Selection of services by Fresh Tracks was questionable
There were some good parts to our trip, and several negatives. How our trip experience was handled by Fresh Tracks certainly did not warrant the cost. This is my second time submitting this review, as I did not see it in any sites when originally submitted.
Good experience on Rocky Mountaineer, but then, that had nothing to do with Fresh Tracks.
First Fresh Tracks shuttle tour in Banff, showed up over an hour late. Shuttle from Banff to Lake Louise was a high-speed trip with a few short stops, and arrived early, so some guests had to wait over an hour for their room to be ready.
View of Lake Louise, and new construction site from our tiny room at Chateau Lake Louise.
Very good shuttle trip from Lake Louise to Jasper. Driver was knowledgeable, informative, and considerate of passengers. This was one of only three real high points on trip. Left on time, arrived on time.
Eight hour delay leaving Jasper on VIA train. Train to Toronto was OK, except for delays. Arrived in Toronto over two hours late, and had to have dinner reservation changed to 9 PM. Hotel room overlooked the empty Blue Jays stadium. Interesting for about 30 seconds, then focus on small room. Would have been nice to have view of city, or even a back alley.
Room in Montreal was small, dated, and appeared to have some construction dust on baseboards, although rest of room was clean. The location was OK, park across the street, and metro stop nearby, but view from room was the wall of the building across the alley. Up, down, side to side, nothing but building.
Hotel in Quebec City was better, but looked out on rooftop of a building, with view of the very top of the Chateau Frontenac off to the left over some trees.
I didn't feel that the location of any of these three hotels was up to the overall fees charged for this trip. Talking to other travelers on the tour, we were certainly not staying in the standard, or location of others. It was also told to us that these were not hotels that Fresh Tracks usually uses, and the person was unaware of why these were chosen for us.
The train to Halifax, was an overnighter, and the cabins in the "newer" VIA train were not as comfortable as the very old cars used on the Vancouver to Toronto run. If you want to take this train, to say that you did, you should, but the comfort level is rather lacking.
We enjoyed Halifax. New hotel, decent sized room, and comfortable. Private tour was enjoyable, and driver ( Raj ) was happy to take into account our time and comfort level.
So, there is the explanation of out trip. Now, I must say that this trip was not worth the money paid. It seems that once we received our final itinerary, we should have spent a lot of time researching, verifying, and questioning the Fresh Tracks decisions. And as far as I am concerned, that is not what we should have to do for a trip of this kind.
If you are considering a trip with Fresh Tracks, I would suggest you continue looking. If you have a trusted travel agent or traveler friend, be willing to look to them for advice. All of the others on our tour, were from outside Canada. I don't know if the Fresh Tracks agents for other countries, would be more influential in their bookings, but I am afraid that regularly hearing "Sorry", and "My apologies" so often doesn't hold much water with me for this sort of tour, at this sort of cost. Fresh Tracks should be ensuring the comfort and convenience of their customers up front, rather than offering apologies after the failure of their efforts.
I would not recommend Fresh Tracks. Please consider looking. elsewhere
