Quantum & Ovation Plus - 30 Day Live (hopefully)

[bobmacliberty]

As we left our hotel this morning, we noticed that there are 2 ships at the cruise terminal. Ruby Princess on the east side.

 

 

HAL Zuiderdam on the west side. 
 

[bobmacliberty]

4 hours ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Thanks so much Bob.  I knew the pool was open (at least from reports) but wondering about the large patio outside the restaurant that overlooks the Pier (I have called several times and they tell me that it has been closed for a long time - since the start of the pandemic...)  Good to hear that you have had no elevator issues.

Did you happen to get early check-in okay - I can't remember if you said?

I will be anxiously awaiting your bar report later on.😎

Too bad that it is a bit overcast, light rain & cooler right now.  Supposed to be hot again for the next few days and sunny - fingers crossed.

Cheers 🍸

Canuck

Unfortunately, things haven’t changed from what you said. Oceans 999 is only open for breakfast. I asked when it might be open again for dinner and the clerk at reception was confused. He said it’s only a breakfast restaurant. I said that it used to serve dinner but he had no clue. Must be new. 
 

The Coal Harbor bar is open noon to 11:00pm and serves dinner. Same menu that we had for room service. The outdoor patio however was not open. No idea when it will be open. 
 

You probably know that the Five Sails restaurant is open. Not part of the hotel (anymore…used to be) but in the same building. It’s a fine dining place and looks pretty upscale. 
 

And I didn’t answer you’re other question earlier but we checked in around 1:00pm and were given a room immediately.  I’m don’t think l’ve seen another guest on floor 9, so they probably aren’t full. 

[bobmacliberty]

We were pretty optimistic about how much we would do in Vancouver when we made our original plans. Since we have one less day here, and decided not to push things too much physically, we dropped the idea of riding rental bikes around Stanley Park. We were going to spend a half day each at Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. We cut that back to just the suspension bridge. Probably the right call since we’re now back at the hotel and tired. 
 

They have a full size bus shuttle that runs from Canada Place (where our hotel is located) to the park. It leaves every 15 minutes and takes about 25 minutes. No charge. It worked great taking the shuttle back and forth. For info, the shuttle also stops briefly at the Hyatt Regency and at the Blue Horizon hotel. 
 

Here’s the view of downtown Vancouver while crossing the Lions Gate bridge 

 

We’ll be sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge on Friday. BTW, we received an email from Royal saying that we will be leaving 30 minutes early on Friday…3:30pm tether than 4:00pm…to time our departure with low tide so that we can fit under the bridge. Should be fun!

[bobmacliberty]

We really enjoyed the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park There are several features to the park. The suspension bridge itself is the main attraction.  Crossing it it like walking on the upper deck of a cruise ship in rough seas when you’ve had a little too much to drink. 

 

 

 

 

 

[CanuckCruizer]

26 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Unfortunately, things haven’t changed from what you said. Oceans 999 is only open for breakfast. I asked when it might be open again for dinner and the clerk at reception was confused. He said it’s only a breakfast restaurant. I said that it used to serve dinner but he had no clue. Must be new. 
 

The Coal Harbor bar is open noon to 11:00pm and serves dinner. Same menu that we had for room service. The outdoor patio however was not open. No idea when it will be open. 
 

You probably know that the Five Sails restaurant is open. Not part of the hotel (anymore…used to be) but in the same building. It’s a fine dining place and looks pretty upscale. 
 

And I didn’t answer you’re other question earlier but we checked in around 1:00pm and were given a room immediately.  I’m don’t think l’ve seen another guest on floor 9, so they probably aren’t full. 

Hi Bob,

Thanks for all the info!  Yes - I know Five Sails is open but wanted something a little more casual for the night before the cruise,

Find it hard to accept that, apparently, they didn't have the patio open since the pandemic started.  Have spent many a birthday dinner out there, looking at the ships.  All they tell me is that they are short staffed.  Too bad, as the weather will be heating up again for the next few days.

Thanks again and hope you have a great time!

Cheers,

Canuck

[CanuckCruizer]

20 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We were pretty optimistic about how much we would do in Vancouver when we made our original plans. Since we have one less day here, and decided not to push things too much physically, we dropped the idea of riding rental bikes around Stanley Park. We were going to spend a half day each at Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. We cut that back to just the suspension bridge. Probably the right call since we’re now back at the hotel and tired. 
 

They have a full size bus shuttle that runs from Canada Place (where our hotel is located) to the park. It leaves every 15 minutes and takes about 25 minutes. No charge. It worked great taking the shuttle back and forth. For info, the shuttle also stops briefly at the Hyatt Regency and at the Blue Horizon hotel. 
 

Here’s the view of downtown Vancouver while crossing the Lions Gate bridge 

 

We’ll be sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge on Friday. BTW, we received an email from Royal saying that we will be leaving 30 minutes early on Friday…3:30pm tether than 4:00pm…to time our departure with low tide so that we can fit under the bridge. Should be fun!

Sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge is fabulous, in our experience - make sure you are out on deck as it looks like you are not going to fit and then you just squeeze under.  We, on the Quantum, (so same size as you) are scheduled to leave at 7pm...wonder what time low tide is then - hope Royal has this worked out.🙃 

Enjoy your evening.

Canuck

[bobmacliberty]

On the other side of the bridge were a few “adventures”.  We first went on the Treetops Adventure, a series of 7 suspension bridges connected between massive old Douglass Fir trees. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Also on the other side of the bridge is a

long boardwalk called Nature’s Edge. There’s a lot of info about rainforests in the NW and a small place where they sometimes show the birds or raptor ridge.  
 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

6 minutes ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge is fabulous, in our experience - make sure you are out on deck as it looks like you are not going to fit and then you just squeeze under.  We, on the Quantum, (so same size as you) are scheduled to leave at 7pm...wonder what time low tide is then - hope Royal has this worked out.🙃 

Enjoy your evening.

Canuck

I’m a little surprised that Royal moved our departure time up 30 minutes, rather than have the original time be 3:30. It’s not like the tides are a surprise. 

[bobmacliberty]

We crossed the suspension bridge again, back to the original side. We poked through the large gift shop and had a nice late lunch at the restaurant. I had a really good, and very large, bowl of seafood chowder and washed it down with a local pale ale. Delicious. 
 

We then did the main attraction on the first side called Cliffwalk. It’s a series of cantilevered walkways hanging off the side of the granite cliff. Pretty cool adventure and a nice engineering feat.

 

 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

We really enjoyed the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. We spent about 2.5 hours

there. Warning…this is not a good place for people with mobility issues. There were a LOT of up and down stairs, in addition to some wobbly bridges. It seems like a good place for kids. They got a coloring type book with a series of challenges for kids. There are several marked points on the various trails/bridges where kids get info to put in their book. 10 year old me would love this place as much as 61 year old me. 
 

Micheline did well. We took it slow, especially going up and down stairs, and she handled it well. She’ll hopefully be 100% by Friday cruise day. 

[h20skibum]

The suspension bridge park looks like a great place to visit.  I could see us going there.

[bobmacliberty]

Zuiderdam headed out with a slightly damp sail away. 
 

[bobmacliberty]

And she’s headed under the Lions Gate Bridge. 
 

[helen haywood]

I remember the first time we sailed out of Tampa…going under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge…we were sure we weren’t going to fit underneath!!

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

On the other side of the bridge were a few “adventures”.  We first went on the Treetops Adventure, a series of 7 suspension bridges connected between massive old Douglass Fir trees. 

 

That place looks amazing. I'm writing down in my notes when we go there some day. Looks like you are having a blast and I am so glad Micheline is feeling better.

[akcruz]

Love the pictures from the suspension bridge park.  Not sure I could do it but would definitely give it a try.

[bobmacliberty]

14 minutes ago, akcruz said:

Love the pictures from the suspension bridge park.  Not sure I could do it but would definitely give it a try.

There’s really only 2 barriers…fear and steps. If you could handle a lot of steps, you’d be fine. It’s not really that scary and it’s super safe. 

[akcruz]

11 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

There’s really only 2 barriers…fear and steps. If you could handle a lot of steps, you’d be fine. It’s not really that scary and it’s super safe. 

 

Fear is my concern, not thrilled walking on anything I can see thru.  Have done zip lining, the 1st step is always tough but am fine after that.  I even had issues at the 911 memorial in NY, one of the reflection rooms has a glass floor with items below, took 2 steps and froze.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, akcruz said:

I even had issues at the 911 memorial in NY, one of the reflection rooms has a glass floor with items below, took 2 steps and froze.

You may want to avoid the rear stairwell on deck 13 on Q class ships.

[akcruz]

11 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You may want to avoid the rear stairwell on deck 13 on Q class ships.

 

Actually have inched my way out on that stairwell, but yes not a fan.

[jmh2006]

13 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

And she’s headed under the Lions Gate Bridge. 
 

Love your picture, especially your photo bomber! 🤣

[bobmacliberty]

Good morning from Vancouver. Today is Micheline’s birthday! Our only plans today are to go to Granville Island later this afternoon and wander for a few hours before having a birthday dinner at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant. Micheline chose the restaurant from online reviews…hopefully it’s good. The rest of the day will almost certainly involve shopping for a yet to be determined birthday gift. Ouch. 🤣

[DaniDanielle]

Happiest of birthdays for Micheline🎂

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Good morning from Vancouver. Today is Micheline’s birthday! Our only plans today are to go to Granville Island later this afternoon and wander for a few hours before having a birthday dinner at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant. Micheline chose the restaurant from online reviews…hopefully it’s good. The rest of the day will almost certainly involve shopping for a yet to be determined birthday gift. Ouch. 🤣

Happy birthday to Micheline.  I hope she is back to 100% for the crossing to Hawaii. 

[Tree_skier]

@bobmacliberty

 

If you have the time and don't mind going a little bit out of the city there is a fantastic Italian restaurant just across the Vancouver border in Burnaby called Antons Pasta Bar.  It won't show up on any tourist guides but is a local favorite.  You may have to wait some to get in but the wait is worth it.  They don't take reservations. They make the pasta right there on sight.  The portions are large and I promise you won't go away hungry.  It was a favorite of ours for many years while we lived up there.

 

https://antonspastabar.com/

 

It is straight down Hastings from where you are and an Uber should be less than $20

Edited September 29, 2022 by Tree_skier