Rocky Mountaineer Vacations' Guest Lounge Blog:

This week, RMV welcomes the Man in Seat Sixty One. When I first heard about Mark Smith, the man in Seat 61, I thought it sounded very much like a James Bond episode. The domain name alone carried intrigue.

I became aware of this site because it seemed to drive a lot of traffic to the Rocky Mountaineer site - actually, an incredible amount of volume. Mark's site is a mandatory for those considering rail travel anywhere in the world. Having said that, I was certain we could convince Mark to update his information on Canadian rail (and the maps!), and more specifically on the routes that RMV now offers, by inviting him on the Rocky Mountaineer and Whistler Mountaineer trains. I am delighted to say, welcome aboard, Seat 61 - and we will keep you posted on his impressions.

Why the Seat 61 designation? Read here....

One of the dangers of blogging is writer's block. The other (often as a result of the block) is blogging with nothing to say. I am determined not to post for the sake of posting. Two things happened in the since my last post in early April....daily visits increased by 20% and 6 people have emailed me to see if I have stopped writing. Guess that is a positive sign.

The reality is our train season has started. With up to four trains operating each day and planning for next season well underway, I got, well, a little bit busy. But the world has changed in a short period of time giving me some material to share with you.

Fuel surcharges. The dreaded words of all travellers. I have been with this organization for a decade and in the past, we have agonized over the implementation of fuel surcharges - and never done it. The reality is the costs have far surpassed a level that RMV can manage - the impact of the increases on a business that operates trains is immense - and far beyond what we had budgeted several months ago.

Regrettably, beginning May 15th, RMV will add a Cdn$30 person fuel surcharge for each 2 day trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. A fuel surcharge of Cdn$5 per one way trip on the Whistler Mountaineer will also apply (terms and conditions prevail if I did not explain every scenario in this posting!). The good news is if you have already booked your trip and placed a deposit, the surcharge is waived, no matter when you travel. Plus, if you book by May 14th, we will waive it, as well. So get off the fence and book today. For any questions, please contact our sales center directly.

What else....? We now have the ability to take on line bookings on selected tour packages off the Rocky Mountaineer site - the Whistler Mountaineer site has been able to be booked on line for some time. I have a whole new appreciation of the techie side of the business. In today's world, it seems so straightforward to have a booking capability on the internet. Easy for the marketing and sales guy to say. Vacation product is difficult to configure with all the options that are available. Having said that, we are up and running. What we are really excited about is that after November, our sites will be relaunched - blown up and re-designed with enhanced on line booking capabilities. Not that exciting for you to be reading a blog about this perhaps, but a real step forward - and a big investment - for us - and an expectation of our guests.

Our one millionth guest on the Rocky Mountaineer is coming up. I blogged about this last year and soon it will be a reality. We have forecasted the honoured guest will be travelling on the Rocky Mountaineer on June 5th. If you are travelling that day, stay tuned. The lucky one millionth guest will be treated like royalty and there is a significant celebration to take place. Kind of like winning the lottery but you don't get to retire! Thank you all for making us successful enough to celebrate this milestone.