Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

curleyjane

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    167

  • Joined

 Content Type 

Posts posted by curleyjane

    Cancelled Cruises Refund Tracker/Discussion (merged topics)

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I just received my FCC for my April 4th 2020 cruise that Celebrity cancelled. It was just for Cruise Fare plus 25% extra. I called Celebrity and asked where the taxes and Vacation Protection Plan was , she said would be credited to my credit card in a few weeks. Still waiting on My Choice Air refund which I was told would be credited to my credit card within 2 billing cycles. 

    Blue Horizon Hotel Vancouver

    in West Coast Departures

    Posted

    1 hour ago, martincath said:

    .... 'close to Waterfront station' makes me think perhaps you meant to ask about the Ramada Limited Vancouver Downtown? If so, that Ramada is certainly in a central location that is easily walked to/from Canada Place and even nearer to Waterfront Station. It's an older building repurposed, so again you have potential for some noise (but not close to a major hospital, nor is it inside the main downtown entertainment district, and two busier streets bracket Pender one block each side so it's not too bad for traffic).

     

    On the Ramada's block Pender is OK, but just two blocks east and things get much scruffier as you enter the Downtown EastSide. NB: not dangerous, and the touristiest 'hood in the city, Gastown, is mostly inside this area too - since you're from Cleveland (which I love BTW!) if you are happy to wander about downtown there you'll find a similar vibe in the area around the Ramada (lots of street life in both the gentrified gastropubs and restos sense and the more literal homelessness/begging/drugs trade side of things). Walking from the warehouse district along Old River Rd down to the Gateway district is very similar to Yaletown and Gastown here, with gussied-up old buildings housing bars & restos, busy sidewalks in evening, but still a lot of poverty in evidence. Since it's Canada, you are much less likely to be physically harmed in any way than back home - but casual property crime, especially theft from parked cars, is definitely comparable in frequency to US cities (a rental car downtown is more hindrance than help anyway due to the small distances and expensive parking though).

     

    If you're a suburbanite who does not like coming downtown in the evenings though, Blue Horizon would definitely provide a more pleasant environment.

    Ok seems like Blue Horizon is best fit for us. Thanks for your help!

    Blue Horizon Hotel Vancouver

    in West Coast Departures

    Posted

    12 hours ago, martincath said:

    No - but being familiar with the location it's, shall we say, a mixed bag. SkyTrain is walkable in about 10mins - though it's the less-desirable suburban branch which means half as many trains as the hotels near Bridgeport where the two branches merge (if you come downtown to sightsee, expect to wait 20mins between trains on the way home later in the evening). There's a nice park out back, but you're also just behind Richmond General Hospital and right on one of the busiest through streets in the city - so expect sirens and a lot of traffic noise (maybe they have excellent soundproofing - but at the prices they charge I'm guessing not so much...) A mall and several good Asian food places are within ~10mins walk, and LOTS of good food within ~15-20mins walk.

     

    For a one-night stay, assuming you pack earplugs, then just head to cruise next morning on SkyTrain I think it'll work just fine - but if you want to actually see Vancouver it's among the worse options even just comparing to other airport hotels. Personally I'd be looking downtown at the YWCA Hotel if you wanted to save money and go sightseeing - unless you've already done downtown Vancouver and the North Shore, in which case this could be a solid base to rent a car for a day and hit up Steveston village or UBC-area sites.

    Thank you so much for letting me know, its so hard to pick a perfect hotel when you don't know the area. We are staying 2 nights after cruise and I wanted to be close to the Waterfront Station but after reading your post this is not a good idea. My daughter wants to do a tour and it meets there and we would also like to go sightseeing. I'm thinking we should stay at Blue Horizon.

    Blu menues?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    5 hours ago, ericlardy said:

    Hello, thanks for all the menus.  Do they have lobster or beef Wellington in Blu or do toy need to go to the MDR for those?

    They have Lobster at Blu not sure about Beef Wellington. We were able to order from MDR menu at Blu.

    Vancover Airport to Pier

    in West Coast Departures

    Posted

    You're welcome. Assuming your flight is on time, a delay at Immigration (customs takes virtually no time, since you're not Canadians so unless you are bringing lots of gifts to give away to Canadians you'll never have to worry about Duty...) will work to your benefit. Arriving at the pier after 2pm is optimal for queue avoidance - closer to 3 pm is even better (and if your ship is a 5 or 5:30 planned departure time, you can push it even further - 2 hours before departure is a safe bet for the smallest possible queues).

     

    As CVU says, the train is very consistent. If you JUST miss one at the airport you can still expect in the absolute worst case (Sundays) to reach Waterfront within <40mins (weekend daytime wait time is usually under 15 mins + 26min journey). Then it's 7mins walk if you're familiar with the route - call it 10mins for someone needing to carefully check street names. Cabs hitting traffic can take 40mins plus wait time to get in one, so while it's possible for a cab to be quicker now that you can just tap a credit card to enter SkyTrain and avoid any risk of a queue for the ticket machines, it's usually quicker even for first-time users and big problems with delays are much more common for cabs (plenty of idiot drivers here, and even a minor ding on a bridge causes enormous tailbacks due to the limited alternative routes).

     

    You will even have time to do a little sightseeing if all goes smoothly - if you hit the pier by 1pm queues are about as long as they get, so just drop your bags with the longshoremen and go have lunch, wander Gastown or along the Seawall, have a go on FlyOverCanada. As long as you stay walking distance from the pier the risks of any problems preventing you getting back in time are basically non-existent - nobody who worries about things like a meteor strike or sharknado would risk flying in same day, so I assume you are at least somewhat risk-tolerant;-)

     

    Really the only concern I'd have is the flight - so many possible reasons for schedule slippage, and if your flight is late enough you miss the 'Departure Time - 90mins' cutoff at the pier your cruise is in serious jeopardy. It's unlawful to fly ahead to join the ship at another US port for one-way AK and Cali Coastal cruises - so you can only catch up if it's a round trip that comes back to Canada, a one-way to another country, or a Distant Foreign Port visiting repo cruise back to the east coast. No idea what the On Time % is for your flight so impossible to guesstimate your chances!

     

    We are arriving on a Sunday and its Labor Day weekend. We were worried about Customs, have read people have had to wait an hour or two. Our ship sails at 4 so we are hoping to hop on the train and get to the pier faster then a taxi. Thanks for your tips will make it easier for us:)

    Vancover Airport to Pier

    in West Coast Departures

    Posted

    The train is 30 min or under it and goes underground. When you come out of Customs walk across the street and take the elevator on the Left side to the top 4th floor. Free baggage carts in the Customs hall for you to use and take there if you wish. You drop them off by the train.

     

    Trains come every 7 min. in the day time. Maybe more on weekends .... 12-15 min.

    You can buy a 2 zone ticket in the machine or it is a Weekend it is all 1 Zone [on weekends and after 6:30 PM.]

     

    If you are Seniors and want the discount you need to buy a ticket.

    Or else you can Tap a Visa or Mastercard, must have a card Each and the gate will open and charge You when you Tap out. Be sure the gate monitor sign is green and says enter, then Tap.

     

    The machines take CDN Cash up to $20, Debit or Credit.

     

    You do have the walk after leaving Waterfront Station to Canada Place. Won't take long though. Many are doing the same walk. LOL

     

    Too bad you are not staying a day or so to see our beautiful city! Maybe next time.:)

     

    We have never been to Vancouver before and didn't really know what to expect. Thank you for your tips, it will make it easier for us knowing what we are doing.:D

    Vancover Airport to Pier

    in West Coast Departures

    Posted

    Thank You CVU & Martincath for your help. This is first time we are flying into YVR and our flight doesn't come in till noon. We are a little nervous for time, not sure how long customs will take. Therefore, we need the fastest way to pier and believe Sky Train is the answer.

    onboard credit

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Did you rebook to get the OBC? My fare went up from $1299 to $1329 but I had a GTY and was put in a balcony location that is $1549, maybethat's why they said no to me. What did you say to convince them to give it to you when they started to giving you a hard time?
    Yes I had to rebook went up $30 per person . I asked her the amounts before and after and did math myself [emoji2] . She said oh you are right it would be worth it . I could just tell they did not want to do it.

     

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

    onboard credit

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Wow well after 2 phone calls and an hour and 10 minutes of my time I got $140 onboard credit. My fare went up $60 but I'm still ahead but what a pain. They really dont want to do it at first she told me I would only get $10 on obc because my fare went up so much. When I did math my self she was wrong

     

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

×
×
  • Create New...