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2022 - Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West

RM first passage to the west rocky mountaineer train passes by castle mountainMost of your journeys will start in Vancouver and go east to Alberta. The most popular and normally the first trip for guests is the First Passage to the West. This is a six night trip with over nights in Kamloops and either Lake Louise or Banff.

You will always have an overnight stay in Vancouver the night before as the RM train departs at 7:30am. The time on the train depends on the Canadian Pacific Railway trains. They own the track that RM runs their trains on so, RM has to pull off the tracks and wait for the CP train to pass. You could have an eight hour day from Vancouver to Kamloops or like us, it was 12 hours.

There are two services on RM, Gold Leaf and Silver Leaf rail cars and hotels. The Gold Leaf is worth the upcharge as you have a full domed rail car, sitting up higher than Silver service with a dining car below and a large observation deck. There are comfy leather seats that have leg rests and recline and are even heated. Drinks and snacks are brought to you by you RM Hosts while they tell you about what you are seeing as you go along.

Half of the guests in each Gold Leaf car (about 35) go to the dining area for breakfast and lunch first and switch times the next day on the train. There are windows in the dining car so you can still see the scenery while you eat. Meals were very good with many entrees to choose from.

Sliver Leaf service on the RM train is one level and you are served your drinks and meals at your seat. Smaller leather seats with a slight recline and a foot peg under the seat in front of you. The menu is smaller and you only have 2 options for meals. No dining car and a very small outdoor viewing area at the back between the cars.

The difference in Gold and Silver in the hotels is star rating and room types. All the Silver service hotels that I saw were just fine and in good locations. If a client is trying to stay under a certain budget, I would suggest Gold Leaf on the train with Silver Leaf hotels.

In conclusion, this is a great product but for certain clients. It is not for anyone that can’t sit and relax for 12 hours and are content to look out and watch the scenery and take a lot of pictures. Most of the guest are 65 and above. There is no Wifi on the train and data service is super spotty so most kids and teens would not like this product.

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