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em-sk

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Everything posted by em-sk

  1. I would second the comment on Costco. Over the last year or so I have found the best deal on car rental in Canada through Costco.
  2. Unless you have a lot of bags the cruise ship transfer is not a big deal. The cruise terminal is located on a lower level below the Pan Pacific. Across the street from the Fairmount Waterfront. Both are very nice hotels.
  3. I would normally suggest public transit, Skytrain (metro/subway system in Vancouver) is excellent. However with the mobility issues having a car may make sense. The port is actually a terminal in downtown Vancouver. If you google for it is called "Canada Place". The Canada Place complex has the convention center on the ground level; Pan Pacific hotel above; Cruise Terminal is on a lower level under the convention center. It is surrounded by high-rise condo towers and office buildings. You will find most major car rental outlets will have outlets within a few blocks of the cruise terminal however they are located in parkades of office towers. So it is a bit tricky to find. There are lots of attraction downtown including museums, galleries, etc. The airport is located in an area called Richmond. If your staying out in Richmond I would avoid the downtown venues and go for the ones with good parking. Stevenson Harbour is a historic fishing/canning area in Richmond. Lots of historic buildings, some good restraints etc. Richmond has a large Asian community. There is a number of shopping complex that are full of Asia shops. Aberdeen Centre would be the main one. You probably don't want to come all this way to do shopping but their is outdoor outlet mall near the airport. Going over the bridge into Vancouver,... If you are in to gardens Queen Elizabeth Park has a fantastic view of the city, a conservatory and rose garden and a restraint with a great view of the city. Vandusen botanical garden is traditional garden. There is also a Japanese Garden at the University of British Columbia. I would normally suggest the Museum of Anthropology however they are closed for seismic upgrades. Granville Island in Vancouver has a public market in a historic building, lots of artisan workshops and specialty shops surrounding it. The Vancouver Museum is also outside the downtown core and tends to have revolving exhibits. In North Vancouver..... If you don't mind driving, Grouse Mountain is in North Vancouver and there is a gondola that takes you up to the top of the mountain.
  4. My advise is find a hotel in downtown Vancouver, explore Vancouver and then catch Amtrak on Saturday from Vancouver to Seattle. Spend some time in Seattle and gab your flight on Sunday. If you don't want to spend time in Seattle there are shuttle buses from Vancouver direct to the airport in Seattle. However the train is a much more comfortable experience. Save Victoria for a future trip.
  5. The stretch between the Casino is a bit of transition area from industrial/warehousing to retail. That said it is perfectly safe. No 3 Road would the main road, but there is also a short cut along a path between some industrial building. It is a safe area.
  6. All the airlines have medical desks. If you let them know in advance they will arrangement if required ahead of time.
  7. I think the normal expectation is for the passenger to bring their medication in a cooler and the airline can provide ice in flight if needed. I am assuming your on Air Canada. If so they have a medical desk that makes those types of special arrangements. There some contact info under the questions tab. You could give them a call. https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/plan/accessibility.html#/home:
  8. The reference you have is causing me to second guess what I said. The EU wording is weird.... European Union common questions: "15 I have a valid long stay visa/residence permit for a country that is part of the Schengen area. Do I need another visa to travel to other Schengen states? No. A long stay visa or a residence permit issued by a Schengen State allows you to travel or stay in other Schengen States, while respecting the maximum duration of a “short stay” (a stay of "90 days in any 180 day period")." https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/frequently_asked_questions_en.pdf I have had some family/friends stay longer in Portugal and usually already have to leave enter via another country given how flights work out. I looked it up on the Portuguese website and it is different there as well: https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/prorrogar-permanencia/
  9. Perhaps a bit more upscale. The Fairmount Vancouver Airport is actually in the terminal building and a very nice hotel. Pacific Gateway Hotel has a shuttle bus. It is an independent brand but comparable. There is a nice restaurant on a pier that stretches into the river. This is on the airport property and mostly surrounded by airport buildings. The same shuttle will take you to the outlet mall. As others have suggested the River Rock Casino is on the Canada (subway) Line that is closest to the hotel. This is mostly an industrial area. Not a lot outside the casino and a few other hotels. The Vancouver Airport Marriot Hotel in Richmond has a free shuttle. It is located in Richmond town center. That area around the hotel is very walkable. Good number of restraints and coffee shops etc. Just across the street is Richmond center that is a major shopping center. Hudson's Bay Company is the major anchor department store but it has a wide selection of all the major brands from the Apple store to footlocker. More suburb feel than downtown Vancouver. Lots of Asian restraints and shops.
  10. Your asking what NCL is going to do. That is a good question. They may not even notice or may be confused. Generally a Schengen visa extension or long stay visa is just that. It may be issued by one of the countries in the region but valid across the entire region. There is effectively no passport check between Portugal and Spain. Not clear anyone in Spain would even be looking at any visas or passports. Are you on one of these cruises that stops in Morocco? If so you are leaving Schengen and re-entering. So the period starts all over again. If your in Canada trying to talk to Portugal's consulate good luck. I find they are very hard to get a hold of.
  11. It is a weird one. It is a federal government of Canada document that is generated by the provincial government. You will notice it has a provincial logo in the left and the government of Canada logo in the right. The feds have standing and agreement with other countries who will accept and may verify the document. While provinces have the raw data that is needed to populate it. Same thing with the old fashion vaccine passports that have been used for years. The federal government would supply blank passport books to the provincial health regions who would complete and issue them updating the federal database in the process when issues or updated.
  12. I used WestJet to the US last week. Was asked to confirm that I was vaccinated as part of online checkin but was not asked to update proof. Was not asked at US customs in Calgary on the connection. However I agree with others, you should bring along proof of vaccination should someone ask for it. Vaccination is a legal requirement for Canadians to enter the US.
  13. Air New Zealand and Air Canada are codeshare partners. Air Canada will very likely issue you a Air New Zealand boarding pass. in Terrace or online when you check in for the first fight. If seats assignments are not available for some reason it will likely say something "to be assigned".. if for some reason Air Canada can't print the boarding pass, just bring along a copy of your booking to show them. to go from domestic to international.
  14. If you want a bench mark. Pre ordering the 1L bottles on Air Canada duty free is $35 CDN (or $28 if buying two bottles). Delivered to your seat on your return flight. To take advantage of the option, you will need a friend to walk the second bottle through Canadian customs. https://acdutyfree.com/crown-royal-canadian-whisky-1l Should note, it is only offered on flights leaving Canada. So you probably don't want to do this but it provides a bench mark.
  15. The OP is heading to Canada so it sounds like it be International to International. They indicated it would be a Delta-WestJet connection. International-International are rare at US airports to the point I don't think any of them are setup to do that type of connection without claiming bags or bypassing US customs for the hour or two your in the US. Most US airports don't even have separate international concourses. Much better to make that type of connection in Europe or Canada.
  16. The two wine/lquor stores that are within walking distance to your hotel are around a 10 minute walk. They are going to be fairly small retail locations with some selection but not a lost of speciality items. JAK'S Beer Wine Spirits at 8555 Sea Island Way #135, Richmond, BC V6X 0A8 and Bridgeport Liquor Store at 3031 Beckman Pl, Richmond, BC V6X 3R2 If you want to get a felling for what is offered, they have an online shopping option at https://www.jaks.com/ If you want a larger selection your going to want to go over to a BC Liquor store or get a hotel near one. Yes, I would do credit cards. You can also do Uber if that is an option your comfortable with.
  17. When the flight is setup they allocate a certain number of seats to each fare class code (that letter code) as the cheap seats sell out only the more expensive ones are available. Usually that means if its a popular city pair the cheap seats on the direct flight sell out first before the connecting ones.
  18. They have pre-clearance in Winnipeg. Not certain of the hours. If the flight operates outside the hours that pre-clearance is offered then they would clear customs in Florida on arrival. Not uncommon at other Canadian airports. Pre-clearance closes in Vancouver at 9:00 pm. Any red-eye flights after that time to the US go out of international.
  19. Interesting. Weird history to how that came to be in the US. Most countries have similar laws that govern personal records (that happen to include medical records). That includes countries like Canada and the UK where health care is single payer. In the case of NCL, the ships are registered in the Bahamas so the laws of that country would apply.
  20. Not certain where your flying to/from. If you coming out of Alberta I would check the options on WestJet or Air Canada and then ask them to put you on the return. There are some ultra-low-cost airlines like Swoop and Flair that operate into Alberta. However those don't support connections and NCL tends to avoid those types of airlines. Usually your on the hock for hotels if needed.
  21. There are a number of variables at play. First off most airlines have sophisticated software algorithms that avoid this happening. I am usually flying in/out of Canada, Air Canada does not oversell Business or Premium Economy, so they will move people from economy into empty seats in premium cabins to make room in economy. WestJet does not oversell at all so the only time they have a standby list is when they are reacomidating passengers off another flight. I suspect the US is similar. It happens but not all that frequently. With some very limited exceptions most airlines also put confirmed passengers in front of standby passengers including those being rebooked off other flights. The airlines I am familiar with tends to be a combination of status, fare class and check in sequence number. NCL is going to going to try to get the cheapest fair class they can get at the time. At the same time consumers shopping on expedia are going to do the same. Sometime NCL will actually be the cheapest on the flight other times it will not. It is going to be different from flight to flight.
  22. martincath gave some great advise.... only thing I can add.. The building that houses the cruise ship terminal (Canada Place) has the terminal on a lower level, the convention center on the ground floor and the Pan Pacific Hotel above. There is also two Fairmount across the street from the convention center. They are fantastic hotels but expensive. If you looking for a budget hotel there is a Days Inn about a block away. I have stayed there. It is 100 year old building and is similar to a European boutique hotel. The rooms are smaller but it is well maintained and clean. Lots of mid-market hotels between those two. Hotels in downtown Vancouver are generally a great deal in comparison to Manhattan but generally more expensive than most cities of a comparable size in the US. I am generally a fan of the Delta hotels and slightly cheaper the Sandman hotels in downtown Vancouver.
  23. Are you on Air Canada/United or WestJet/Delta. Terminal 1 (where Air Canada is) you do the transfers in an area just for transfer passengers. It is quick and 2 1/2 is far more than enough time. Terminal 3 (where WestJet/Delta is) you have to exit the airside are and go into the lines are passengers leaving from Toronto. Your going to have longer lines. It is do able but it will take longer than over at Terminal 1.
  24. As others have said, two hours should be fine. Just follow the signs for US connections it is fairly streamlined process. Bags are automatically transferred.
  25. So the operating airlines is the one that owns the aircraft, supplies the staff and provides the service. At the airport you check in with the operating airlines counter.. Airlines can't fly everywhere in the world their customers want to go so they need to partner. The basic type of partnership is called an interline and the more sophisticated deeper type of partnership is called a codeshare. Finnair is selling you a ticket that includes a flight operated by American and the second flight operated by Iberia. When they do this as a codeshare the American flight has both an American and Finnair flight number. There are three major international alliances. Skyteam, OneWorld, and Star Alliance. Not all airlines are in alliances but many are and they codeshare extensively within their alliances. American, Alaska, Finnair, British Airways, Iberia are all part of the OneWorld alliance. So they sell seats on each other flights all the time. Since you said you fly into Canada. Air Canada and United (both in the Star Alliance) are codeshare partners so many Air Canada operated flights also have United numbers and many United flights have Air Canada numbers.
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