Canadas East to West with Alaska Cruise Ocean View Cabin Summer 2018

Day 1: Arrive Toronto (2 Nights)

Welcome to Toronto, Canada's largest city. Get settled in at your hotel before meeting your Travel Director this afternoon.

Day 2: Niagara Falls Excursion

This morning, travel to Niagara Falls, one of the largest falls in the world. See the Canadian and American sides as you cruise to the base of Horseshoe Falls. Back in Toronto, experience the sights and history of this multicultural city. Learn more about traditional native arts at the Storyboot Project, a TreadRight Heritage Initiative. This project aims to revive the traditional arts by creating partnerships with elders and artisans.

Day 3: Toronto – Kingston – Ottawa (2 Nights)

Drive along Lake Ontario to Kingston, a city known for its grand 19th century limestone buildings. Embark on a river cruise through the Thousand Islands National Park area of the St. Lawrence River. Listen to your crew as they point out beautiful historic mansions on the Canadian and American sides and recount fascinating historical tales. Later, make your way to Ottawa, Canada's beautiful capital city.

Day 4: Ottawa Sightseeing

Start the day with a sightseeing tour of Ottawa. View the city's most famous landmarks and enjoy a visit to the Mountie Stables where you can see the trusty steeds of the Canadian Mounted Police up close. The rest of the day is free.

Day 5: Ottawa – Quebec City (2 Nights)

Entering the French-speaking province of Quebec, you'll notice the change in language and traditions. Arrive in Quebec City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Dating back to 1608, the city has retained its fortified colonial core. Later, set out for Cap-de-la-Madeleine located at the mouth of the Saint-Maurice and St. Lawrence Rivers. Your evening is free. Hotel: Classique, Sainte Foy

Day 6: Quebec City Sightseeing and Free Time

Join a Local Specialist on an exploration of Old Quebec, the historic heart of French Canada. View the famous turreted Chateau Frontenac, the imposing Citadelle, and the historic Plains of Abraham, known for the great Battle of Quebec. The afternoon and evening are yours to do as you please. Perhaps explore Petit Champlain, the oldest shopping district in Canada complete with enticing bistros and fancy boutiques.

Day 7: Quebec City – Montreal

This morning, your Iconic Breakfast is served at Erabliere le Chemin du Roy, a Cabane a Sucre (Sugar Shack), where you'll learn how maple syrup is made and turned into various other maple products. Travel through the French Canadian countryside to Montreal, Canada's liveliest city. An orientation tour with a Local Specialist includes the sights of Old Montreal with its Old Port, Place Jacques Cartier, the shopping district and Notre Dame Cathedral. The evening is free.Iconic Breakfast

Day 8: Montreal – Toronto

Today, travel from lively Montreal back to Toronto.

Day 9: Toronto – Calgary (2 Nights)

Transfer to Toronto Pearson International Airport for your flight to Calgary. On arrival in Calgary, you will be transferred to your hotel.Please note, the flight from Toronto to Calgary is not included in the tour price and requires separate purchase. It may be included as part of some international air tickets.

Day 10: Calgary Free Time

Enjoy a full day at leisure in Calgary. Stroll through downtown Calgary or take a ride up the Calgary Tower, one of the highest 360° observation decks in the world. Consider exploring Heritage Park Historical Village, where costumed interpreters entertain and educate guests about the social, economic and cultural affairs of Western Canada's early development.

Day 11: Calgary – Banff (2 Nights)

Take a short orientation tour of Calgary before starting the spectacular journey from Calgary to Banff. Soon, the majestic peaks of the Rockies come into view. Few towns in the world boast as beautiful a setting as Banff with the mighty Bow River coursing right through town and the majestic mountains providing a stunning backdrop. A Banff sightseeing tour takes you along Tunnel Mountain Drive. View Cascade Mountain, Mt. Rundle, Bow Falls and other natural attractions like the surreal hoodoos-strange rock pillars twisted by millions of years of wind.

Day 12: Banff Free Time

Today, explore the area at your leisure. Take an exhilarating optional helicopter flightseeing tour, a ride up to the top of Sulphur Mountain on the Banff gondola or a more in-depth exploration of Banff National Park and the surrounding wilderness including world-famous Lake Louise and stunning Moraine Lake.

Day 13: Banff – Icefields Parkway – Jasper (2 Nights)

Drive along the Icefields Parkway, offering one of the world's most spectacular mountain landscapes as you follow the backbone of the Canadian Rockies. View a never-ending procession of gigantic mountains, jagged snowy peaks, numerous hanging glaciers, waterfalls and stunning glacial lakes. Keep your camera ready as you look for wandering wildlife. Stop at Peyto Lake, marvelling at the beautiful azure-blue glacial waters. See the Columbia Icefield, the largest in the Rockies, covering an area of over 200 square miles (322 kilometres) with depths of over 1,000 feet (304 metres). Ride aboard a giant Ice Explorer across the Athabasca Glacier for a closer inspection of this massive glacier. Other stops along this beautiful highway include Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Lake and Athabasca Falls before arriving in charming Jasper for a brief orientation tour.

Day 14: Jasper National Park Free Time

Enjoy a full day at leisure in the largest National Park of the Canadian Rockies. The beauty of the area will leave you breathless. Optional activities abound-from a gentle float trip^ on the scenic Athabasca River, to a wilderness hike to view the glacier on Mount Edith Cavell, or a scenic cruise on Maligne Lake to iconic Spirit Island. The choice is entirely yours and your Travel Director is on hand to help you plan your day.

Day 15: Jasper – Kamloops

See more of Jasper National Park and enjoy views of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Rockies. Along the way, see breathtaking waterfalls, crystal clear lakes, lush alpine meadows and sweeping forests before reaching Kamloops.

Day 16: Kamloops– Victoria (2 Nights)

Pass through the charming town of Hope before boarding a ferry bound for Victoria. Enjoy picturesque views of the many islands dotting the Strait of Georgia before docking at Swartz Bay. Arrive in the charming city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. An introductory sightseeing tour of the city takes you along the waterfront district, past the Parliament Buildings and Government Street, through Beacon Hill Park and along the waterfront.

Day 17: Victoria Free Time

This morning, enjoy an Iconic Breakfast at world-famous Butchart Gardens in the Blue Poppy Restaurant with its conservatory atmosphere where light pours in through skylights and large windows face the gardens. The rest of the day is free to enjoy the many delights Victoria has to offer. Perhaps take a whale-watching^ cruise along the protected waters of Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca for the best views of the whales and fantastic photo opportunities.Iconic Breakfast

Day 18: Victoria – Vancouver

Travel to Vancouver by ferry. Vancouver is one of the world's most naturally beautiful cities with its picturesque harbour. See historic Gastown, the city's oldest neighbourhood, designated a National Historical Site. See Chinatown and stop at Stanley Park with its famous collection of totem poles and lovely views from Prospect Point.Continental Breakfast

Day 19: Vancouver – Inside Passage Cruise

You will be dropped off at Canada Place to board the ms Volendam. Your ship sails at 4:30 p.m., passing below Vancouver's spectacular Lion's Gate suspension bridge. Dinner

Day 20: At Sea

Today is your first full day at sea and there's plenty of time to ease into shipboard life and take in the amazing scenery of the Inside Passage. The fabled Inside Passage is one of the most scenic sea-lanes in the world, and one of the few where deep-draft vessels can sail close to steep mountain walls. The scenery is unbelievable, with forests in a hundred shades of green, tumbling turquoise glaciers, and evocative towns loaded with history, culture and adventure. All day long it hums with activity. Full Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 21: Tracy Arm – Juneau

Nestled between high granite walls, the narrow slice of ocean called Tracy Arm Fjord weaves through the Tongass National Forest. The shoreline is spotted with waterfalls created by melting snow caps and trees. The dramatic Sawyer Glaciers at the end of Tracy Arm are framed by mountains on either side, and are often bathed in a light mist that amplifies the blue hue of the ice. The glaciers are home to black and brown bears, wolves, deer and moose, and seals and whales make their home in the fjord's icy waters. No roads lead to Juneau, which gives the Alaskan capital a misty inscrutability. Squeezed between the Gastineau Channel and Coast Mountains, Juneau offers a lot of variety in close proximity. The massive Mendenhall Glacier and the immense Juneau Icefields are at its back door. Here, you can shop downtown or get out and kayak, dogsled, raft, hike, whale watch, flightsee or fish. The adventures are as bountiful as the daylight.Full Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 22: Skagway

Some of the aspiring Klondike gold rushers who made it to Skagway took a look at the long journey that still lay ahead of them and decided a change of profession was in order. So many of them set up shop as provisioners here, the largest city in Alaska by the end of the 19th century. The glory days still reverberate through the town. Ride the antique White Pass and Yukon narrow-gauge railway, step into the Red Onion Saloon or peruse the restored buildings and wooden boardwalks of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.Full Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 23: Glacier Bay National Park

If you didn't know any better, you'd think Glacier Bay ostentatious for the way it flaunts its ice. A cruise to Glacier Bay National Park with Holland America Line will show you a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects a unique ecosystem of plants and animals living in concert with an ever-changing glacial landscape. When a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and thunders into the sea, the impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. In fact, Glacier Bay has more actively calving tidewater glaciers than any place else in the world.Full Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 24: Ketchikan

Ketchikan clutches the shores of the Tongass Narrows, with many shops and houses built out over the water. The vibe is cheerful in the town that calls itself the "Salmon Capital of the World." Besides the main attractions-Creek Street, the Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Bight State Park and Saxman Village-try a flightseeing trip to Misty Fjords National Monument. These deep-water fjords were gouged out by retreating glaciers, leaving granite cliffs towering thousands of feet above the sea and countless waterfalls plunging into placid waters. Full Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 25: At Sea

Your last full day is spent at sea, returning through the Inside Passage.Full Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 26: Depart Vancouver

Sail back into Vancouver Harbour this morning.Full Breakfast