Royal Celebrity Tours expects to take delivery in March of two new railcars, which will double the size of its existing fleet. The two-level, glass-domed cars will serve Alaska Railroad visitors this summer.
Miami-based cruise company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is now promoting the 80-passenger Wilderness Express railcars during a whistle-stop tour for the travel industry in East Coast and Midwest cities. Stops include Miami, St. Louis and Wichita, Kan., on the tour that began Jan. 30.
"We're doubling the size of our capacity and it's only our second year so we're pretty excited," said Maggie Kelly, manager of Royal Celebrity Tours.
The two railcars should arrive in Alaska this spring, she said.
Other Alaska cruise players, Holland America Line and Princess Tours, already operate dome railcars, tours and hotels in the state.
Royal Caribbean Cruises, which operates Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, started offering its own land tour packages last year. The business line, operating as Royal Celebrity Tours, competes with similar products from Princess Tours and Holland America.
Holland America runs 13 McKinley Explorer railcars in Alaska carrying 66 passengers each, while Princess operates 10 railcars each carrying 88 passengers for its Midnight Sun Express, company representatives said.
One feature that differentiates the Royal Celebrity Tours' railcars is a wheelchair elevator to the first and dome levels, she said. During the company's inaugural visitor season the elevator was used by disabled passengers and others who felt more comfortable using the lift rather than the stairs, she noted.
Built last year by Colorado Railcar Manufacturing LLC of Fort Lupton, Colo., the cars measure 85 feet long by 10 feet wide and 18 feet tall.
Last year Royal Celebrity Tours started its railcar operations with two cars built by the same company and valued at a total of $5 million, company officials told the Journal.
Royal Celebrity Tours, based in Seattle, was started in 2000 to handle Royal Caribbean Cruises' land tour packages for Alaska. New railcars and land tours are ways the company can increase its Alaska business with new offerings, company officials said.
The company also operates a fleet of about 20 buses.
