Vancouver for the day post cruise

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

We have a late flight and we will be getting off the ship early. Would like to rent a car to sightsee (also someplace to put our luggage) then we will need to return the car and get to the airport. 

[Woody14]

1 hour ago, TRAVELCRUZIN said:

We have a late flight and we will be getting off the ship early. Would like to rent a car to sightsee (also someplace to put our luggage) then we will need to return the car and get to the airport. 

If you are driving you could take the sea to sky hwy to Whistler.

[xlxo]

With regards to luggage...

• there are tour operators that will load your luggage to the back of the bus and drop you off at the airport afterwards with luggage.  https://vancouvertours.com/private-charters/pre-post-cruise-services/
• pre-Covid there was an operator that held luggage at the cruise terminal for late afternoon pickup.  [CDS used to offer this service](CDS Baggage YVR), but stopped around 2018.  I think one of the tour buses started to offer this service.
• some of the cruise terminal hotels would hold luggage for a fee

The cruise season begins next week, it will be clearer whether these luggage operators are operational.

 

With regards to a rental vehicle... use extreme caution when hiding luggage in your vehicle, especially downtown.  Vehicle break-ins are VERY high.  I recommend using a luggage storage service option mentioned above.

Edited March 31, 2022 by xlxo

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

Thank you for the information!! 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Not sure if Vancouver is a big car trunk break-in city, but I've left my luggage in the truck in a lot of cites, including ones with bad reputations for break-ins and never had an issue.

 

The #1 sight in Vancouver for me is Chinese food, especially dim sum. It is some of the best Chinese food in North America, on a par with the San Gabriel Valley of LA.

Edited March 31, 2022 by scottca075

[sfaaa]

Do not go to Vancouver Chinatown. The place's a dump and overrun by homeless and druggies. Real shame as it used to be a nice tourist attraction.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, sfaaa said:

Do not go to Vancouver Chinatown. The place's a dump and overrun by homeless and druggies.

 

Who said "go to ChinaTown"? The best Chinese food in Vancouver is in the Richmond area and environs.

[martincath]

I'll have to disagree with both the above posters to an extent - the best-of-the-best Chinese restos of the last decade have been consistently in Vancouver proper (though not in Chinatown) rather than Richmond (although in volume, variety, and overall 'pick a resto at random, is it good?' Richmond wins). There's even a couple of genuinely good spots in Chinatown these days - which was distinctly mediocre on the food front when I moved here over a decade ago, as it has been less and less Chinese since the 80s.

 

Arguably most of the best individual restos in the region are scattered around various parts of Vancouver south of False Creek, with Dynasty on Broadway being probably the best overall fancy-pants place for dim sum and general feastery ever since it opened; even much further back in time, Sun Sui Wah (originator of Alaskan king Crab Feasts) and Kirin (fancy dim sum mini-chain) both started in Vancouver before expanding into Richmond with additional branches, and Bao Bei (while a distinctly modern style of 'cocktails and shanghai/taipei tapas') was shortlisted for the best new resto of any type in the entire country when it opened, and remains a beacon of quality that's still rare in Chinatown proper (although given how well Chinatown BBQ has recaptured the 80s Canadian-Chinese experience, I have high hopes for Foo's Ho Ho reopening now that it finally seems to be happening, perhaps soon enough for 2022 cruisers to sample...)

 

@scottca075 - given how recently they opened and with the travel restrictions during the 'vid you almost certainly have yet to try Chef's Choice or Old Bird - both of which are being hailed as 'game changers' within the local resto scene. Even the super-fancy Chinese chain Quan Ju De (perhaps the definitive Peking Duck resto anywhere on the planet) chose Vancouver, not Richmond, to base themselves - between the three of these alone you have superb Cantonese, Shanghai, and Northern (while mostly about the duck, QJD does offer a broader menu). If you lean toward the casual side too, then you could do a lot worse than Chinatown BBQ on Pender - and when Foo's does reopen I'll be among the first there as I loved that place to bits, so I'll let you know if the almost-ethereal Egg Foo Yung returns anywhere near the standards of the past!

 

As to being overrun by druggies/homeless - Gastown is the most popular spot in the city to visit for cruise tourists given it's proximity yet it's been worse than Chinatown forever on that front, still is, and almost certainly always will be as it is part of the Downtown EastSide which barring a fundamental shift in local, regional, and national politics to address the homelessness and drug deaths crises will always be the single crappiest urban area in Canada. I live just south of Chinatown and walk through it into Gastown a lot - 95% of all the bad sh*t I've seen has gone down in Gastown. Even there though, the vast majority of interaction with street life is in the form of beggars - and there's more of them at the tourists spots than just about anywhere else, since tourists by definition have disposable income!

 

I can't disagree that there are more closed stores, more folks sleeping on sidewalks, more graffiti than there used to be in Chinatown - we've seen a general downward trend across all of downtown during the 'vid and Chinatown was on a slow decline since long before that - but even now, crime stats in all of Vancouver lean strongly toward 'smash window, steal stuff from car' rather than 'stab people, take their stuff.' Despite some heavily-publicized random stranger assaults there's not really a safety issue, rather it's a typical big city urban 'yes you will see hookers, drug sales and consumption' situation, but unless you are taking part in the drug or sex trade transactions it's extremely unlikely you'll end up involved with anything seedier than being asked for cash by beggars - and that's going to happen almost everywhere in town.

 

TL;DR - yes, Chinatown is worse than it was, but warning folks to avoid it should be further down the list than avoiding Gastown or even Yaletown these days, the latter of which has probably declined more during the 'vid than any other neighbourhood. Personally I'm still good to wander about on foot anywhere in the city...

[martincath]

On 3/30/2022 at 5:47 PM, TRAVELCRUZIN said:

We have a late flight and we will be getting off the ship early. Would like to rent a car to sightsee (also someplace to put our luggage) then we will need to return the car and get to the airport. 

Depending how many are in your party, driving around local sights might be financially sensible - but if you're a couple rather than a group almost definitely not. Parking is an expensive hassle whereas transit is cheap, safe, and reliable; cabs and uber/lyft rarely cost more than $10 for any trip within the core, which is where most of our tourist attractions are. If you've been here before, done the urban stuff, want to take a day trip - definitely book a car, but even outside of town be careful to leave nothing visible inside as gangs do target parking lots of attractions on the North Shore.

 

If you are staying in the core for the day, simply stash your bags somewhere convenient to return to - the Pan Pacific hotel right above the pier used to hold bags at the bell desk for $5 a pop which was unbeatable in price and convenience, these days multiple online baggage services have local restos, shops and hotels signed up with them to hold your bags for the day with a guarantee of safety and insurance to back them up (I can't recommend any personally, but am aware of at least four - see my reply to this earlier post for links). If you're roaming a bit further afield but still in the city, consider Porter Genie (also in that linked post) who will collect your bags at the pier then deliver them to the airport for not-cheap-but-likely-much-cheaper-than-a-car-rental-even-after-buying-a-transit-pass.

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

Thank you for the information. I was just staying in the downtown area, want to go to stanley park. If we can stash our bags somewhere that is more convenient and I would rather use transit. Seems like they have a good system.

 

Before our cruise we will be arriving on friday night around 11:00 pm and we will take the express sky train but we are staying at ywca and the closest stop is 3 blocks away. Okay to walk it?

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, martincath said:

@scottca075 - given how recently they opened and with the travel restrictions during the 'vid you almost certainly have yet to try Chef's Choice or Old Bird - both of which are being hailed as 'game changers' within the local resto scene.

 

Not sure who is hailing them, since both get some very average reviews from locals. Maybe it is just that the BC locals of Chinese descent have notoriously exacting standards.

 

They are also both Hong Kong style restaurants, which is a tiny slice of the Chinese food world, but maybe big in BC because so many Hong Kong Chinese emigrated to BC as HK was being handed over to the Communist Chinese government. Old Bird especially seems to have a very limited menu, 20 items total?

 

I love dim sum for lunch, but dinner my tastes definitely run to spicier Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine; Hunan, Sichuan and Shandong and Zhejiang (Shanghai).

[martincath]

1 hour ago, TRAVELCRUZIN said:

Thank you for the information. I was just staying in the downtown area, want to go to stanley park. If we can stash our bags somewhere that is more convenient and I would rather use transit. Seems like they have a good system.

 

Before our cruise we will be arriving on friday night around 11:00 pm and we will take the express sky train but we are staying at ywca and the closest stop is 3 blocks away. Okay to walk it?

 

Probably quicker to just walk than to wait for SkyTrain elevator, wait for train (not so frequent Saturday mornings), elevator up again at Waterfront - it's well under a mile, and you can take pretty much any combination of the various right-angle streets that appear on the map here (the shortest, but not by much, taking Cambie which slightly cuts a corner is probably the skeeviest option in terms of what you might see on the street - Victory Square has always been a popular rough sleeping area) but left on Georgia or Dunsmuir, right on Howe, follow it right to the pier are the simple options with no other turns needed.

[martincath]

56 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

Not sure who is hailing them, since both get some very average reviews from locals. Maybe it is just that the BC locals of Chinese descent have notoriously exacting standards.

 

They are also both Hong Kong style restaurants, which is a tiny slice of the Chinese food world, but maybe big in BC because so many Hong Kong Chinese emigrated to BC as HK was being handed over to the Communist Chinese government. Old Bird especially seems to have a very limited menu, 20 items total?

 

I love dim sum for lunch, but dinner my tastes definitely run to spicier Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine; Hunan, Sichuan and Shandong and Zhejiang (Shanghai).

You're very likely on the money with your suppositions as to why - those two restos in particular got huge praise from Critics, rather than Joe Schmoes in the Public vote, in the Chinese Resto awards last year, with not just several dishes being flagged as among the best food items but both being specifically flagged on a short list of restos that are doing stuff differently than anyone else, i.e. 'game changers' by said critics (many of whom are Canadian restauranteurs and food critics of Chinese descent, aged in the right ballpark for them to have come from HK pre-handover...)

 

Old Bird does indeed have a tight menu - because they shake up the menu regularly and it's a lot easier to do that when there aren't too many dishes in each iteration! They're not an HK resto at all - it just so happens that the most recent menu is 'Miss Wong visited Hong Kong' (Miss Wong being the non-existent, sassy, elderly Auntie who is the pretend 'old bird' of the resto); both owner and head chef opened with a remit of 'pan-Chinese cuisine' and they've served up stuff from all over the country in style. Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll be doing a spicier menu when you're next in town!

 

Chef's Choice does cook dishes that are old-fashioned even by HK diaspora standards, and since everything old eventually becomes new again part of their rep may be more down to the fact nobody else makes many of their dishes combined with the 'novelty' of really old school food - but considering they took advantage of covid closures to nab some of the best chefs from other award-winning restos (Mott32 & Chef Tony's for example) there's too much talent in the kitchen to deserve bad reviews in terms of how well-made the food is...

 

Given these spots opened during the 'vid and the ghastly racist backlash that came with it, new restos getting mentioned in local press likely drove more of the a**hole fake review crowd to them compared to older, established restos with lower profiles - I'm at the point of basically ignoring any unverified public site reviews of any asian resto, rather than my usual policy of ignore 1s & 5s and any reviews which just say 'bad service.' Somewhat ironic given I'm posting an unverified public review I guess!!!

[xlxo]

Additional thoughts on other comments...

• Yes, there is a very high vehicle break-in issue downtown and popular tourist attractions, especially since Covid.  I do not recommend having luggage stored in a vehicle, especially when a lot of rental vehicles have out of province license plates.  Those vehicles will be targeted for valuables.  Best to go on a tour with your luggage or store the luggage somewhere (cruise terminal? airport? hotel?).
• Dynasty and Chef Choice are great Dim Sum ideas on Robson.  Do make reservations as these places are very popular, especially on weekends.  I will warn you trying to find parking or getting there by taxi is an extreme challenge as the road outside (Broadway) is dug up for a subway extension.  Alternatives with reservations recommended?
  • Neptune Palace on Marine that is accessible by subway (Canada Line) from the cruise terminal or can be driven there.
  • Fisherman's Terrace?
  • Fortune Terrace (need a car or taxi)?
  • More Richmond ideas.... 

[xlxo]

On 4/2/2022 at 10:13 PM, xlxo said:

Dynasty and Chef Choice are great Dim Sum ideas on Robson

There's a typo... Dynasty and Chef Choice are on BROADWAY, not Robson.  It's Broadway that is torn up for subway construction.,

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

I think I need to clarify. On Friday night my flight arrives around 10:30 pm. The plan is to take the sky train from the airport to the city center stop. Then there is a 3 block walk to ywca along Georgia st. Is it safe to do this walk 11:00 or 11:30 at night. 

[martincath]

11 hours ago, TRAVELCRUZIN said:

I think I need to clarify. On Friday night my flight arrives around 10:30 pm. The plan is to take the sky train from the airport to the city center stop. Then there is a 3 block walk to ywca along Georgia st. Is it safe to do this walk 11:00 or 11:30 at night. 

I would have no concerns about getting to the YWCA in terms of being mugged or otherwise endangered, beyond the usual "I am somewhere unfamiliar and urban so should be paying attention" level of carefulness, but if you feel remotely uncomfortable and don't see a cab around hang a right for one block then left again on Robson - the YWCA is close enough to the Robson end of the block you'll only add a couple of dozen yards to your trip, and Robson has a metric buttload of restos and bars down at that end. While many of them will be closed by your likely arrival time, a few should be open.

 

And my apologies for missing your first short post about this - I was replying as I saw things pop in my email inbox due to being quoted or named rather than browsing the thread, so I totally missed your note!

[Milhouse]

Just to add a data point:  FWIW, my friend lives around the Robson and Homer area and after hanging out, I have felt safe enough to walk to McDonalds down the street or catch a bus in the area in the late evening (10pm to 2am).   YMMV.

Tonight, we went for a walk along the Coal Harbour seawall and drove home along Georgia around 11pm and there was lots of traffic along your stretch of Georgia, some pedestrians, and a few small tame groups wrapping up their nights outside a few pubs (Library Square and Shark Club).  So, you wouldn't be walking along an completely empty street.

[xlxo]

On 4/4/2022 at 9:48 PM, TRAVELCRUZIN said:

On Friday night my flight arrives around 10:30 pm. The plan is to take the sky train from the airport to the city center stop. Then there is a 3 block walk to ywca along Georgia st. Is it safe to do this walk 11:00 or 11:30 at night. 

At that time of night... I would take a taxi.

 

Taxi is $32 on the fixed price map.  Skytrain for two would be half price.  However, SkyTrain has a reduced frequency at that time of night to 20 minutes, with the walk... I would just cab it for door to door luggage convenience.

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

We decided on a hotel by the airport and just taking the skytrain the next morning.

 

Thank You

[Cruisin Kay D]

Are the Hop On Hop Off buses or trolleys operating?  

[3rdGenCunarder]

I will be in Vancouver for one day after my cruise. The one and only nonstop flight I can get is early in the morning. Last time, I stayed on Granville Island, did the market, Bard on the Beach, and it was great. This time, looking for something different, I'm going to take a cab to an airport hotel and then take the skytrain to the Elizabeth Gardens. The price of the Fairmont at the airport was insane, so I decided on Holiday Inn because they have a shuttle to the airport. 

 

Any issues with wandering around those areas?   

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

My plans have changed, once off the ship we want to do the suspension bridge, where can I pick up a rental once off the boat?

 

Thanks

[martincath]

On 4/24/2022 at 6:53 PM, Cruisin Kay D said:

Are the Hop On Hop Off buses or trolleys operating?  

Yes - West Coast are running and a live map shows their vehicle locations in real time. LandSea no longer list a HOHO on their website, but whether that means they plan not run one again or just not at the moment hard to say - personally I'd guess they're waiting to see how popular the local HOHO is post-Vid before deciding whether or not to run theirs next year at the earliest (given it's impossible to sanitize the vehicles between groups with different folks getting on and off at every stop, even people ready to return to travel might draw the line at sharing a tour vehicle with a rotating cast of randos...)

[martincath]

20 hours ago, TRAVELCRUZIN said:

My plans have changed, once off the ship we want to do the suspension bridge, where can I pick up a rental once off the boat?

 

Thanks

All over downtown - the pier itself has always had a rental kiosk in season, but even if a cruise-specific desk doesn't open this year the Pan Pacific hotel is in the same building so you should find 999 Canada Place listed, just perhaps not with ideal hours for cruisers. Given how compact our downtown core is, I'd book the best day rate with any franchise downtown then just walk over - Google using directions from Canada Place will show you walking distances and routes with near 100% accuracy.

 

Leave the bags and other pax close to the pier if you have a lot of stuff (e.g. walk ~100 yards to the other half of the Convention Center, where folks can wait under a wide awning for shade/rain avoidance) and go collect them when you have the car - as long as you go at least one street over from Howe you won't get caught up in the bottleneck of cars entering the pier itself.

 

Just checked who is currently listing 999 Canada Place, as the franchisee did change occasionally even in TheBeforeTimes, and it seems Ascent is currently based there in the PP Hotel lobby. Never heard of them so can't recommend one way or the other, but they're definitely the closest! Thrifty is next at a couple of blocks away at 413 Seymour St, Avis (757 Hornby) about half a mile, and several other small local rental places are as close or closer than these big brands.