ljrfrm
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It's now Saturday!!! Happy Canada Day!
Our plan for the morning was to relax and meet up with our friends around 1 pm to head to Canada Place to celebrate. However, around 10 am our friends texted that they were out and about having fun and we were jealous. We told them we'd get moving and meet them over at English Bay. On our walking tour yesterday, they talked about the "laughing men" at English Bay - I didn't know exactly what type of statues they were but my friend sent me a photo as they were there, and it looked fun. So we got up, dressed and went downstairs to head to Starbucks for breakfast.
Holiday Inn had decorated the lobby in celebration of Canada Day and it was filled with Canadian Flags, red streamers and a few balloons. Fun! We walked across the street and had our necessary coffee and a delicious Orange-Cranberry scone (this would be the beginning of my 27 pound weight gain on this vacation. Ok, maybe it wasn't 27 pounds but the way my clothes fit me now, I wouldn't be surprised if it were close to that!!).
We went back to the hotel and up to the room to gather our stuff for the day. I also talked to the concierge desk at the hotel (it was actually more of an information desk - but you get my point) and told them I wanted to go to English Bay and which bus would we need to take. He pulled out a map and showed me where it was, and told me it was definitely walkable. Yay!
It turns out that he was correct and it was an easy walk from our hotel. We passed lots of shops and restaurants on the way, in addition to many people out and about decked in red for the holiday. I was also wearing red and doing my part to celebrate. My husband was too....initially.....until he dribbled coffee down his front and had to change!! It was a nice walk and the weather was perfect. We got to English Bay and I was SO happy we added this stop to our itinerary (I hadn't planned on it initially) as it was such a nice morning.
We walked around the "A-maze-ing Laughter" statues (AKA Laughing Men statues) and up and down the beach. I ran into some men decked out for Canada Day with great outfits, flags, etc. so of course had to approach them for a photo. We then grabbed something to eat for lunch at a Mediterranean type restaurant. Once again, our lunch was very much on the cheap side. I expected everything to be much more expensive in Vancouver, as many larger cities are. And while there are definitely more expensive places to eat there, we had no problem finding decent places throughout the weekend. And again, that exchange rate didn't hurt either!
Views from English Bay:
Our friends met up with us at the restaurant and after a quick stop in 7-11 for M&M's (which were almost as expensive as our lunch I think!!) we hopped on the bus for Canada Place. They have such an easy public transportation system there, and buses were always plentiful. Tapping in with our Compass Cards made it easy. We were off to celebrate Canada Day with many thousands of our friends.
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Oh where did you go ?????? Come back and tell us more !!!!
Sorry! :) I got sidetracked working on my photos on Shutterfly and the night got away from me!!! I promise to get through Vancouver today after work! I'll get started with a quick entry now - clearly, I have no problems procrastinating leaving for work -ha.
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Here are a few photos from the Vancouver airport:
And here are a few from our walking tour:
We got to Capilano around 5:10 pm - in time to see many people leaving and the lines for the shuttle home for them were long. That said, it looked like they had several shuttles going and most people got on. We paid our money (and got our 30% off!) and went in. We first went to cross the suspension bridge. So fun. Once on the other end, we did the Treetop Adventure and then crossed back over the suspension bridge again to complete the Cliffwalk. We really enjoyed ourselves and had fun - this evening was a definite hit for us! Once we finished the Cliffwalk we went to get a drink and sat and listened to the live music. The weather was gorgeous and the atmosphere was perfect. By this point, most people seemed to be heading to the exits and we felt like we practically had the park to ourselves.
My friend got a certificate for making it across that bridge. There were a few screams involved!!
Take note that the last shuttle leaves before the park closes so keep that in mind. We grabbed the last blue shuttle (a red was leaving later but didn't stop as close to our hotel) which was shortly before 7:00. We had plenty of time in the park and we were ready to leave so it was good timing. The shuttle left right when we got there and we had it to ourselves. We were dropped off at the same spot we were picked up, and walked back to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, we grabbed some drinks from the bar and took them upstairs to the outdoor terrace. Our friends eventually went back to their hotel and we went downstairs to the restaurant to grab some food before they stopped serving. We ended up just ordering a few appetizers and another drink and enjoyed some time relaxing at the bar before heading back up to the room and going to bed.
Tomorrow is Canada Day - time to celebrate!!!!
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I realized I forgot about lunch. My husband and I went for a late lunch out and about near the hotel. There were so many cheap options, I was actually pretty surprised. We found a great place down the street where everything was $4.95. Drinks, appetizers, main dishes, desserts, etc. It does add up because when you see it so cheap, you order everything. Maybe we are already practicing for the cruise ship? We actually spent $35 on lunch but that was with appetizers, drinks and a meal so not bad.
I was happy to see that Capilano had a Twilight discount where they offered 30% off of the entrance price after 5 pm. This sounded perfect for us, since the husbands weren't getting in until mid-day. I also research the free shuttle they had, and decided that would be the best place to go. I initially thought we had to go to Canada Place for the shuttle but then realized when looking at the shuttle schedule that there was a bus stop one block from the hotel. Yes! We agreed to meet our friends there for the 4:15 pm shuttle. We got there a few minutes early, and the bus came at 4:10...... 5 minutes early! Our friends hadn't arrived yet so we didn't get on. Bummer. They showed up right after, just in time for the 4:15 bus that already came. No worries, there was another one scheduled for 4:35. Well, that one didn't come until 4:40. So keep that in mind when using the shuttle, times may vary. BUT, it was free and the driver was a nice guy who shared Vancouver information and chatted over the microphone. We easily made it to Capilano in time in plenty of time to enjoy it without feeling rushed. I would highly recommend the free shuttle - there is a blue line and a red line, so check both for all the bus stops to find one near you.
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The free tour ended at the Olympic Cauldron. We spent a few minutes checking out the cruise ships that were there and walked around a bit more looking around. There was a sign there pointing to a public restroom so we thought we'd find it (never pass up a public restroom, ha!) to use before we left. I swear we walked in circles for 10 minutes looking for it and then finally gave up. Why we couldn't find it, who knows. We decided to walk back to the hotel as our husbands would be coming in soon. Our feet were tired so it seemed much longer to get back, but it was very doable.
We got back up to the hotel room and I saw that our room hadn't been cleaned yet. Given that it was 1:00 pm or so, I was surprised, but it wasn't a big deal. Soon my husband arrived, we still didn't know where the other husband was as he hadn't made an appearance yet. My friend packed up and headed to her hotel where she was staying with her husband. She stayed on our sofa bed the night before, but they found a hotel that worked better for them pricewise. For us, since we were using points, we needed to stay there.
At some point, I went downstairs to get some water (they have that yummy infused cold water in the jug there). Out of curiosity, I asked the front desk about housekeeping. They were very apologetic and offered to send someone up there right away. I assured them that as long as it was done at some point (we needed towels) it was no problem and there was no hurry. It really wasn't a bit deal and we never had any other issues the other 3 days.
My friend's husband finally arrived - it turns out he had been at the airport waiting for my husband, who didn't see him so came to the hotel. Whoops. He went on to his hotel and we agreed to meet at the free shuttle stop to head to the Capilano Suspension Bridge at 4:00 pm.
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Glad to hear you liked the hotel. We'll be staying there for 2 nights in Sept and haven't seen anyone here choosing it. How was the immediate area? Any concerns walking around after dark?
I was worried about seeing a few reviews on Tripadvisor, but we loved the area. We never felt unsafe and thought the location really worked for us. We walked around several nights after dark and never felt uncomfortable at all and it honestly didn't seem (to us at least) any different (for better or worse) than other areas nears Canada Place, etc. I would definitely stay there again!
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It's Friday, and our first full day in Vancouver. We slept until around 9 and then showered and headed out for fun. Our husbands were coming in between noon (friend's husband) and 1:00 pm (mine), so I had looked for something for us to do in the morning. I had a thought about possible walking tours and used Google (my friend) to see what was available. I found out that Tour Guys was in Vancouver and went to their Website. It turns out that Tour Guys offers four different FREE walking tours in Vancouver. And one, the Downtown and Waterfront Tour, is offered on Friday mornings. Score! You register online for the tour so they know how many guides to send and they tell you with the registration confirmation that if you end up not being able to go, there's no need to cancel. It's free, although they work for tips!
We headed out for breakfast in the direction of where our walking tour was meeting up. There was a Starbucks right on the corner but that just seemed so unadventurous so we went on. We found a Nestle Tollhouse Cafe (who doesn't love Nestle Tollhouse?) and decided that was the perfect place from breakfast. We both ordered coffee and ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches (friend's was a croissant, mine a panini). Oh my, it was SO good. Coffee and a huge panini was only $4 (which is even less in US dollars!!! Love the exchange rate!).
We got to the Tour Guys meeting spot just in time. The meet up spot was only about 10 minutes from our hotel. There were enough people for them to have two guides. We had Emily and she was very good. She's also does stand up comedy evidently. We learned quite a bit of history and saw things we probably would have missed. The tour lasted a bit over 90 minutes and ended in Canada Place. We went into Vancouver's oldest church (it was beautiful), listened about their tallest building and why there is so much underground real estate, learned about the food trucks, and explored Canada Place. We also lucked out and ran into some bagpipers (well, not literally!) who were performing. It was a great tour - and at the end, we both gave Emily a much needed tip. I still hadn't gotten any Canadian dollars (fail, I totally forgot to do that before the tour) but many (if not most) were paying with American dollars, which may have made Emily very happy! So, I added my part to the hat and we wandered around Canada Place a bit on our own.
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Great start...keep it coming..love your style..
Thanks!! :)
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We stayed at the Holiday Inn Downtown in Vancouver. This turned out to be a perfect hotel for us. We had enough points to cover all 4 nights there - so our only charge was one dinner. We found the location to be perfect for us. I worried at first that it would be too far from Canada Place or not in a good location - but it turned out being central to make many places walkable and we were happy with it. We found the customer service to be great, enjoyed the hotel bar and the various terraces we could sit on enjoying our drinks. They were also very helpful with giving us directions and typical tourist information.
I debated for awhile how we should get to the hotel. I knew the Sky Train went near the hotel but was worried about the hassle, lugging my bags and at this point it was 9:30 pm so I was also unsure about safety. A taxi would supposedly be about $40 but divided between both of us, maybe that wasn't so bad. In the end, we decided to take the Sky Train - and I'm so glad we did. It was SO quick and easy to get downtown!!
We bought something from the machine called a "Compass Card". This is a reloadable fare card that works on both the train, ferries and busses. You then just tap the card for the fare to be deducted when you are traveling. You could add fare to the card when needed and with the Compass Card, you get the best "faresaver" fare. You can add a "Day Pass" to it or pay as you go where they charge you by zones. We found the pay as you go was best for us, as we were able to walk to so many places. There was a small charge for the card ($6) which is refundable when you turn it in - so we planned to do that on Monday when we were leaving. Take note also that if you don't want to return the card, we found out that they also let you go "negative" in your balance, so you could use that refundable compass card amount for your last trip. That way there is nothing to return.
The Sky Train was right at the airport and simple to find. I used a credit card for the machine (we never did get any Canadian dollars) and put $10 on the card which covered me for the whole time I was there. The trains came often and we were soon on our way downtown. It didn't take long at all for us to get to our stop. The hotel was midway between two stops but we chose to go to the Yaletown Station. Once there, we saw a taxi waiting as we came out. As it was late and dark, and we didn't know where the hotel was exactly, we chose to take the taxi. After a quick 5 minute drive (which cost us only $5.00) we were pulling up to the Holiday Inn. The cost for the train (including the airport surcharge), taxi and tip was only about $7 each. We later saw that had we walked to the hotel, it was slightly uphill and would have been harder with all our luggage, so we made a good call.
We checked in quickly and went up to our 7th story room. We quickly went to bed as it had been a long day -but we were very much looking forward to our first day in Vancouver and the husbands joining us.
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Thursday began with a surprise trip to the optometrist. Nothing like starting a long vacation with an eye infection from your contact lenses. I found an optometrist to squeez me in and then I made the trip to Walgreens to pick up the prescribed antibiotic eye drops. While at Walgreens, I also picked up some Lifesaver Gummies (a travel staple for me!) and my friend grabbed a few things for the trip.
We got back to her house in time to finish packing. I traveled with two checked bags, and smaller carry on type suitcase and a weekender bag. No way I could squeeze everything into just the small suitcase and I was worried about lugging around anything larger. This worked out perfectly for me. I just slipped the weekender bag into the suitcases handle and wheeled everything around easily. This was important as we ventured to our hotel once in Vancouver (more on that later). I also was able to pack everything for Alaska into the suitcase and only had to open up and use the weekender bag while in Vancouver -which was convenient and easy while not worrying about raincoats, fleeces, etc. while in SF and Vancouver.
My friend and I took BART to the airport and dropped our bags off, having previously check in with the United app. I was fortunately upgraded to First this leg. I used upgrade vouchers for each flight, but as I hadn't received the upgrade initially I wasn't sure I got it. My friend somehow lost her seat that was previously assigned and was moved back to the last row. I gave her a drink coupon I had which hopefully helped her enjoy her flight a bit more. I think there was a smelly man near her too that flight - luckily it was a short 2 hour flight and we arrived on time into Vancouver.
Wow! What an amazing airport. I was pleasantly surprised when I got off the plane. For those of you who have never been to the Vancouver Airport, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Being the typical tourists we are, we stopped to take pictures so were the last ones from our flight to arrive into the customs area.
Customs was very organized - at least while we were there. I was very impressed - much better than other experiences in other countries, including coming back here to Virginia from overseas. We got through very quickly, and we were ushered on after being asked "What is the purpose of your visit" from the customs agent. Unbelievably, I couldn't answer that question. For some reason, I was tongue tied. It might have been the 3 glasses of wine on the flight though!! :)
We gathered up our luggage (which came out quickly) and headed to the hotel.
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Thank you for the review. We are heading to the NCL Sun, and Vancouver for a couple days after in August/September. I am reading whatever I can. Looking forward to it!
Great, I'll do my best to add some helpful details.
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I was in the test forum. I have no idea how I ended up here - other than user error somehow. I am trying to find admin to see if they can delete. I actually won't have tried to test at all but I got the idea as I saw that forum. Post-vacation brain I guess. Hopefully this can be deleted.
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This past year, I posted two reviews from my time on the Escape. I hope it was helpful to others but I also found it was a great way for me to reminisce (I can't believe I actually spelled that word correctly!!!) on my trip. SO, as I just returned from Alaska, I thought I would try this once again. If anyone is interested, here are my last two reviews:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2336702
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428538
I booked this cruise the week that the 2017 Alaska dates were first available - I think I was close to 600 days out from sailing. It was a long wait - but it was SO worth it. I was a bit out of my element for this trip, I guess because it wasn't the typical Caribbean cruise I was used to. I spent a lot of time on Cruise Critic trying to figure out what clothes I needed to pack (and needed to buy), what excursions were the best, etc. How much would it rain? Do I need to buy binoculars? etc. etc. This turned out to be such an amazing vacation with perfect weather!! Alaska is incredible.
For this trip, I (age 50, turning 51 on vacation) sailed with my husband (age 52) and friends. This was new to us, as we never cruised with anyone outside our family before. It was fun to plan with others though - and definitely turned out to be helpful when looking for lodging, excursions, etc.
Although the cruise didn't leave Vancouver until July 3rd, I flew out earlier and took advantage of being free (sounds like an NCL commercial "Free, to do what I want" lalala) from work and kids and spent 6 days vacationing prior to sailing. Since I had to change planes in San Francisco anyways, I decided to spend a few days there (where I grew up and went to high school) to break up the flights. I won't write alot about pre-Vancouver because I'm sure that's not too much of interest or helpful for everyone, but will add more detail about Vancouver because we had an amazing time there and fell in love with the city.
Work was crazy and it was all I could do to wrap everything up in time to leave. My friend drove me to the airport and after checking in with United for my flight to San Francisco (from Virginia) I went directly to the Red Carpet Club (someone conveniently had a voucher to get in that was going to expire and graciously gave it to me) and I ordered a big glass of white wine (I'm not so sure it was a big glass, but that's what I asked for!!) and raided the crackers and cheese that was out. I only had about 25 minutes there, but I sure put a dent in their profits for the day!!
My flight boarded on time (I didn't get my upgrade I was hoping for - boo!) and I flew direct to San Francisco which gave me enough time to watch Deep Water Horizon (eh, I wasn't too excited about this one) and Girl on the Train. I arrived on time into SFO and took BART to my friend's house. I had a great two days visiting friends and trompsing around.
On Thursday evening, we took our direct United flight from SFO to Vancouver. where we would both meet up with our husbands the next day.
We were SO ready for fun and adventure!!
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Just practicing posting photos but didn't leave them up. I'm starting a review but never added photos but thought I'd give it a try this time. Looks like I figured it out.....I think. Guess we'll see - ha. :)
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Just practicing
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During our week on the Vibe it was both. The hot tub and bar were lively and fun - and we definitely had our share of fun.......and drinks. That said, it was mellow and relaxing in the other areas and we were able to relax, read and be pampered and spoiled by Michael - as he served drinks, fruit kabobs, etc. For us (at least in our week) it was the best of both worlds.
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We had a great day on July 7th with Craig with Dyea Dave. I would highly recommend it. They were so easy to book with and always answered me back quickly if I had any questions. We were a group of 8 and they provided us the large shuttle just for us - so we had our own private tour. We saw everything described previously in this thread - and stopped often for photos which was great. We also stopped at the "Truck Stop" for lunch. I will say though -it was probably one of the best chicken sandwiches I've had in ages.
We saw so much and learned a great deal about all the history of the area. We arrived on time to catch the train back, where Craig met us and took part of our group back to the cruise ship while others stayed in town to shop.
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Casey took our embarkation photo which was very hurried due to my darling daughter leaving her phone in a bathroom all the way at check in so no photo with the 3 teens☹️She was a busy gal on the Sun. I caught her a few times behind the counter and then taking photos at ports and in the dining rooms! You have a very talented daughter and I can tell in your writing how proud!
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We also saw her off and on throughout the same cruise - and she was always running and busy so I didn't get the chance to chat with her. She looked like she was doing a great job though!! :)
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For all of you that don't gain weight while cruising, don't worry......I think I gain the weight for you! :)
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We didn't get our offer until 20 days out. Much later than in the past with other ships.
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Just talked to our man on the ship-our son, Kurt's birthday today!
He told us he found out why the Getaway could not leave St. Petersburg on time. Get this-President Putin was in the area (I think he said he was in a stadium). The Russians (probably the military) disabled the navigation systems of the Getaway. After a period of time, a black helicopter flew over the ship and the navigation systems came back on. Sounds unbelievable-I cannot think of why they would do this, but they did according to Kurt and what he was told.
That's what my friend told me also - but didn't post it as I wasn't sure how accurate it was. She said the GPS was jammed. Interesting that you heard the same thing.
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The Getaway has sailed from
St Petersburg
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Glad to hear that. I just heard from her also - said they only left 1.5 hours late.
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Friends on board now say that it looks like they can't leave St Petersburg as planned.
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We have our Meet and Greet on July 4th at 11 am (at Las Ramblas) so she should definitely come by. She may need that extra time to get my husband to smile too - ha!!
I will take a photo of Casey too for you! :)
on July 3rd - "Norwegian Sun" sails for Alaska from Vancouver under Lions Gate Bridge
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
I love it!! I think if I squint really hard I can see myself!! Ok, well not really, but I was there - and it's great to see it from the other side. Thanks for posting!! :)