Live from NCL Spirit 06/21/23-07/05/23 - Alaska B2B Vancouver to Seward to Vancouver

[Seas2mountains]

17th floor sun deck with bar and hot tub. The large fitness center is on this floor. Check out the Veuve Clicquot theme. 

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/20/2023 at 6:18 AM, quack2 said:

I'm currently monitoring the location of the Spirit as she sails south toward Vancouver.  I want to see which side of Vancouver Island she sails on.  Too early to tell for sure, but she seems to be heading toward the west side rather than the more scenic and protected east side.

 

https://www.cruisingearth.com/port-tracker/canada/vancouver-british-columbia/

I’m disappointed as other side is definitely more scenic.  Have you done this cruise in the past? 

[Seas2mountains]

14 hours ago, boltnut55 said:

Looking forward to learning what you will be doing...

We honeymooned in Vancouver for a week (24 and 26 year olds who didn't know what they were doing); we've gone back several times due to cruises but spent a week there to celebrate our 25th anniversary.  We're doing B2B 7/24-8/7 with 2 days in Vancouver before we board... staying at the Gage Suites at UBC so who knows what will happen😁 and have rental car.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!  I wish we had planned to be here for at least two days or more as I really like Vancouver and want to see more. 

[Seas2mountains]

14 hours ago, singleflyer said:

@Seas2mountains Looking forward to following along.  I'll be on the Spirit from Vancouver to Seward on the next sailing (July 5).  I am curious how the embarkation/boarding process goes tomorrow; please report back.  I'm planning on arriving around 1:30 so I hopefully won't have to wait in as long a line to board.

Will do! We have an early check-in time and hope to embark close to 11am.  I hope you have a wonderful trip!  

[McKJohnOlip55]

I haven't been on this Forum and am very in-experienced.  This is our first time on an Alaskan cruise and will be joining the Seward to Vancouver portion.  We'd love to meet up with anyone who will be going and maybe plays Euchre?  I don't see a roll-call for the Seward to Vancouver trip.  Thanks for any help. 

[Seas2mountains]

12 hours ago, Happycrafter123 said:

Welcome to Vancouver!  I hope you found an awesome dinner downtown (I always recommend Carderos on the sea wall just about 10-15 minutes walk west Of the convention centre/cruise port but too late now, add it to your list! )

Where did you wind up finding dinner?

 

you sail tomorrow?  Interested to hear the experience through Vancouver port, wishing you a smooth day ahead!!

Thank you for the recommendation and kind wishes. I’m sure we will be back in Vancouver again. 
 

Yes, we sail today! I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Sun. I will also be following your review. 

[Seas2mountains]

2 hours ago, McKJohnOlip55 said:

I haven't been on this Forum and am very in-experienced.  This is our first time on an Alaskan cruise and will be joining the Seward to Vancouver portion.  We'd love to meet up with anyone who will be going and maybe plays Euchre?  I don't see a roll-call for the Seward to Vancouver trip.  Thanks for any help. 

Welcome! Feel free to ask any questions and myself or others will help you with answers. 
 

I bet you will be able to find others who play Euchre and we are also happy to meet on the ship.  

[Seas2mountains]

We took an Uber to the cruise port.  We dropped our bags on P2 in the parking garage at about 9:15am.  It was just a few steps away from the taxi/Uber/Lyft drop point.  Then we took an escalator to floor G and waited in the Latitude line. Check-in started at 9:30am and then we were directed to go through security.  They send you outside and then back inside where we waited in a mixed line with Holland America passengers.  We did not have to dump water in our water containers but they did ask us to open it.  After security, we used customs machines to clear US customs. 
 

We were then directed to a waiting area for NCL. We expect to board about 11am.  There have been plenty of people to direct us where to go throughout the process and it was really smooth so far.

In the waiting area, they have us sit in seats in the order that we arrived.  They tell us we will board in that order.  

[boltnut55]

Ooooh empty space😁  Our last cruise was out of Ft. Lauderdale, and there were thousands waiting in the hot sun in lines for hours that were barely moving. 

 

We will be returning our car around 9:30 and taking the train towards Canada Place and walking (from what I remembered), so I guess we'll arrive maybe around 10:30.  Probably will be more crowded by then, but I appreciate this info!!!

[YVRteacher]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

All I've got to say is YUM!!!! 

 

Also, I can't even imagine being one of the employees that has to stack that fruit. I'd quit after trying to build my cherry pyramid for at least an hour. 

They yell at you if you try to touch them!

[YVRteacher]

@Seas2mountains I’m so excited for you! If you can, stand outside on the top deck when going under the Lions Gate Bridge.  If you look toward the mountains you can see the building where my dad lives. (There are many apartments, condos, highrises so this is just the general direction.)

What is your first drink on board?

[Seas2mountains]

Embarkation started at 10:45am. There was only one person with a walker and their partner who were allowed to board first. Then they started the very organized and orderly boarding process by rows of chairs based on the order everyone arrived after check-in, security and customs.  We were among the first ten people to board. 
 

We went to our muster station to scan our key cards and then went to restaurant reservations next to guest services to make our reservations as they weren’t available when we booked the cruise in May.  The line was fairly long and it didn’t work for me to try to book it on the NCL app. 
 

We ate lunch at Windows when it opened at 11:30am. Lunch for me included a Spinach Caesar and a cheeseburger with fries.  For my husband, he had a Spinach Caesar and Cajun Chicken Pasta.  We shared sweet corn hush puppies. 

 

 

After lunch, we waited while enjoying a drink on deck 8 overlooking the atrium.  An announcement cane on at 1:11pm to announce that all statesrooms were ready. 
 

We enjoyed time in the hot tub and returned to the room a little later to find our suitcases were  there.  We got everything put away before 3pm. 
 

We are now sailing away and left the port a few minutes early at about 4:50pm. 
 

In Vancouver, one bar per deck can be open while in port due to Canadian regulations.  
 

 

 

[Seas2mountains]

Day 1 daily   will try uploading PDF too 

[Seas2mountains]

Day 1 daily PDF 

NCL Spirit day 1.pdf

[Seas2mountains]

We had the perfect 10/10 first day!  The embarkation process was one of the smoothest of all the cruises we have taken.  
 

We had a great dinner at Cagney’s and did not take any photos. 
 

We are enjoying the beautiful views of mountains and islands while listening to a band we already love - B12.  
 

Here are some sunset photos. 

[Seas2mountains]

9 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

@Seas2mountains I’m so excited for you! If you can, stand outside on the top deck when going under the Lions Gate Bridge.  If you look toward the mountains you can see the building where my dad lives. (There are many apartments, condos, highrises so this is just the general direction.)

What is your first drink on board?

Thank you! We waved to Dad as we went under the bridge. 
 

The first drink was a Santa Margarita Pino Grigio.  

[YVRteacher]

That made me tear up!

 

You sure had a beautiful afternoon and evening for sailaway!

 

Sorry if you mentioned this before, but is this your first time on the Spirit?

[quack2]

13 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

We had the perfect 10/10 first day!  The embarkation process was one of the smoothest of all the cruises we have taken.  
 

We had a great dinner at Cagney’s and did not take any photos. 
 

We are enjoying the beautiful views of mountains and islands while listening to a band we already love - B12.  
 

Here are some sunset photos. 

That was quite a sunset last night.  Lasted forever.  Can't have a great sunset without some clouds.

 

Agree about embarkation.  Very smooth.  Arrived at 11:00, was onboard by 11:30.  Lunch at the Local was just o.k.   Dinner at Onda was a little disappointing.  Great service but food quality lacking.  The most expensive item on the menu was the veal Milanese.  Lots of breading to hide the veal.  Tonight is Teppanyaki.

 

And yes, we sailed up the west side of Vancouver Island.  My goal on this cruise is to find a reliable source to tell me why.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by quack2

[KDebreuil]

1 hour ago, quack2 said:

That was quite a sunset last night.  Lasted forever.  Can't have a great sunset without some clouds.

 

Agree about embarkation.  Very smooth.  Arrived at 11:00, was onboard by 11:30.  Lunch at the Local was just o.k.   Dinner at Onda was a little disappointing.  Great service but food quality lacking.  The most expensive item on the menu was the veal Milanese.  Lots of breading to hide the veal.  Tonight is Teppanyaki.

 

And yes, we sailed up the west side of Vancouver Island.  My goal on this cruise is to find a reliable source to tell me why.

 

 

The only recent change I'm aware of is around the discharge of waste water. Perhaps the storage and treatment capabilities of the ship are not enough to satisfy the new requirements Canada put in this year?

 

https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/marine-safety/ship-safety-bulletins/enhanced-environmental-measures-2023-cruise-season-ssb-no-08-2023

[Seas2mountains]

14 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

That made me tear up!

 

You sure had a beautiful afternoon and evening for sailaway!

 

Sorry if you mentioned this before, but is this your first time on the Spirit?

Awww.  Yes, it was beautiful! 
This is our first time on the Spirit. It is a lovely ship. 

[Seas2mountains]

Clocks were turned back one hour last night.  Coming from Mountain time zone, it’s not as big of a change for us as it is for people from the East coast who are talking about waking up at 4am and being hungry for breakfast. 
 

As we were also awake by 6am, we tried to walk on deck 7 but it was too wet and windy. We did workout in the fitness center which was quite crowded as is normal on the first at sea day.  
 

We did go on the Latitudes Behind the Scenes tour this morning which involved seeing the female dressing room in the theater, the galley for Taste and the laundry room along with I95. There are three production shows and lots of costume changes.  The entertainers have a six month contract.  
 

As many people must be using wifi, I’m not able to upload photos or the dailies and will do that when I can. I can also add photos of the Spirit 
 

We are Battle of the Cake Masters in the Atrium now and it is very crowded. It is very funny.  Next up is the Latitudes Wines Around the World tasting.  

[bomabound]

My husband and I did B2B on the Spirit two weeks ago and loved it.  Yesterday evening we watched the beautiful Spirit cruise by from our living room window on Vancouver Island and wished we could be back on her. 😀. I hope you have an amazing cruise!

[YVRteacher]

Hi @bomabound

[bomabound]

Hi @YVRteacher.  I’ve read that you’ve cruised Alaska many times!  If I was in Vancouver I know I’d find the convenience of jumping on there waaaaay too tempting.  😀. I can only imagine the temptation for those living near a Florida port!

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/21/2023 at 10:48 AM, boltnut55 said:

Ooooh empty space😁  Our last cruise was out of Ft. Lauderdale, and there were thousands waiting in the hot sun in lines for hours that were barely moving. 

 

We will be returning our car around 9:30 and taking the train towards Canada Place and walking (from what I remembered), so I guess we'll arrive maybe around 10:30.  Probably will be more crowded by then, but I appreciate this info!!!

You will be happy to see lighter crowds.  If you are waking from the train, there is a ramp that directs you to the cruise port.  Find an elevator to get to P2 to drop off your bags unless you plan to carry your bags on with you. 
 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!