Kalynan

@martincath can understand why they would pay that to watch Messi, he is superb!!  Don't see why the Whitecaps need to give them free tickets though, 'cos they aren't able to guarantee that the opposing team will play him in the match, even presuming he is uninjured & fit to play in the game.

Can't see the 36-nil ever happening again, think the Queens will be safe enough and your Dad will be happy & yes the Lichties are still part-time.

My brother's away with the tartan army to Germany in a fortnight and touring the country by train to watch the national team, so he'll maybe see your cousin playing.

Would easily bring a pair of Smokies but not so sure the other passengers on the plane would appreciate the aroma and wouldn't want to infringe any Canadian customs & border regulations🐟

@Milhouse & @martincath many thanks both and especially whilst during emergency fire recovery procedures!!

Will check out the assorted venues and see what we all fancy most & what would be the best fit with our plans during the earlier part of the day.

Our local team (the world-record-holders Red Lichties) got relegated this year, so they'll be up against QoS next season, so understand what type of quality football (ahem, 'soccer') to expect.  We're really just going to see Ryan Gauld (if he's playing) who did a lot of his youth development with Dundee Utd and also to have the bragging rights of having been in the stadium when it is utilised during the 2026 World Cup (maybe even see Scotland playing there on TV if they qualify).

Already got our tickets and thanks for the info on getting into the ground.

⚽⚽⚽

Thanks @Milhouse we've got the ferries booked and the one back into Horseshoe Bay gets in about 1045hrs.

We thought 4 hours at Grouse Mountain would allow for decent-ish value for money for the visit as long as we would have enough time to drop bags at our accommodation at O Canada House B&B before returning the hire car prior to our rental deadline at 1630hrs.

Have seen one of your Stanley Park walking loops and other routes recommended by Vancouver folk/locals but I'm trying to persuade the remainder of our group (we're all in our early 60's barring one late 50's) to perhaps hire bikes for half a day to go round the Seawall, so not sure what we will finally settle on.

If we walk to the match on Saturday evening, is there somewhere you might recommend for an evening meal & perhaps a beer on the way there?

We've now settled on getting the ferry back from Vancouver Island via Nainamo - Horseshoe Bay on Friday 13th (hope this isn't an omen!) September and are contemplating Grouse Mountain instead of Sea to Sky gondola - couple of questions....

We'd probably get to the Grouse car park for about 11-ish and the rental car needs to be returned to the Avis downtown at 1630hrs, does this leave enough time to have a decent visit to Grouse mountain?  Is the traffic really bad for the journey to Avis on a Friday afternoon?  How long should we plan for the drive from the car park to downtown?

We are wanting to visit Stanley park as well, so if the above potential visit to Grouse mountain isn't realistically a good idea, would it make more sense to cancel that plan and head to Stanley park instead.

Or.... we have all day Saturday & Sunday and therefore could have a full day in Stanley park, what makes better sense?

We have booked tickets to go to the Whitecaps football on the Saturday at 1930hrs - was thinking about getting the False Creek ferry over there from Granville, is this a sensible transport or is there a better option?

All suggestions welcomed, many thanks !!

Just joined and looking forward to reading !!!

Hope you & your Dad have had a great time.

We are doing the same B2B route in September and are looking forward to our first visit to Canada & Alaska.

Many thanks Millhouse, looking to fly in around 10th Sept. 

Instead of just the 2 of us, we're now looking to persuade another couple to come with us in mid-September next year.

Would our initial itinerary / planning still be ok at this time of year?  

Any alternative suggestions or ideas would be welcomed !!

Of course, forgot about the airport thanks again.

Thanks em-sk, any suggestions for rental cars in Richmond? 

Thanks Milhouse

We’re in initial planning for a 6-day Vancouver visit and 2-week B2B Alaska cruise at the end of April 24.

Flight arrives into YVR at 1900hrs on a Tuesday.

Thinking of getting a Vancouver hotel for first night, before hiring a rental car the next day and heading over to Victoria for 2 nights, then returning to Vancouver dropping rental car and 3 night stay in the city.

We’re interested to see a bit of Victoria (gardens, harbour area etc) on Wednesday and then perhaps taking a little driving round trip on Thursday (Port Renfrew, Honeymoon Bay, Duncan).

On Friday take ferry from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay and then up to the Sea to Sky gondola at Squamish, before heading back to Vancouver and return rental car (or alternatively, head up for 1-night stay at Whistler instead, then drive to Vancouver on Saturday morning).

Then Friday/Saturday - Sunday seeing some of the highlights of the city (Stanley park, maybe bike hire, False Creek etc) prior to cruise sail-away at 1700hrs on Monday.

Is this achievable, sensible?  Would welcome all advice, thoughts, suggestions?

TIA

Great itinerary, been following along and interesting to see how the Captain & staff handled the route changes due to weather conditions.

Never done any B2B cruises, therefore curious how it works with cabin allocation after you mentioned that it was unusual to remain in the same cabin for the following cruise?

Safe travels and enjoy your holidays !!

Thanks Ken & Mrs Ken for taking us on your travels!!!

It's been great following along and reading all about your fantastic voyaging, your wonderful exploration of beautiful new places and of course the super-duper pictures.  

Will definitely come back and read all about your Japan trip, especially since it's a place we would really like to visit.

Safe journey back home !!

Should also say that she would usually have at least one other coffee in the day or evening, or even a frappe-thing, which seemed to be reasonable decent value

Starbucks package can be pre-purchased for single guests only, as my wife is the big coffee drinker in our family and on our Panama Canal cruise earlier this year 'twas only her that had the package.

I would be 'sent' down in the mornings with her cabin card (and my own in case it was required for security checking) to fetch a large skinny decaf Latte to get her in the mood for the day ahead.

Happy wife - happy life !!!  (as they say)

Following Ken and Mrs Ken on this epic adventure.  Looks totally brilliant itinerary, have a great time !!

Also following you guys.  What a superb adventure!!!

Cruzer........not sure if this is the much help, but Google maps indicates its 1.2 miles, but don't know if its walkable through the port 

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Terminal+F,+North+Cruise+Boulevard,+Miami,+FL,+USA/Cruise+Terminal+A+-+Royal+Caribbean+International+(Crown+of+Miami),+2000+N+Cruise+Blvd,+Miami,+FL+33132,+United+States/@25.775462,-80.1717661,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x88d9b577380f8b33:0x9a5fce846e3eddd8!2m2!1d-80.1758139!2d25.7787765!1m5!1m1!1s0x88d9b5ce3c60879d:0xbe6aaa6cdfa450db!2m2!1d-80.1588008!2d25.7722484!3e2

Cheers both NoShoes and John !!!!

And yes John, heavy still available in most pubs, although I don't visit them as much as in my younger days. 

NoShoes2..... Do you have to pre-book the drop-off at the port with the depot prior to arrival at downtown Miami? 

JohninDC.... Same question, do I have to arrange the shuttle with Avis before arrival at Miami?

Thanks !!

We have an Avis car rental return next month to the depot in Downtown Miami at 99 Southeast 2nd Street and then we're heading for NCL cruise from terminal B.

Anyone with recent experience of transportation from the Avis depot to the port?  

Does Avis provide a shuttle service from there to the port?  

Can we get one of the Avis staff to drop us off at the port?  

Does Avis provide their Curbside Delivery Service to the port as well as airport?  

Would taxi or Uber be better?

TIA

Ken & Mrs Ken............ Thanks for the detailed reports of your daily activities on your cruise which looks to have been fab and your excellent pictures.

Like others have said, you have a great way of providing helpful information whilst whetting the appetite for journeying to far-flung places which we are still keen to explore !!

You also brought back happy memories of our Caribbean cruise in an aft balcony cabin on the Jade (10168) in 2017 - superb sunsets with a cocktail or two in hand 🍸🍸

I agree that the wifi on board is rubbish and not worth buying in my opinion.

This was clearly evident back in the time when Passenger Locator Forms had to be completed for assorted countries and to even return to the UK - Marella provided limited free wifi for passengers to compete these forms and the connectivity & upload speeds etc were completely rubbish.

We had the same experience 10 days ago when we boarded Discovery....

Show Lounge for video, then to muster point on outside deck to get card scanned.

Glasgow flight out last week was 2 hours late taking off !!!!

Also on the way home on Tuesday this week was another hour-ish before leaving Palma !!!

Everything else about the cruise was quite good, just flights a bit of disappointment due to the delays.