By: Francois Bredenkamp | Tue Sep 17, 2019 at 08.12 AM
A fabulous tour through what could possibly be some of the prettiest areas in the world! It's so nice to leave all of the logistics in the capable hands of the tour guide and bus driver and just enjoy the experience. I commend Gordon for th..e excellent way he managed the tour.Read full review
I am usually the taking-a-rental-car type of traveller, but I am so glad that I did the tour cos it gave me a great introduction not just to the park, but also to all the practicalities around. I would never be able to recognise all the mou..ntains and lakes and all the stories behind if I were to do it on my own.
Also I am glad to see that the national parks in Canada have stricter rules on how many people/cars are allowed to each spot, the parking lots are generally smaller and off-site and people would need to take a shuttle to get there. Not to mention that even the road to the Moraine lake is closed (already around 10pm in early September) when the parking lot (for private cars) is full. However, being on a tourbus you don't have to worry abou none of that since they are designated parking for that.
Note that the cruise to the Maligne lake is very weather dependent, all cruise on the morning of Sep 5 (sunny day) was cancelled due to the heavy fog just surrounding the lake area. The lake staff the best time is to come here in a hot clear day in the afternoon.
I was on two different busses during the 4-day tour with two different guides. The first driver we had – Mike, was a great driver and full of charisma. I saw him documenting each stop we made with his logbook very carefully, also sang for us and explained about the park environmental issues.
Some improvements would be better cleaning of the buses, I could see stains on the bus windows which is not so pleasant when you wnat to take lots of pictures.
And yes the tour is mostly catered to Chinese tourists, some guides are better in English than others, but generally I think all the non-Chinese speaking on our buses were quite content.
You might not get the best hotel rooms with a view, or do an upgrade.
Afterall very content with the tour, ready to go back and explore on my own now I know which are my favorites.Read full review
Good bang for the buck!!! Clarion hotel & conference centre for 4N was not a good one especially the old lady at their front desk. Good tour guides except for their very thick accent...hard to understand the words they’re saying. Excellen..t driver in Mike!!!Read full review
The tour was good and the places shown were very nice. However, few areas for improvement remain:
While our tour guide David was nice and helpful, his english could have been better. Many times it was hard to understand him.
Also, a lot.. of time (3-4 hours a day) was wasted bringing the tour bus back to calgary after day trip in Banff or Jasper - however, some tourists got hotels in Banff/Jasper, while we got hotel in Calgary. Not sure why we didn't get a hotel in Bannf/Jasper (aside from one day). So we spent a lot of extra time in the bus going back and forth. This could have been planned better. I understand the cost aspect but don't know why some tourists got better treatment than others?
The driver - Mike - was excellent.
The Clarion hotel in Calgary was older but ok for the price paid. The hotel in Jasper was nicer.Read full review
Though we booked the tour on short notice on 27 August 2019 it was only after ascertaining that the tour was available for 30 August 2019 and the booking was calculated as per tour itinerary listed, was accepted and full amount charged to m..y credit card. Our ordeal started after that. The tour operator based in US (our tour was in Canada) had very poor communication and sent us the confirmation only 29th evening when our tour was to commence from 7Am on 30th and that too after numerous calls. Second shock came after they cancelled our meal plan and optional tours citing short notice as the reason and were asked to buy these on site waiting in long Qs. Third shock was that they totally dropped Jasper which was part of itinerary as per their original itinerary advertised and booking accepted for. Instead they changed itinerary by unnecessarily adding one day/night stay at Calgary on 30th night when we had already booked hotel at our own cost in Calgary for 29th night assuming our tour would start at 7 AM on 30th. So, the actual tour started on 31st. All this was communicated to us only at the last minute without any scope for change or cancellation. Our purpose of visiting Rocky mountain in Jasper (most beautiful part) besides Banff was defeated having gone all the way from India via Vancouver (where tour was booked). Final shock came when hotels in Calgary and Banff were found to be totally substandard (only one night they upgraded to a slightly better hotel citing reservation in their substandard hotel was unavailable). The actual tour operator, WESTAR based in Calgary was good and only saving grace. Would never recommend anyone this tour operator.Read full review
My only complaints are:
1) The Clarion Hotel & Conference Centre scored so low in my books. Maybe just 5 out of 10.
2) The Robson Inn didn’t have elevators. Difficult for seniors to carry luggage’s up their 2nd floor rooms thru the stai..rs.
3) Although aware from the start that this tour have many Chinese tourists, the two guides we had can speak English but not fluently as most of the time We (non-Chinese) can not understand the words because of their very thick Chinese accent.
Our bus driver Mike was great.Read full review
My family and I joined the three days Rockies tour. Tour guide change everyday. I am not sure it's normal or not. Second and Third day tour guides are nice.
I have rated 3 stars because the itinerary which they covered could be covered in 3 days instead of 4 days they wasted much of time travelling to and from Calgary in that time we would have covered more places and clarionhotel was below sta..ndard
But the tour guides were nice they were right on time each day no problem with the guides.whatever they have told to delivered they delivered on the first day also they were on time to take usRead full review
Great trip and the Rockies/Banff are amazing. We were explicitly and unnecessarily told to print the eticket which wasn't possible while travelling and although I was told on query just to have it on my phone no one ever asked as they had a.. list of attendees! The gondola was 'optional' and I elected not to do it due to the weather - being told there was a hot spring next door so I could bring a swimsuit would have been useful!Read full review