A Very Short Live From the Eurodam - One Night Vancouver to Seattle - April 28, 2023

[zgscl]

Gearing up for a very short live thread for a very short cruise. As a Seattle resident, sometimes these one night repositioning cruises fit into my schedule and are always quite affordable. I will be taking the Amtrak Cascades up to Vancouver Friday Morning, board Eurodam in the early afternoon and be back home Saturday morning. Looking forward to getting back onboard one of my favorite ships - of course 18 hours is not enough, so I will be back in 2 weeks for a 7 night Alaska cruise to really satisfy my cruise fix. 

 

[aliaschief]

Welcome aboard later today. We are currently in dense fog with the fog horn blaring. We’ve had a great 18 days on Eurodam and hope you enjoy you’re one nighter!

[BetsyS.]

zgscl - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊

[canadianbear]

You’ll have beautiful welcoming weather in Vancouver tomorrow!

 

 We will be on the Eurodam later this year on a Caribbean cruise.  We also love the ship.

[slidergirl]

I board the Eurodam on Saturday.  Leave it in good condition for me 😃

[BetsyS.]

slidergirl - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊

[TriumphGuy]

We board Eurodam May 6th for an Alaska cruise. First time with HAL, looking forward to a new experience.

[BetsyS.]

TriumphGuy - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊

[Florida_gal_50]

Enjoy!

[Haljo1935]

14 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I board the Eurodam on Saturday.  Leave it in good condition for me 😃

I'm with you, Slidergirl - we board Sat April 29 for AK!!

[Haljo1935]

14 hours ago, TriumphGuy said:

We board Eurodam May 6th for an Alaska cruise. First time with HAL, looking forward to a new experience.

Welcome to HAL!! It's an awesome way to experience AK. We will be getting off when you get on as we leave this Sat April 29.

[BetsyS.]

Haljo1935 - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊

[Torquer]

@zgsclPlease tell us more about how these 1-night repositioning cruises work.  Are there many people onboard?  Are most people that are onboard doing a B2B with either the prior cruise or the following one?  Do they have "normal" entertainment going on in the theater and the music venues in the evening?

[zgscl]

Good Morning from the Pacific Northwest! I am taking the train up this morning (I usually arrive at least a day early but as this is just a one night cruise I figure if something goes wrong I will simply give up). Taking the train out of Seattle is very easy, I got to the station at 7:30 for a 7:50 AM departure, showed my passport and boarded. Train is quite full, every seat is taken and I am definitely glad I did business class. If you are planning to take the train I strongly recommend booking early - Amtrak has a number of equipment shortages so trains may not have as many cars as they ideally would which means trains are more likely to sell out earlier. 

 

The ride up is quite pretty. You spend most of the along Puget Sound which is quite scenic. The train is FAR more comfortable than a bus - and they have a cafe car with snacks for purchase. If you book business class you get a $3 off coupon on one item purchased. They also have wifi onboard which works while in the US. 

 

Currently sitting about 15 minutes south of the boarder waiting for the train before us to clear customs. Running about 15 minutes late but that could change one way or the other depending on how long customs takes. The last few days the train arrived around 1 PM in Vancouver and my goal is to be on the ship by 2. 

 

If you are taking the train up and need a hotel in Seattle, the Embassy Suites is immediately across the street from King Street station. There are a number of other nearby hotels and anything downtown would be relatively close, but you can't beat walking across the street. Also, for cruises departing Vancouver, Seattle is often much cheaper to fly in and out of. I would definitely take the train over a bus any day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by zgscl

[canadianbear]

You picked a beautiful day for the train ride and to leave the Vancouver port.  It’s a fantastic clear day here in Vancouver-and you’ll see Grouse Mountain still with snow on it!  

[zgscl]

9 hours ago, canadianbear said:

You picked a beautiful day for the train ride and to leave the Vancouver port.  It’s a fantastic clear day here in Vancouver-and you’ll see Grouse Mountain still with snow on it!  

Absolutely could not have asked for better weather! We shall see if I am so lucky in 2 weeks when I go farther north. 

[zgscl]

12 hours ago, Torquer said:

@zgsclPlease tell us more about how these 1-night repositioning cruises work.  Are there many people onboard?  Are most people that are onboard doing a B2B with either the prior cruise or the following one?  Do they have "normal" entertainment going on in the theater and the music venues in the evening?

I did this last year in the other direction which runs Saturday-Sunday in early October. It is as close to a party cruise as you can get on HAL. Much younger crowd overall. Many more people who are are first time cruisers. Makes for a very different vibe than even a 7 night cruise in the summer. Keep in mind that the pricing starts around $75/person for an inside cabin and $300/person for a Neptune suite.

 

In the Pinnacle Grill the people at the table next to me somehow didn't understand that the PG is a speciality restaurant and were arguing that if they bought only up charge items that they should not have to pay the PG cover charge also. I have never heard such an argument in 20+ cruises. There are also multiple people in cabins near mine blasting music on the balcony. I could hear it inside my room for a while from one of the cabins next door playing it outside. Thankfully they have since stopped and turned it down. 

 

Hard to gauge the number of back to back folks, when I have done the San Diego-Vancouver leg there are usually around 600 people who stay onboard. Not sure how many of those continue between Vancouver/Seattle. 

 

Ship is definitely full this time. The spa folks were telling me they have been at 100% and will be at 100%+ all summer. The days of 60% occupancy as a regular occurrence seem to be a thing of the past. I can definitely tell there are more people at the buffet and walking around than there have been on my cruises earlier in the pandemic. 

 

HAL seems to try to put their best foot forward on these 1 night cruises. They know they only have 1 chance to get it right, and that a lot of these people are new. On the cruise in October I never saw a more full schedule of entertainment on HAL. Every venue did a full 3 sets of 45 minutes each plus they had Humanity on twice. If they ran main stage shows daily every day (like every single other cruise line) plus all the music venues played 3 full sets consistently (not a shortened 10 minute set twice) I think there would be a lot fewer complaints about the entertainment. 

 

I will post the program later tonight as internet allows, but it is similar. Major Fourth (new Quartet with harmonies) twice on the main stage. BB Kings x3, Billboard Onboard x3, and Third Avenue West in the Ocean Bar x4 (no clue what this is and the internet won't let me look it up right now). 

 

I would bet someone money that when I return in 2 weeks the nightly entertainment will be slimmed down on the standard 7 day run. 

[canadianbear]

20 minutes ago, zgscl said:

Absolutely could not have asked for better weather! We shall see if I am so lucky in 2 weeks when I go farther north. 

Can’t guarantee what it will be in 2 weeks!  I’ll be in Quebec visiting our daughter & grandkids at that time but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

Enjoy your night on the ship.  

 

 

[zgscl]

Arrival into Vancouver was easy, we got in about 12:30 PM which is half an hour late. You go through Canadian customs/immigration at the train station. Upon arrival everyone has to remain seated while the crew takes off all luggage. You must pick your checked luggage up train side and carry it in for customs inspection. Note that the baggage car was in the rear of the train so people with checked bags had to go to the rear to get their luggage and then walk to the front to exit the platform. 

 

They disembark one car at a time starting with business class. This alone makes business class worth the upgrade, there are only 15 passengers and they didn't start disembarking coach until all of us had gotten our luggage and walked to the front of the train to line up. They keep the side doors shut so other people can't get off early. I was the 3rd or 4th person in line because I stopped to take pictures of the train. The whole customs process took about 5 minutes once i got off the train. 

 

The customs agent did ask me to see my cruise ticket (boarding pass). I am traveling alone and not staying in Canada for even 12 hours so I wonder if they find that more suspicious. 

 

 

 

 

You do get a nice view of the Via Rail cars used on The Canadian route which is definitely on my bucket list (and will definitely get a trip report). 

Amtrak arrives on a separate track from the rest of the station that is fenced off for customs purposes. 

 

 

 

Our nice new Siemens Charger locomotive. 

 

 

[BetsyS.]

canadianbear - Have a great time in Quebec!

[zgscl]

The journey from Pacific Central Station to the Canada Place pier is very easy. It is roughly 1 block to the Sky Train, a 10 minute ride on the Sky Train, and less than 1 block to the pier (assuming you use the correct exit at Waterfront Station - read the signs carefully). 

 

We arrived at 12:25 PM, thanks to being one of the first off the train I walked into Canada Place at 1:10 PM (and that includes a couple detours to take pictures).

 

After crossing the street from Pacific Central Station I took this, you can see the Sky Train station at the end of the path just past the little tent. 

 

If you manage to use the correct exit at Waterfront Station this is the view from the top of the escalator...the near side of Canada Place is the entrance for cruise ship passengers. 

 

The ramp takes you down to the passenger embarkation level. You can also go inside Canada Place and take an elevator downstairs. 

 

 

I think it is worth walking to the far side of Canada Place and getting some pictures of your ship. Canada Place has wonderful public access to walk alongside and depending on which ship is docked where (and what direction it is facing) you can get some nice pictures. 

 

[zgscl]

19 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Can’t guarantee what it will be in 2 weeks!  I’ll be in Quebec visiting our daughter & grandkids at that time but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

Enjoy your night on the ship.  

 

 

Hope you have a wonderful time back East! 

[canadianbear]

1 minute ago, BetsyS. said:

canadianbear - Have a great time in Quebec!

Thank you!  Getting my air line points traveling back & forth but worth it!  Mr Bear is staying home this time, lol.  

[canadianbear]

2 minutes ago, zgscl said:

Hope you have a wonderful time back East! 

Thank you-haven’t seen the grandkids in person since December when we were there so looking forward to it. (Thank heavens for FaceTime chats every day).  

 

I always LOVE your travel posts-lots of detail and photos-perfect.  Plus of course your photos show our beautiful weather today.   

[BetsyS.]

zgscl - Thanks for the update and pictures. Glad you had great entertainment.