Insider's Journey | Rocky Mountaineer Goldleaf Service Review | Banff to Vancouver Unveiled

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In May of 2023, we took the Rocky Mountaineer from  Banff to Vancouver. In this video, I'll review the   entire experience including some things we wish we  would have known and the details of exactly how it   works. Hey Everybody! It's Angie from Trips with  Angie and we are getting ready for a two-night   trip on the Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to  Vancouver. I'm going to share everything with you.   Most guests will need to pick up their packet at  the Rocky Mountaineer Banff Guest Center. They're   ready about 72 hours in advance. It's located at  220 Bear Street in downtown Banff. The easiest way   to find it is to look for the Banff National Park  Coffee House, then enter the door that says 220   over the top. You'll pass by the coffee shop and  a small pharmacy and then you'll begin to see that   little sign saying Check-in, Peek Out. You'll  make a right towards that sign, head towards   the stairwells and the Rocky Mountaineer office  will be to your right. Here they will give you   your packet of information. It will include your  hotel information, your bus pickup time, as well   as your location on the train. We booked the Gold  Leaf service for the train and a regular hotel,   so that put us at the Ptarmigan Inn in downtown  Banff. This was a terrific location, there were   lots of shops and restaurants all with an easy  walking distance from the hotel. The hotel also   offered a restaurant as well as a Lobby Bar and  a small little gift shop if you forgot something.   If you went down the stairs from the lobby you  found this great little room with a steam room,   a sauna, two whirlpools, as well as this teeny  tiny little fitness center. This was such a gem   to discover. We were surprised when we got in our  room and we found a bed right away because you   don't really pick your room type but it turned out  this was a triple. So you have your mini-fridge,   your coffee maker, a fan, the hot pot if you  want to make hot tea, a very small closet,   luckily we were only here for one night and really  didn't need to unpack. And then in the other space   was the king-sized bed, as well as a small table  and chairs. The view looked out to another hotel,   this was not a scenic view. The bathroom was  absolutely serviceable, clean, plenty of space for   one night and it did include body wash, shampoo  and conditioner. In your packet you'll get tags to   affix to your luggage and you'll put your luggage  out at the time they tell you at the hotel. So you   want to make sure you have your tag for the next  hotel and then the green tag which is your overall   tag. We got picked up at 7 AM. We stopped at two  additional hotels to pick up additional people and   then a reminder while you're on the bus they'll  tell you to look at your packet again to know   what coach you'll be in. So we were Coach 2, so we  looked for the wavy flag that said 2 and boarded   the train. So you had several steps up into the  train and then because you're in Gold Leaf you   go to an upstairs Dome car. So you went up this  spiral staircase into this beautiful Dome car.   The seats were very comfortable. You had a number  of different options as far as, reclining, lumbar   support, so you could get comfortable for your  long journey. The under the seat area is not huge,   so you really only can bring a small backpack  or purse. Then it was time to leave and this   is so fun. This was on the right side of the train  facing forward as we were leaving. All of the crew   members come out and wave you goodbye. Each Gold  Leaf car holds 80 people, so they split us up into   two groups for meals. One group went first the  first day, one group went first the second day.   We were seated in the first group before the train  even left the station. The menu is the same for   both days, for breakfast and lunch. You order from  the waiter and they head back to this teeny tiny   kitchen. We had a great fruit plate, I opted for  the cinnamon roll out of the pastry basket, it was   delicious. This was the potato bowl with a fried  egg on top and then the most popular option by far   in the car was the Eggs Benedict. Everybody was  talking about how great they were. Also on this   level are the bathrooms. This is the larger of the  two bathrooms. Those green circles are where you   hit to flush and then there's a nice sink area.  We headed back up so the second group could head   down for breakfast and that's when it's time for  morning happy hour. Beverages are included as part   of the Gold Leaf service, and we have a tremendous  team onboard that is giving you narration as you   go through and also you serving you drinks and  snacks. The snacks in the morning are a savory mix   or a sweet mix and then it was time to just enjoy  the scenery. We then headed down to lunch. Now one   thing is lunch took about two hours and there were  parts where we couldn't hear the narration. The   charcuterie board changes, that's one thing that  does change between the two days. Then we had a,   I had a terrific steak. The ravioli was terrific  ,all the lunch menus were really really good,   everyone was very happy. They have nice, light  desserts so this was kind of a meringue and then   I love macarons. So they brought me two, which  I thought was really sweet. Then we headed out   to the back open air terrace or vestibule. This  is another perk of getting Gold Leaf service. You   have the dining room and this incredible outdoor  area. In your seat you'll also get the Mile Post.   This is a great thing to look at as you're going  especially before you go down to lunch, so you can   see what might be coming up while you're sitting  in the lunchroom. Because again you might not be   able to hear the announcements. So you may just  want to hop up and go outside to see a key thing   that might be happening during your two-hour lunch  service. One of the things I absolutely loved was   passing through little towns and seeing all the  people come out and wave to us on the train. I   always made sure to run down to the open air so I  could wave back. In the afternoon we had another   snack. So this was wine and cheese hour. Now it  was getting a bit late here and this was one thing   we didn't know, was how delayed the train actually  gets as it goes through. So this was a big lesson   we learned. We arrived in the station around 8:30  at night. We were given our room keys onboard with   the pickup time information. We boarded a bus  and headed to the Doubletree’s. We had no time   in Kamloops, so if you want to see Kamloops this  is not the way to do it. The next morning we're   up bright and early for our 7:10 AM pickup, back  on the train, back to breakfast. We had second   breakfast today. I actually preferred being first  but here is that beautiful pastry again, this time   I said pass. We tried the pancakes which were  pretty good. I really enjoyed the avocado toast,   I thought it was a great way to start the day. Now  one tip is you're going through and trying to take   pictures with your cell phone. Make sure to hold  it all the way to the glass. Now here I could do   a nice panning shot of the area surrounding the  Kamloops Train Station because we were stopped.   We were stopped for two and a half hours because  of construction on the track. That led to a backup   of the cargo trains and this just set the day off  and being delayed all day long. So it meant we   were delayed as we hit a number of different  interchanges. Now the scenery is incredible,   that you're in the middle of a desert in Canada. I  had no idea this would be so desert-like. Another   thing I didn't know was that the Dome car had  shades. When the sun was beating down onto the   Dome it made the car quite warm so they put  up the shades, but that did take away from the   full Dome effect. For lunch we had a different  charcuterie board but then it was the same menu   from the day before. This was the chickpea nourish  bowl. I really enjoyed it. I think this is my   favorite entree at lunch. My husband enjoyed this  Steelhead Trout. Everything was prepared perfectly   and of course for dessert I had to have another  macaron. Unfortunately we encountered more delays   throughout the day and at one point they let us  know that we would not make it to Vancouver on   the train. We would need to transfer to buses to  complete the journey. So they let us know all of   the details and around 6 pm they brought us up  dinner to our seats. We didn't eat downstairs,   a chicken and rice dish. On our way out of the car  we had to walk through five or six cars we saw the   Silver Leaf service. So you eat at your chair with  Silver Leaf and you have a little less space. We   boarded the buses, there was a little bit of  confusion making sure we were all on the right   bus. And then this time we had to stand in line  versus getting our key. The ending felt a little   anticlimactic but there were still smiles because  it was an incredible journey. I think overall this   is an incredible two-day adventure. You have to  absolutely be prepared for trip delays and long   day days on the train. You do not get any time  in Kamloops. So if that's important, again you   might want to find another way to visit it. It  was definitely a once in a lifetime journey. I   don't know that I would necessarily do it again  because I think I had a wonderful time and I   would absolutely go the Banff to Vancouver route  to make sure that you see all of the beautiful   scenery around Banff, in case of a trip, a train  delay. One of the other hotels Rocky Mountaineer   uses is the Fairmont Banff Springs. So here's a  video about that hotel and here's a video that   YouTube thought you might like. Thank you so much.  Please let me know if you have any questions in   the comments or if you'd like to book your Rocky  Mountaineer trip through me. For more tips and   tricks email Angie@tripswithangie.com.  [Music] thank you [Music]
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Channel: Trips with Angie
Views: 32,901
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: insider's journey, rocky mountaineer, goldleaf service review, banff to vancouver, travel with angie, rocky mountaineer experience, train journey review, travel experiences, travel snapshots, angie explores, goldleaf service insights, luxury train travel, scenic train views, travel recommendations, train travel insights, angie's travel adventures, luxury travel experience, angie's perspective, travel discoveries, travel discussions, travel reflections, train trip review
Id: v7DNhrPEhao
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 9min 28sec (568 seconds)
Published: Fri Aug 25 2023
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