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Yes. Air Canada (or WestJet or the US airlines) will charge baggage fees between the US and Canada unless your connecting overseas. Air Canada and Qantas are the only two non-stop options between Vancouver and Australia. Air New Zealand would also be an option with a connection. They have a first fee bag on overseas flights. That said, coming back from Australia, I am assuming your going home and not trying to go through Vancouver. That gives you a few more options.

Yes, it is. Downtown Victoria by North American standards has a fairly old downtown. All the buildings refurbished and has an old world vibe. Lots of independent restaurants. Some are farm to table type. Here is the promo video:

The cruise line has access to special negotiated rates that are un-published. So it may be the same flight as you see on expedia with the rate NCL is paying will be quite different. For this reason the conditions around the ticket are also different and unpublished. They generally don't book into the ultra-low-cost airlines. Your likely to be on Air Canada, WestJet, AirTransat or one of the major foreign airlines. There is nothing wrong with unpublished fares, but you should know what your getting into. I have an RBC Avion card and AMEX miles card. If I try to book on Avion or AMEX (even paying cash with no points) I can book into special unpublished fares that each of the banks negotiated. Many cases it is cheaper but without aeroplan points as an example.

Both WestJet and Air Canada are about the same. There are non-stop flights with both airlines. Air Canada partners with United and you can credit miles to your United loyalty program. WestJet partners with Delta in the US and you can credit miles to the Delta program if you collect miles.

This is the cruise ship facility in Nanaimo. They have a nice building, connected to a pier designed for cruise ships all the space for busses, etc. Today it is also used a heliport for passenger flights to Vancouver. https://goo.gl/maps/mbXZSP57X84w6Ue86 Living on Vancouver Island, I get over to Vancouver on a regular basis. I have ever been on cruise that docked there once and that was the NCL Jade or NCL Jewell (can't remember which one). When they have used it for cruise ships the harbour authority has run free shuttle buses into downtown Nanaimo since it is next to an industrial port, but they did also let people walk in/out if they stayed in the designated area. The location Heidi13 suggested is this one. It is possible as empty cruise ships have be serviced in that drydock. But it is active shipyard. I don't know. https://goo.gl/maps/JRzz8vZ3pikj1ZtN6

The Air Canada web site is bad for flipping into US$. The black bar at the top has the currency. Set it to CDN. If it changes as you browse change it back. It tends to work better if you have an account and are logged in, but you sometimes need to keep putting it back.

Victoria has pre-clearance but for ferries. They do not have pre-clearance at the airport. Seattle is typical of US airports. If your flight arrives at the same time of some widebody flights it can be a zoo going through US border control. If it arrives at the right time the place is empty and your on the other side with no issue. You go through customs in Seattle. Yes, 75 minutes is tight but it can be done if everything goes to plan.

I assumed that birth would have ships going into or out of drydock. Being the largest civilian dry dock on the west coast they have had cruise ships in and out at times. I guess it the timing worked they could reconfigure it for a cruise ship to discharge passengers. It is in the middle of an active ship yard. I don't know.

I like the Robson Wine & Spirits store. That said it is a slightly more expensive. As martincath said, the BC Liquor Stores generally have a very good selection and are usually the best deal in town.

Air Canada would be another option out of Portland, through Toronto. You would have one connection. In Toronto coming from the US going to Europe you stay in the international concourse and there is no customs/immigration. Coming back you would clear US customs/immigration in Toronto but unlike US airport bag are automatically transferred. I would assume some of the US airlines also offer one stop options.

Yes, they are the replacement Alitalia. They are owned by the government of Italy. Being government owned I would not be worried that they are going to disapear. If your booked on codeshares operated by Air Canada and United then it comes down to those to airlines for the in flight experience. I am fan of Air Canada over United but honestly they are both very close to each other.

In Victoria I can't thing of anywhere where the cruise ship could dock. For civilian docks you have Ogdon point (where the cruise ships normally dock) and a number of smaller docks. They could tender. The other large docks in Victoria are military or coast guard. If they need another Canadian port close to that area that would be Vancouver (that is also busy) or Nanaimo. Nanaimo has a purpose built cruise ship port facility, that NCL used it in years past. However it is very rarely used today.

If I am looking for a basic hotel in the downtown core a few of the choices I would look at: - Days Inn (this is 100+ year old building, refurbish rooms, nothing remarkable about them but it s clean, safe and a good location). - Sandman Hotel (near the stadium), more upscale than the Days Inn but generally small rooms. Good location but not as close to the cruise ship terminal. - Pinnacle Hotel (close to the core of the city, older hotel, nice rooms, potentially a great view). - EXchange Hotel (before being a hotel this use to be the Vancouver Stock Exchange building). Older building but that transformed into a hotel. You can sometimes get good rates. Great location, nice rooms. Nothing over the top.

That makes sense. If your charged 10% VAT on something that costs 0.00 Euro that is 0.00.

Was it all that Flow Alkaline water or did they supply some variety......

There are some fine gardens in Vancouver. Including a botanical garden and two Japanese Gardens. If you do want to go to the Island. I would not do the rental car but instead do the intercity bus. - You would need to take a taxi from your hotel to Pacific Central Station. - There is a 9:30 AM bus that leaves Pacific Central and drives directly onto the 11:00 sailing that arrives in Swatz Bay at 12:35 - You will want to get off the bus on the ferry and walk off the ship. - Take a taxi from the ferry terminal to the Gardens. You would end up with a good four hours to visit the gardens. Coming back - Tax a taxi from the Garden To Swartz Bay Terminal to get on the 5:00 pm sailing you will want to be at the terminal no later that 4:30. - Board the bus on the ferry it will take you back to Pacific Central Station in Downtown Vancouver. - Taxi from there to your hotel. You will be back to your hotel around 8 pm. Pre-booking the bus is at: https://bcfconnector.com/ Even paying for taxis etc, this is likely lower cost. You spend far less time waiting for a ship and you don't need to worry about traffic etc. ---- If you do decide the fly there are a few choices..... Harbour Air operates float plans from Vancouver Harbour (near the cruise ship terminal) to downtown Victoria. Helijet Airways operates helicopter service from Vancouver Heliport to the inner harbour in Victoria. Both are spectacular views. You can sometimes get good deals. The gardens are actually closer to the Victoria Airport than downtown Victoria. So regular airport service may be a better fit though not as interesting. Air Canada, WestJet and Pacific Costal are the three airlines. Pacific Costal operates out of the south terminal in Vancouver and being a small aircraft does not have the same security constraints as the bigger airlines. The flying time is around 20 minutes.

For BA London is their hub and they only have one hub. (Ignoring Gatwick for a moment). London-Phoenix-London is going to be a difficult turn for them to do in 24 hours and keep on schedule day after day using the same aircraft. It would be even worse for flights to California. They are likely to alternative the aircraft on that route with a shorter one. Perhaps something like London to New York, Chicago, Miami, Toronto or Montreal. They will make those decisions on a daily basis to try to minimise delays across the network. If you use a website like flightaware, you can search for that flight and click on a link to see what flight the aircraft did previousely.

It is not uncommon for the airlines to contract out flying to regional airlines especially for routes that use smaller aircraft. Delta has contracted Skywest to operate that flight for them. The flight will have a Delta number on it, check in and the gate staff will be Delta. From a passenger perspective it will be a Delta flight. However, the aircraft, pilots and flight crew will be skywest employees. United, American and Alaska also do the same thing.

Depends on where your heading. If you staying in Canada and heading back east I would go for a flight leaving around noon.

Skywest in that case would use a Delta gate. Delta is usually in A. There is a very quick undergound shuttle train that connects everything. The bags are checked onwards and you should not have to go through security again. I would not be worried.

Prince Rupert is a significant transportation hub. For cargo containers heading to Chicago and other parts of the midwest the Prince Rupert cargo terminal shaves about a week vrs Long Beach, Seattle or Vancouver. It has a population of around 15,000. Tourism is important in the community but since the community has a significant economy beyond just tourism you will find it has a different fell that stops in Alaska. If you walk up the hill your will be in the downtown area. As other posted there is tourism oriented shops but also everyday shops like Safeway and Walmart. There is a museum in town.

Cruise lines pre buy large blocks of seats. The cruise line usually don't ticket until they have to. You need to wait for that to happen before the airline will do anything.

Yes, will want to bid for an upgrade on the Air Canada site. I would first try to pull up your booking on aircanda.com . Both Lufthansa and Air Canada run on the same computer system (Amadeus), so its usually the same booking reference (sometimes called locator) for both. Answer the question of "can you upgrade" is difficult. You have three companies involved, the cruise line, Lufthansa and Air Canada. That said, the one that actually matters is Air Canada since they will decide what seat your in and charge any upgrade fee directly to you. If you have the booking reference and your last name. Go the upgrade website and pull it up. It is either going to let you put in a bid or you don't qualify. I have had them in past clear me for an upgrade weeks before the flight if they need the space. Pays to do it early.

I am assuming your on Air Canada. The good news is Barcelona is not a major business destination out of Canada. So there are not going to be a lot of paid business class passengers. That means there are more seats available for upgrade. Air Canada uses a biding process where online you identify how much your willing to pay to get an upgrade. They usually clear all of these upgrades and the ones from their loyalty program around 48 hours before departure. Bid as early as you can, they will sometimes clear them early, especially if they need to free up seats in economy. This is where you can go to bid: https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/AirCanada?lang=en Nearly all the widebodies AC aircraft are three class aircraft. Economy, Premium Economy and International Business Class (branded as Signature Class). Premium Economy is similar to what your would call domestic First Class in the US. Not a true international business class seat but a definite upgrade. There may be one of two widebodies floating around with just two classes, economy and premium economy that is much closer to business class. I think they usually get allowed to the flights to Algeria and Morocco.

I have done the Jewel, Jade and EPIC. The Solo meetup on NCL is fine. You have to keep in mind NCL programs are by design very unstructured. You can attend the meet up if you want to or not. The host will organise dinner reservations if people want to go to a specific restaurant as a group. Some people will want to do dinner others will chat about port calls and maybe organise something on their own. There is no fixed agenda/program that is in anyway pushed the ship. The Studio on the larger ships have that shared lounge that is only available to those in studios. Not all singles are in studio and depending on pricing sometimes it may be cheaper to get a different type of cabin as a single. The studio has a cappuccino machine and I always liked the continental breakfast. You can start your day sitting down in a quite place with a coffee and pastry without the rush of the buffet.