New tours blend Alaska cruise, Canadian rail trip

Vacationers will have a new chance to combine cruise and rail travel next year thanks to a new partnership between Norwegian Cruise Line and the Rocky Mountaineer train, which offers trips through the Pacific Northwest and Canadian Rockies.

Five different rail trips can be combined with cruises on three Norwegian ships: Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Sun.

The partnership adds another rail option to an Alaska cruise. The company says that nearly half of its customers already combine a sailing trip with a train journey through Alaska. This new arrangement will allow trips through Canada.

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For example, one package, the Canadian Rockies Highlights and Coastal Passage, includes a seven-night roundtrip Alaskan cruise from Seattle onboard Norwegian Jewel or Norwegian Pearl plus a rail trip from Seattle to Vancouver, Banff and Lake Louise in Canada. It includes a helicopter flight over the Canadian Rockies. Since starting in 1990, the Rocky Mountaineer has become the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America, and has served more than 1.5 million passengers. This year it launched its “Coastal Passage” route, which starts or ends in Seattle and is the company’s first trip in the U.S.

More information: rockymountaineer.com.

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Larry Bleiberg is the former travel editor of The Dallas Morning News and Coastal Living magazine, and is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away.