VERY LONG TRIP REPORT: Island Princess, NB, June 6-13, 2012

[kmpjdd]

TRIP REPORT: Island Princess, NB, June 6-13, 2012

I am writing this report to tell everyone about our trip to Alaska. I really appreciated the help that I got here while planning our trip (both by asking questions and lurking on the boards) and I wanted to share our experience in return. I will try to answer some of the questions that I had while planning in my report, but please reply if you have any other questions and I will try to answer them. For background info, we were two couples aged 30-32 on this trip. We stretched out our cruise with a couple days in Vancouver prior to the cruise and a couple days on land after the cruise. Sorry my quick review turned into a novel but we did tons of stuff and I wanted to share everything!

 

Day 1: Monday June 4th, Vancouver

We flew direct from Houston to Vancouver early in the morning. I had seen online that there was supposed to be an ATM in the international arrivals area at the Vancouver airport, however, we never found it and I was glad that my husband had exchanged money before we left. (note: there was an exchange counter, but we prefer to use the ATM because the rates are better from our bank) We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel, Blue Horizon Hotel, in downtown Vancouver- it cost us $36 + tip. We arrived at the hotel around 1 pm and they let us check in early. The hotel was really nice and we would stay there again. The only minus was that they did not have breakfast included. However, there is a Whole Foods and a Safeway within walking distance so we bought some food and kept it in our room for breakfast (there is a mini-fridge). There is also a liquor store right around the corner where we bought our wine for the cruise.

 

After we settled into our room, we walked down to the waterfront area of Vancouver and visited the Olympic cauldron. Then we walked to Spoke’s bicycle rentals to rent bikes for the afternoon. We rode all the way around Stanley Park (with a bunch of breaks) in less than 2 hours. We went back to the hotel and met friends of ours who had flown in from Philadelphia to join us on our vacation. We ate dinner at Milestones, on Robson St. near our hotel. The burgers were fantastic, but be forewarned in British Columbia they put mayo on everything.

 

Day 2: Tuesday June 5th, Vancouver

We were planning on going to Grouse Mountain, but it was overcast and drizzly (soon to be a theme for this trip), so we had to change our plans. We were debating between the hop on/hop off bus and bike rentals and eventually decided on bike rentals (even with the rain). We picked up our bikes as soon as Spokes opened in the morning and headed back to Stanley Park. We rode about ½ way around and got to the Vancouver Aquarium, which was our morning activity. We really enjoyed the aquarium. They had lots of exhibits showing the aquatic and plant life around Vancouver and British Columbia, and I thought that was pretty cool. They also had penguins, porpoises, beluga whales, and a sea otter (among others). We spent several hours there taking everything in and waiting for the rain to die down.

 

By early afternoon the rain had decreased to a slight drizzle, so we headed back out on our bikes. We rode through the interior of Stanley Park, then along the waterfront and Canada Place, to Gastown (where we parked and walked around), through the city to the Granville Island shuttle boat, and finally back around to Spokes where we started. We figured that we rode maybe 10-15 miles? We enjoyed it and it was a great way to see the town (and the full-day bike rental was the same as the hop-on, hop-off bus, around $40-$50 per person).

 

Day 3: Wednesday June 6th, Embarkation Day

We had made a reservation the night before for a minivan taxi to arrive at the hotel at 11 am and take the four of us and our large amount of luggage to Canada Place. The taxi was $10 + tip and we were at Canada Place by 11:15 am. The taxi dropped us off and a porter immediately took our luggage for the ship. There were no lines and we made it through check-in by 11:40 or so. For an Alaskan cruise you have to go through security, then U.S. Customs, and then Princess check-in. Then they made us sit in a roped off area (in line by the order that you came in). They started boarding before noon and we were onboard by noon. Our rooms were ready immediately (we were B437, a balcony on the starboard side) and we dropped off our carry-ons and headed to the buffet for lunch).

 

We were about an hour late leaving Canada Place, they didn’t tell us why, but we could see the luggage still being loaded at the time that we were supposed to leave.

 

General notes on the Island Princess:

Our cabin, B437, was very nice and had a covered balcony. We were in the middle of the ship on the bump out. We were very close to the elevators and I was worried that we would constantly hear the "ding" of the elevators and people, but we never heard anything. Our bed was hard as a rock and had a giant crack in the middle (due to pushing the two beds together), and had large divots in the middle of both mattresses. We prefer a softer mattress and we did not sleep well on the ship because of that. The curtains in the room provided a good amount of darkness at night and we didn't need to use our sleep masks. We only found 2 electrical outlets at the desk area and could only use 1 battery charger at a time because they were so close together and we had large chargers. We never got any towel animals :(, but we did get chocolates every night. It was COLD on our trip. I live it Texas and I wish I brought my long underwear... yet my husband wore shorts almost the whole trip and was very happy. The four of us had Anytime Dining and we never had a problem just walking up and getting a table for 4 (we never got a beeper or had to wait or anything), we usually ate between 6 and 7 pm. The temperature in the dining rooms was very comfortable to wear short dresses/sleeveless tops/etc, I didn't even need my wrap at night at dinner. However, the temperature in the buffet area was always HOT, I don't know why. Also, the theatre at night was usually a little bit chilly for me if I was still in my dinner clothes.

We sailed on Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas for our honeymoon, which is the same class of ship (Radiance) that they sail in Alaska, so some comparisons between Royal Caribbean and Princess are appropriate here. The cabin seemed a little bit more spacious on Princess, but both cabins were very nice. Overall quality of the food onboard both ships was about equal, but there seemed to be more choices and a little bit better food at the Royal Caribbean casual buffet (Windjammer) vs. the Princess Horizon Court. Princess really messed up on the pina colada, which my husband ordered from the Lido Bar. He said it was the worst pina colada he ever had. Royal Caribbean uses Island Oasis for their frozen drinks, which is far superior, while Princess just uses a standard blender. In terms of service, Royal Caribbean was a little bit better on this front, as it seemed that their staff (especially waiters) tried harder. The Radiance class ships also have a lot more glass than the Island Princess, which gives more views of the sea from inside. The public spaces on Serenade also felt more spacious than on Island, especially the main atrium and formal dining rooms. Also for some reason, I’m not sure why, Serenade seemed to be a more stable ship than Island, as it seemed to do less rocking and rolling when the waters got choppy. The overall selling point for Princess in Alaska is their excellent naturalist program and the fact that they visit Glacier Bay instead of Icy Strait Point.

 

Day 4: Thursday June 7th, At Sea

I don't remember too much about this day. It was basically our one day to sleep in and be lazy the whole trip. The sea was a little bit bumpy this day, and it was probably the worst seas we encountered the whole trip (still not that bad). We went in the hot tubs (both indoors and out), and the pool (indoors only, since it was heated- and the temperature was very comfortable). There weren't too many kids and we enjoyed the swimming. It was also our first formal night and the night of the champagne waterfall, which we all enjoyed participating in.

 

Day 5: Friday June 8th, Ketchikan

We arrived in Ketchikan at 6:30 am. We were doing a tour through Wild Wolf Tours (http://www.wildwolftours.com/) where we had a 3 hour tour that included a hike through the rainforest and time at Totem Bight State Park (8 am - 11 am). Tracy just started her tour company this year, which is why there aren’t many reviews of it, but we had a great time and would definitely do it again. Tracy was nice and very knowledgeable about Ketchikan and Alaska in general. We had 6 people total on our tour. Tracy dropped us off at the salmon ladder at the end of the tour (even though the salmon weren’t there yet) and we walked back to downtown along Creek Street.

 

My husband wanted to eat some crab, so we went to Crab Cracker at the Salmon Landing Market. We accidentally found a fabric/quilting store upstairs in the market, and I was psyched to go there in exchange for letting him eat some crab legs. He had ½ lb of King Crab Legs, a basket of French fries, and an Alaskan Amber Ale. He said the meal was fantastic, and I think that it might have been his favorite meal the whole trip.

 

Day 6: Saturday June 9th, Juneau

This day was my birthday! Our travel agent had noted it on our reservation and it was exciting to get up and have the "Happy Birthday" sign on our door and the balloons outside! I also had received a coupon to get a "cake" in the main dining room any night I wanted.

 

We got off the ship pretty soon after it docked, around 8 or so. We walked over and bought a round trip ticket on MGT to Mendenhall Glacier. They had apparently starting running buses at 8 am, so we had to wait around until the 8:30 am bus, we were at the visitor's center by 9 am. We went up the visitor's center and then set off on the Nugget Falls trail. It was a lot of fun and a pretty flat walk out to the falls. We caught the 11 am bus back and made it back to the ship around 11:30 (Princess was parked the furthest from where the bus dropped you off). We would have loved to have spent more time at Mendenhall and done some of their more challenging hikes. I would agree with the people who say you need a minimum of 3 hours between leaving and getting back from the dock to go there.

 

We booked it back to the ship and ate a really quick lunch at the buffet before getting off and heading to our Helicopter Excursion that met at 12:20. We were taking the "Helicopter Glacier Walkabout" through Princess (tour operator was North Star Trekking). We LOVED this excursion and it was totally worth the money. We went up in the helicopter and the pilot flew right over the Mendenhall Visitor's Center and on to the Mendenhall Glacier and all around the Juneau Icefield. It was especially neat since we had seen the glacier from the ground that morning. We then landed back on Mendenhall Glacier, they outfitted us with crampons and walking poles and we set off for our guided walk. It was a pretty easy walk, but it was harder than usual to walk because of the hard sided boots that they make you wear with the crampons. We walked around and over a couple crevasses and just generally had a good time. We were sad when our helicopter arrived to take us back. This was our favorite excursion out of everything that we did while on this trip.

 

We made it back to the ship area around 3:45, and the skies had finally opened up from the clouds that had been plaguing us, so we took the Mt Roberts Tramway up the mountain. If I had to choose one thing to skip if we ever do this vacation again, the tram would be it- it was nice to see the city and our ship from up the mountain, but I didn't think that it was worth the $29 each. There were tons of kids running around up at the top, so maybe that had something to do with me not liking it either, and the hiking trails at the top were closed due to snow and ice. We eventually went back down the Mountain and met up with our friends (who had been whale watching), and we went shopping in downtown and eventually returned to the ship for dinner. We gave our waiter my birthday cake coupon and they brought out the cake for dessert and sang to me. The "cake" was basically their chocolate mousse with a hard chocolate shell around it, and my husband enjoyed it the most.

 

Day 7: Sunday June 10th, Skagway

We did the 7 ½ hour “Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion” with Chilkoot Charters- I would highly recommend this over the Princess tours offered! We did the train up and the bus back because that was all that was offered the day that we were in port. Note that for this particular tour they pick you up at the cruise dock in a motorcoach and drive you to the train depot. Be careful not to jump on the train that pulls up to the ship, as this is the wrong train. The train ascended up through the mountains, running parallel to the Klondike highway, and then crossed White Pass Summit into Canada. When we got off of the train in Fraser BC, we hopped on a 14-person minibus while everyone else had to get on big 50+ person buses (I think that Chilkoot also has a 22-person minibus for larger groups). It was so nice being in the smaller bus because our tour guide could turn around in the middle of the road or back up if we saw wildlife, while on the larger buses, if you passed it, you were done. We saw 4 black bears and a fox during our tour. I would highly recommend booking with Chilkoot.

 

Day 8: Monday June 11th, Glacier Bay National Park

One quick note here: on the cruise itinerary, it stated that we would be “scenic cruising” starting at 6 am in the morning. However, we were not actually at the first glacier until 10 am. A group of national park rangers boarded the ship in the morning, and we were able to get our national park passports stamped at their booth in Horizon Court. It was drizzling and we stood out on deck while the port side of the ship was at the glacier, but when the captain turned the ship around we went down to our balcony to watch. We didn’t really enjoy being out on deck because everyone was crowding around the open balconies and it felt very claustrophobic. Viewing from our private balcony was very nice! We only saw two small calvings at Margerie Glacier. It was cold, drizzly, and overcast, but we enjoyed being so close to the glaciers and were excited that we were in Glacier Bay. The second glacier of the day was Lamplugh Glacier, which is a little bit smaller but just as beautiful. As we sailed away from the glaciers we were passed by the Sapphire Princess sailing into the bay.

 

Another note: As you leave (or enter) Glacier Bay, you go through Icy Strait. We saw tons of wildlife there… humpback whales, sea otters, seals, bald eagles, etc. You should definitely be watching during that time period.

 

This was our second formal night.

 

Day 9: Tuesday June 12th, College Fjord

While we were eating lunch this day, we heard them announce that there was a pod of killer whales on the port side of the ship. We were approaching the entrance to Prince William Sound at the time. We ran outside the buffet seating area and were so excited to see them right next to the ship! I will also note that we accidentally found out that they were making individual pizzas for lunch at the pizzeria on this day. I can't have cheese so I was psyched to have them make a pizza to my specifications. It was excellent :)

 

We didn't too much else except for pack up our suitcases and then sightsee when we got into College Fjord. We went to the forward secret deck on Caribe and there was almost no one there, so it was pretty nice (but slightly drizzly and cold). The doorway to this forward viewing area is unmarked so it can be difficult to find. On Caribe deck walk one of the passenger corridors all the way to the bow (it will dead end) and then open the unmarked door. There will be another door beyond that that opens up onto the viewing deck. There was no calving (that we saw) in College Fjord, but we saw more glaciers than in Glacier Bay, and there were tons of sea otters.

 

Day 10: Wednesday June 13th, Anchorage to Denali

Our group departed the ship around 7:45 am (we wrote down on the departing form that our transfer required us to be off of the ship by 8:15 am). We used “Anchorage Tours and Transfers” http://www.akcruiseshuttle.com/cruise-transfers , the 3 hour tour (with 2 photo stops and a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center). We liked this transfer a lot, and there were only 6 people on our small bus! Our bus driver, Dawn, knew a lot of people working at the Wildlife Conservation Center, and she was therefore very knowledgeable about it and gave a great tour. She dropped us off at the Airport rental car area where we rented a minivan to drive up to Denali National Park. The minivan only had 6 miles on it when we got it, and we really helped them to break it in!

 

We had a late lunch and didn’t get out of Anchorage until 2 pm. We stopped about 1 hour later at the Walmart in Wasilla (it was just off of the highway). No Sarah Palin sighting. However, we did buy plenty of snacks and water for our time at Denali. They also carried a good selection of Alaska souvenirs. We continued on the road and eventually stopped at the Denali STATE Park South. It had latrine restrooms (bring your own hand sanitizer), a nice view of Mt McKinley (we were part of the 30% that get to see the mountain!), and a short hiking path to stretch your legs. We also stopped at Denali State Park North, (about ½ hour down the road), but it was raining by the time we got there and we didn’t get out of the car.

 

We arrived at the Denali Lakeview Inn around 7:45 pm (5.75 hours from when we left Anchorage, including 2 long stops). This was a really nice B&B, and it was nice to be out of the “Glitter Gulch” area. We ordered sandwiches for the next day, and they did a good job packing up a lunch for the bus trip. One bad thing about this hotel was that they only have miniblinds on the windows and it was too bright for us at night, so we had to use our eye masks in order to sleep. They also don’t have air conditioning, and while that may be unusual in Texas, it may be fairly common in this part of Alaska

 

Day 11: Thursday June 14th, Denali

We had the 7:30 Eielson shuttle already booked. We arrived at the Wilderness Access Center a little after 7 am, got our tickets, and got in line for our bus. I was a little bit worried about spending 8 hours in one of those green school buses, but my worries were for nothing. They had retrofitted the bench seats into individual seats and each seat had a seatbelt. My 6’4” husband sat on the aisle and had plenty of room for his legs. Also, I could barely tell the difference in the road when at Mile 15 we crossed from the paved roads to the gravel roads. The bus goes kind of slow and it wasn’t too bumpy to me at all. If you are traveling with friends, you should sit across from each other on the bus. That way, you will have a window available to you on both sides of the bus and you won't feel bad pushing them out of the way to get pictures, haha.

 

In the first ½ hour on the bus we had a female moose cross the path in front of us and use a road sign to scratch an itch on her face, it was very cool to see. We saw a couple other moose, along with several grizzly bears, Dall sheep, Arctic ground squirrels, and caribou. We also got to see Mt McKinley again! Our bus driver stopped the bus at one point for pictures because she told how unusual it was to have such a good view. By the time we got to Eielson the mountain was covered with clouds. We got off at the Eielson Visitor Center when our bus got there around noon and did a 2-hour hike up the Alpine Trail, which gains 1000 ft elevation over 1 mile. It was a strenuous hike, but it was nice to break up the day and the bus trip. We got back to Eielson around 2 and put our name on the dispatcher’s list, and were able to get on a bus a ½ hour later, around 2:30. (The buses stop at Eielson for a ½ hour, and people already on that bus have priority over people who left their bus and are waiting for a later one) We made it back to the Wilderness Access Center around 6:30 pm.

 

We packed a ton of food and snacks with us to take on the bus. Our B&B packed us a sandwich, chips, cookies, water, and a Capri Sun. We also packed peanut butter crackers, granola bars, fruit snacks, apples, more water, etc. You can eat as much as you want on the bus but they make you leave your food on the bus at the bathroom stops so you won't attract and feed any wild animals. At Eielson, they have water fountains where you can fill up your water bottles for the way back.

 

Day 12: Friday June 15th, Denali to Home

We drove into Denali to Mile 13 and went on the “Mountain Vista Loop” trail (0.6 mile trail, pretty flat, and another sighting of Mt McKinley!). We went to the Visitor’s Center on our way out of the park and stopped at Subway (outside of the park) for sandwiches for a picnic lunch later in the day. Gas was $4.89/gallon right outside of the park! We drove down to the Denali State Park North and picnicked there for lunch. We drove on to Anchorage, and once we got there we spent a little bit of time walking at Anchorage’s Kincaid Park to stretch our legs before heading to the airport for our 8:30 pm (red-eye) flight home.

 

 

In conclusion, we had an absolutely wonderful trip. This was the trip of a lifetime for us, and one that we won't be repeating any time soon (those of you who get to cruise Alaska frequently are so lucky!). Given the choice, we would do this trip again exactly the way we did it this time. We were so glad that we took the time to drive up to Denali (even though we were exhausted by that point), it really was a great end to our trip.

[vbmom87]

What a wonderful review!!!! Thank you for taking the time to compose and post it. It will help others as they plan, and it brings back sweet memories to those of us who have already been. So happy to hear you had a great time. I will say that on my HAL ship, I never felt claustrophobic on the open decks. I am not sure how they differ from Princess.

 

You did a great job with the paragrahs and bolding the text. So many people just write on and on with not breaks, and it gets so difficult to read. I often just give up. Your review was a delight to read.

[indigosails]

Great review! I was on this cruise also. I don't know where we were when they announced the killer whales, but I did not hear that. All in all, it was COLD! Except Horizon buffet, where it was like a sauna. DH and I both ended up getting very bad colds.

[pmjnh]

Thank you for sharing. This was a nice, detailed review. Great tips about traveling with friends on the Denali shuttle. We are traveling with friends and that it a great tip...one that you might think of after choosing your seats!

 

Can I ask how much wine you brought on board?

 

Can't wait for our trip..we leave 2 weeks from tomorrow. Your report made me even more excited!

[kmpjdd]

Can I ask how much wine you brought on board?

 

3 of us took one bottle each (so within the Princess limits). We would get wine glasses from the bar and pour our glasses and take them to dinner with us and we had no problems doing that.

[West Coast Couple]

TRIP REPORT: Island Princess, NB, June 6-13, 2012

We ate dinner at Milestones, on Robson St. near our hotel. The burgers were fantastic, but be forewarned in British Columbia they put mayo on everything.

 

 

Thanks for the review. Our Alaska trip is coming up soon. Had to laugh at your comment abou the mayo. I'm from Vancouver and thought EVERYONE puts mayo on EVERYTHING!

[Love.II.Cruise]

 

Another note: As you leave (or enter) Glacier Bay, you go through Icy Strait. We saw tons of wildlife there… humpback whales, sea otters, seals, bald eagles, etc. You should definitely be watching during that time period.

 

Thank you so much for the tip! We are on Sapphire Princess very soon.

[vmom]

We will be cuising northbound from Vancouver on the Coral Princess.

 

We are arriving in Vancouver the day before boarding the ship.

 

Do we need to exchange some of our US dollars into CAN dollars? Do the bus/trains take US dollars? How about the places to eat?

[Keith1010]

Great trip report. Thanks for not only publishing it but for taking the time to write it.

 

Keith

[PetNanny]

Thanks for your review and for making it easy to read. Glad you had a wonderful trip.

[kmpjdd]

Do we need to exchange some of our US dollars into CAN dollars? Do the bus/trains take US dollars? How about the places to eat?

 

You can pay with credit card at most places to eat (but beware, they don't take Discover Card anywhere in Vancouver, and you may want to call your credit card company to ask what their foreign transaction fee is). I don't know about buses and trains, you will probably want at least a small amount of Canadian $. There are plenty of exchange places around, though you may find that the rates are better to get it just using your ATM card.

[vmom]

You can pay with credit card at most places to eat (but beware, they don't take Discover Card anywhere in Vancouver, and you may want to call your credit card company to ask what their foreign transaction fee is). I don't know about buses and trains, you will probably want at least a small amount of Canadian $. There are plenty of exchange places around, though you may find that the rates are better to get it just using your ATM card.

 

Thank you for your response. I didn't even think about a possible credit card transaction fee or the possibility of just using my ATM card.

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Thank you for sharing your review and your throught. It has been very helpful to me.

[Pittypatbr]

The city busses in Vancouver do not take US money, but our hotel was happy to change our money for us. It may not have been a great exchange rate, but fo the small quantity we needed it was perfect. We used our credit cards everywhere else.

[Mendenhall Ranger]

Thanks for the great comments about Mendenhall Glacier! Glad you enjoyed your visit.

[paddingtonbear]

Thank you for noting the time it took to drive from Anchorage to Denali. Very helpful.

 

You say it was cold, what clothes did you need to keep warm outside on the decks when viewing the glaciers?

 

What clothes did you wear while in Denali?

[Pittypatbr]

For Glacier Bay, I wore top and bottom cuddle duds, blue jeans, wool socks, waterproof hikers, a sweat shirt, and my rain parka with liner. I wore gloves and earmuffs too. This was our coldest day, but I was very comfortable, and we were right up front on the top deck where it was coldest.

 

In Denali, I never needed the insulated underwear, and wore jeans and a long sleeve knit shirt, with a button up shirt over it, and then added my parka when needed. There were times when I carried the parka, as the temperature varied. This was in mid-May.

[treinke]

I agree about the horizon court being hot. We just got off and I hated to go there because of that. Add that to how crowded it was just made it not pleasant.

 

But it is a great ship.

[paddingtonbear]

For Glacier Bay, I wore top and bottom cuddle duds, blue jeans, wool socks, waterproof hikers, a sweat shirt, and my rain parka with liner. I wore gloves and earmuffs too. This was our coldest day, but I was very comfortable, and we were right up front on the top deck where it was coldest.

 

In Denali, I never needed the insulated underwear, and wore jeans and a long sleeve knit shirt, with a button up shirt over it, and then added my parka when needed. There were times when I carried the parka, as the temperature varied. This was in mid-May.

 

Thank you very much. Had to google "cuddle duds" :):):)

[Pittypatbr]

They were actually generic from Wal-Mart, but serve the same purpose for less money. It isn't like I need them any time in south Louisiana!! :)

[regent218]

we are in a cabin directly across from where your's was. do you think the glacier bay viewing from a staboard balc. will be much differant than your's was

[kiwigal2012]

Thanks for the great comments about Mendenhall Glacier! Glad you enjoyed your visit.

 

Hi Mendenhall Ranger - I hope you don't mind if I ask you directly for advice?

 

I am taking the HAL cruise and will be in port on May 3rd from 1pm to 10.30pm. Could you please advise if my plans below sound feasible?

 

I am considering taking the Five Glacier Seaplane Exploration at 1.30pm which is a 1.25 hour excursion.

 

I thought I would then grab a shuttle bus out to the glacier and take my time looking around. I enjoy photography and would like to have the flexibility to take as many photos as the day gives me opportunity.

 

Once I have looked around the Visitor Centre and taken the short walk to the falls (and taken lots of photos!), I thought I would shuttle back to town and then take the tramway ride before it gets dark.

 

In theory this sounds "doable", however I am concerned with timings as I don't want to get stuck anywhere and not able to get back to the ship. I assume that the crowds will not be too big (and the queues too long) for the first cruise of the season?

 

Any advice or assistance you can provide will be much appreciated.

 

Thanks :)

[MLindaG]

Leaving for our Island cruise in two days and loved your review........took notes.......We are renting a car and going up to Denali as well........

 

We are spending a couple of days in Vancouver and not sure I'm up for all the bike riding. It was good to know you were able to see Stanley Park in 2 hrs. - I might be able to do that...... As for the mayo in Vancouver.......I laughed as well.........here in Pittsburgh where Heinz was started........I thought everyone put ketchup on everything!! LOL :D