Not-quite-Live < limited > cruise journal: QE (Q427) Alaska cruise: 10 night, 30 Aug – 9 Sep 2024 plus Vancouver pre & post

[mking8288]

Earlier, with most clothes washed n cleaned, began packing - 95% done. Will put them out before 11 PM tonight for our 9 AM disembark time, no rush.

 

 

[elmsliebev]

On 8/30/2024 at 3:46 AM, mking8288 said:

Stanley Park ... more photos later 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seaplane taking off @ 10X zoom 

 

 

 

 

Lions Gate Bridge

 

we were on QE for an Alaska cruise in2022. It was my husband's 60th birthday so I treated us to a seaplane flight. It was wonderful (very noisy) and we flew over Stanley Park (we have our own Stanley Park here inBlackpool NW England) and over QE. Your photos bring back some wonderful memories, thank you. 

[mking8288]

Posting from Victoria downstair, more posts w photos later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double-decker Shuttle bus, 10 minutes to town, free, with a short narrated intro to the city & it's history. 

 

 

 

Drop-off/pick-up spot near the Empress Hotel by the waterfront.

 

 

 

Edited September 8 by mking8288

[mking8288]

City shuttle - near the Empress Hotel - strolling thru cars-free Government Street 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Victoria's historic original Chinatown, established in the late 1800's with the Gold Rush waves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gateway to Fan-Tan Alley, the narrowest street ... vice, opium, gambling and mob / organized crime in those days.

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Victoria's Chinatown food stop & walking tour continued 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Extra photos from the iPhone 

(SE 2022 has cellular signal on Bell vs Samsung & Google Pixel 7 Pro on Telus/Rogers)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Continued with Victoria Chinatown - part 3

 

Our pit-stop for food & bathroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

@cruiseny4life you'll feel right at home seeing this 😁 and prices in CAD vs. very good exchange rates against the USD - not just in Iceland or Barcelona 😉

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Continuing - walking back toward the waterfront, memories ... Victoria is growing it's population and new houses / condos & apartments for the retirement community moving here

 

Macy's equivalent here - Hudson's Bay

 

 

Teas 

 

Last time we stayed here, our hotel was across that bridge and those high-rises wasn't there then, around 2010-11.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Innee Harbor - waterfront by the Empress 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers - best time to visit is in early April to see them in full bloom 

 

 

 

This is the shuttle drop-off & pick-up area, 1 city block from the waterfront. 

Edited September 9 by mking8288

[*Miss G*]

Beautiful!  You picked a lovely day to visit.  I’m loving the flowers!

[mking8288]

On the shuttle bus, returning to the QE ... RC's Quantum came in later than us, docked next berth over & those pax coming back too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BTW, the most Sun ... seen over the past 10 days and this cruise is coming to an end, tomorrow morning.

 

Edited September 9 by mking8288

[mking8288]

We are sailing early @ 8:45 PM - apparently all onboard.  Next stop in the morning, Canada Place C.T. - Vancouver, BC ...

disembarkation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria, BC - until next time 👍

 

. Infection control alert: lots of coughing sound in Lido Restaurant tonight, sounding like URI - will mask up tomorrow, just in case, matter of self-defense & taking personal responsibility 

Edited September 9 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Lido Restaurant ( buffet dinner - a simple supper for us on the final evening ... we already tipped our waiter & his assistant last night, just in case).  Ditto for our busy room steward today, gave him okay again to skip evening turn down service ... he will be working past 11 PM until all luggage are collected, and tomorrow's turnaround day in Port.

 

 

 

 

Not pictured, freshly made to order pizza. 

 

[mking8288]

ETA for Canada Place is 6:45 to 7 AM, breakfast serves until 8:30 and our color tags - blue and #2 is 9 AM 

 

Reconfirmed with our AirBnB host for our 1. night, check-in after 1:30 PM in Richard, last stop on SkyTrain at Brighouse Station.

 

 

United's flights on Tuesday will open for OLCI tomorrow, no changes expected.  DENver, CO will be 90 deg F 😳😳😳 - our layover airport to LGA 😀

 

 

Edited September 9 by mking8288

[tacticalbanjo]

Thanks for bringing us along with you. I've really enjoyed all your wonderful photos. The one downside is that you've made my own Alaska trip seem forever away!

 

Wishing you a safe and speedy journey back home.

[dexddd]

8 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@cruiseny4life you'll feel right at home seeing this 😁 and prices in CAD vs. very good exchange rates against the USD - not just in Iceland or Barcelona 😉

 

 

 

That lady at bk under the open sign giving you the stink eye.

 

Those are good prices.

[*Miss G*]

Whoa.  That RCI ship practically obliterates Victoria.  I wouldn’t be comfortable sailing on anything that size.  Sorry you have to disembark today!

 

 

Edited September 9 by *Miss G*

[dexddd]

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Lido Restaurant ( buffet dinner - a simple supper for us on the final evening ... we already tipped our waiter & his assistant last night, just in case).  Ditto for our busy room steward today, gave him okay again to skip evening turn down service ... he will be working past 11 PM until all luggage are collected, and tomorrow's turnaround day in Port.

 

 

 

 

Not pictured, freshly made to order pizza. 

 

I think I see a leek in the first picture.

[dexddd]

Post 600, guy in kilt, think it is George Lazenby doing a 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' sequel.  Fitting being on a Cunard ship.

 

Safe travels home.  Going to be a boring week without someone to pick on.

 

News in lower 48, Apple releasing new products.  Maybe time to upgrade the SE.

[cruiseny4life]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:36 PM, Silverspringcruiser said:

 

On 9/6/2024 at 4:11 PM, cruiseny4life said:

I mix them with my potato salad. Mayo and mustard-based tater salad! 

Mix what? Baked beans?

100%! It's so yummy....not like I mix them totally together to form a clumpy homogenous mixture. But, the bean juices run into the salad and give it that savory yumminess. 

 

  

On 9/6/2024 at 10:39 PM, mking8288 said:

Wait 🫷 🫷 we are not done yet, what are these.   Mrs said, we got 3 more nights onboard, 3 dinners including the 2nd Gala tomorrow ... it's not fair.  She is refusing to pack her bags 😁

 

Cunard making it clear it's not your boat!

 

As for food, you've had crab, Afternoon Tea, and Paella! Mega points for such fine looking photos of the food and selecting exactly what I would desire. 🙂 I started looking at that menu when you had Paella, thinking, there's nothi.....oh wait!! Paella!! Fill my tummy with two or three servings, please. Does Cunard ration additional entrees like Carnival with an extra charge, do they? 

 

Late night buffet looks good, though I'm usually asleep by that time of night. So much for chillin' with @Sugar Magnolia's posse on any trips as I'd be long in bed when they get the party started!

 

  

On 9/7/2024 at 1:16 PM, mking8288 said:

Our neighbor apparently believed in "we'll leave the lights on ... " all week long, never switched off (hey that's a tagline from the Motel 6 commercial)

 

 

On our shared Pr1ma cruise, it took us until day three or four to realize we could control the balcony lights from inside our cabin! On such an exciting journey as yours in Alaska (compared to our relaxing Transatlantic), I'm not sure I would ever notice the balcony light switch. 

 

  

On 9/7/2024 at 10:45 PM, mking8288 said:

@cruiseny4life I can see one or both of you with the kilt.

 

Don't judge if the wind picks up the flaps and....well you see what I do/don't wear under my kilt. Which, by the way, I don't believe I've ever donned such a flapper'ish type of bottom as a kilt. Not sure anyone needs to see that. I'm more English than William Wallace, unfortunately. 

 

  

22 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Smoky!!! The smoke has one great impact - gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. I'd prefer just a clear rise of the sun, but if there's going to be fires, at least it makes something downright glorious!! I must say one thing I don't miss from living in Yellowstone is the smoke that we'd be breathing in our hikes (never change the plan for a great hike)! Last year gave us some not-so-lovely reminders as the Canadian wildfire smoke seeped its' way down to Central New York, and beyond. It was quite reminiscent of my time out west, in a "oh great, here we go again" way.

 

It looks like the skies cleared up in Victoria. Glad you had blue skies as you adventured through the streets of BC! 

  

10 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

A little rich for my blood! $6....although since we're talking Loonies, perhaps I could scrape up a few bucks. Nah, I'd rather the baked beans from the ship and a few final hash browns before disembarking from the promised land. 

 

  

11 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Victoria's Chinatown food stop & walking tour continued 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along with the arch, what a stunning area! This has been engrained in my head when we finally make it to Victoria. I love the Canadians haven't just leveled the place for ultra modern "lux" towers reaching toward the sky. 

 

I probably missed it - how long were you in Victoria? Was it a four hour window like our compadres at NCL provide? Or longer?

 

  

8 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

May I be so bold as to ask what the hunk of meat is? It looks like a cube steak that I would fry/boil in Worcestershire and butter to make a steak sandwich. 

 

[mking8288]

Good morning, why isn't the ship moving ? 

 

We are docked, huh.  It figures. Just look below, my alarm is set to 7:15 and breakfast at 8 in Britannia.

 

 

 

The porters aren't on their job yet.  Cunard ship security will have to tell us to get off the ship and pay the balance in our account.

 

We are going to take 2 taxis to the airport, with all that luggage ... not to rush for our United flights tomorrow 😉.   But, to pickup our inexpensive Budget car rental, a minivan for the next 20 hours to use while in town, and check into our B&B after 1:30 PM.  Extending our vacation post-cruise by a day, busy schedule ahead.

[mking8288]

Cunard QE's senior team/officers - 

 

Log - 

[mking8288]

Disembarkation breakfast - menu

 

Fast-track still being called at 8:30 AM