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Trip of a lifetime: Coral Princess June 27th 2018 after 5 days on land.


ollienbertsmum
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I have just arrived home after our Southbound on Coral Princess. I am posting my review before I forget. I have detailed notes but I am sticking to the information that may help others. I kept a journal and could probably answer specific queries in more detail, but this is my summary.

About us. We live in the Mediterranean. We are an active couple 61 and 59 yrs. Both daughters 25 and 27 decided to come with us. We had a balcony E629, they had an Oceanview E615. We have cruised before in the Baltics and Med on RCL and NCL. We chose this cruise because of the reputation Princess have in Alaska. We also wanted a southbound to Vancouver.

The dates of the trip were decided over Christmas. Then I broke both arms on 5th January 2018 (who would know that getting out of bed was so dangerous). I was worried that I would cope with the trip. The 10 weeks I had to spend in bed recovering gave me plenty of time to plan. That was a bonus. As it happens it was the weight of the balcony door and dragging the suitcases that gave me the most problems.

Overall impression of ship: The Coral is a lovely ship with lots of open spaces that are ideal for viewing Alaska. I usually prefer a balcony but feel that I could have been as happy with an Oceanview. This is especially that we were aft on Deck 8. I could have just as easily gone to the large open area at the back of the ship - this was almost a private large balcony and ideal for viewing during the cruising days. We also went up top and spent lots of time on Deck 7. On the Glacier Bay and Hubbard days we saw lots of wildlife, but you did have to be patient. I was sorry that I had not brought more powerful binoculars with me.

This was one of the smallest ships we have sailed on. We really noticed in the lack of queues. My feeling in the first couple of days was “where did everybody go??”. They appeared for the Magic show.

The ship may have been small in passenger numbers but seemed big when we wanted to go to the buffet. I would have liked a coffee maker in my room to save going up to the buffet so often. Looking at my health app on my phone it seems that I walked 150 km during the trip. Much of that was going to get cups of tea I am sure.

Embarkation and disembarkation were handled really well in terms of the information provided e.g. we were given a pocket book map at check-in. We referred to this frequently on the first day. Information about disembarkation was clear.

There was a huge variety in food choice but we felt that quality was mixed. Salads were great but cakes did not really “hit the spot”. The dining room closed far too early at only 9 pm. Warning - on Princess @ Sea app it says that dining is between 5 and 10 pm. When we went to the first Formal night at 9.15 pm (which is our usual dining out time at home and on ships) we were turned away being told that they had closed already. That was very disappointing. We went to talk to guest services about it and they did not really handle it very well. A snide “oh sorry” did not seem very genuine. We really wanted a proper apology acknowledging that the information they had given out was misleading.

Other staff were extremely helpful including wait staff in the buffet. We had many offers to get coffee and drinks. Drinks were not cheap, but they never are. We would have preferred a drinks package as we have had on NCL but could not afford it.

Going to the casino is usually high on our list of things to do on the ship. The first explanation of how to link the room card was confusing and it seemed as if we would end up paying from the credit card attached to our room. When we eventually went, the system was simpler than it first seemed and we ended up paying $200 off our bill with our winnings. We should have gone earlier.

We were not excited about the entertainment, but youngest daughter and I did enjoy the Alaska-related talks about the Tlingit people and Whales.

Weather

It seemed like we were blessed with wonderful weather apart from the morning in Glacier Bay. There was hardly a ripple on the water and when it did rain, it was more like drizzle. We never actually needed an umbrella or a waterproof, but I know that we needed to pack them and carry them every day.

It was perhaps generally cooler overall than I had expected so I did need layers quite frequently. On some of the first days I had a total of five layers on, all of them thin. I rarely needed to take them off.

Tours

I arranged all the tours privately prior to the trip. We got smaller groups and I could spread out the cost more effectively in the months running up to the trip.

Land tour: We did a 5-day car drive north from Anchorage. I have only ever driven a manual car so an automatic worried me. I should not have been concerned. Apart from not being able to start it up from the parking space (I went back to the rental office and was told that this car needed you to keep your foot on the brake pedal when you turn the key) it was simple enough. I wanted to change gear several times but of course it was automatic.

We took a tour to Wonder Lake in Denali seeing sheep, eagles, caribou, squirrels, the shadow of a lynx and some great bear sightings. We also had a river raft trip and a visit to the sled dogs. We then drove to Talkeetna and took a wonderful trek on Matanuska glacier.

I was sorry that we did not leave enough time for Hatcher’s Pass on the way from Denali to Matanuska. We had no food arranged for that evening and I was not sure what time the local restaurants closed. It was gone 5 by the time we got to the turning point so we gave up.

During the cruise we had trips pre-arranged.

Skagway:The girls did a zipline while we walked to Yakutania Point and Smugglers Cove. We met up for lunch and then walked to Lower Dewey Lake. This was a highlight for me, although I was glad that I had Google maps with me because the route got a bit rocky for a while and we would have wondered if we were on the right track. We had time to look around the town which was fun.

Juneau: We did a whale watch with Dolphin Jet Boat tours. There were only 17 in our tour which was nice and personal. We learned a lot about the area from the driver en route to the whale watch. We saw a couple of humpbacks, a bald eagle and some sealions.

Ketchikan: We kayaked in Orcas cove. We were in a group of just 6 which was lovely. They have to keep trips small apparently because the boat is small. The salmon picnic was wonderful. I could do with some of that salmon right now.

Vancouver

Disembarkation was well explained. We had arranged a 2 night stay here to maximise the opportunity of seeing Orcas.

We visited Granville Island, Chinatown, Stanley Park (by bike), ate Japanese and Korean, went to Gastown, saw the Olympic cauldron and did a whale watch. I was wise to have allowed two days for this. The first day got cancelled due to high winds. We wanted to go in a Zodiac, the first company offered us a semi open boat as an alternative the second day. We rebooked to another company and got what we wanted. I can see why whale sightings are guaranteed; all of the companies work together. It is a bit of a bun-fight with all of the boats rushing to see the whales, but we got to see our Orcas so we were happy.

Whittier

We travelled to Whittier on a shuttle that took us to the Animal rescue centre which made the day interesting.

Hotels

We stayed at the Anchorage Grand both ends of our land trip and left our suitcases with cruise clothes there. They would not have fit in the rental car during our drive.

We stayed 3 nights in the Tri Valley Cabins at Denali. This was plenty close enough to Denali and I saved a bundle compared to hotels near to the entrance. We stayed at Homestead Guest Cabins at Glacier View. Both cabins were wonderful. The second had a full kitchen which we did not make use of which is a shame.

In Vancouver we stayed at the Sylvia Hotel which was so old fashioned, it even had a real key to the rooms. It was a good choice and again saved me money compared to downtown.

Wildlife:

I realised that wildlife sightings were variable and whatever you see, someone else seems to have seen better. When I saw humpbacks someone along the deck reported seeing orcas. When we saw the bears, another bus were reported to have seen wolves.

So all in all we saw (in no particular order): humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, squirrels, Canada geese, ducks and other sea birds, porpoises, seals, sea lions, almost a lynx (I saw the vegetation move as it went away so that is still a tick for me :)), bald eagles (took a while to work out that the white headed eagles I was seeing were bald!!), owls, bears, moose, caribou and Dall sheep (otherwise known as “dots in the distance”).

Those sea otters were the cutest but the bears most dramatic. They were walking right along the road.

What I would have changed:

  1. As I said before, I would have saved some money and gone for an oceanview cabin.
  2. In retrospect we should have visited Talkeetna on the way up to Denali and then we would have had enough time for Hatcher’s Pass on the way to Matanuska. As it happens we missed the turning due to the roadworks going up.
  3. We had three long days travelling to get to Alaska. We had set off on the Wednesday to get to Heathrow, then arrived in Anchorage via LA at 11.30 pm Thursday. We travelled up to Denali on Friday. We had the bus tour on Saturday. I should have swapped those days and done the raft, dogs on the Saturday before sitting on the bus all day on Sunday.

Those changes are minor. All in all, my hours of planning paid off.

What I loved most:

1)That the days were so long - we were there for the longest day of the year, that is great when you are on a vacation. I made sure the curtains were left partly open. I hardly slept!! I would spend early morning from about 5 am looking out, either on the balcony or on deck.

2) Alaska itself. The whole place is magnificent. We did not actually see Mount McKinley, but we could work out its size from the parts peaking through the mist.

3) The beauty of the days at sea including the Inside Passage which was a huge surprise for me. I think it was that we were not "at sea" as in not seeing land that I loved. We were at sea, but we were still seeing beautiful scenery and spotting occasional wildlife.

4) Being on a small ship with fewer crushes of people than I have been used to.

What surprised me: Did Princess not know that the World Cup was taking place??? All that “news” being shown in the internet centre and no current scores!

I am happy to answer any questions. I always appreciate other people’s reviews and so would like to repay the effort that has helped me plan such a successful trip.

 

What next? Back to the Mediterranean. :)

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I have just arrived home after our Southbound on Coral Princess. I am posting my review before I forget. I have detailed notes but I am sticking to the information that may help others. I kept a journal and could probably answer specific queries in more detail, but this is my summary.

About us. We live in the Mediterranean. We are an active couple 61 and 59 yrs. Both daughters 25 and 27 decided to come with us. We had a balcony E629, they had an Oceanview E615. We have cruised before in the Baltics and Med on RCL and NCL. We chose this cruise because of the reputation Princess have in Alaska. We also wanted a southbound to Vancouver.

The dates of the trip were decided over Christmas. Then I broke both arms on 5th January 2018 (who would know that getting out of bed was so dangerous). I was worried that I would cope with the trip. The 10 weeks I had to spend in bed recovering gave me plenty of time to plan. That was a bonus. As it happens it was the weight of the balcony door and dragging the suitcases that gave me the most problems.

Overall impression of ship: The Coral is a lovely ship with lots of open spaces that are ideal for viewing Alaska. I usually prefer a balcony but feel that I could have been as happy with an Oceanview. This is especially that we were aft on Deck 8. I could have just as easily gone to the large open area at the back of the ship - this was almost a private large balcony and ideal for viewing during the cruising days. We also went up top and spent lots of time on Deck 7. On the Glacier Bay and Hubbard days we saw lots of wildlife, but you did have to be patient. I was sorry that I had not brought more powerful binoculars with me.

This was one of the smallest ships we have sailed on. We really noticed in the lack of queues. My feeling in the first couple of days was “where did everybody go??”. They appeared for the Magic show.

The ship may have been small in passenger numbers but seemed big when we wanted to go to the buffet. I would have liked a coffee maker in my room to save going up to the buffet so often. Looking at my health app on my phone it seems that I walked 150 km during the trip. Much of that was going to get cups of tea I am sure.

Embarkation and disembarkation were handled really well in terms of the information provided e.g. we were given a pocket book map at check-in. We referred to this frequently on the first day. Information about disembarkation was clear.

There was a huge variety in food choice but we felt that quality was mixed. Salads were great but cakes did not really “hit the spot”. The dining room closed far too early at only 9 pm. Warning - on Princess @ Sea app it says that dining is between 5 and 10 pm. When we went to the first Formal night at 9.15 pm (which is our usual dining out time at home and on ships) we were turned away being told that they had closed already. That was very disappointing. We went to talk to guest services about it and they did not really handle it very well. A snide “oh sorry” did not seem very genuine. We really wanted a proper apology acknowledging that the information they had given out was misleading.

Other staff were extremely helpful including wait staff in the buffet. We had many offers to get coffee and drinks. Drinks were not cheap, but they never are. We would have preferred a drinks package as we have had on NCL but could not afford it.

Going to the casino is usually high on our list of things to do on the ship. The first explanation of how to link the room card was confusing and it seemed as if we would end up paying from the credit card attached to our room. When we eventually went, the system was simpler than it first seemed and we ended up paying $200 off our bill with our winnings. We should have gone earlier.

We were not excited about the entertainment, but youngest daughter and I did enjoy the Alaska-related talks about the Tlingit people and Whales.

Weather

It seemed like we were blessed with wonderful weather apart from the morning in Glacier Bay. There was hardly a ripple on the water and when it did rain, it was more like drizzle. We never actually needed an umbrella or a waterproof, but I know that we needed to pack them and carry them every day.

It was perhaps generally cooler overall than I had expected so I did need layers quite frequently. On some of the first days I had a total of five layers on, all of them thin. I rarely needed to take them off.

Tours

I arranged all the tours privately prior to the trip. We got smaller groups and I could spread out the cost more effectively in the months running up to the trip.

Land tour: We did a 5-day car drive north from Anchorage. I have only ever driven a manual car so an automatic worried me. I should not have been concerned. Apart from not being able to start it up from the parking space (I went back to the rental office and was told that this car needed you to keep your foot on the brake pedal when you turn the key) it was simple enough. I wanted to change gear several times but of course it was automatic.

We took a tour to Wonder Lake in Denali seeing sheep, eagles, caribou, squirrels, the shadow of a lynx and some great bear sightings. We also had a river raft trip and a visit to the sled dogs. We then drove to Talkeetna and took a wonderful trek on Matanuska glacier.

I was sorry that we did not leave enough time for Hatcher’s Pass on the way from Denali to Matanuska. We had no food arranged for that evening and I was not sure what time the local restaurants closed. It was gone 5 by the time we got to the turning point so we gave up.

During the cruise we had trips pre-arranged.

Skagway:The girls did a zipline while we walked to Yakutania Point and Smugglers Cove. We met up for lunch and then walked to Lower Dewey Lake. This was a highlight for me, although I was glad that I had Google maps with me because the route got a bit rocky for a while and we would have wondered if we were on the right track. We had time to look around the town which was fun.

Juneau: We did a whale watch with Dolphin Jet Boat tours. There were only 17 in our tour which was nice and personal. We learned a lot about the area from the driver en route to the whale watch. We saw a couple of humpbacks, a bald eagle and some sealions.

Ketchikan: We kayaked in Orcas cove. We were in a group of just 6 which was lovely. They have to keep trips small apparently because the boat is small. The salmon picnic was wonderful. I could do with some of that salmon right now.

Vancouver

Disembarkation was well explained. We had arranged a 2 night stay here to maximise the opportunity of seeing Orcas.

We visited Granville Island, Chinatown, Stanley Park (by bike), ate Japanese and Korean, went to Gastown, saw the Olympic cauldron and did a whale watch. I was wise to have allowed two days for this. The first day got cancelled due to high winds. We wanted to go in a Zodiac, the first company offered us a semi open boat as an alternative the second day. We rebooked to another company and got what we wanted. I can see why whale sightings are guaranteed; all of the companies work together. It is a bit of a bun-fight with all of the boats rushing to see the whales, but we got to see our Orcas so we were happy.

Whittier

We travelled to Whittier on a shuttle that took us to the Animal rescue centre which made the day interesting.

Hotels

We stayed at the Anchorage Grand both ends of our land trip and left our suitcases with cruise clothes there. They would not have fit in the rental car during our drive.

We stayed 3 nights in the Tri Valley Cabins at Denali. This was plenty close enough to Denali and I saved a bundle compared to hotels near to the entrance. We stayed at Homestead Guest Cabins at Glacier View. Both cabins were wonderful. The second had a full kitchen which we did not make use of which is a shame.

In Vancouver we stayed at the Sylvia Hotel which was so old fashioned, it even had a real key to the rooms. It was a good choice and again saved me money compared to downtown.

Wildlife:

I realised that wildlife sightings were variable and whatever you see, someone else seems to have seen better. When I saw humpbacks someone along the deck reported seeing orcas. When we saw the bears, another bus were reported to have seen wolves.

So all in all we saw (in no particular order): humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, squirrels, Canada geese, ducks and other sea birds, porpoises, seals, sea lions, almost a lynx (I saw the vegetation move as it went away so that is still a tick for me :)), bald eagles (took a while to work out that the white headed eagles I was seeing were bald!!), owls, bears, moose, caribou and Dall sheep (otherwise known as “dots in the distance”).

Those sea otters were the cutest but the bears most dramatic. They were walking right along the road.

What I would have changed:

  1. As I said before, I would have saved some money and gone for an oceanview cabin.
  2. In retrospect we should have visited Talkeetna on the way up to Denali and then we would have had enough time for Hatcher’s Pass on the way to Matanuska. As it happens we missed the turning due to the roadworks going up.
  3. We had three long days travelling to get to Alaska. We had set off on the Wednesday to get to Heathrow, then arrived in Anchorage via LA at 11.30 pm Thursday. We travelled up to Denali on Friday. We had the bus tour on Saturday. I should have swapped those days and done the raft, dogs on the Saturday before sitting on the bus all day on Sunday.

Those changes are minor. All in all, my hours of planning paid off.

What I loved most:

1)That the days were so long - we were there for the longest day of the year, that is great when you are on a vacation. I made sure the curtains were left partly open. I hardly slept!! I would spend early morning from about 5 am looking out, either on the balcony or on deck.

2) Alaska itself. The whole place is magnificent. We did not actually see Mount McKinley, but we could work out its size from the parts peaking through the mist.

3) The beauty of the days at sea including the Inside Passage which was a huge surprise for me. I think it was that we were not "at sea" as in not seeing land that I loved. We were at sea, but we were still seeing beautiful scenery and spotting occasional wildlife.

4) Being on a small ship with fewer crushes of people than I have been used to.

What surprised me: Did Princess not know that the World Cup was taking place??? All that “news” being shown in the internet centre and no current scores!

I am happy to answer any questions. I always appreciate other people’s reviews and so would like to repay the effort that has helped me plan such a successful trip.

 

What next? Back to the Mediterranean. :)

Glad you had a great trip....we are on this same cruise in Sept also spending 2 nights post cruise in Vancouver. Interesting in your biking experience at Stanley Park as that is something we are considering. Are rentals easily available? Would you do this again? Thanks.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

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Glad you had a great trip....we are on this same cruise in Sept also spending 2 nights post cruise in Vancouver. Interesting in your biking experience at Stanley Park as that is something we are considering. Are rentals easily available? Would you do this again? Thanks.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

 

The biking in Stanley Park was one of my (many) favourite things. I would love to do it regularly.

 

There were numerous bike rentals near to the park. We went to Bayshore Bicycle Rentals who were very close to the entrance. We paid $39 for the three of us, two were at the student rate. The rental included helmets (a legal requirement) and we requested baskets to hold our bags. We could have requested (and been charged extra for??) a bike lock, but we were not going to leave the bikes anywhere. We went round in two hours, we didn't have time for more. You could also go along English Bay Beach, but since that was beside our hotel we had walked it several times.

 

I hope that you have fun.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks for a very informative trip review, I enjoyed reading it.

 

Could you talk a little bit more about the bus transfer from Anchorage, with the wildlife sanctuary stop? We're doing the same transfer in a few weeks.

 

Thanks again.

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Thanks for a very informative trip review, I enjoyed reading it.

 

Could you talk a little bit more about the bus transfer from Anchorage, with the wildlife sanctuary stop? We're doing the same transfer in a few weeks.

 

Thanks again.

 

I thought that this was a great way to get to Whittier because it was more fun than just a bus ride through lovely scenery. One of the reasons I booked it was that I knew if we had not spotted bears in Denali, we had seen bears so that wasn't necessary. In case you are wondering, toilet breaks were included. We took our own snacks.

 

We were picked up in a minivan. We were picked up from the Anchorage Grand Hotel so were one of the first. We picked up more people along the route. The bus driver was very friendly. There was a photo stop at Beluga Point. We then spent an hour in the wildlife sanctuary. We had to keep moving in order to get back in time. We could easily have stayed there a lot longer.

 

The last photo stop was cancelled because we had to get in the queue for the tunnel into Whittier. This tunnel seemed to generate a lot of excitement. I have been through enough tunnels to have been more excited about getting to the ship.

 

It is too late if you have not purchased your tickets, but I bought mine in February when they had a "winter sale" and I got a good discount.

 

We got to the ship as promised at about 1.30 or so. What I did find was great was that there were really no queues to board. The Coral Princess is a smaller ship than I am used to so that must have helped. Also the tunnel only opening for a time seemed to give the staff time to work through those in the queue - and then they had time to wait for the next batch.

 

There was another shuttle in the afternoon, I suppose that there are people that fly in on the day - or others may be driving down from Denali in the morning. I don't know about you but I like to be on the ship as soon as possible to start working out where things are. I found the little (credit card sized) map I was given very helpful.

 

I hope that this answers all your queries.

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Thank you so much - this is so helpful!

 

I thought that this was a great way to get to Whittier because it was more fun than just a bus ride through lovely scenery. One of the reasons I booked it was that I knew if we had not spotted bears in Denali, we had seen bears so that wasn't necessary. In case you are wondering, toilet breaks were included. We took our own snacks.

 

We were picked up in a minivan. We were picked up from the Anchorage Grand Hotel so were one of the first. We picked up more people along the route. The bus driver was very friendly. There was a photo stop at Beluga Point. We then spent an hour in the wildlife sanctuary. We had to keep moving in order to get back in time. We could easily have stayed there a lot longer.

 

The last photo stop was cancelled because we had to get in the queue for the tunnel into Whittier. This tunnel seemed to generate a lot of excitement. I have been through enough tunnels to have been more excited about getting to the ship.

 

It is too late if you have not purchased your tickets, but I bought mine in February when they had a "winter sale" and I got a good discount.

 

We got to the ship as promised at about 1.30 or so. What I did find was great was that there were really no queues to board. The Coral Princess is a smaller ship than I am used to so that must have helped. Also the tunnel only opening for a time seemed to give the staff time to work through those in the queue - and then they had time to wait for the next batch.

 

There was another shuttle in the afternoon, I suppose that there are people that fly in on the day - or others may be driving down from Denali in the morning. I don't know about you but I like to be on the ship as soon as possible to start working out where things are. I found the little (credit card sized) map I was given very helpful.

 

I hope that this answers all your queries.

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Could you tell me what the dress code was in the evenings, both during formal nights and the other nights.

Thank you so much.

 

I don't think that I am the person to ask really. Formal night was a dismal failure for us!!

 

I have looked at my Princess Patters - I have all except the one for Ketchikan. It seems that all are smart casual except for Thursday (Hubbard) and Sunday (Juneau) which were formal.

 

Our version of formal was fancy tops with sparkle, nicely done hair, one daughter wore a jump suit, one did wear jeans but she was well dressed in them. DH wore a shirt with his trousers.

 

However on the Thursday I had broken a nail quite low down. It was threatening to be quite painful if it ripped across and so I made a booking to have it fixed in the Spa. The booking was for 8:30 - I reckoned it would take about 20 minutes or so. In the event the girl took forever and I was not down until 9:15. I met up with my family who said that they had just been told the dining room was closed. We had been going by the information on the Princess App which quite clearly stated dining room hours for the Bordeaux were 5 pm - 10 pm. It seems that it was actually 5 pm - 9 pm. I live in the Mediterranean, for us, a 9:15 pm meal is not particularly late. We certainly have often ate at this time on our cruises. We never got a proper apology. I feel that it was their fault.

 

I was so upset by this. To miss a formal meal for the sake of a broken nail and Princess's mis-information was upsetting. We begrudgingly ate in the Horizon Court. I did not really notice what anyone else was wearing. Anyway the only people up there at that time was staff. I carried the grudge to the Thursday formal night. I again wore a sparkly top and clean, smart jeans and high heels - the girls know how to dress so I am sure they looked stunning as usual. I can't recall us feeling out of place, equally I cannot recall what anyone else was wearing.

 

Like many people we had a 23 k baggage allowance for 2 1/2 weeks which included thick clothes which would protect us on our boat rides, glacier hike, rafting etc. This restricts the number of strappy shoes, matching bags, extra jewellery, hair products and bags of makeup you can bring to give a formal night its full attention. I interpreted 'Formal' as needing to be less formal than I had on my Med and Baltic cruises.

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Anchorage Tours and Transfers

 

Thank you.

 

We were thinking Northbound versus Southbound to be able to enjoy the southern inside passage near Vancouver. Since the Southbound does this stretch at night prior to docking in Vancouver. Any thoughts ?

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I spent a lot of time on deck on the last day. That was my biggest surprise of the cruise. I thought it was just going to be a "day at sea" and it was much better than that with wildlife sightings. Not really sure what we missed while asleep (but we were there over the longest days and I did not sleep so much because I didn't want to miss a thing).

 

I was up early to watch our arrival in Vancouver. That was nice - but not as special as the more northern views.

 

You probably need opinions from people who have done both ways.

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Thanks for this review. Can you tell me more about the whale watch in Vancouver? Who did you use?

 

We originally booked a zodiac trip with Seabreeze Adventures, a team in Steveston. We were planned for the Thursday. In the event they said that it was windy and they cancelled in the morning. They emailed but due to me not checking they could only offer us a semi enclosed vessel on the next trip out. It was not at all obvious in Vancouver that the weather would be bad out in the water.

 

When I went back to look at the paperwork it was stressed that we should be contactable prior to the trip because weather-related cancellations did happen. It was in the smaller print that you tend to gloss over.

 

My daughter rebooked us to Vancouver Whale Watch - the operation right beside because they had room on a Zodiac. They were a big operation but equally professional. We had a great trip. We were picked up in Vancouver right near to our hotel. Very friendly driver. I think the price was about the same.

 

Now when we got out on the water we realised how they could be so sure about guaranteeing whale sightings. They have like a syndicate in which they all pool sightings - so once a pod of whales is seen all of the whale watching boats go in that direction.

 

So it probably does not really matter who you book with - how many whales and which ones you see is more about what whales are around at the time and how active they are. We went for Steveston because you are closer to where the whales are from the start.

 

What I am very glad I did was to book two nights in Vancouver. Even though I had not been checking my phone on the day, I did this to allow for bad weather. We can do a whale watch really near where we live, someone said there was a pod of orcas passing through not so long ago, but seeing these orcas was the reason we planned the Vancouver stay. To have been able to rebook for the Friday morning was important.

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  • 2 months later...
On August 6, 2018 at 12:38 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

 

We originally booked a zodiac trip with Seabreeze Adventures, a team in Steveston. We were planned for the Thursday. In the event they said that it was windy and they cancelled in the morning. They emailed but due to me not checking they could only offer us a semi enclosed vessel on the next trip out. It was not at all obvious in Vancouver that the weather would be bad out in the water.

 

When I went back to look at the paperwork it was stressed that we should be contactable prior to the trip because weather-related cancellations did happen. It was in the smaller print that you tend to gloss over.

 

My daughter rebooked us to Vancouver Whale Watch - the operation right beside because they had room on a Zodiac. They were a big operation but equally professional. We had a great trip. We were picked up in Vancouver right near to our hotel. Very friendly driver. I think the price was about the same.

 

Now when we got out on the water we realised how they could be so sure about guaranteeing whale sightings. They have like a syndicate in which they all pool sightings - so once a pod of whales is seen all of the whale watching boats go in that direction.

 

So it probably does not really matter who you book with - how many whales and which ones you see is more about what whales are around at the time and how active they are. We went for Steveston because you are closer to where the whales are from the start.

 

What I am very glad I did was to book two nights in Vancouver. Even though I had not been checking my phone on the day, I did this to allow for bad weather. We can do a whale watch really near where we live, someone said there was a pod of orcas passing through not so long ago, but seeing these orcas was the reason we planned the Vancouver stay. To have been able to rebook for the Friday morning was important.

Thanks so much for this!  Sorry I'm just now seeing it - ha!  It's very helpful :)

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Where did you stay in Vancouver? We are doing a northbound out of Vancouver in June and are planning a couple days there before we board. Hoping for great weather to do the biking around Stanley Park!

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We stayed at the Sylvia Hotel which is located right beside Stanley Park.  Ideal for the bike rides.  

It was walking distance to downtown Vancouver for us - but we do walk a lot.  We liked the hotel and sadly did not have enough to time to visit their bar for a drink which is supposed to be very popular.  

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