I have just returned from a wonderful Regent Seven Seas cruise in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains. Interestingly a client did the same trip as me a few weeks earlier. Julie has written these words and sent them through to me.
“This is not an advertisement! It’s my personal tribute to a cruise line that makes its passengers feel like royalty. I had never been on a cruise until this year. I’d been on ships before; the lovely passenger liners of a bygone time but had come to despise today’s cruising culture, with its emphasis on huge, un-ship like vessels spiked with layers of balconies and overcrowded with fun-seekers.
“What I didn’t realise is that cruise ships come in many types and sizes and it’s probably fair to say that there’s a cruise – and a ship – to suit everyone, except the chronically motion-sensitive.
Why I love Regent – all little touches including the Sette Mare story – I and other women stayed too late in the restaurant and when I apologised I was told by maitre d’ this is your home, stay as late as you like. Your preferences idiosyncrasies remembered. You feel pampered, nurtured, part of a family.”
I flew into Anchorage (luckily two weeks before Trump!) and cruised south through the inside passage, calling into small towns along the way where the influence of Russia colonisation of old and the gold rush era is everywhere.
It is the wilderness areas that captured my heart – otters frolicking in the ocean, whales breaching, eagles soaring, the salmon running and bears on the hunt.
One day I went dog mushing and another day canoeing on lakes; walking wilderness trails and immersing myself in this pristine region.
Following the cruise, I flew from Vancouver up to Calgary and the Canadian Rockies.
Boarding the Rocky Mountaineer in Banff I was intrigued to see what all the fuss is about.
This renowned rail trip is a favourite of clients for years.
We have had clients do this two-day trip more than once – in different seasons to see the awakening of the region in spring, the activity of the wildlife in summer and the colour changes in the trees in Autumn.
All seasons are spectacular in this part of the world.
We felt pampered on the train.
The two-day trip starts early with breakfast and lunch served daily and an overnight midway through in the township of Kamloops.
Along the way there is commentary explaining the history of the region and the geology of the soaring mountains that surround you.
Occasionally we had to pull over in a siding to let the freight trains go past.
The meals are delicious and the company fun … you meet all sorts of people and join them for lunch and a chat.
A few days in the beautiful coastal city Vancouver to end the trip – just a delight!
