Canard

Hi,

 

Just wanting to know if the Puffin experience is $79 on top of the $20 to get in to the sea life centre or is the $20 included in that price?

 

Thanks.

You have to pay the $20 entrance fee as well as the $79 tour price. I'm booked on the puffin tour for later this year and was already looking forward to it, but now having read Allisons review, I'm even keener than I was!

Update on the bike rentals at the Convention center - I was by there today on my bike - it appears as if Eezee Riders are renting motorized bikes and scooters only. The Trevor Linden location had a line up of people waiting to rent - we do have a big convention in town this weekend - all the mayors etc from across Canada in town for the Federation of Canadian Mayors conference - perhaps some of them were renting as well - clearing skies, brisk westerly breeze and the usual spectacular views greeters those visitors and those getting off the ships at Canada Place.

Thanks for finding that info out Dennis. A little disappointing that they are not renting regular bikes from the Convention Center location, because that would be so convenient for us, but at least we know now.

For simple fare like that, you might as well just hit the food court in the Pacific Centre - there's an A&W burger joint inside, and you'll find their items a step up from the usual McD affair (especially if the 'Granny' Angus Burger is still available). They're also the only folks who offer diet root beer, in nice big steins if you sit in to eat rather than take away.

 

There's also a Tim Hortons to caffeinate yourself so you can stay up as late as possible - we're not long back from a UK trip, very experienced at dealing with the 8 hour time diff adaptation, and the best thing you can do is force yourself to eat again at c. 6pm local time then stay awake until 9 or 10pm. If you can synch your eating and sleeping to reasonable local approximations the day your arrive, you will feel almost normal again within a couple of days - if you hit the sack too early that first day, you'll be wooly-headed much longer...

 

As to dinner, Diva (inside your hotel) serves some the best soup I've ever had in a restaurant - so even though it's a pretty fancy joint, you can sit at the kitchen 'bar' and just get some soup and salad without having to go anywhere at all. I do suggest after lunch that you get out a little though, sun exposure helps reset the body clock - have a wander down to the waterfront and maybe hit Moose's Down Under or The Butcher & Bullock which are both a block away from your hotel by Pender & Howe.

Thanks guys - all of your recommendations so far sound great (not just Martincath's, I just chose to quote that one) with the Moose Down Under probably leading the pack having looked at the menus.

Based on previous trips to the west coast, I think 9-10pm is a step too far for us! Normally I manage to get to about 7pm and by then I'm in the hotel room with the TV on as loud as possible, fighting to keep my eyes open and miserably failing...

Fortunately, I like waking up early on my second day as I can get a lot done in terms of unpacking/re-packing (just two days in Vancouver before the cruise) and by the end of the third day, my body clock is normally on local time or thereabouts.

I'm looking for recommendations for a quick bite to eat on our first night in Vancouver.

Assuming our flight is on time and we clear immigration quickly, I think we'll be at our hotel (Metropolitan) at about 2pm. However, with the time difference, it'll feel like 10pm to us, and given that we'll have been up since 5am, I don't fancy walking very far to find a meal. I know that if we're desperate, we could probably just hit the food court at the Pacific Center Mall, but I'm hoping that someone can recommend something better than that nearby.

Not after anything too fancy, as in our sleepy state, a top-end meal will be wasted on us - just a place where we can get a burger or a pizza or something simple like that. I don't have a problem going to a chain restaurant either if you want to recommend one of those, given that apart from McDonalds and Subway, we don't get most of the US/Canada chains over here, so anything is different for us!