Rusty Pickett, ECC, VTA, LCS, MBA

Our first day was at sea transiting to Cozumel. The cabins are smaller than other cruise lines, but functional with some nice electronic features. "Transform your room at the touch of a button. Mood-matching lights, a configurable Seabed and in-cabin tech come together to make your life easier. Save the friction for the dance floor.
Wanna get cozy?
Choose a movie on your tablet, cast it to the TV and get high on that canceled plans feeling.
Need some zzz's?
There's a mood for that.
Down to host?
Transform your Seabed, order in mozzarella sticks, or adjust the lighting for an improvised dance-off."

For lunch, I had a ramen bowl from the noodle shop and for dinner we visited the Korean Restaurant Gunbae for a spirited evening of tons of food. It's community eatery and our tablemates were family members from Vancouver and Newfoundland.

We were totally stuffed by the end of the evening, as our server/chef insisted that we sample everything that they offered!

Finally after a long hiatus, my brother and I headed to Miami to board Richard Branson's Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. Miami was again full of cruise ships, with our ship, two Carnival Ships, an MSC ship and an NCL ship all in the embarkation process.

We were assigned a 3:00pm check in slot, arranged on the Virgin Voyages App - your electronic home for the cruise. Check in took some time but was efficient. We first checked in and got out paperwork for the required Covid test. After a brief wait we got the antigen test and headed to the second floor of the terminal for the official check in, where they checked our passport, our vaccination card, and our wristbands - essentially the electronic key to the ship. By the time we finished the check in process, our Covid results had been emailed to us and we could board. Our bags were waiting for us when we arrived at our cabin. The first evolution, as normal, was the required safety drill. To complete it, you watched the rather clever safety video, and then proceeded to you muster station where you checked in with your wrist band and watched a demonstration on donning the life jacket.

Tonight Cocktails were at the Draught Haus - with seven different beers on draft as well as liquor and other canned beers.
We had made reservations at Razzle Dazzle - one of the many eateries on board. Although Vegetarian by design, it had meat on the menu. I started with a wonderful mushroom tartare and then grilled salmon with a side of smoked bacon. My brother had grilled chicken with a side of loaded tater tots. Desert was three giant cookies with cinnamon "cereal milk" The food and service was all excellent.

This morning for breakfast we headed to "The Galley", the ship's approximation of the buffet. Of note, is that since you "live" on the ship with the Virgin app on your tablet or phone, signed in to the ship's good wifi, there are charging stations at each table in The Galley.

Today is a sea day, so we are relaxing and exploring the ship!

The photo album of this fantastic adventure is up and running. It is hard to capture in pictures the magnificence of the Canadian Rockies.

I recommend that you review the album first to see the captions and itinerary and then do the slide show to view the beauty

Click Rocky Mountaineer Photo Album

Today was our decompression day before flying back to the USA in the very early morning. Most of east bound flights leave at 7:00am or before.

The main project was to get our Covid test for re-entry into the US. We Uber'd out the the airport, where we had made an appointment to get tested. There was no wait and after 5 minutes to check in and 15 minutes to wait for the results, then Uber back to the hotel. I walked down to Olympic Park and, after lunch we went up the Calgary Tower to get a view of the city.

With a population of 1,239,220, Calgary is the most-populous city in Alberta, the third most populous city in Canada after Toronto and Montreal, and the most populous city in Western Canada. The Calgary Metropolitan Area had a population of roughly 1,581,000 in the beginning of 2021, making it the second most-populous in western Canada, and the fourth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada. Calgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors. The Calgary Metropolitan Region is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations.

The Calgary Tower is a 190.8-meter (626 ft) free standing observation tower in the downtown core of Calgary. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an urban renewal plan and to celebrate Canada's centennial of 1967.

This was a fantastic trip. I am glad we went west to east, as you leave the seaside, head into the Cariboo Plateau, travel into the high Rockies and then descend into the plains. It really added a crescendo to the adventure.

Today is our last full day of touring. We left the Banff Springs Hotel in mid morning. Our stops today included Bow Falls, the Banff Gondola, free time for lunch in Banff and then meandering out of the hills to the plains surrounding Calgary.