Vancouver Info if needed

[Putterdude]

Hi Shoppie,

 

Thank you so much for offering your knowledge. My husband and I (from Australia) are heading off on a cruise on the Diamond Princess on 14 September(for 22 days). This is part of an overall package which has been marketed a fair bit in Australia and there are quite a few Aussies in Vancouver in the couple of days prior to the cruise. I had the bright idea of arranging an Aussie Meet and Greet in Vancouver for the night before the cruise (Friday 13th at 8.30pm). I've so far got about 30 people keen to attend but.... I'm really struggling to find somewhere for us to meet. Many of us are staying at the Rosedale on Robson but their function rooms are all booked for that night. I've emailed about another five places but no-one seems to be interested in replying. So far I've tried Rosies on Robson (the suggestion from the hotel), the Keg, Regis Hotel, Sutton Place, Hyatt and Westin Grand. I sent my last batch of emails off on Friday so allowing for the weekend and time difference I'm hoping I might get some responses tomorrow. (It's Monday night here). Do you have any suggestions of anywhere else close by the Rosedale on Robson that I might try? Don't want anything elaborate - the idea was just that we all get together have a quiet ale or two and introduce ourselves. If I don't have any success my other thought was to contact Princess and see if we can just meet on the afternoon of embarkation in one of the bars on board. What's your thoughts. Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. Sorry for the epistle!

Kind regards

Anne

 

Are you looking for a function room or perhaps a pub? Rosies is a pub restaurant that is on the ground floor of the Rosedale....as I recall they have an area to the right as you enter the premises that should be able to hold 30 or so people.

By all means you can contact the onshore coordinator for the Diamond but I think you will likely find that they will not open the bar for a function until the ship slips away from Canada Place so as to avoid paying liquor taxes while alongside. Here is the contact for the Diamond:

 

Diana Hall - Diamond & Star -- dhall@princesscruises.com 661-284-4449

[scottbee]

Hi Shoppie,

 

Thank you so much for offering your knowledge. My husband and I (from Australia) are heading off on a cruise on the Diamond Princess on 14 September(for 22 days). This is part of an overall package which has been marketed a fair bit in Australia and there are quite a few Aussies in Vancouver in the couple of days prior to the cruise. I had the bright idea of arranging an Aussie Meet and Greet in Vancouver for the night before the cruise (Friday 13th at 8.30pm). I've so far got about 30 people keen to attend but.... I'm really struggling to find somewhere for us to meet. Many of us are staying at the Rosedale on Robson but their function rooms are all booked for that night. I've emailed about another five places but no-one seems to be interested in replying. So far I've tried Rosies on Robson (the suggestion from the hotel), the Keg, Regis Hotel, Sutton Place, Hyatt and Westin Grand. I sent my last batch of emails off on Friday so allowing for the weekend and time difference I'm hoping I might get some responses tomorrow. (It's Monday night here). Do you have any suggestions of anywhere else close by the Rosedale on Robson that I might try? Don't want anything elaborate - the idea was just that we all get together have a quiet ale or two and introduce ourselves. If I don't have any success my other thought was to contact Princess and see if we can just meet on the afternoon of embarkation in one of the bars on board. What's your thoughts. Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. Sorry for the epistle!

Kind regards

Anne

 

If you're looking for an Aussie meet and greet, there's a pub-style restaurant called Mooses Down Under that caters to the Aussie crowd (the owner and most of the staff are Aussies) and heck, they make a wicked Veal Parma and even have Vegemite Sammys on the menu. With some warning they could cater for 20-30 without a problem. On a Friday night, you might even catch an AFL game

[martincath]

Hi Shoppie,

 

Thank you so much for offering your knowledge. My husband and I (from Australia) are heading off on a cruise on the Diamond Princess on 14 September(for 22 days). This is part of an overall package which has been marketed a fair bit in Australia and there are quite a few Aussies in Vancouver in the couple of days prior to the cruise. I had the bright idea of arranging an Aussie Meet and Greet in Vancouver for the night before the cruise (Friday 13th at 8.30pm). I've so far got about 30 people keen to attend but.... I'm really struggling to find somewhere for us to meet. Many of us are staying at the Rosedale on Robson but their function rooms are all booked for that night. I've emailed about another five places but no-one seems to be interested in replying. So far I've tried Rosies on Robson (the suggestion from the hotel), the Keg, Regis Hotel, Sutton Place, Hyatt and Westin Grand. I sent my last batch of emails off on Friday so allowing for the weekend and time difference I'm hoping I might get some responses tomorrow. (It's Monday night here). Do you have any suggestions of anywhere else close by the Rosedale on Robson that I might try? Don't want anything elaborate - the idea was just that we all get together have a quiet ale or two and introduce ourselves. If I don't have any success my other thought was to contact Princess and see if we can just meet on the afternoon of embarkation in one of the bars on board. What's your thoughts. Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. Sorry for the epistle!

Kind regards

Anne

I think it's been a while since Shoppie posted!

 

I arrange several meetups a year for groups on average smaller than yours (never more than 24 bodies). Vancouver pubs, 8:30pm on a Friday? Given how many places I've tried booking, in short very few of them want your business - they have plenty already, so a large group who only want a few beers and a chat will take up space that could be filled by people eating (i.e. spending more). Part of the problem is our overly-complicated liquor licensing laws - there are almost no pubs in Vancouver, instead we have a bunch of food-primary establishments with arcane limits on how much booze they can sell cf how much food, so a large group just drinking can cause genuine problems for the licensee...

 

I haven't tried *every* bar in downtown yet, but I've been running these events for 2 years so I have tried quite a lot. When you get into the larger numbers, unless you're willing to book a function room and guarantee a minimum spend (this can easily be as high as CAN$1000) you will struggle.

 

The Portside Pub and Brickhouse are the only two places I can think off offhand with a liquor-primary license that are not nightclubs. Both are pretty big, although if there's a popular band on in Portside you might have to fight some large crowds. Neither take reservations, and in fact if you showed up at Brickhouse on a Friday at 8:30pm you'd probably be the only ones there apart from me & the missus and the staff - they only open c. 8pm, and the hipster-student crowd that goes there for cheap PBR and pool wouldn't be seen dead in a bar before 9pm...

 

You could also play the Aussie angle with Moose's Down Under - maybe they'll cut you a deal;)

 

Best of luck!

 

Edit: I have got to start refreshing the page before hitting Submit Post! SB beat me to the Moose's suggestion just above...

Edited August 13, 2013 by martincath

[mopedmom1]

We are booked on the Sept 21 sailing of the NCL Jewel out of Ballantyne port, Vancouver, B.C. We live in Portland, OR and are looking at taking the Alaska Airlines 9:25 a.m flight, landing in Vancouver at 10:33 a.m. the same day and taking a taxi to the port. Ship leaves at 4pm. Am I TOTALLY crazy?

[Putterdude]

We are booked on the Sept 21 sailing of the NCL Jewel out of Ballantyne port, Vancouver, B.C. We live in Portland, OR and are looking at taking the Alaska Airlines 9:25 a.m flight, landing in Vancouver at 10:33 a.m. the same day and taking a taxi to the port. Ship leaves at 4pm. Am I TOTALLY crazy?

 

While I tend to arrive the day before the cruise if I am flying...many folks do fly the day of embarkation as vacation schedules often dictate this. You certainly have lot of time to get to Ballantyne, you will likely need about 30 mins to clear customs at YVR then you are about a 35 min cab ride to the pier. There is always the risk that your plane may be delayed but that is a risk you take flying the day of.

[martincath]

We are booked on the Sept 21 sailing of the NCL Jewel out of Ballantyne port, Vancouver, B.C. We live in Portland, OR and are looking at taking the Alaska Airlines 9:25 a.m flight, landing in Vancouver at 10:33 a.m. the same day and taking a taxi to the port. Ship leaves at 4pm. Am I TOTALLY crazy?

I'd consider going with Air Canada on their 7:00am flight - same price, gives you over 2 hours more padding in the event of a delay, and most importantly in the unlikely event of a real SNAFU they have another direct flight that could still easily get you to the ship on time (10:25am arr. 11:39am) plus a couple of other Star Alliance codeshares via SEA.

 

Alaska don't have any more Direct options until early evening, and the only 1-stops via Seattle with a hope of getting you here on time is the 10:30am with a tight connection at SEA. Unfortunately you can't use US Direct with NCL this year, so you have to allow time for both Canadian immigration at YVR and US immigration at Ballantyne between your flight and boarding the ship.

 

On the plus side, Alaska Flight 2450 does have 90% on time rating and an average delay of only 10 mins late - although the Air Canada flight is even better at 91% and average 5 mins late.

[Zannagirl]

Hi Shoppie,

 

Thank you so much for offering your knowledge. My husband and I (from Australia) are heading off on a cruise on the Diamond Princess on 14 September(for 22 days). This is part of an overall package which has been marketed a fair bit in Australia and there are quite a few Aussies in Vancouver in the couple of days prior to the cruise. I had the bright idea of arranging an Aussie Meet and Greet in Vancouver for the night before the cruise (Friday 13th at 8.30pm). I've so far got about 30 people keen to attend but.... I'm really struggling to find somewhere for us to meet. Many of us are staying at the Rosedale on Robson but their function rooms are all booked for that night. I've emailed about another five places but no-one seems to be interested in replying. So far I've tried Rosies on Robson (the suggestion from the hotel), the Keg, Regis Hotel, Sutton Place, Hyatt and Westin Grand. I sent my last batch of emails off on Friday so allowing for the weekend and time difference I'm hoping I might get some responses tomorrow. (It's Monday night here). Do you have any suggestions of anywhere else close by the Rosedale on Robson that I might try? Don't want anything elaborate - the idea was just that we all get together have a quiet ale or two and introduce ourselves. If I don't have any success my other thought was to contact Princess and see if we can just meet on the afternoon of embarkation in one of the bars on board. What's your thoughts. Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. Sorry for the epistle!

Kind regards

Anne

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to my plea. My last batch of emails had a great hit rate - 3 out of 4 responded today and all with a yes. I'd tried hotels with meeting rooms this time and that seems to be the go. The St Regis are happy to provide a room free of charge (but just for your info both the Westin Grand and the Sutton Place were happy to provide one FOC as well). Obviously there won't be a lot of atmosphere but it will serve the purpose of us all getting acquainted.

 

Once again thanks everyone for your efforts to help me out - much appreciated :-)

Anne

[mopedmom1]

Thanks for the replies Martin and PD. This is a budget trip with the teenaged dd and her friend and I am trying to gain as many usable airline miles, hotel perks, etc to keep within the budget, hence the desire to fly AK.

 

Again, trying to use perks as much as possible, IF we were to fly in the day before I would like to stay in a Best Western hotel. Naturally the best choice being on Drake Street in Downtown, but it has no availability the night we need. I have read enough to know PD does not recommend Ch. Granville. That leaves Sands, Uptown, Capilano, or Abercorn. Thoughts??? I will be traveling with 19 & 20 year old girls.

[Putterdude]

Thanks for the replies Martin and PD. This is a budget trip with the teenaged dd and her friend and I am trying to gain as many usable airline miles, hotel perks, etc to keep within the budget, hence the desire to fly AK.

 

Again, trying to use perks as much as possible, IF we were to fly in the day before I would like to stay in a Best Western hotel. Naturally the best choice being on Drake Street in Downtown, but it has no availability the night we need. I have read enough to know PD does not recommend Ch. Granville. That leaves Sands, Uptown, Capilano, or Abercorn. Thoughts??? I will be traveling with 19 & 20 year old girls.

 

If you were flying into YVR in the evening then I would probably go with the Abercorn. If you were coming in the morning or early afternoon from a locational perspective I would go with the Sands followed by the Uptown and the Capilano, the latter two being a bit locationally challenged.

[martincath]

Thanks for the replies Martin and PD. This is a budget trip with the teenaged dd and her friend and I am trying to gain as many usable airline miles, hotel perks, etc to keep within the budget, hence the desire to fly AK.

 

Again, trying to use perks as much as possible, IF we were to fly in the day before I would like to stay in a Best Western hotel. Naturally the best choice being on Drake Street in Downtown, but it has no availability the night we need. I have read enough to know PD does not recommend Ch. Granville. That leaves Sands, Uptown, Capilano, or Abercorn. Thoughts??? I will be traveling with 19 & 20 year old girls.

PD nailed it with the hotels - no point staying downtown if you're just arriving in time to go to bed.

 

If you were going to have a little time though the area around the Uptown (Mount Pleasant) is great for coffee, bars & restaurants and almost 100% tourist free; reminds me of the Hawthorne/Burnside parts of Portland. Also a bit closer to Ballantyne for your cab ride than the Sands would be.

[mopedmom1]

PD nailed it with the hotels - no point staying downtown if you're just arriving in time to go to bed.

 

If you were going to have a little time though the area around the Uptown (Mount Pleasant) is great for coffee, bars & restaurants and almost 100% tourist free; reminds me of the Hawthorne/Burnside parts of Portland. Also a bit closer to Ballantyne for your cab ride than the Sands would be.

 

So how "Hawthorne" ish is it? The girls LOVE spending an afternoon there, with many cute and quirky shops!

 

As it stands for this hour...:confused: looks like flying in early in the day Friday to BC and only spending one night in LA as well.

 

So looks like I need to weigh the options for a Best Western Hotel. What's around the Sands vs the Uptown?

 

Thanks in advance for all your invaluable knowledge. :)

[Urban trekker]

The Sands is basically located right at English Bay and the beach - having lived about three blocks from the Uptown for a number of years and while it is an emerging avant garde neighbourhood there is no comparsion to staying downtown at the Sands.

 

Both Davie and Denman streets where the Sands is located are lined with restaurants, boutique shops etc.

 

You are only a short walk to Stanley Park and all its attractions.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[martincath]

So how "Hawthorne" ish is it? The girls LOVE spending an afternoon there, with many cute and quirky shops!

 

As it stands for this hour...:confused: looks like flying in early in the day Friday to BC and only spending one night in LA as well.

 

So looks like I need to weigh the options for a Best Western Hotel. What's around the Sands vs the Uptown?

 

Thanks in advance for all your invaluable knowledge. :)

Have a look at the local BIA site - http://www.mainstreetbia.com/ - for a listing of many of the stores. We don't have any community events on over that weekend.

 

Right by the BW Uptown is Kingsgate Mall which has a supermarket and liquor store for stocking up soft or hard drinks for the cruise; you're a block-and-a-half across from Kafka's (which is like a comfier Public Domain) and the Cascade Room (one of my fave local bars - new seasonal menu is the best yet, duck croquette especially outstanding); the Wallflower is the most omnivorous diner I've found in Vancouver so far.

 

Leave the official Mount Pleasant area by walking west along Broadway and there are more restaurants and shops than you can shake a stick at - about 3/4 of a mile takes you to Cambie Street where you can find Peaceful noodles (featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives) and la Taqueria, outstandingly good cheap & authentic mexican.

 

About the same distance downhill takes you to the Olympic Village, which has a ferry stop to get over to downtown or Granville Island, passing the Argo Cafe which has a daily-changing menu of outrageously good value food - it's packed before noon every day - and a branch of Nuba, excellent Lebanese, and you could even try an outrageous confection that hasn't made it to Portland yet: Cronuts. Locally known as Frissants, and only available in the Swiss Bakery across from Nuba.

 

You should also be able to visit at least three local breweries with tasting rooms by September - new legislation passed just a month or so ago enabled on-site sampling rooms and Mount Pleasant has been leading the way with the first brand-new one already open at 33 Acres (they only make a couple of beers right now, neither of which do a lot for my palate unfortunately) and two more opening "...this summer..."

 

The Sands is near English Bay - beautiful views, easy access to Denman Street with many restaurants, convenient for Stanley Park, nice beaches. There are other locals who know more about that end of town so I'll let them sell you on it.

 

If you do go with the Uptown on Friday 20th feel free to ask if you want a personal walking tour - not many visitors consider staying in my neck of the woods, I'd love to show it off!

[sprez]

Sounds like you could do everything you list above in your timeframe as well as one of Whistler or Victoria. From your arrival date, I'm guessing it's the Millie you're on, so no stop in Victoria en route, correct?

 

For me I'd prioritize a day in Victoria over one in Whistler - unless you really, *really* love mountains. Butchart Gardens has fireworks on Sat 31st Aug.

 

Local events happening over your time here include Taiwan Fest, Gastown BBQ/Chili Fest, and Food Cart Fest.

 

If you're doing a HOHO, you can probably skip an in-town tour - there may be a couple of extra sights as the HOHOs don't get outside the downtown core, but most of a 4 hour tour would be redundant.

 

Granville Island can easily eat up a half day if you wander the public market, watch some buskers, shop a bit, have lunch or dinner. Late afternoons tend to be quieter, and if you time it right you can still see all the public market & shops, then grab dinner (Edible Canada is excellent) and finish up with a mini-cruise on False Creek on the Aquabus or False Creek Ferries when the light's at its best for photography (sunset will be just before 8pm when you're in town - the ferries usually stop just around then).

 

You might want to have some bad weather alternatives - tours/HOHO and aquarium are all-weather, but Grouse & Capilano are much more outdoorsy and a big part of visiting Grouse is the view of Vancouver (low cloud/fog/heavy rain = no view). Would an Art Gallery or Museum would be of interest to your group?

 

Yes, we are on the Millie, I hope that the repairs that they had to do on her are all done and she is on her way, making up time to meet us on time on the 23rd.

 

I love all your suggestions. The public markets and shops are right up our alley. I did not know about the aquabus or the False Creek area. We will most assuredly do that. The casino in that area would make a good rainy day activity for us. Perhaps the Museum would be a nice time as well.

 

I need to ask, what are the buskers mentioned above?

 

The gaslight chili fest and the food cart fests look very interesting to us. Is it a total mob scene? Is it near our hotel area?

 

If we have any energy left in us we may do Victoria on Monday. Sorry I would miss the fireworks, I love fireworks!

 

Is there a good "local" eatery or drinkery near our hotel you might recommend?

 

Thank you very much for all your help. I spent tons of time planning our pre-cruise and cruise activities and have just run out of time for planning our 4 days in Vancouver. I hope most of the things we choose to do can be easily booked through the hotel without a ton of advanced reservations required.

[martincath]

Yes, we are on the Millie, I hope that the repairs that they had to do on her are all done and she is on her way, making up time to meet us on time on the 23rd.

 

I love all your suggestions. The public markets and shops are right up our alley. I did not know about the aquabus or the False Creek area. We will most assuredly do that. The casino in that area would make a good rainy day activity for us. Perhaps the Museum would be a nice time as well.

 

I need to ask, what are the buskers mentioned above?

 

The gaslight chili fest and the food cart fests look very interesting to us. Is it a total mob scene? Is it near our hotel area?

 

If we have any energy left in us we may do Victoria on Monday. Sorry I would miss the fireworks, I love fireworks!

 

Is there a good "local" eatery or drinkery near our hotel you might recommend?

 

Thank you very much for all your help. I spent tons of time planning our pre-cruise and cruise activities and have just run out of time for planning our 4 days in Vancouver. I hope most of the things we choose to do can be easily booked through the hotel without a ton of advanced reservations required.

Buskers = street entertainers (you can watch for free, but it's bad karma not to tip if you actually watch/listen to the performance. If the unicycling flaming knife & chainsaw juggler is around he's well worth a few bucks!)

 

I believe you said you were in the Holiday Inn on Howe Street. "Local" eateries near there?

If you mean "what regular Canadians eat" then there's UT's local White Spot just a few blocks away at Granville & Drake; plenty of pubs on Granville Street in general; good Fish & Chips at the Fish Shack; and noodle joints everywhere - almost as many as we have Starbucks:D

If you mean "locally-sourced food" then the Twisted Fork is most popular for weekend brunches - big queues - but has quite a nice menu with a lot of local items or the Commune Cafe is all about local food (usually tasty, but service is very hit & miss)

And if you mean "what people think regular Canadians eat" you could go try poutine at Fritz' European Fry House just over a block away from you on Davie.

 

Food Cart Fest is the other side of False Creek - a roundabout walk of a couple of miles, but not far if you use the little ferries. The Chili Fest is in Gastown, so about a mile-and-a-quarter from your hotel. It can get pretty busy, but every week they get better at queue management - chilifest I have no idea, it's just once a year so depending on weather and how many folks are doing other things around town could be quiet, could be hoachin'!

[sprez]

By local, I meant non-tourist good food, good value places.

 

Again, thanks.

[mopedmom1]

 

and you could even try an outrageous confection that hasn't made it to Portland yet: Cronuts. Locally known as Frissants, and only available in the Swiss Bakery across from Nuba.

 

If you do go with the Uptown on Friday 20th feel free to ask if you want a personal walking tour - not many visitors consider staying in my neck of the woods, I'd love to show it off!

 

Amazing, something foodie hasn't made it to Portland yet! That frissant sounds like a MUST TRY!

 

Martin you are doing an awesome job of selling your neighborhood. Thank you so much!

 

Dennis I appreciate your input for the Sands. Anybody else have thoughts on the area near the Best Western Sands hotel?

[Putterdude]

The Sands is basically located right at English Bay and the beach - having lived about three blocks from the Uptown for a number of years and while it is an emerging avant garde neighbourhood there is no comparsion to staying downtown at the Sands.

 

Both Davie and Denman streets where the Sands is located are lined with restaurants, boutique shops etc.

 

You are only a short walk to Stanley Park and all its attractions.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

Sorry I was in a rush this morning to catch the ferry into Vancouver and didn't explain my reason for recommending the Sands. However, I am very inclined to agree with Ut. If I was a visitor in Vancouver I would want to stay downtown close to what Vancouver is all about....Stanley Park and English Bay, Coal Harbour and the shops and restaurants of Robson St. and would choose the Sands hands down. Mt. Pleasant, the area that the BW Uptown is in, is emerging and establishing a new identity but that identity is essentially neighborhood in scope (actually I was through the area this afternoon). While I am a North Shore guy, the BW Capilano is just to removed from the many of the attractions of the city....unless of course your plans were only to include the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Grouse Mtn. Skyride.

[martincath]

By local, I meant non-tourist good food, good value places.

 

Again, thanks.

With tripadvisor, cruisecritic, yelp, urbanspoon etc. there really aren't any unknown-to-tourists places in the touristy parts of any big city. If you're willing to leave the downtown peninsula though, pretty much any neighbourhood will be almost tourist-free - but the 'burbs of Vancouver are much like the 'burbs of any big city, so it's finding that sweet spot in-between that still has interesting things to see and do (and eat!) that's tricky.

 

Just as PD & UT say above, most people who come to Vancouver want to see the places that are globally well-known (No 1 = Stanley Park!), and stay somewhere convenient for those places. There's a reason we have so many hotels concentrated right downtown!

 

If you read the notes I posted for Mopedmom you'll see I listed a few options in Mount Pleasant/False Creek South which are rarely visited by tourists. Also off-the-beaten-track enough to be low tourism, but easily navigated, safe, with many dining and shopping options - Commercial Drive (take Expo or Millennium Line Skytrain to Commercial/Broadway station, walk up & down Commercial) is another area that springs to mind. Next to no chain restaurants and shops, almost no mid-rise or high-rise buildings, it's sort of the de facto business street for the community around it - it's a little higher up than downtown so they even have nice views.

 

I've had good food & drink on the Drive at various places - St Augustines pub, Cafe Kathmandu Nepalese, ChongQuing Szechuan, Harambe Ethiopian, Cafe Carthage Tunisian-French, The Reef Caribbean and more. Probably more independent coffee shops than anywhere else in town too.

Edited August 14, 2013 by martincath

[papadave]

My family had lunch there yesterday and I can definitely recommend it. Be sure to order the fries, which are cooked in duck fat, and ask for salt to go with them -- we were presented with three different specialty salts including a bacon flavored salt and a very spicy salt, but only after we asked for some salt.

[MLindaG]

Leaving this Saturday for Vancouver and planned on taking the Skytrain to Waterfront Station and then a taxi to our hotel (Westin Bayshore). Are there taxi's located at Waterfront Station and if so what door way do we need to go out of to find them.

 

Also, what pharmacy would you recommend near the Westin Bayshore that I could get a prescription filled......It's a bit of a long story but the great USofA stopped providing Intal :confused:- An asthma inhaler that I have successfully used for 30 years with only one asthma attack since my initial problems. I am allergic to dogs, cats and horses that cause the problem and only use the inhaler when I go to a house with an animal. The wonderful thing is this inhaler stops my problem and I have no problems. :) I have used the web in the past with mixed results/problems and high fees. I thought since I'm going to be in Canada why not have the prescription filled. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks so much for your help!!

[Putterdude]

Leaving this Saturday for Vancouver and planned on taking the Skytrain to Waterfront Station and then a taxi to our hotel (Westin Bayshore). Are there taxi's located at Waterfront Station and if so what door way do we need to go out of to find them.

 

Also, what pharmacy would you recommend near the Westin Bayshore that I could get a prescription filled......It's a bit of a long story but the great USofA stopped providing Intal :confused:- An asthma inhaler that I have successfully used for 30 years with only one asthma attack since my initial problems. I am allergic to dogs, cats and horses that cause the problem and only use the inhaler when I go to a house with an animal. The wonderful thing is this inhaler stops my problem and I have no problems. :) I have used the web in the past with mixed results/problems and high fees. I thought since I'm going to be in Canada why not have the prescription filled. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks so much for your help!!

Taxis at Waterfront Station are going to be catch as catch can. If there isn't one there then you will have to walk the 3 blocks to either the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel or the Pan Pacific at Canada Place.

With regard to your prescription, a Canadian drugstore will not fill a prescription of an American doctor. Yes, I know it is done online but it is kind of a grey market situation....sorry. If you were willing to go to a walk-in medical clinic in Vancouver and pay the doctor's fee then that prescription would be filled.

Here is link to the two clinics that I am most familiar with, if you wish you could contact one of them and see what a visit would cost for an out of country visitor.

https://www.steinmedical.com/home.htm

[MLindaG]

Thanks for the info on the meds. - darn I sure wish that it would have worked...:mad:.........I so wish I could find a reliable internet site.

[martincath]

Thanks for the info on the meds. - darn I sure wish that it would have worked...:mad:.........I so wish I could find a reliable internet site.

You can still get the drug in the US, just not the inhaler - the reason it was discontinued was the CFCs in the delivery canister, nothing to do with the active ingredient. Any you've been importing from Canada is actually coming from the UK where they make a CFC-free version - Canadian pharmacies need to order it from the UK hence the random stocking of the product, it's not even listed on the Canadian website of the manufacturer.

 

The drug itself (cromolyn sodium) is still made in the US by Teva in PA - here's a link to the relevant page, including bar codes for ordering. You will need to also pick up a nebuliser to actually deliver the drug.

 

Might also have been useful if I thought to add the Canadian info for the same nebuliser version that's available - Apotex in Toronto make it. The Drug Identification Number (DIN) listed on that link should be all that any pharmacy needs to verify they have the right product; but it is still Prescription Only.

Edited August 16, 2013 by martincath
Add Canadian DIN info

[MLindaG]

I do need it in the inhaler form. It's back to the internet!! Thanks so much for the info.