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Just back from the NCL Sun Vancouver to Seward and back. Any questions?


cuterlmt
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We had a blast. I would recommend staying in Vancouver a few days before or after.

We did after and are so glad we did. We loved Vancouver (thanks all who helped us plan, especially martincath and xlxo).

 

We stayed at the YWCA hotel in Vancouver and would highly recommend it. Even my picky husband was ok with it. Spent several hours at Capilano (so beautiful) and did some other touristy stuff. I wish we had planned a longer stay in Vancouver, and we will go back, even if we don't have a cruise planned. Beautiful city.

 

If you have any questions about any of that, or taking Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver, I'd be happy to offer anything.

 

Unfortunately I am not the picture taker, hubby is. And didn't save dailies or menus, but I can answer questions. I was surprised at how different the menus were from Shadowmeboy's cruise last year, most particularly lunch. We ended up at the buffet a lot for lunch.

 

Wonderful, wonderful trip of a lifetime.

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Thanks for the shout out, and for coming back to offer up your experience. Not just for me but for the many visitors who seem to worry about how 'terrible' the boarding experience is here, I'd love to hear about your experience of getting onto the ship. Did you come early, late, or in-between? Did you find signage, staff at the pier to be helpful? How did it compare to other embarkation experiences elsewhere?

Edited by martincath
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Embarkation was great. 2 ship day, along with the Disney Wonder. We came at about 1030 or so. We didn't try to get priority boarding with CAS. The only thing we waited any time for was getting on the ship. They had us all wait for a bit. Served us water and fruit drink while we waited. Customs/immigration/picture taking, easy peasy. And we ended up putting $100 cash on our account which we did on the ship, no problem.

 

Disembarkation was a breeze as well, HOWEVER, we waited over an hour and a half for a cab. I wish I would have not been so tired, and tried to figure out how to get to Pan Pacific instead of waiting there.

 

There were a couple of other hiccups. I mentioned back to back - we got a letter a few days into cruise number 1 saying, you don't have to do anything for cruise 2, just enjoy time in Seward or stay on the ship, and your key will work, etc. I confirmed that with guest services as well as making sure our account was still good. On Monday morning, we got the accounting of our room charges and had money due. I checked with guest services and told them we just wanted to make sure it transferred onto the next cruise. We still had plenty left in OBC and cash, On Wednesday, our key didn't work and we got a note saying we had no funding for our account. First, the key didn't work, so I took care of that - new keys. Then later in the day, had to call because of the letter. They took care of it, with a supposed call to their financial department.

 

When we left Monday, we were able to get all of our cash deposit back. They said the rest would be sent via check in the mail. We'll see how long that takes.

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oh and as for signage and staff at the pier-

We cabbed it dropped our luggage with a porter immediately. The cab driver took my $20 in cash and gave me Canadian back, which I was fine with.

We went in, and there were people all along the way to help. I didn't feel like the signs were that helpful, but the clipboard ladies were. We sailed through everything.

 

When we were waiting for the cab on Monday, 9-11, the only good thing about that is that we got to see all the incoming folks, and how excited they were about going on their cruises. I was really surprised how long we had to wait for a cab. It was very organized, although, I'm not sure making cab drivers back in is the most efficient way to get their passengers. But for the way the place is set up, it's probably what works, with getting luggage in and all. Our cab driver wasn't great at backing in and took two spaces.....

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