MillbrookMom

Day 2 - This was a sea day for us.  The ship took the Canadian inside passage on Day 1 and through the night and on day 2 on our way to Sitka we are on the west side of Haida Gwaii Island so we had sea views.  There was some wave action, but nothing too bad.   We had breakfast in the dining room this day.  I had the eggs benedict, which unfortunately weren't very good, but hubby had the breakfast bowl which he enjoyed.  Our highlights for today were what we saw at mealtime.  At breakfast I spotted some dolphins out the window and shortly afterwards we saw a whale that was "waving" its fin.   Later on we had lunch at Park Cafe and noticed several whales spraying water out their blow holes.  

I will do a day by day posting of our recent cruise to Alaska on Serenade of the Seas (May 22-29).  Day 1 boarding in Vancouver.  We had done our tests in Ontario before flying to Vancouver the day before.  We took the Canada Line from the airport which ends very close to the pier for those staying in that area.  We were at Holiday Inn which was about a 20 minute walk.  Our scheduled boarding time was 11am.  Everything was very smooth, though we did have to wait for a bit for the ship to be ready for boarding (maybe 30 min).  We were lucky have a beautiful day in Vancouver for embarkation.   We had a balcony stateroom 1002 port side.  The bridge does block your view forward a little, but only when they have the shades down, otherwise you can see straight through.  An FYI, we slept with our curtains open the entire cruise.  In Alaska there is always something new and gorgeous to see, we had some spectacular views even at 2:30am as there are only 3-4 hours of actual darkness, at least in May.  

On 4/30/2022 at 2:17 PM, xlxo said:

I just got off the Koningsdam in Vancouver. There's frequent questions on where to store luggage for a pre/post-cruise trip? Tip a nearby hotel?

 

For 2022, West Coast Sightseeing has set up a seasonal kiosk in the cruise terminal for luggage. CAD$10 for Carry-ons and CAD$15 for Large checked luggage.

 

Details here... https://westcoastsightseeing.com/services/all-day-baggage-storage/

 

Yes, they do sightseeing tours too.

Thank you so much for posting this.  Might be an option for us post cruise.

31 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

Yes, in Sitka ships no longer tender but dock at a privately owned dock.  A free shuttle, which runs continuously, drops folks off at the Harrigan Centenial Center which is downtown.

23 minutes ago, CONCH65 said:

We took a ship excursion on our August 2021 cruise to Sitka but we did notice this sign was at the end of the pier.

Thank you so much.  That answers what I was looking for an hopefully helps other 1st timers.

So, I believe that in Sitka the ships dock outside of town and there is a free shuttle into town.  Can someone let me know if this is correct and where in town the shuttle drops you.  TIA 

13 hours ago, laurieal said:

Question of the day: what do you see in this light feature that’s on deck 4?

 

 

To me it looks like someone throwing a baby 🧐 

Africa, Europe and Asia

14 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

You can get off the cruise ship and walk up Burrard Street.  This is where the Epic Rides bus to Whistler departs.  Beautiful Ride!  Whistler is wonderful any time of year and there are so many interesting thing to do.  No need to rent a car to get you there.  Let someone else drive so you can enjoy the Sea to Sky highway.

if you decide to stay in Vancouver you don’t need a car.  Consider doing the hop on hop off bus. 
don’t miss activities here include: The Vancouver Aquarium, Granville Island and the False Creek Ferries, an afternoon spent at a great neighbourhood like West Broadway or Main Street, a trip on the seabus then treat at Nemesis in the Polygon building and maybe a trip up Grouse mountain. Then get Cactus Club or White Spot for dinner.

Enjoy your stay here!

Since we fly in early the day before our cruise and are staying a few km from the cruise port, I think I will take some of your suggestions for pre-cruise.  We have been to Whistler once before, but this may also be an option to avoid renting a car....hmmmm.  Thanks.

21 hours ago, martincath said:

What do you think is good in an overnight stay? Things to do or see? Chillaxing downtime after a busy cruise? Nice views - ocean, mountain, rivers? Without knowing what you want out of such a trip, hard to say what whether a given spot would be a great suggestion or a godawful one!!!

 

I'll take a stab in the dark though - unique stuff nearby but not in Vancouver, conveniently visited with just one overnight, no ferries to avoid any risks for your return to the airport... any chance you enjoy fishing and/or spa time? Harrison Hot Springs is a short trip with access to sturgeon fishing as well as the more typical salmon/trout angling, and those who don't want to drag hundreds of kilos of dinosaur out of the river can lounge in the 'healing' waters...

That's a fantastic suggestion.  We are definitely about the views and relax or active, we're open to either.  

We arrive back in Vancouver at 7am on the Sunday but don't fly out till 4:30 pm the following day.  We were thinking of heading to the Airport and renting a car to drive somewhere out of the city for an overnight Airbnb.  Any suggestions on a good overnight trip?  

On 4/23/2022 at 11:09 PM, muffin said:

Millbrook, looks like you are in for a delightful voyage!  We are looking forward to one ourselves in a month, and otherwise will watch them go by in the early evening from the beachfront for the entire season!   

 We have a few lucky friends who also live on Vancouver Island.  Enjoy your ship watching and especially your own cruise.

I decided to see if I could find more info on what route our specific ship takes and was able to find this:  Your ship offers the perfect platform for viewing British Columbia’s Inside Passage. This archipelago spans 25,000 miles from Seattle to Prince Rupert near the Alaskan border. Here you’ll ply calm waters sheltered between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. Along the way catch a glimpse of breathtakingly rugged scenery, plus staggering wildlife like salmon sharks, white spirit bears, and millions of seabirds.

We have friends on this ship, so will be following

9 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

If you can, make sure to be awake and on deck (or your balcony) when the ship passes through the Seymour Narrows . It is usually about 5 hours after departing or before arriving in Vancouver. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Narrows

 

 

That is a fantastic tip.  Thank you.  We have friends who live in Campbell River who were hoping to see us go by.  And our balcony does face them heading north.

6 minutes ago, dfilpus said:

Some cruise ships are too big to sail the narrow passage between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland. They then enter the inside passage in Queen Charlotte Sound. The inside passage continues north to Juneau and Skagway.

We are on Serenade of the Seas.  

4 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

Most of the cruises to / from Vancouver sail the full inside passage by going inside of Vancouver Island. This is much more scenic the first / last day than the cruises to / from Seattle that  usually enter / leave the inside passage North of Vancouver Island closer to Ketchikan.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage

 

Thank you.  That is what I was hoping for.  

Alaska cruise newbie here and looking for verification.  I was looking at cruise tracker and it shows the route of our ship as being on the ocean side of Vancouver island.  However, our itinerary says that day 2 a sea day is Inside passage cruising.  Does that mean we sail between Vancouver Island and Mainland BC?  We are a round trip from Vancouver and our 1st port is Sitka if that helps.  Thanks in advance.  

Received our Balcony assignment today and it did indeed match the scanning of the bar code on the set sail pass.  Thank you for sharing this tip!

On 4/13/2022 at 12:38 PM, Straitlover said:

If your budget allows, I recommend doing a one-way cruise Anchorage-Vancouver. W did the southbound one in 2018 (HAL Noordam) and took the train from Anchorage to Seward to get to the ship. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole cruise, beautiful views of coastlines and even small glaciers. We splurged and got the car w/ the glass top so we didn't have to deal with trying to get a little time in the viewing area that everyone else shared. You also get a meal and priority service in the dining car.

 

I also recommend Glacier Bay. Love how the spun the ship around for everyone to see.

 

We went to Haines,  and we just rented a car and drove up to Canada (stopped to see eagles and such in one area). Next time, i hope to do Skagway and do the train/bus combo.

 

Was hoping to go back this year w/ a deal I got from Carnival (Seattle round trip), but flight were too outrageous. Maybe another time - enjoy your trip!

 

Where did you rent a car in Haines?

6 hours ago, jean87510 said:

yes.  download the QR bar code scanner app in Google play store ON YOUR PHONE.  Pull up your sail pass on another device (laptop, computer, tablet, another phone) with the bar code.  Open up the QR bar code scanner app on your phone.  Point it at the bar code.  The number you will see will have numbers, a - , then 4 or 5 numbers.  Those numbers after the - is your room.

Thanks for the tip.  Now to see if this is the room we actually get.  

Just curious for those with upcoming Alaska cruises, how far in advance did you get your cabin assignment for Balcony rooms?  Glancing at remaining available cabins for our cruise there appears to be about 32 left....(I don't know if they keep others available for gty or if they would be included in that), but just over a month to go.  

3 hours ago, Garden_Girl said:

Have you checked in your iPhone Settings and General that your phone is up to date?  I know you said the App was but how about the regular updates that Apple make to your iPhone?

It’s funny you suggested this as I actually figured I’d do an update on my phone last night to see if that would help and this morning, still no check in button 🤷‍♀️   I give up for now.  My husband was able to  add our vaccine info, so that is done.  It would be nice if it worked before our cruise, but not going to stress about it anymore.  Thanks everyone. 

So, my husband was able to complete our check in info with vaccine info on his Samsung, but still no check in button with my iPhone and I have deleted and reinstalled the app several times.  No idea why it won’t show up. 

3 hours ago, MillbrookMom said:

How long until your cruise?  Ours is May 22

When I open the app on my phone, there is no check in link?

On 4/12/2022 at 9:31 PM, jean87510 said:

I actually just did this part on the app as Im checking in for my cruise.  Took pictures of my vaccine card and my husband's.  Its very easy.  

How long until your cruise?  Ours is May 22

On 4/11/2022 at 4:44 PM, Heymarco said:

Do you get the same results when you log into Royal Caribbean‘s website and try to check in there? Have you checked with others in your roll call to see if they can check in?

So, I was able to check in online, but there is says I need to complete the check in on the app by filling in my vaccine info.  This is the part I can't do on the app.