dawnvip

DAN (Dive Alert Network) Travel Insurance is available to everyone, whether you're a scuba diver or not. Their annual rates are quite good, depending on coverage options and your age. 

Even if you don't buy the travel insurance, simple membership ($60 US/year for a family plan) offers emergency medical evacuation and travel assistance. 

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The way it works in Canada if you use a debit card those funds are immediately taken from your account.  When I use a credit card those charges are not coming directly out of my account.  Once billed I have a choice to pay them or not.  No money is removed from my account if I dispute those charges.  In my eyes, that is completely different.  No way would I use a debit card.

It may be that lissie's card is similar to the AC Conversion card available in Canada. That "credit card" is actually pre-paid, meaning you load CAD onto the card and then set up/exchange the CAD to anything up to 10 wallets in differing currencies. Sounds great, but terrible CIBC exchange rates made me cancel after the first try. No possibility of adding funds in any currency other than CAD. For instance, I always have left over Pesos, Euros, etc, so it would be great to have a method of saving those funds digitally rather than in my piggy banks!  

Pre-pay the gratuities in CAD unless you have a secret stash of USD bought at par back in 2010. Who knows what the exchange rate will be when you sail... 

I think it may be fairly common practice to accept US dollar cash payment and then keep the US$ and remit their earnings in CAD.

Most canadian companies use terrible exchange rates (worse than banks!), so employees benefit from discounted US$ exchange rate to keep the cash.

Air Canada flies from Sydney and Brisbane direct to Vancouver and also to Toronto. I think Melbourne is also starting up again soon. Air Tahiti is now flying direct to Vancouver as well, so you have alot of options for getting home if you decide to cruise down.  I've done the flight to Vancouver several times and didn't find the long haul flight that bad at all. 

Sydney and Brisbane are both awesome cities. There are loads of short term apartment rentals available if you plan to stay a week (or more!) exploring the city. Easy to get around with public transit, and there are some awesome day tours available too. We did the Blue Mountains trip one day and Hunter Valley one day- - loved both of them.

As mentioned above, regional flights within Australia are relatively cheap (compared to Canadian fligts!) and very frequent. Much quicker to fly, but not so senic! 

22 hours ago, Coolcruise02 said:

Thanks for explaining that!!

Seems like a poor way to do business, when you let someone represent you that you have not trained. The customer suffers in the long run.

Its the exact same thing at all of the airport check-ins and boarding gates around the world. United, Delta, American and Air Canada, etc don't generally have employees in every single other country they fly to but use code-sharing company staff to do the work on their behalf.

There is no terminal M at YVR, unless maybe referring to "Main" as opposed to "South" terminal??

If you are flying from the USA or international, you will arrive at an "E" gate. Follow the crowds to baggage carosels, collect your bags and go through customs. Once outside customs, go up one level (There are elevators and escalators right outside customs) and past the food court, and international check in counters. On your left will be signs for the skytrain, up another escalator and out the door.  Its about a 3 minute walk once you're up the escalator.

Skytrains run every 6 - 8 minutes and it takes about 25 min to get all the way downtown. You will want to get off at Waterfront station. Outside the station, on Cordoba Street, hang a right and walk 1 block to Howe, turn left onto Howe and walk 1 block to Hastings. Turn right onto Hastings and halfway down the block will be the Auberge. 

20 hours ago, Ms. Alpha said:

Just off the Koningsdam 18 day Hawaii (RT from Vancouver) last month.  In the past we have mostly had fixed dining, but booked to late to get that this time.  We missed having the same waiter each night who learned our preferences for beverages, but we had a great experience.  We considered trying to make a reservation to get the same table each night, but didn't bother since we had planned to use speciality restaurants some nights.  In the MDR we had a 2-top a few nights and shared tables on the other night ranging from 4 to 8-tops.  We had wonderful dinner companions each time (even had the same couple twice - completely random).  There always seemed to be a line up when the MDR opened, but if you waited 30 minutes or so it eased up.  We were given pagers 2 or 3 nights but never had to wait long.  One night the pager went off before the glass of wine I ordered in the Ocean Bar arrived!

A party of 5 might take a bit longer to seat so I would look into reservations if you are concerned.

Thanks for confirming pager usage. I couldn't remember which cruise lines use them 

Thank you for posting!

I love Le Pho, and am sorry to hear that Le Petit Saigon has gone down hill as their food has always been better than looks of the restaurant itself (Showing its age for some time). I wonder if they are struggling too? 

4 hours ago, Tryingtocruise said:

Are tables of two readily available?  We will be sailing HAL for the first time next summer and one of the reasons I like "your time" dining on other cruise lines is that it's much easier to get a 2-top that way.  

I think they are more readily available, but still dependant on time of arrival at the MDR and how full the sailing. 

DH and I prefer the anytime dining. Whether its a late departure from port of call, extra time in the spa or bar, or even we're hungry-lets eat - things change and we like the flexibility.

That said, anytime dining does come with conditions: you never know who you will be eating with, if there is a wait,  etc. We've met so many wonderful people over the years during impromptu seatings that we now consider it part of the reason we cruise (not that you wouldn't get great regular assigned table mates).

A group of 5 might have a bit tougher time getting seated when just walking up to the dining room though, especially if you want the table to yourself. I'm not sure if HAL has beepers/pagers to hand out for those who would like to wait for their table at the bar?

2 hours ago, doone said:

How far is the ride from Vancouver Airport to the pier or Robson Street?

It is 17 km (10.5 miles) and takes anywhere from 30 - 50 min to drive depending on traffic and time of day. If taking the Canada Line Skytrain, it's 26 minutes from YVR to Waterfront station. Trains leave ever 6 or 8 min, lots of room for luggage.

+1 vote for Gastineau. We used them last summer when in Juneau and loved it! Saw at least a dozen whales during the 2 hours we were on the water. Their boats are specially made specific for whale watching with glass sides that can be opened up and gives everyone on-board a wonderful close view. 

We actually did the "Whales tales and Glacier trails" trip which also included a stroll through the forest to the glacier lookout. The brochure calls it a hike, but other than fact that the path a forest trail, I didn't break a sweat or even start breathing hard! Much less exercise than I was expecting with the word "hike" but still very enjoyable. 

3 hours ago, Seacruise said:

Here is the problem. Most Alaska cruises leave Vancouver earlier than in the past ( I have noticed some as early as 3PM last year). The reason is there is a speed restriction in effect for the Salish Sea including Juan de Fuca Straight if you are going to Victoria.
This also is why Princess and Carnival are not going to Victoria on their 10/11 Alaska cruises out of California. Victoria was swapped out for Prince Rupert in March when the speed change was announced.
A study was done over the period of Covid and the affect to the whale populations. The birth rate went up by about 50% (no this doesn't mean 50% more whales) so this year instead of starting the speed restriction in June, it came into effect this week on May 01. So no more  20 knots to get to Seymour Narrows. Since you are trying to get to Robson Bite it is highly likely it will be after dark despite the long twilight we have.
Your best bet if you are on 7 day return is about 5 PM or slightly later on the southbound trip.

Agreed. Last year's Alaska cruise that we were on left Vancouver at 4 PM, but we had to wait at least an hour until our "turn" to navigate the narrows so it was quite dark out. Along with the tides, there is a kind of "one way traffic" situation so ended up seeing very little on the outbound northern transit.

Coming home, southbound, was excellent with wonderful views of Chatham Point and a bit of Telegraph cove. We saw whales and dolphins. Fingers crossed you will have good light, great weather and luck too!  

+1 vote for Grouse Mountain. Whole family loves going there to see the Grizzly Bears, Raptor shows, and the views. 

Depending on how much time you have, you could do both - they are only 5 min drive apart!

Great tool, thanks for sharing!

There won't be any cell service on board once the ship is about an hour or so out of Vancouver. 

Doesn't matter which service provider you have - there are no cell towers and no service past the north end of Vancouver Island. 

Instant messaging is available through the navigator app so you should be able to connect with the rest of your party if none of the other methods work.

9 hours ago, Nelsj099 said:

I am trying to figure out parking for my dad.  Do you have to pre book a spot at Canada Place or can you just arrive day of departure?

You can just drive up and park on day of departure. The advantage of pre-booking a spot is the discounted price: $23 per day if  pre-booked vs $32 per day  

+1 for the River Rock in Richmond if you can snag a deal. Lovely rooms and very quiet. There are a few dining options in the hotel and a casino too if that interests you. It is very easy to get from airport via skytrain and just as easy getting from hotel to port!

Another vote for Blue Water Cafe!

Here are some that others haven't mentioned:

Hotel restaurants that we love: Diva at the Met (Metropolitan Hotel) and Bacchus at the Wedgewood

Italian: Italian Kitchen on Burrard, Tavola and CinCin on Robson

One-off Vancouver only: Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop house 

Cafe Medina on Richards and Chambar on Beatty for brunch!

Also Uber and Lyft available.

52 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

A contributing factor, but the root cause is the design.

 

When initially designed, they planned for 5 ships, but most of the newer ships in those days were about 700 - 750 pax. Unfortunately, by the time they completed construction, ship sizes had started to increase again.

 

I frequently visited the P&O/Princess ships in the 80's and didn't note any issues when they still had the 750 pax Island/Pacific/Sun. However, once the larger ships arrived it started to get busy. It was never designed to handle 3 ships of 3,500 pax each, so the delays and crowding has worsened as ship size increased.

 

Sadly, Metro Port Vancouver made the decision to have Canada Place as the only cruise terminal, handing most of the Alaska business to Seattle. 

Agreed! However, the limiting factor for cruise ship size at Canada Place is the Lion's gate bridge. Some cruise ships need to time their arrival/departure with low tide to fit under. 

The Port Authority is once again looking at the idea of docking the larger cruise ships at Robert's Bank in Tsawwassen. Middle of no-where with no amenities and at least a half- hour from any tourist attraction. Reminds me of Rome!

Found one, thanks!