Grand Luxe Rail Journey, this trip is one interesting experience to write home about. The staff is fantastic, the chefs are inspired, and there is something very romantic about rolling across beautiful vistas while enjoying a gourmet meal.

Talking about rolling across beautiful vistas, the advertising material spend many words on this, but the truth is that the two most beautiful drives (and most of the driving) were done at late night and nobody could see any of the senery of Utah. We mostly see the train standing still in the morning and then board busses for hours of driving to destinations away from the train, then return to the train for another night of driving.

This is an experience with some serious trouble. Twice I have been stuck with foam in my hair halfway through a cold shower. Misunderstand me right, I'm no stranger to traveling in un-developed areas and tenting in the sierras, however the advertising says that this is a "5 star resort property on rails", as such one would expect a daily hot shower, functioning air conditioning and more than a 2 inch foam mattress.
Truly the staff is what makes this vacation shine.

Honestly - I can not recommend this vacation for anyone, it simply do not deliver what it promised. It is _not_ luxurious, it is not family friendly, most of the customers are retired and the train is not at all mobility friendly. The only thing this ride does it to rush you around for a week straight so you can check off a bunch of places you have been, if this is your goal this if for you, but if the experience and romance of the trip is the goal, this is a failure.

On May 31 I had enough and escaped from one more boring bus trip from the train, the HD preview is uploaded, now I just need to edit the full story.