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We will have on day on July 5th to spend in Vancouver.  What recommendations of things to do and or places to eat can you provide to make our stay in Vancouver something to talk about?

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Here's a possible itinerary...

  • morning brunch at a Dim Sum restaurant
  • head over to the cruise terminal for a shuttle to Grouse Mountain around noon
  • head over to Capilano Suspension Bridge by bus or taxi around 5pm to get the late afternoon discount
  • return to downtown with the free Capilano shuttle 
  • back to the cruise terminal to check out Fly Over Canada before the final 9pm show
  • over to Bella's for a cold one at the Fairmont Pacific Rim
  • go to bed with dreams on returning to Vancouver because you didn't budget enough time.
Edited by xlxo
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Without knowing anything about you & yours OP, I can't improve on the suggestions already made - with just one day prioritization is key, and while I could offer plenty of good things to do the only way to choose the best things for you is to do more research yourself or supply a total breakdown of your budget, tastes, mobility restrictions etc. Without that info, sticking to Tripadvisor rankings of what Joe Q Public thinks is best is probably the safest suggestion... but if you do come up with some criteria to narrow things down I'd be happy to make targeted suggestions, especially for dining.

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We have 18 people in our group and will be arriving in Vancouver late afternoon on July 4th.  We will have the entire day on the 5th before the cruise ship leaves on the 6th.  Just exploring some options on how to spend the day on the 5th.  You mentioned dining, I know several in the group like to patron local restaurants, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Also, if there is one thing that we need to do or see in Vancouver that we need to do please feel free to make suggestions.   Thanks for taking your time to respond...

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There's nothing, anywhere in the world, that absolutely everyone enjoys seeing more than an alternative - I've heard people complain on the Giza Plateau that it doesn't come close to their expectations! Things that come closest to being unique in Vancouver, while still being generally popular enough that most folks will probably like them, include:

  • Stanley Park (one of the best and largest urban parks on the planet);
  • Dr Sun Yat-Sen garden (unless you go to Suzhou you won't find a better one);
  • Granville Island (not the biggest public market building in the world, but has a nice combo of historic interest - from shipbuilding back in the day and later a University - to now having shops, theatres, breweries, a hotel, houseboat marina, and tons of public art)
  • there's plenty more unusual stuff, but the odds of a big group all wanting to see/do any one thing reduce heavily once you get away from mainstream tastes

On the food front, Japadog is unique to Vancouver (small chain of food carts and trucks, and sitdown resto on Robson St) and makes for a good snack or light lunch while out & about, but Salmon & Bannock is where I'd suggest the foodier types try a dinner - depending on where your hotel is it's probably a short cab or bus ride (but there are a couple of hotels on Broadway that walking is extremely easy). First Nations owned & operated, and while there is some 'weird' food it's mostly recognizable meat & fish & veg - and bannocks are like a big, puffy pitta/naan bread sort of thing. It's extraordinarily difficult to find restos serving First Nations food anywhere - this is the only one in Vancouver.

 

Other than that, we have some of the best Chinese food on the planet, and since your group is plenty big enough even if only ~half of them are interested, a King Crab Feast would be the local specialty and the only way you're ever going to get a chance to eat FRESH kings, as everything you see up in Alaska in cruise season is steamed and frozen at sea. Here you will be presented with your giant crab(s) taken from a huge tank, then served it up in 3+ different ways. Sun Sui Wah started this concept; it's spread to other high end Cantonese restos like Kirin and Dynasty, all of whom have Vancouver branches - Kirin has two.

Edited by martincath
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Vancouver is an extremely multicultural city, and food from around the world can be found in Vancouver. In particular, Vancouver has a great Asian food scene. Downtown Vancouver has a great variety of restaurants to choose from, but some of my favourites include Yah-Yah-Yah Ramen or Marutama Ramen (Japanese ramen), Medina Cafe (Moroccan & Middle Eastern) Peaceful or Dinesty (Chinese, specifically Northern - dumplings & noodles), and Meat & Bread (close to the cruise port, yummy sandwiches). The ramen restaurants and Meat & Bread are more casual, fast dining options but exceptionally yummy. If you're a fan of Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, Peaceful and Meat & Bread were featured on the show, though it may not be the exact location that Guy visited.

 

Vancouver is well known for its authentic Chinese food. Sun Sui Wah and Kirin are at the higher end - I like to think about them like banquet Cantonese restaurants. It's where our family will take out of town guests for a nice meal. With the size of your group, I would definitely call ahead and make a reservation and try to get an estimate for price because king crab is typically served by the pound, to avoid a nasty surprise. 

 

If you're thinking about dimsum for lunch, my personal favourite is Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant in the neighbourhood of Kerrisdale. You'd have to navigate public transport or take a taxi to go there, but it's one of the few places left in the city that serves dim sum on carts and is often frequented by locals. Again, make a reservation but they are very used to accommodating large size groups. They are a much more affordable and reasonable price than Sun Sui Wah king crab... 

 

I will ditto Stanley Park, Granville Island, and Capilano Suspension Bridge!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/16/2019 at 11:05 PM, xlxo said:

Here's a possible itinerary...

  • morning brunch at a Dim Sum restaurant
  • head over to the cruise terminal for a shuttle to Grouse Mountain around noon
  • head over to Capilano Suspension Bridge by bus or taxi around 5pm to get the late afternoon discount
  • return to downtown with the free Capilano shuttle 
  • back to the cruise terminal to check out Fly Over Canada before the final 9pm show
  • over to Bella's for a cold one at the Fairmont Pacific Rim
  • go to bed with dreams on returning to Vancouver because you didn't budget enough time.

We are embarking in Vancouver for a cruise that doesn't leave till midnight. We are thinking of getting on the ship then go to the Flying over Canada. How long is it? Is there lots to do right there. We don't want to go far.

Thanks

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20 minutes ago, merinski said:

We are embarking in Vancouver for a cruise that doesn't leave till midnight. We are thinking of getting on the ship then go to the Flying over Canada. How long is it? Is there lots to do right there. We don't want to go far.

Thanks

Getting off the ship again usually means redoing all the security and immigration stuff... so I really wouldn't recommend it! Unless your cruise goes to another Canadian port directly after Vancouver you will preclear US immigration at the pier, so if you get off you have to go through Canadian immigration then go back through US to get back on.

 

Better to drop your bags, go sightseeing, then come back to check-in and board closer to departure time and stay on board. With a midnight departure, I'm guessing this is one of the big ships that has to wait for low tide to get under the bridge (NCL Joy/Bliss or RCI Oasis?), hitting Vancouver at the end of the season so they can do a repo down the coast - it's quite possible that CBP will not be paid to work right up until departure time, but that you will all be required to board by much the same time as a regular ship, 5pm-ish. These weirdly-timed visits are always somewhat unique, and communication by all the cruise lines about exactly what the deal will be in port has been consistently bad (e.g. search for threads on Bliss repos last year) so you'll have to stay flexible and probably wait until very close to the cruise date to get confirmation of exactly what will happen.

 

But to answer your specific question - FlyOverCanada is an 8 minute ride, padded with a 'pre-flight show' then loading time that takes the total program up to about 30mins. Including a typical queue, 45-60 mins all-in depending how busy it is at the time you show up - you can prebook a time slot to reduce the queue time.

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3 hours ago, merinski said:

We are embarking in Vancouver for a cruise that doesn't leave till midnight. We are thinking of getting on the ship then go to the Flying over Canada. How long is it? Is there lots to do right there. We don't want to go far.

Thanks

Fly Over Canada is right at the cruise terminal.... 5 to 10 minute walk?

 

Do you know your "all-aboard" time?  If you have a couple of hours to spare... I would walk over to the show.  Hopefully it's not a busy time.

 

Hmm... are you travelling on Sept 30th?  That's a 4 ship day.  Cruise terminal will be super busy prior to 3pm when the other ships have their mustard drills.

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3 hours ago, martincath said:

Getting off the ship again usually means redoing all the security and immigration stuff... so I really wouldn't recommend it! Unless your cruise goes to another Canadian port directly after Vancouver you will preclear US immigration at the pier, so if you get off you have to go through Canadian immigration then go back through US to get back on.

 

Better to drop your bags, go sightseeing, then come back to check-in and board closer to departure time and stay on board. With a midnight departure, I'm guessing this is one of the big ships that has to wait for low tide to get under the bridge (NCL Joy/Bliss or RCI Oasis?), hitting Vancouver at the end of the season so they can do a repo down the coast - it's quite possible that CBP will not be paid to work right up until departure time, but that you will all be required to board by much the same time as a regular ship, 5pm-ish. These weirdly-timed visits are always somewhat unique, and communication by all the cruise lines about exactly what the deal will be in port has been consistently bad (e.g. search for threads on Bliss repos last year) so you'll have to stay flexible and probably wait until very close to the cruise date to get confirmation of exactly what will happen.

 

But to answer your specific question - FlyOverCanada is an 8 minute ride, padded with a 'pre-flight show' then loading time that takes the total program up to about 30mins. Including a typical queue, 45-60 mins all-in depending how busy it is at the time you show up - you can prebook a time slot to reduce the queue time.

Thanks, we do go to Victoria the second port, so not a problem, and we will have a carry on case, so would like to drop it off first. 

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1 hour ago, xlxo said:

Fly Over Canada is right at the cruise terminal.... 5 to 10 minute walk?

 

Do you know your "all-aboard" time?  If you have a couple of hours to spare... I would walk over to the show.  Hopefully it's not a busy time.

 

Hmm... are you travelling on Sept 30th?  That's a 4 ship day.  Cruise terminal will be super busy prior to 3pm when the other ships have their mustard drills.

It is early Oct. and all aboard I heard was 10pm. leaves at midnight.

 thanks

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