St. Laurence River River Cruises

Ultimate Canada and Alaska 31 day tour. Our tour guides on both the East Coast – Chris and West Coast – Jessica were fantastic. Knowledgeable, helpful, caring – both went above and beyond. The bus drivers Pierre and Frieda were great. Overall a great tour and I would recommend it. Highlights for me were Niagara on the Lake and Niagara Falls, Parc Omega, Chateau Frontenac, Rocky Mountaineer (I upgraded to Gold Leaf and was happy with my decision), Columbia Icefield, Butchart Gardens and the wildlife, Helicopter ride onto Mendenhall Glacier and dog sledding. East coast very European – which I loved and West side all about the scenery – absolutely beautiful. Canadian people were lovely. All the hotels on the East coast were really nice, on the West side – Vancouver, Banff, Emerald Lake, McKinley Chalet and Westmark Fairbanks – all old and tired. My favourite room was in Montreal. Breakfasts were sparse – they don’t seem to understand dietary requirements. The best buffet breakfast was at the Marriott on the Falls Hotel. The dinner at the Sugar Shack and McKinley Chalet and the lunch prior to boarding the Discovery Cruise left a lot to be desired – we were herded in like cattle and the food was disgusting. I was disappointed in the Grouse Mountain tour – we only had 1 hour which was not enough. I would have liked to stay an extra night in both Montreal and Whistler – there was no time to look around. We stayed at a few Marriott Hotels and I felt we were taken to separate rooms to eat as if to hide us from the rest of the Hotel. The Holland America Line Cruise – very old and I found it to be dirty – I was first for breakfast and tables were not clean and food under tables that had not been vacuumed. This was my first cruise, and I will never cruise again. There was hardly anything to do on board even though we had 3 days at sea. I am not a sit still person, I wanted activities. The gym should be 24/7. I was glad when we finally docked. The land part of Holland America was not much better. We were driven on a school bus by Sarah who was overheard to say to another bus driver – “They are Australian’s, they don’t understand English”. We are not children, so don’t treat us as if we are stupid. We are bringing money into your country you should treat us with respect. I will never go to America again. I know there are nice Americans, but the ones I came across as part of this tour were rude and condescending.