Yesterday I had a look at the different levels, Prestige looks very nice, I'm sure you will enjoy your trip

A big thank you to everyone who replied to this thread. Due to unexpected circumstances we have had to prune our plans back a little. We are now flying to Vancouver for the Alaskan cruise...then flying straight back. We are driving from Seattle to Whistler by car for a few days at the end of September...then taking a cruise down the west coast. We would still like to do the train journey...perhaps next year.

What? Five minutes too late to offer an opinion?

I know several people who've taken the train, they told me it felt like being in prison after awhile, one of them fell down an embankment near Winnipeg and ended up getting a huge bill to have his arm set.

Also multiple people have told me it's boring as hell driving across Saskatchewan and Manitoba which is why I've never done it.

But I have driven westward and that is a tough drive from Golden down Hwy 1 west, it's just endless mountains, up, down and around. I mean it's pretty and everything but it's a real slog of a drive. You're looking at an average speed of around 50mph. And as soon as you get west of Golden, divided highway is a rare thing. I would say you get stuck behind people, but you don't because you're all crawling along anyway. Even RVs can go 50mph.

Good job we are flying eh?

As I have psoted elswhere on this thread .............. we have taken the train all the way across Canada from coast to coast about 16 times since 2004.

Whether you find it boring depends on YOU .......... personally we have never been bored, we see something different on every trip. I think the guy who fell down an embankment in Winnipeg was probably taking a short cut that he should not have been doing


For future reference .............. I would not take Prestige. I find it appallingly expensive for not much more than you would pay for Sleeper Plus. It also seems to be a little less friendly in the public areas (ie, the Park Car with lounge and Dome) as most of the passengers taking it are tourists from the US, and especially from overseas who tend not to chat as much. The advantage is that you do get preference for access to the Dome in the Park Car (the "iconic" car of the Canadian trains), but may have to share it with slum dwellers from Sleeper Plus at times.


I would find the sleeping accommodation difficult ......... yes, you get a double bed, but it can only be accessed from one side. The head, foot and one side butt right up against cabin walls. The person sleeping on the inside of the bed has to crawl over their partner to get out

Has it got wi-fi?

not on the trains .........

and how pleasant it is not to have it

not all of us want to be connected 24/7


.......... there are things such as talking to other passengers, looking at the scenery, reading books, listening to music quietly on earphones, even playing electronic games IF you must, etc etc