Visit the Canadian Rockies with Rocky Mountaineer

In today's episode, episode number seven, we are joined in the studio by Jeff Caesar.

Jeff is a business development manager with Rocky Mountaineer.

So, yes, we are talking about luxury train journeys that go across the Canadian Rockies in today's episode.

So let's go ahead and get rolling down the tracks, and I hope you enjoyed this awesome interview.

Hey, I am in the studio today with Jeff Caesar of Rocky Mountaineer.

Welcome to the podcast, Jeff.

SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, Kevin.

So happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you.

Thank you.

I'm thrilled to have you here today and even more excited to learn about Rocky Mountaineer.

So let's go ahead and kick things off.

I briefly introduced you at the top of the show, but would you kind of give a little bit better introduction into yourself?

SPEAKER_02: More than happy to.

So, yes, Jeff Caesar.

I'm currently a business development manager with Rocky Mountaineer.

I've been more with Rocky Mountaineer coming up to six years.

And just to go a little bit further back, I've been in the travel and tourism industry coming up to 16 years.

Before Rocky Mountaineer, I worked for Norwegian Cruise Line for 10 years, five years on ships, working up to the position as a cruise director, and then five years overseeing the Midwest as a business development manager.

So I have some good experience and knowledge, background in the travel and tourism industry, and I couldn't be happier working for such an amazing Canadian-operated travel tourism company called Rocky Mountaineer.

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.

Well, sounds wonderful, Jeff.

Well, let's go ahead and start this off.

Can you explain to those listening who is Rocky Mountaineer?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we're a train and tour operator based in the Canadian Rockies.

It's a luxury, fine dining, seamless travel experience where you'll never sleep on board.

You stay in hotels every night because if you're sleeping, you're missing the sights, the scenery, the wildlife, the wilderness.

Our trains, which we have, over 20 engines and over 60 train cars, are taking you from places like Vancouver across into the beautiful Canadian Rockies.

Usually around two or three days of travel to get there.

And then we handle everything for you the hotels, transfers, tours, meals, everything except airfare.

But the best thing about us is how customizable we are.

Where you can really work with your budget.

You can add nights, take away nights, add tours, take away tours.

Choose between three-star properties and five diamond resource.

And I have to tell all of your listeners out there, Kevin, that Kevin is a preferred partner of Rocky Mountaineer.

He's a pro.

He's probably going to know every single answer you ask him.

But just so you know, if you do stump him at any time along the way, I'm in his back pocket to be utilize.

But I must tell you, you are in such great hands with working with Kevin.

He is a pro when it comes to working with Rocky Mountaineer.

I know I went a little tangent there, but I want to make sure that your listeners really get an idea of exactly who you are and what you bring to the table, which is just so much wealth of knowledge.

And really, you know almost every part of Rocky Mountaineer.

So I'm happy to kind of be there to help you and support you, but they're in such great hands working with you, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

I knew I booked the right person for this podcast episode, Jeff.

This was like a this was like a commercial for me, and I didn't even know it was coming.

So thank you.

SPEAKER_02: You're so welcome.

No, you truly deserve it.

And I think these podcasts are just a great way to really spread awareness, build inquiries, help educate those on something unique and different, such as Rocky Mountaineer and other types of tours and operations out there in this world we live in.

So good on you, you know, really taking a step forward and doing whatever you can to keep educating your amazing clients.

SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you.

Thank you so much.

So I think one big thing that a lot of people are going to wonder about is, you know, we hear train travel, and I think a lot of us think of the trains either that we sit in line and they're ruining our day as it blocks off our city, as they're transferring uh different equipment, different cargo trains and stuff, or we think of some of the old school trains that I think of that, to be honest, I didn't hear a whole lot of good things about from passenger trains and stuff.

Can you kind of give us an idea of what separates Rocky Mountaineer from some of these other trains that some of us are maybe a little bit more used to?

SPEAKER_02: Of course, yeah.

So let's take, for example, like Amtrak or Via Rail.

If you're not familiar with Via Rail, it's the exact same thing as Amtrak.

That's a commuter train based up in Canada, taking you from point A to point B as fast as possible.

So some big differences between us and them, for one, on Amtrak and Via Rail, the majority of the time you're sleeping on board, which is in a usually a bunk bed, sharing a toilet sometimes with Rocky Mountaineer.

Remember, never sleeping on board, staying in hotels every night, which really offers a very clean, accommodating place to sleep.

You're not moving throughout the night hearing the noises of the train and or moving around, or you're trying to get into a bunk bed, nonetheless.

When it comes to speed, very big difference there.

The average speed for Amtrak and Via Rail is 60 to 75 miles an hour.

It's pretty difficult to try to see a bear at 75 miles an hour and get a picture of that bear without it being blurry.

It's possible, just really difficult.

With Rocky Mountaineer, our average speed is 30 to 35 miles an hour.

And we slow down to less than 5 miles an hour for every bridge, waterfall, wildlife, wilderness.

So once again, you're not missing anything along the way.

So there's some really big differences there.

Another big difference, the third big difference, would be the train tracks that we utilize.

Know that no other passenger train is allowed on the same train tracks the Rocky Mountaineer uses.

We're the only passenger train allowed to go by Pyramid Falls over some amazing bridges, and of course through the famous spiral tunnels.

Kevin, just I mean, we're going off of a script here, but have you ever heard of the spiral tunnels before?

I have not.

Would you like, if you don't mind, I would love to just share.

It's about a 30 to 45 second little story, and it kind of adds to how unique and different the spiral tunnels are.

Oh, absolutely.

I'm I'm intrigued.

Okay, so back in the 1900s, they were completing the train tracks from east to west in Canada, and they had the rocky mounts to navigate through.

So what the engineers did was build a series of tunnels called the spiral tunnels.

Our train, being the only passenger train allowed to go through these, will go through the base of a rocky mound into a tunnel and spiral, going up in elevation to about 500 feet.

When then we will come out of the tunnel and go around the circumference of the mountain, offering spectacular views.

Then we go back through another tunnel and spiral a different direction, going up to a thousand feet.

So the views that were at the 500-foot level on one side of the train are now on the views that are now on the other side of the train at the thousand-foot level.

We continue to go up in elevation until about 2,250 feet.

Where most places in the world, you're near the bottom looking up of these Rocky Mountains, but on Rocky Mountaineer, you're near the top looking down.

And once again, it's something very memorable, something very unique, very different, that no other passenger train in this world is able to take advantage of.

So those are just a few great ideas and kind of sharing you the differences, explaining between trains that you may be more familiar with compared to Rocky Mountaineer.

SPEAKER_01: Okay, I gotta ask you some questions about what you just told us.

So now that sounds incredible, but I'm sitting here thinking, so can we kind of ease people's minds?

Because that sounded like a ride at an amusement park where we're gonna be way dizzy by the end.

Is it like that or no?

SPEAKER_02: Not at all.

We're going through this whole spiral tunnels part, I average of between five and ten miles an hour.

Usually between ten miles an hour in the tunnels and five to less than five miles an hour when we're outside the tunnels.

We have some great, in fact, if you'd like to see highlights of exactly what I'm talking about, all you have to do is reach out to Kevin because he's got every single video that Rocky Mountaineer has to offer.

We have one to two minute videos on every route.

The route that I'm referring to in regards to the spiral tunnels is called the first passage to the west.

So all you got to do is write an email or call Kevin real quick and let him know, hey, I want to check out this video of the spiral tunnels.

Can you send me that first passage to the west?

We have other great one to two minute videos on our service levels, which I know we'll talk on a little bit in this uh podcast a little later.

Other great videos on testimonials of people who've been on our trains and everything.

But a great way to experience this and see it for yourself before even going is to get around a, I'd say it's about a seven-second little glimpse of on the train, being at the tops of these mountains, looking down.

Of course, if you're scared of heights, it can be scary, but uh it's definitely something where it's worth seeing.

It's it's incredible how high and how amazing and how vast and beautiful the landscape is, the wildlife of wilderness you see, especially at those heights.

It's really something unique and different.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's absolutely out of this world, Jeff.

You know, I knew a lot about Rocky Mountaineer, but I have not known the details of that.

I've seen the term and but never knew exactly what it was.

So that's just amazing.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So so can you kind of explain to us, you know, a little bit more about the different routes that somebody could expect from booking a trip with Rocky Mountaineer that they would be taking?

SPEAKER_02: So we have three different routes.

And if you uh email Kevin or talk to Kevin, he's gonna be able to share with you details about these routes.

But just a quick synopsis.

You're looking at two to three days, depending which route you take.

One route is three days on the Rocky Mountaineer train, and the other two routes are two days.

The average boarding time is between eight and nine in the morning, and then you're arriving in a destination on the routes that are two days long, between five and six thirty p.m.

You have, I mean, it's it's it's it's easier to kind of look at the routes and explain as we kind of go with like a presentation, which we have great videos for.

There's some great maps that kind of show this.

It's you know a very easy ride throughout the beautiful Canadian Rockies.

My favorite direction is going eastbound.

So when you start in Vancouver and head east, the hills become mountains, the mountains then become glaciers, the wildlife gets so much more abundant and climatic.

Truly the best, the best is yet to come.

Each route offers its own unique highlights and experiences.

So what I recommend, if you're totally unfamiliar with the area, no don't know where to go, you can look at these great one to two minute videos to see the highlights where the first passage to the west has you on the spiral tunnels and some great waterfalls.

The journey through the clouds has you going by Pyramid Falls over one of the biggest bridges in the Canadian Rockies and by the biggest malling in all of Canada, Mount Robson.

The Rainforest Gold Rush route, which is the three-day route, has you going through Whistler, which is a beautiful town nestled next to the ocean with some great unique shopping, beautiful hotels, and then takes you up to Quinnell.

Quinnell's an old gold miners town where they still mine for gold.

In the summer, it reaches an average of 110 degrees.

And then finally you head over into uh Jasper, passing Mount Robson.

So each route offers its unique highlights and experiences.

What you could do is do a round trip or circle journey.

Remember, customization is key.

So all you gotta do is work with your budget, work with Kevin, tell Kevin exactly what you want to do, when you want to do it, with the budget that works best for you.

But I highly recommend if time is on your side, do a round trip or circle journey.

Meaning you're gonna do an average of around five days on the Rocky Mountain Air Train, spend six to seven nights in the Canadian Rockies seeing everything, and we handle everything except the airfare going to and from Vancouver.

But that's a great way to really do a check mark and see all of what the Canadian Rockies have to offer.

If time is an issue, you can easily do a one-way trip, continue heading east over to Calgary after you spends maybe four to six nights in the Canadian Rockies, and fly home from Calgary.

It's all very customizable and easy to work out.

SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.

I love the different options, you know, and with the length and stuff and pairing up different routes and stuff.

That sounds awesome, Jeff.

Yeah, that's wonderful, wonderful.

Now, kind of give us a little bit better idea as to what kind of train we're talking about.

Kind of what the appearance may look like as we're getting up to the tracks when we're getting ready to board it, and then inside the train, what kind of accommodations are we talking about?

SPEAKER_02: So this is a luxury, as I said before, luxury, fine dining type of a train.

We have Michelin trained chefs on board cooking made-to-order food, literally a few feet away from where you're sitting, all inclusive alcohol, while on board.

So you can really drink drink to your heart's content.

But remember, as you go up an elevation, that one glass of wine could be more like three, and it could be the most expensive nap of your life.

I'm just kidding, it's a joke.

It's a true luxury experience.

The train walking up to it's a dark blue navy with gold highlights going all the way through it, gold lines that kind of really jump out at you, and it sh it looks really classy and beautiful.

There are no supercars.

You're having two different uh cars, two different service levels, Silverleaf and Gold Leaf.

Gold Leaf is a two-story car with 360-degree dome windows, and Silverleaf is a one-story car with an arch window at the top, so you still get to see quite a bit of use.

The ceiling is not full of glass, it's an arch window that tilts so you can see above what the mountaintops look like as you go through.

But the gold leaf car is a full 360-degree dome window on the whole entire roof.

And um, we can go into detail of the actual, I guess you asked for what's what's the kind of difference.

So, would you like me uh to kind of go first talking about Silverleaf and then Gold Leaf to kind of paint an image, if you will, for your listeners?

SPEAKER_01: Yes, please.

That would be awesome.

SPEAKER_02: So Silverleaf, as I said, single-story car, panoramic views with an arch window at the top.

You have an outdoor vestibule area that holds up to six people on all the silverleaf cars.

You can go outside anytime you like, take pictures and video, take a breath of fresh air.

On board, you have three hoster hostesses who are going to handle the history, the cultural facts, storytelling, and jokes, keeping you entertained, aware, and up to date of what's coming up ahead.

You have all inclusive alcohol, like I said before, so you can drink to your heart's content.

And then when it comes to food on the Silverleaf car, you'll have Michelin trained chefs cooking made-to-order food.

Once again, a few feet away from where you're sitting.

These would be plated and brought to your seat.

Customizable food options.

So if you're hungry, you can eat twice as much.

If you're not, have a piece of lettuce, call it a day.

Once again, just a joke.

But seriously, though, the food is true, fine dining.

On Silverleaf, you're looking at one to two appetizer options, two to three entree options, and a dessert option that changes daily for breakfast, lunch, sometimes dinner, pending your itinerary.

When it comes to Gold Leaf, this is a two-story car, 360-degree dome windows on the top level.

You have four hosts as opposed to three, all-inclusive alcohol as well.

Downstairs, you have now a full kitchen that is three times the size larger than what we have on Silverleaf, therefore, offers a lot more variety of food options.

Also, you have a full dining area below where you're sitting on the first level of the gold leaf car.

So instead of eating at your seat like you would on Silverleaf, you have a full dining area.

So you walk downstairs or take the elevator if you have mobility concerns, and we have elevators on all of our gold leaf cars.

Elevators that take you from the ground to all of our gold leaf cars.

So even if you're a wheelchair bound, you're able to do this trip easily and experience everything the way everyone else does.

The food on Goldleaf, like I said, a lot more variety of options.

You're looking at two to three appetizer options, five to six entree options, and multiple dessert options that change daily for all of your meals.

But my favorite part about the Gold Leaf car is the outdoor veranda space.

The one on Silverleaf holds up to six people.

I can maybe push eight, but that would be kind of tight.

On Goldleaf, it holds up to 16 people, three times the size larger than what you have on Silverleaf.

It has speakers out there so you can hear the commentary of what's being offered inside the car.

And it just really allows you to get the fresh forest smells, get the wildlife in the wilderness up close, and really just be in person with wildlife that is right next to the trains.

It's really amazing.

SPEAKER_01: Well, so now are these areas that you're talking about when you're walking outside, are these on top of the car on the side?

SPEAKER_02: Like so they are, if you will, the they're not on the top, like a double deck or bus, because that's I see where you're kind of going with that.

It's actually on the front or the back of each train car.

Okay.

So it's the level of the same level of the first level of the train car, and then there's an opening area.

So once again, the videos that I'll make sure you have, Kevin, to be able to share with all of your amazing clients is uh I'll have a video on the gold leaf and a video on the silver leaf, which is about a minute, 30 seconds long each, and it will show you and share with you everything I'm telling you and put all the words I'm saying to uh to visual.

So it really helps and completes it.

But it's on the first level of the either behind or in front of the car of each car, and that's how it kind of works.

SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.

That's awesome.

That sounds very nice.

Now, kind of give us an idea of if you're on one of these trips, what's a day gonna look like?

I mean, are you on the train and on the train pretty much all day long, no stops?

I mean, kind of paint a picture of what it would look like from kind of the time you wake up to you you go to bed.

SPEAKER_02: So, first when it comes to luggage, because I didn't mention this, and it's important because people always wonder how does your luggage work?

We're gonna take your luggage from you at your hotel before you even go downstairs to the uh to head to the train station.

Your luggage we put on a truck.

The only thing you bring on the train with you is your camera, camcorder, wallet, cell phone purse, ID, medication, keep it light and keep it simple.

Then when you get to your final destination of that day on the train, and I'll I will circle back to answer your question fully, but just focusing on the luggage so it's not lost.

Your luggage is actually transferred by a truck.

It's not on the train with you.

When you get to your destination of that day, they're gonna give you your hotel room key before you even get off the train.

You've already been checked into the hotel.

Take a bus over to the hotel, find your room.

Inside your room, your luggage will be waiting for you next to your bed.

The next day, in order to minimize the amount of calories you're burning, we ask that you don't move your luggage anywhere.

You leave it exactly how you found it, next to your bed.

You'll see at the next destination.

A true seamless experience.

Now, circling back to what your immediate question was about what's the life like on board the train, you board between 8 and 9 in the morning, pending your route.

And the average speed, like before, is 30 to 35 miles an hour.

You're gonna have a morning toast with everyone in your car.

They'll go over the rules, and then of course there'll be those hosts and hostesses who will be providing commentary, doing storytelling, telling jokes, keeping you entertained and aware of everything coming up ahead.

If you're on Gold Eat, it's a first or second seating for meals.

So, for example, they'll split the car in half, and maybe the first section of the car will eat first while the second session stays upstairs and we'll have either scones or wine or cheese or crackers or something.

So, in fact, if you're worried that, oh, I'm hungry in the morning and I have to wait till second seating, you actually eat more food being in the second seating than in the first.

So just keep that in mind.

And then the next day, you would switch.

So if you were first seating on the first day, you would be second seating on the second day.

So it's all fair and makes sense.

When it comes to uh the food, you'll be switching different places.

You'll be having commentary throughout your entire experience.

We're gonna slow down for all the things that are amazing to experience the waterfalls, the bridges, of course, any wildlife.

And once again, we slow down to less than five miles an hour.

There's so many places along the journey.

We give you a map at your seats so you can see exactly what's coming up ahead.

We keep you aware of what's coming up ahead so you can run outside and get ready, get your camera ready.

And our speed is so great to slow down and be able to take advantage of everything that you experience outside.

All the windows are completely cleaned every single day, so there's no issues of dirt on the window or smears or marks.

They are clean really well, actually, clean very well.

And um it's you're talking fine dining throughout your entire day, breakfast, lunch, sometimes dinner, pending your itinerary, and uh just a way to see the Canadian Rockies in a whole new light.

You're gonna be seeing waterfalls that you can't see unless you're on a train.

You're gonna be going over bridges that, of course, you can't do unless you're on a train.

And these tracks that we're using are some of the most, I would say, wildlife and wilderness tracks.

Another thing that I should just kind of say about our tracks is that these are not just for Rocky Mountaineer.

We do share these train tracks with other freight.

And the majority of the freight that are that is being on our tracks is carrying automobiles, produce grain, wheat, and barley.

Now, animals like the black bear, brown bear, grizzly bear, moose, elk, deer, coyotes, bighorn sheep, they've become quite trained because when they hear a train on our train tracks, they think it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner time.

That produce, that grain, wheat, and barley, it falls all the time from these other trains.

And so they'll come out of the riverbeds, the mountains.

They will literally be feasting, especially at certain times of the year.

And I know we'll talk about that when we're operating, when's the best times to travel?

But at certain times of the year, it can turn into a train safari.

So very unique, very amazing, very memorable.

And that's just a glimpse of what it's like on board.

On top of the that wildlife, the wilderness, on top of taking to places that you can't see anywhere else, and some of the most beautiful nature and wildlife and glaciers, and you name it.

That's just part of it.

The fine dining adds a whole key to it.

The fantastic service on board, you know, TripAdvisor, a place for people spew hate and anger, negative feedback.

They should all know, all your listeners should know that we've been given the certificate of excellence for customer service over the past 19 years in a row.

National Geographic has given its best training trip to take for the past three years in a row.

We have more awards and accolades than the Orient Express.

So I hope all this means to your clients out there is peace of mind.

Whether they travel with us in 2021, 2022, or many years from now, we're not going anywhere.

And this is a true trip of a lifetime.

I know I kind of went a little uh above and everything, but there's so much I want to say.

You have no idea, and I I want to make the most of our time together.

SPEAKER_01: Well, I have to say, I mean, I think anybody listening, they hear your excitement just like I do.

And I mean, I gotta say, it means a lot to have somebody so excited about the company they work for because I mean the product that that Rocky Mountaineer produces is obviously top-notch.

So you should be excited about it.

SPEAKER_02: Thank you.

No, and I am.

It really it it's it's great to to sell something or to talk about something that you're truly passionate about.

That's the only way you can really be a great successful salesperson.

Exactly.

And my job is not really sales, it's really educating.

I'm I'm a I'm a teacher, if you will.

And so all I'm doing is just talking about something I truly believe in and love.

I've experienced this trip over ten times.

So if it gets to the the details that your clients want to know like which hotel should I stay at?

Which tour should I do?

If if Kevin doesn't know the answer, he's got me in his back pocket to utilize.

So I must tell you he is he's going to be taken care of and by working with him you will be taken care of and you'll get all the support you need and make sure all of those questions you have will be answered.

SPEAKER_01: Well well thank you Jeff thanks for letting everybody know because I always say the the best travel advisors are the ones who have the best contacts in our back pockets.

So anyway so real quick you kind of touched on something that I wanted to ask you about.

So now the when we're making stops overnight at the hotels and stuff are these hotels specifically that Rocky Mountaineer owns or are these other hotels that you guys just contract out with?

How is that kind of set up?

SPEAKER_02: The majority I would say about 99% of them are all third party hotels.

So we have contracted space we're holding space but the benefit of us and it's something I I I touched on just a little bit ago is the customization.

Customization is key and so what your clients have the luxury of doing is being able to work with their budget choose between three star properties and five diamond resorts.

We don't work with any hotels that are two stars or less they have to be a minimum of three stars so that you're at least in an accommodating clean environment and we trust what the services and amenities they have to offer and uh it really helps work with the budget because it can be around$200 of $200 a night or well over a thousand dollars a night pending which hotel you want to choose.

SPEAKER_01: That's great.

I love it.

I love it.

The more options the better in my opinion that you know because that way it kind of meets everybody's budget and and needs and wants so that's great.

Totally and I and I always love too I mean it's supporting other you know businesses as well so I think that's wonderful.

Yeah perfect perfect now let me ask you as far as the different stops that you guys do make do you offer any type of tour packages to for them to see or are you guys arriving into these cities pretty late where people are pretty much just crashing for the night and then getting up the next morning?

SPEAKER_02: So you you kind of have two questions there.

We offer tons of tours.

We have over a hundred different tours that we offer and what we've done in in regards to the tours is we've built in the most popular the most raved and reviewed tours that people love.

We've built those bundled them into our packages like tours like the Ice Explorer taking on the Athabasca Glacier so you can go play in the snow gondola rides taking the tops of multiple peaks and summits throughout the glaciers and Canadian Rocky area.

You can take a day trip or spend several nights in Victoria Island and go visit Butcher Gardens or do a helicopter tour.

Many of those are bundled into our packages and get a bird's eye view of the lakes and waterfalls and glaciers down below.

But just as our hotels are customizable so are our tours.

Perhaps you or a client of yours is is scared of heights and a helicopter tour is something they don't want to do or pay for you can easily tell Kevin I would like to substitute the helicopter tour for another tour that interests me better.

Or take the helicopter tour out and lower the total price of the package because there is a value attributed to all these tours.

It's all customizable which is really ideal.

The second part of that question if you can remind me do you remember uh what you just said it was about the tours but then there was something else you said I just want to make sure I answer that.

SPEAKER_01: The the main thing the main thing was just was just the different tours you know was was my my biggest thing was was wondering about that.

So that's great.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah so customization is true we have so many different tours to offer it's going to come to me I just had a little like brain fart if you will uh but uh no the tours I think are really great that they're customizable they're ideal and oh I miss something else I want to say it's gonna come to me it'll it'll before we end that's perfect don't worry about it Jeff so okay so let's talk about time of year for these different train journeys and so are you guys operating year round or you just have specific seasons so we operate

from mid-April to mid-October and there are pluses to every time in the season pending when you go in April May beginning of June it's the end of hibernation so statistically you get a lot more wildlife at this time there's more snow present on the mountains ice in the lakes temperatures in mid-May or around mid-70s during the day and mid-60s at night in the summer it's the best weather 80s during the day 70s at night everything's lush green everything's in bloom it's not surprising to go for a month or two without seeing a single drop

of rain so very dry and very beautiful and in the fall September October it's all about the fall foliage with the leaves changing color.

You can see vibrant colors light up the sides of the mounds and that can be memorable in itself.

But my personal opinion a best time to travel is either May or September.

It's not just because of wildlife not just because of fall foliage but something I touched to before there's a lot of demand there's a lot of traffic there's a lot of even congestion at certain times of the year.

I'm being honest with you July and August is our peak season and so if you want to avoid large crowds traffic congestions I recommend going in May or September and you'll be rewarded with either wildlife or amazing fall foliage.

So those are my two recommendations right there.

SPEAKER_01: I love it.

Less people more animals that's what we all want in life.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah so what what kind of animals can you expect to see you're looking at black bears brown bears grizzly bears moose elk deer coyotes bighorn sheep oh that's just a touch of a fee there's tons.

And actually statistically we get more wildlife sightings than we do in Alaska.

SPEAKER_01: Really?

Now see that's something that I think most of us would be surprised to hear.

Yeah now except for except for myself I traveled to Alaska when I was a kid with my family and we we drove all over that state and we never saw a single thing besides a moose on the day we were leaving ran across the runway.

SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness so your destination sounds very appealing let me tell you oh thank you well i if you're comparing I mean I I just sticking on the Alaska side of things many people have already done denali and they would perhaps maybe love to return up to this part of the world being close to home.

I mean Canada is a country above U.S.

I think many people in the very near future are going to want to travel closer to home stay closer to home more economical as opposed to traveling overseas to other countries out there.

Like I said Denali many people have done they're looking for something unique and different we fit that niche extremely well and I didn't mention this before but we've been doing this for 30 years and we're privately owned.

We plan to do it for another 30 years and many more to come that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: That's awesome I love it.

I love it.

Now kind of explain to me do you guys have an ideal guest?

Are you guys family friendly?

Is it mostly just adults?

What is your your target audience for one of these train journeys?

SPEAKER_02: We appeal to everyone we do cater to families just so you know when it comes to seating we look at the psychographics demographics and geography of every single guest that comes on board.

So let's say a family or multi-generational families coming on board.

We'll do our best to put one family next to another family so the kids can interact, have similar interests the parents can be like why would we bring kids my personal opinion I just want to be honest I wouldn't take anyone under the age of four or five because sometimes kids at that age are tough to kind of handle and they may disrupt the environment of other guests on board.

Once again we really are able to impact the socialization by grouping people and sitting people around each other who have similar background and similar interests that's really makes our socialization so successful.

But our main demographic that we see is between 50 and 75 average age being 6162 83% married around 68% retired.

So that's the majority of the demographic that we definitely see on board.

And this summer we do get kids but we try to put those kids with other kids and families.

So once again similar backgrounds similar interests another example and I'm trying to be politically correct because I don't know where this podcast will end up but let's take for example an Australian person.

Very few but like one or two one or few one or two aussies out there love to be loud and drink a lot just like one or two.

Let's take one or two and put them next to someone from just once again trying to be politically correct there's like one or two people from Japan who are very subdued and quiet and keep themselves.

And this is not stereotyping but if we were to put those two people next to each other who are subdued and quiet and one who's loud and wants to drink a lot, those personalities may clash.

It may be hilarious to watch but it may ruin their vacation too.

And we know that some of these stereotypes do exist and we're not trying to impact socialization like that.

So we're able to take backgrounds of certain people if we might ask you yourself about your clients oh do you know what college or alumni they're a part of and we can put them next to other alumni from their university or geography is a very easy way to do it.

Putting someone next to someone on the train from the same city or the same state and next thing you know they're talking and then they're like oh my gosh you live in the same town as me like and had no idea who they were and you become friends for a lifetime.

So that's how the socialization aspect works.

SPEAKER_01: That works perfect.

I love your sense of humor man.

You're great just being real.

Of course of course I love it I love it.

So yeah and I think that's one thing that people don't realize kind of what goes into it you know both on the the travel advisor side as well as the suppliers I work with like you guys is you know there's more to it than just us booking you a ticket on a train and you just setting you know wherever there's thought that goes into it not only for you but who else is going to be on the same you know journey and vacation with you.

So that's a great great insight into that.

Great now have you guys you know we had touched on it early in the uh interview have you guys been affected much with the the coronavirus?

SPEAKER_02: So uh tough ones.

So to be honest the answer is yeah it's been affected.

We've had to suspend all of our operations and it's due to the Canadian government they are not allowing tourism at this time they've stopped all cruise ships going into uh Canada up until the end of October at this point.

Those series of hotels partners of ours have decided to close up for the remainder of the season even if things get better they don't want to take the chance we sadly have had to suspend our operations up to the end of July but a disclaimer for all of your clients out there we are not planning to go anywhere.

We're not going to close up we're gonna be here for many years to come.

We think we have enough cash flow.

We had to furlough around 70% of the company there's a lot of people who are working you know who are I should say who don't have a job currently right now that are temporarily at leave I'm currently working part-time so I had to cut my hours back and um I should be blessed that I have a job as many people in this in this time right now there's they're saying it's it's ridiculous the amount of people who are out of work.

So yes it's affected us but we're seeing 2021 be a a very high demand season coming up not only is everyone moving from 2020 to 2021 they also have the ability to move to 2022.

We're not making forcing them to make a new booking now they can wait until November of 2021 to make a new booking for 2022 for those who have suspended operations.

So we're really trying to work with everyone some people don't want to make a decision until there's a cure or vaccine.

I'm being optimistic here I pray that by the end of this year there will be a cure or vaccine that will allow the borders to reopen and tourism will be able to begin again in Canada.

Right now we're just kind of at a hold and we're trying to hopefully see that therapeutics that are being developed and the cure and vaccine will hopefully come out in the near future to make normal times return to what we all know.

And moving forward for 2021 and on we will take health at the most upright importance we're gonna be checking the temperatures of every single guest in the morning and in the evening before they get on our motor coaches even on the train we're gonna be limiting the amount of crowds of people are in.

We'll probably drop you off you'll walk through our train station instead of using our train station like we did before which would congregate hundreds of people we're gonna have you walk through you'll still hear the piano but then you walk right from there onto the train car.

So once again limiting the amount of people you're in trying to separate you between six feet on the motor coaches six feet on the trains.

We'll be using a lot more train cars but uh having more space in between different uh families and such so maintaining that health conscious is a priority so we're gonna do a lot of things differently there's actually a full page on our website at www.rocky mountaineer.com that goes into detail a lot of the safety uh the safety measures that we're taking for the near future due to this pandemic so that's something that we definitely had to uh come aground that that's great that's great and you know I think I think that's kind of

the name the aim for all everyone is kind of taking the situation adapting and you know and reassessing everything and and you know and in the end you know I think everything I think everything happens for a reason and we can we can learn from it and we can you know extend our options and come away a little bit better you know than we were before.

SPEAKER_01: And I feel like you know a lot of these things we may not like it but you know we've learned from it and like you guys you know just kind of adapting and recognizing you know this I started to say this new normal which I hate that saying more than anything else.

But but you know what I mean so so I just really think that's awesome you know that you guys are are recognizing the situation and you know and and making changes.

So that's great.

That's great.

SPEAKER_02: We all are it's it's a it's a stressful challenging time for anyone who's in the travel and tourism industry I'm sure Kevin you can attest to that.

And uh I I really believe that after we try to keep people away from traveling for so long the travel season's going to bounce back in a big way once things do start to open up again.

And uh I think a lot of people are going to be using their bucket lists and kind of moving on those a lot quicker and saying you know what now is the time now that we have no issues at this time who knows what's going to come in the near future let's make the most let's travel let's see other parts of the world perhaps it won't be as extreme as some other trips out there you know you might want to travel closer to home and that's why I do believe Rocky Mountain year is going to bounce back a

lot quicker.

We're already seeing the demand for 2021 just be incredible a lot of great feedback a lot of presentations and I'm really uh seeing 2021 be a record breaking year because we're not a boat we're not a cruise ship we are very unique and we're gonna take the measures of the COVID and and put safety policies in place so that it helps peace of mind for those who want to travel with us for many years to come.

SPEAKER_01: So I agree.

I agree completely I agree.

Well that's awesome and and honestly I feel like that kind of you know sums up what I wanted people to get out of today's podcast.

Jeff is there anything else that we haven't talked about today that you feel like people should know about Rocky Mountaineer?

SPEAKER_02: So that was pretty much all that I had left to say and I hope that was helpful.

SPEAKER_01: That was thank you so much I appreciate that.

And uh before we go if you don't mind I like to ask a couple of uh fun questions of each of our guests just to help people get to know you a little bit better and just kind of think keep things a little fresh and interesting.

You think you're up for it?

Of course happy to all right so we want to get to know you Jeff so what's number one on your bucket list?

SPEAKER_02: The next trip that my wife and I are talking about is definitely uh India spending several maybe a couple weeks in India different parts of India and then also head down to the Maldives or Maldives depending how you say it and spend maybe a a long weekend four nights three nights there and enjoy but haven't been to that part of the world I've traveled all around the world I used to live in Hong Kong for uh four years I've been all over Australia all over China all over Africa just

haven't been to India so we'd love to be out there and and my wife said my wife is really a big shopper so I think we get some great deals out there too.

Of course that sounds awesome awesome well so this is gonna be a tough one you've traveled so many places what's the most memorable vacation that is difficult because I I uh there's so many places I've been I love traveling to places that are so unique and different from what we're used to back home if you go to almost any city in the U.S.

you find the exact same store same chain same it looks the same there's nothing unique there's nothing there's a few places of course in the U.S.

that are different that have actual character or culture but very little my favorite I would say that you know like the Greek Isles for example the first thing that came to my mind like Santorini breathtakingly beautiful place.

I've got I've been there now over ten times and I just love it.

I love how unique I love how you're living on the side of a cliff how you have views of the beautiful ocean the shopping is so unique.

Everything is just all white and blue and beautiful places like that really stick out and make it very memorable for me to always return to or just another quick one if you don't mind me sharing one more.

Of course not would be uh there's an island that's two days south of Hawaii called Fanning Island.

And um it's literally on the equator.

Some cruise ships still maybe go there.

They may be uh on a world cruise and things like that.

But this is an island where it's it's inhabited by around 60 to 80 natives and they have no electricity they have no running water they they really survive like the days when you had to survive where you know you're you're hunting you're trying to collect rainwater things like that that are just it's incredible what they do.

And I was able to go there not once but twice experience you know what these natives really how they survive we help them out by providing lots of different like you know food and and different types of you know things or God forbid things get worse.

We even give them some generators so they do have some power but really that's for emergency purposes.

They live off the land and going to places like that in this world are so unique and they have never seen like for example I this I went there when I was working on cruise ships they have uh I traded a CD Walkman as you know the CD Walkman is something that's no longer really around I traded my CD Walkman for a handmade knife made out of sharp teeth and bones.

Oh wow my desk it it's it's hanging of course but that's the kind of stuff that's so unique that you'll never find it's one of a kind I know the batteries for that CD Walkman have run out.

I feel bad for that guy and I told him they would because he doesn't have extra batteries but he loved the music that I shared them and it was uh it was such a great trade I think it was the best trade that I've ever done in my life and uh they were so appreciative and happy they love the technology I was bringing to them and I was able to get something that I'll never forget and it's one of a kind.

So places like that really do stick out and make it very memorable.

SPEAKER_01: Wow that's amazing dude I could talk to you all day long we're definitely gonna have to have you back on the podcast at some point.

SPEAKER_02: Oh I would love to I would love to return and you know definitely share more information because like you saw this podcast is going on for almost an hour.

SPEAKER_01: I have so much to say and I'm happy to say anything you'd like well good well good well here we got three quick quick questions left for you.

What's your favorite hotel amenity?

SPEAKER_02: Uh favorite hotel amenity will probably something with food because I love food.

So you give me a free meal or something like that and it's gonna be a uh a winner for me.

SPEAKER_01: Perfect if you're uh you're flying carry on or check in?

SPEAKER_02: If it's for vacation purposes it's check-in but if it's ever business I'm only going for several you know like a couple nights always carry on i you have to go longer than I think four nights five days for me to have something more than carry on so I usually can get around with about five nights six days just carry on that's kind of pushing it if it's more than that or if it's vacation it'll be checking.

All right perfect perfect and last one we all know quarantine what did you miss the most what do I miss the most during quarantine boy I would say it's just honestly personally came to mind having a full-time job uh having more income uh having you know this this whole year not be um pushed till next because this was going to be an amazing year for me and I I was selling very well I was 93% to goal by March 10th.

So um those are just being honest with you all what I really miss is being so successful at what I do.

We have to kind of push that till next year.

But uh another be more personal side perhaps you know just being able to not have to wear a face mask and not social distance and and just be yourself and go out and not have to worry about a virus.

I mean it's it's what everyone kind of is probably missing right now.

It's just normal life that we used to have.

That's what I miss.

It's the whole general normal normal normal side is things.

SPEAKER_01: Yep I agree 100% with you.

Well that's awesome.

Well listen Jeff I want to thank you so much again for coming on the podcast today.

It has meant so much for me to have you on and talking about Rocky Mountaineer which I think a lot of those listening are going to be very excited about.

SPEAKER_02: Well I I cannot thank you enough for your time your support I can't thank all your listeners out there for taking the time to listen to this.

I hope you're able to take a lot away from this and look at Rocky Mountaineers or future trip and please do reach out to Kevin.

He's got once again all the videos ready to share with you he's got tons of great answers and feedback.

I'm gonna make sure also Kevin has a PDF on all of our tours that we're offering for the future so you can get more details about those as well as details about our hotels.

All you gotta do is reach out to Kevin to talk more about Rocky Mountaineer.

SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much Jeff and to all of you who are listening today I want to thank you and hope you will tune in next time.

Have an awesome day.

SPEAKER_02: Bye.

SPEAKER_00: And that's the lowdown on life and travel if you enjoyed today's episode please leave a review and don't forget to subscribe for more want to hear more from Kevin Lowe?

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That's betterdaystravel dot com to sign up and until next time just keep living and enjoying life like it was meant to be