Jcol5786

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies. I think we will go with the Sky Train.

Hello, We are taking our first cruise out of Vancouver in early May to Alaska on Ovation of the Seas. We are arriving on a WestJet flight from Ottawa at 10 am. We are staying at the Pan Pacific. We are traveling with another couple who will be cruising with us. We are all in our late 50's, early 60's and have no mobility issues. After watching some videos I thought it would be fun to take the SkyTrain from the airport to hotel but our friends are a little concerned about this plan. We will each have a large suitcase and an airport legal carry on, all on wheels. I have travelled and moved about some distance with this amount of lugage several times with no problems but our friends might not be as comfortable as I am moving about with 2 bags.So I guess my questions are how easy is it to get from the checked bag pick area to the Skytrain platform and will there be ample room on the train car for our bags? I know this will depend on timing but generally is this what people do when they have luggage? Or since we are a party of 4 with 2 bags each should we be thinking about some other mode of transport? Thanks.

OK point taken. But I still wonder why it's necassary to point this out in the first place? It does nothing to help the OP and it sort of feels like the OP is being chastised for daring to ask a question across multiple boards. Not everyone has the time or the patience to read through multiple boards on CC.

With our 1 am departure time we'll be in port for all of the first day on the ship. Afternoon and evening on the first day is always busy at the bars. I'm just wondering what it will be like on decks 4 and 5. Schooner Bar is usually packed anyway on departure day. But as you suggest adjustments can be made.

Perhaps OP has cruised on both lines? I don't think it matters if someone posts the same question on two different boards.

Hello, looking forward to going on the Alaska cruise out of Vancouver on RC's Ovation of the Seas. My wife found a post from a cruiser on an NCL ship who posted a sign from last September that basically stated that due to local regulations when cruise ships are docked in Vancouver they are only allowed to open 1 bar/lounge per deck. For our cruise the departure time has been shifted forward to 1 am so we will be at the dock for a long time. One bar per deck will certainly make for a busy bar. I had not heard about this restriction before but have never cruised out of Vancouver either. Is this something that happens with all cruise ships docked at Vancouver? Thanks

Yes - Just got an email from Royal saying that we would be leaving at 1 am on Friday May 10'th.The email goes on to state that with the later departure we would be skipping Sitka but will be adding a stop in Victoria BC on our last day. It also states to use our original checkin time so we will be on the ship at the same time as we originally planned; just sitting in the habour a few more hours. I don't mind the changes however I wonder why Royal built the original intinary around a 5:45 pm departure time even thought the Port schedule has showed the later departure time for months. Since a later departure time is necassary because of bridge/tide/clearance factors this would have been known when they created the original schedule. Either way I'm really looking forward to my first Alaska/West coast cruise.

Thanks everyone for the advise and tips. I hadn't realized that this was the start of the season for the Vancouver terminal. We will be fine I am sure. My TA says this was one of his favorite cruises so we are really looking forward to it.

Thanks for the replies. It's good to hear that you got a 10 am checkin time and were on the ship so quickly. I had heard that the checkin process can be much slower then what we are used to from NJ or Florida because the cruise building is shared by whichever ships are in port. I believe there is 1 other ship with us that day. When I reviewed my cruise document and it said that checkin didn't start till 12:45 I assumed they stagger the checkin times with the other ship. But with a 10 am time reserved I'll assume that's when we are expected to be there. I love getting on the ship early.

Hello, I posted this question over on the RCI board but then I thought this might be the more appropiate board so I apologize for the double post. This is our first cruise out of Vancouver. I have a question about checkin time. On our Booking Confirmation document from Royal it states that checkin time is between 12:15 pm - 4:15 pm with departure set for 5:45 pm. However when the checkin times opened up on the app last week we got the earliest time available which was 10:00 am. We are staying at the Pan Pacific so we can easily make either time. Just wondering which time is the correct one and what time we should head down to the terminal? If we go for 10 and it's actually 12:15 I guess we will be waiting around for 2 hours which I'd rather not do. Any info will be appreciated

Hello, Looking forward to doing this cruise. This is our first cruise out of Vancouver. I have a question about checkin time. On our Booking Confirmation document from Royal it states that checkin time is between 12:15 pm - 4:15 pm with departure set for 5:45 pm. However when the checkin times opened up on the app last week we got the earliest time available which was 10:00 am. We are staying at the Pan Pacific so we can easily make either time. Just wondering which time is the correct one and what time we should head down to the terminal? If we go for 10 and it's actually 12:15 I guess we will be waiting around for 2 hours which I'd rather not do. Any info will be appreciated.

Great - we will definately do the drop off at the Pan Pacific. Thanks for the replies.

Hello, We arrive at Vancouver airport at 10:30 am for our RCI cruise to Alaska in May on Ovation. We are planning to take the Sky Train to downtown. We have a room booked at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Assuming everything goes as planned we will be at arriving 3 to 4 hours before checkin time. Does anyone know if the Pan Pacific will store our luggage till checkin time so we can do some exploring? If not are there any other storage options near Canada Place? Thanks

Great - thanks for the reply.

We had a nice chat with a bartender at the HideAway Beach Pool bar. It was early so not too busy. He said that he lived in Nassau but stayed on the island for the duration of his contract. I don't recall how long he said his contract was for but he did say that he enjoyed the arrangement. He also looked forward to getting back to Nassau. He gave us some great advice for eating spots in Nassau which I don't remember. Too much morning drinking.

Hello - We have cruised on Anthem several times and enjoy the outside aft seating area at the back of the WJ. We are cruising on Ovation in May going to Alaska. Just wondering if Ovation has the same WJ setup with an outdoor area at the back? Thanks

Really enjoying your review. We are boarding Anthem on Sunday so this has been a nice warm up for us. Just watched you leave on PTZ. Have a good sail back north!

We freqently cruise out of Cape Liberty because it's a fairly easy drive for us compared to driving or flying to Florida. So, we have done both of the interaries you mentioned. For me I would go with Symphony and do the 3 ports. There is enough to do on an Oasis class ship that if you don't care for the ports you don't really need to get off the ship. That being said we are going on Anthem next week with the same itinary and we be getting off at Port Canveral and take the shuttle to Ron Jon at Coco Beach. We'll do a little beach time and come back to the Port and stop by Fish Lips and have a beer outside with our ffavorite bartender who is starting to know us. At CocoCay we are going to Hideaway beach to enjoy the heated pool, the lounge chairs with padding and the different food options. Finally at Nassau we are going on a cateraman sail/snorkel tour with a 1 hour open bar. Looking forward to all 3 stops. Next October we will be boarding Symphony and will do it all again. Have a great cruise whichever one you pick.

Thanks for your review. We will be visiting CocoCay next week and have booked Hideaway beach. Got it for $39 Cd so we thougth we would give it a try. Looking forward to the heated pool, different food options and the padded loungers.

Looking forward to your posts. We really enjoy Anthem and I know you will have a good time. We will be boarding her for the cruise after yours. Have a great cruise.

We were on Anthem the week before Christmas. We have cruised on Anthem several times and found the food on our last cruise to be fine. I think that food is very subjective and admit that I'm fairly easy to please. I know what I like on the MDR menus and all of the "classics" for me were fine. Lobster was larger than the previous smaller Caribbean type and it's still free for the first one. Windjammer is IMO on Anthem is one of the nicest layout in the fleet. Really enjoy the outside sitting area at the rear. Have a good cruise.

Yes. I believe the $16.99 lobster is available every night as part Premium Selections at the bottom of the menu. At least that's how it worked on our last two cruises on Anthem last October and December.

Not so. They changed the free lobster to a real somewhat larger lobster tail some months ago while at the same time limiting the number of free lobster tails you can have to one.

Hi Tim, welcome to CC. I'll look forward to you LIVE from threads. Have a great cruise. I'm sure you will have a great time.

Never saw the porter but I would have. We didn't see our room steward till the next day.