499. Outside Cabins can be reserved for as low as $2,949! Ask for Celebrity’s Tour 2C!
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