Vancouver on Sunday Sept 19th

[Sally Forth]

Just a reminder for those with cruises leaving Vancouver this weekend that it is estimated that there will be 16,000 cruise ship passengers in and out on Sunday, there are two big conventions right next to Canada Place, a couple of big movie shoots, and the Terry Fox Run at Stanley Park.

 

Plan for delays. If you are going in or out of Canada Place and can pull your own bags, consider taking the train to/from Waterfront Station. If you have people picking you up, try heading over to Lonsdale Quay via the Seabus and meeting them there.

 

Viv

[LeftcoastBC]

& the paper (Sun) says there will be 8 ships in port

 

There will be Only 6 :)

 

Regardless it will be a busy place

[Putterdude]

& the paper (Sun) says there will be 8 ships in port

 

There will be Only 6 :)

 

Regardless it will be a busy place

 

Remember the old adage "don't let the truth stand in the way of a good story". Regardless this board will be full of complaints for the next few weeks about how bad things were at Canada Place and YVR and people will never be coming back.:(

[Sally Forth]

Remember the old adage "don't let the truth stand in the way of a good story". Regardless this board will be full of complaints for the next few weeks about how bad things were at Canada Place and YVR and people will never be coming back.:(

 

That is so true. I've had horrible line-ups at Heathrow, Newark and LAX and would never write off London, NYC or LA as a destination.

 

Also, please remember that if you are flying home to the US out of Vancouver or going on a cruise to the US, the passport people holding you up at the airport and cruise port are US Immigration.

 

Viv

[trophy_23]

& the paper (Sun) says there will be 8 ships in port

 

There will be Only 6 :)

 

Regardless it will be a busy place

 

Will be there to photograph sailaway rain or shine, great day with that many ships!!

[Urban trekker]

There are four at Canada Place and two at Ballantyne - if the weather is half decent I too may head down with camera in hand and shoot a few pics - met an old friend who is from the Seattle area today at the new downtown Y who is heading out on the Ryndam for a Panama Canal cruise and then next week know of two others who are taking the Statendam through the Canal as well.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[ceilidh1]

That is so true. I've had horrible line-ups at Heathrow, Newark and LAX and would never write off London, NYC or LA as a destination.

 

Also, please remember that if you are flying home to the US out of Vancouver or going on a cruise to the US, the passport people holding you up at the airport and cruise port are US Immigration.

 

Viv

 

:) It always amazes me how many people complain to the cruise line reps about the lines, yet never utter a word to the US CBP officers who are the reason for the lines....also amusing that the vast majority of the complaints come from Americans and it is their Government that requires the pre-clearance. Hmmmm...:confused:

[Urban trekker]

And of course everyone who is complaining about the long line-ups will have a prefectly good excuse for showing up at 11AM and expecting to be on the ship right away rather than showing up when the cruise lines advise.

 

The number of ships in port is getting media attention - the city has worked with the taxi companies to try and make things smooth around Caanda Place and I am sure that YVR will be on full alert whether DHS is awake remains to be seen.

 

Raining hard right now in downtown so might not get down to the pier as I do have another function that I can attend that is indoors and interesting and no it is not church. It`s the official grand opening of the new 69 space child care center at the new downtown Y.

 

More later

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[trophy_23]

I'll be at Ambleside rain or shine, to wave at our friends leaving on the Ryndam for the 21day Panama Canal cruise.

[Sally Forth]

Will be there to photograph sailaway rain or shine, great day with that many ships!!

 

We plan to hang out around Jericho to watch them go by. It's a little damp to go to Lighthouse Park.

 

Viv

[Sally Forth]

:) It always amazes me how many people complain to the cruise line reps about the lines, yet never utter a word to the US CBP officers who are the reason for the lines....also amusing that the vast majority of the complaints come from Americans and it is their Government that requires the pre-clearance. Hmmmm...:confused:

 

I don't think any of us, Canadian OR American, dare complain to our border officials any more about anything! It's too risky. I'm always afraid there will be a note on my "permanent record" that slows me down just when I need to get through quickly.

 

Viv

[Urban trekker]

I was down at Canada Place around noon today and things didn`t look too bad but I didn`t go down to the boarding level but there was one thing that interested me - a couple wanted directions into the boarding area and as I was giving it to them I asked which ship and she said the Pearl and I said the Pearl is at Ballantyne Pier and not Canada Place so she showed me her documents from NCL and it said Canada Place - were NCL shuttling people over to Ballantyne from Canada Place otherwise some people could be in for a big surprise.

 

While the downtown was busy it wasn`t that bad - remember 3 ships at Canada Place is not all that rare it is the two at Ballantyne that makes things busier.

 

The Spirit of Endeavor or whatever it is called was also supposed to be at Canada Place but I didn`t see it anywhere - was it coming in later etc.

 

Also pretty sure I saw a BC Ferry heading into drydock in North Van - otherwise what would it be doing in the harbour.

 

Didn`t take the camera because the weather looked iffy - turned out okay.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Sally Forth]

Okay, all the ships in port are interesting enough, but a ferry in drydock I MUST see.

 

Viv

[Putterdude]

I think the ferry may have been the Island Sky, I believe she was to come off the Earls Cove/Saltery Bay route today to go in for her warranty drydocking...she does have issues.

[Urban trekker]

I could only see it from a distance but it was a smaller ferry - mind you when you look at the size of the cruise ships in town today any BC Ferry would look small - it was nearly at Burrard Drydock and partially blocked by a freighter and appeared to have a rear car deck opened at the back. No camera today.

 

Question - the BC Ferry website says the Island Sky is having warranty work done - did the Washington Marine Group build it.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Urban trekker]

Here`s the answer to my question:

 

The Island Sky, which regularly services BC Ferries’ Earls Cove – Saltery Bay route, will be temporarily removed from service from September 19 through October 1 for warranty drydocking.

 

The original contract with the shipbuilder, Vancouver Shipyards, calls for a warranty drydocking to inspect the underwater condition of the vessel within the first two years of operation.

 

During this time, BC Ferries will take the opportunity to address some warranty items as well as regulatory recertification of the vessel’s lifesaving appliances.

 

BC Ferries expects the Island Sky to return to service on the Earls Cove route on October 2.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[ceilidh1]

Spirit of Endeavour switched to Ballantyne as it came in at 6am rather than 7am. As HAL also had a ship in at 6am at Ballantyne, they were able to share lines. NCL was also at Ballantyne - there were definitely shuttles running between the two terminals, but seems odd that wrong info would be put on the boarding passes, especially as it has been known for a long time that NCL would not be at CPP.

 

I didn't venture to Ballantyne today, but Canada Place was nowhere near as bad as I had expected. Sure there were lines and it was busy, but it was well controlled and by 2:30 the terminal was pretty much empty! I believe all the ships sailed on time, too.

[Urban trekker]

That makes sense with the Endeavor - in looking at Ballantyne from Canada Place I could see the Rotterdam and the Pearl but it looked to me that they might be another ship between the two big girls.

 

I too was surprised when she show me that on the boarding pass which is the type that you print out from NCL - they were going to head down the ramp and see what the situation was - the other thought that came to might is perhaps they were part of a larger group put together by a TA who arranged for a bus to shuttle them although why this would appear on the edocs I don`t know.

 

Didn`t see anything on the Pearl`s roll call about a problem boarding.

 

Glad that things went smoothly at Canada Place - wonder how things were at YVR.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis