Jeaannie55

Thank you all for your help, I do have other credit cards with me, but I just wanted to understand the logic behind this, as it was only $25 paying cash was not a problem.

Thank you for your reply, I found it very strange, I gave him the 25$ but requested a receipt and did not eat or drink in there tonight! credit card worked okay in the bar we did choose.

Hello you lovely Canadians, I wonder if any of you can answer a query regarding my (British) visa card. I am currently staying at the Delta Suites by Marriott whilst waiting to cruise out of Vancouver. I checked in with said credit card and put in my PIN number, no problems. As it was so late, we decided to have a quick drink and bite to eat, which came to 75$, which is over the daily limit of 50$ per night, although no one told us that at check in there was a 50$ per night limit so they want me to pay another 25$ When I went to reception with credit card in hand they would not accept it as I had to swipe it and it could not be authorised. They are now asking for $25 in cash. I find this all very strange, so my question is, is this the norm in Canada? Or just Marriott? We have done a bit of a tour from Toronto and not encountered any such difficulties and yes there is plenty of credit on the card! sorry for the long post and thank you for staying with it! Any in put is appreciated .

Hello, I have never replied on one of your posts before, but I love reading your blogs and will (hopefully, depending on internet) be following along, as we leave on Saturday 6th for a trip to Canada, before we sail on the Millennium out of Vancouver to Alaska. I visited Iceland for a land trip a few years back, in January, everything was white with snow! absolutely loved the country and always said would love to go back in the summer. Be very interesting to hear your experiences. Safe travels!

Thank you all for your replies sorry for being late in thanking you, did not get any notifications 😬. You have all been a great help and things are certainly clearer now. Yes we are sleeper plus and will bring a book for when trees and grass become less interesting.

Fouremco, thank you so much for replying and the links are very useful indeed. certainly gives me a starting point.

Slightly off topic but we are travelling on Via Rail from Toronto to Vancouver before we pick up the cruise ship to Alaska. Could anyone advise me how we go about tipping? We are on the train for 4 nights, so there will be a change of crew at some stage and I wouldn’t want to miss anyone. so would we tip at every meal? Or just dinner? And how much does anyone think appropriate, as all meals are included there is no percentage to work on. coming from a country that doesn’t necessarily have a large tipping culture, it’s a little bit of a minefield. thank you for any help you can give me.

Been researching the testing as well, as far as I can gather, Empower are testing at The Fairmont Hotel, next to the cruise terminal in Vancouver and they state they offer a hard copy if required. the downside is the price seems to be 120 Canadian dollars, so if anyone knows or can recommend somewhere else, I think this is where we will have to go, coming in from the U.K. this seems like the best option for us. appointments not required but apparently recommended.