Mr_Astro

Can someone refresh my memory as to what a guaranteed cabin is as opposed to whatever else there is?

Thanks in advance.

I keep mine in my smartphone so I always have it with me. One never knows when one needs to book a cruise!!:D (Particularly when one is shoveling snow before fall even begins!!)

Snow on the 9th of September! You poor sots! The tree damage is profound. Take a cruise!

OMG the pool! :eek:

The pool is (or was for me the last time) drained, deep cleansed and refilled. It took the remainder of the day/night and was ready to go the next day. The deck crew do it often enough to know the drill.

Thanks everyone for your input and observations. I've got my luggage tags w/o cabin assignment, so I guess I'll just have to be patient but you've given me valuable information.

David

PS this Zaandam is off to South America after dropping me off in San Diego and there are lots of people carrying on to SA after SD so as DaveOKC's noted, HAL has probably instituted a plan as he suggests.

We are 3 weeks out from our California Costal but have yet to be assigned a cabin (Vista Suite). When could I expect to hear from HAL telling me my room #?

Thanks in advance.

David

We will be taking the Crown to Mexico in February and will have a bunch of family with us. Two will stay in one cabin and the baby and parents in another (both are inside cabins) but we will have A750 as the family hang out.

Have you stayed in this cabin? What were your experiences, good, bad or indifferent? Did you take any photos?

Any comments you have would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

David

I'm sure this topic has been raised before but...we're in the early stages of planning a family trip to Mexico in February. We're looking for a nice hotel close to the Princess docks. Has anyone any experience with the Queen Mary?

Has anybody booked this suite on the Crown? If you have, I'd like to hear (read) what your experiences were; good, bad or indifferent.

Thanks in advance

Amtrak has only one train scheduled to run between Vancouver and Seattle in summer 2015.

 

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I've checked with the Amtrak users group (yes, there is one) and there is no buzz about trimming the schedule. Indeed, there is buzz about adding a third train. No firm date, 'though.

Only one train in 2015. That's news and that's too bad. It would be nice if the one train they plan of running left at a more reasonable time.

Canadian Bear - I like how you think!

 

Is the Cascades stain station close to the airport? Scenic?

 

Thanks again :)

 

 

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The train station is closer to the pier than the airport and, yes, it is a very scenic trip. The train hugs the water all the way to just about Vancouver.

Suggest you look into flying to Seattle. Then from Seattle there are several options on getting to Vancouver.

(1) Train to Vancouver (will require an overnight in Seattle), or

(2) through Amtrak there are several buses through-out the day to downtown Vancouver, also

(3) there is a bus service (unsure of name???mighjt be Quick Shuttle, others will know, very popular) that only goes from Seattle to Vancouver, with two or three stops (downtown Seattle and sometimes the Bellingham airport). Probably the easiest from the Seattle-Tacoma airport or downtown Seattle if the times work for you. This bus takes you right to the Cruise Terminal in Vancouver. Prices of each of these - reasonable. I have used each of these three options several times - depends on the timing of my flights and where I spend the night.

(4) Also, for the Alaska cruises HAL may have a bus taking folks from Sea-Tac to Vancouver Cruises that any passengers can purchase tickets for. I did this once - worked really, really well. However I do not know if HAL still has that option.

 

No matter what option you use - there is getting through immigration at the boarder - may be real quick or real slow. Depends on ….heaven only know what. I have found the train the quickest way through the boarder - but this may have changed, and the only through train leaves Seattle early in the morning (the rest of the AMTRAK trips are by bus from Seattle.)

Amtrak has two trains out of Seattle, one early in the morning (as noted) and a second one at 6:50 pm. Either way you will have to overnight somewhere prior to your cruise, there no real convenient train out of Seattle that will get you to the pier in time for the sailaway. The Quick Shuttle might be your best option. The shuttle passes through customs and immigration at the boarder, the train does it in Vancouver at the station. (Go train!).

As I understand it, you can only arrive or depart Ballantine by vehicle (private or hired). The pier is otherwise in a restricted zone and is difficult to get around by foot. I also understand that this is the last year that this pier will be used because of its location within a restricted zone.

I was a guest lecturer aboard a HAL ship around 2000 and met the ship half way through a 15 day SD to HI return. I joined in Honolulu and the ship left around midnight that day headed for Kauai. Prior to entering the Kauai harbour we had a lifeboat drill well out at sea. Apparently, at that time, ships were required to hold lifeboat drills every week so they had this one at sea to avoid down time in port.

If you're a "tea granny' like my wife, anything short of boiling water will not do. We take a thermos and our own tea. In the morning I take the thermos and plod to the nearest boiling water dispenser (I prefer to head to anyplace that makes espresso for their hot water), put the tea into the thermos and fill'er up.

I'm sure that if your DH loves you, he'll do the same for you as I do for my DW.

I agree with all that's been said about boarding but have no experience with getting off/on ship after checking in.

I have a question for the OP: what are the order/dates of your itinerary? I ask this because a few years ago we left Vancouver on July 1 and it timed out that we were in Skagway on the 4th. They had a good 'whoop-de-do" for their national day. There was a parade (stated by a blast from the tour steam train's whistle) that went down, then back up, Main St.. The theme of the parade, naturally, was all about the gold rush that included more than one Mountie.

Have a good trip!

Can't read. Sorry.

You will be getting great views of Puget Sound almost from the moment you leave King St. Station but I would sit on the left side of the train, rather than the right. Book business class and you'll be given priority access to the customs and immigration folk. You do, however, arrive around 11:30 pm. Sunset is at 9:19 and civil twilight ends at 10:02. You'll still have some glow after that but the internal reflections in the train car will soon overpower the outside light and you won't see much.

I've done them all and much prefer Amtrak. No fuss, no muss. The only issue is departure time. Quick Shuttle have more departures. The trip is a tad longer than by car or bus but the immigration is much easier (done in Vancouver) and you get to see more and different aspects of the journey than you would on the freeway. A car will pass through the border quicker than a car, but rental cars crossing the border can be problematic. Both Amtrak and Quick Shuttle have wifi but Amtraks' can be spotty.

Go Amtrak

Enjoy your cruise. Enjoy your stay.

I often use two screens for the things I do. I 'turn off mirroring', then drag the offending strip of ads off to the right hand screen, leaving CC in my main screen and then ignore what's happening on the right hand one.

Works great!

Agreed.

 

Just to reiterate Martincath's comments about Bao Bei; this is not your usual Chinese restaurant. Yes, it's fusion, but also very trendy, busy and can get quite noisy. You won't see many Asian faces. If that's not your thing, then be forewarned. - Not a knock on Bao Bei, just an observation.

I concur. It is trendy and not a 'regular' Chinese restaurant but does serve up some very interesting dishes.

It's a short taxi ride (or a nice walk on a sunny day) from your hotel, but The Twisted Fork on Granville Street (between Helmecken St.(sp?) and Davie) St. is an excellent bistro. It has an interesting menu; something for everyone. Everything delicious.

Enjoy your cruise and enjoy your stay. Try and explore some different parts of my town other than gastown and Stanley Park. Rent a bike!

Yes, that episode took me back, too.

My dad used to work for the CPR (ships) and his ship(s) would often dock at that pier. I would often go down to meet him and hang out with him 'till he had to leave again.

The pier at which you see the ship docked was called Pier B-C. Pier B was the west side and C the east. The ship is actually tied up at pier C. There was a pier west of B-C called, oddly, pier A and to the east their was pier D.

Pier D burned down long ago (my father's ship was tied up to C when that happened, very nasty fire). Pier A was the dock for the ship(s) that went from Vancouver to Nanaimo.

He was on the Princess Patricia (a CPR vessel) that was hired to sail from Long Beach to Acapulco. It was that ship after which the "Princess" in Princess Cruises took its name.

Trivia

Thanks, we won't be in any hurry we'll be staying 2 days in Vancouver.

 

We'll drop our luggage at the Blue Horizon but check in isn't until later is there anything on Robeson to keep us busy for a few hours? Walk around, shops?

Robson street is all about shopping, you'll have no problem keeping busy for a few hours shopping and walking Robsonstrass (as it used to be called (it has a large German influence in the '50's & 60's)).

There is a show on Canadian television called Boarder Security in which Customs and Immigration (Canadian Boarder Services Agency) workers in Vancouver (and Toronto) intercept people and goods unlawfully entering our country.

I’ve never seen an episode where these folks visit cruise ships but there are many episodes in which air and land travelers from other countries are interviewed for admissibility. Many of these folks have priors for DUI and have been deemed inadmissible and are sent back to the US (or wherever) on the first available flight, or turned around at the land crossing. The thing about these unfortunate soles (the travelers, not the CBSA) is that they could have just as easily entered Canada were it not for the CBSA spotting a traveler that looks nervous or ‘itchy’.

I doubt that cruisers entering Canada either at a port of entry or is in transit is the type of traveler that would catch the attention of the CBSA. If they did, they’d do what their TV brethren do at their posts, but if you didn’t, then it’s: ‘welcome to Victoria, have a nice day’. I do know that the CBSA offers advice to those deemed inadmissible to go to their local Canadian Consulate. There is a document that you can get from them that will make your conviction go away such that it will placate the CBSA.

I’ve been to Victoria so many times that when we visited by ship the one time, I stayed on board and read a book. Bring your binoculars, ‘though, because you can optically explore Victoria from the high point of the ship very easily. If it’s a nice day, see if you can spot the domes of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. It was home to the largest telescope in the world (for about 6 months in 1906).