Jim_Iain - Live from Oceania Regatta - September 14 Vancouver to Los Angeles

[LuAnn]

14 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

jonthomas and I have widely differing opinions on SFO and Astoria. Yes, in Astoria there were a few people who were apparently homeless/transient along the Riverwalk/trolley, but we encountered no aggressive panhandling or interaction of any sort (e.g., no signs asking for help)...just a person hanging out with an abundance of items.

Astoria is a lovely little town. The only "con" is that it can easily be a cancelled port due to the tricky entrance/exit. We enjoyed the maritime museum with a tour of a USCG light boat. Since you like walking, there is a walk to the Astoria column that may get you to your 20k steps. If history is your thing, I found a couple of walking tours (https://www.oregon.com/recreation/historic-astoria

 

)

We were on the north bound of this cruise last year on Regatta and missed Astoria due to weather. I was so disappointed as I had not been ...maybe another time!! We did make the stop in SFO and had a lovely day..on an O tour driving around the city and then having lunch in Chinatown and a "tea tasting" as well. Super fun!! 

[Jancruz]

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

jonthomas and I have widely differing opinions on SFO and Astoria. Yes, in Astoria there were a few people who were apparently homeless/transient along the Riverwalk/trolley, but we encountered no aggressive panhandling or interaction of any sort (e.g., no signs asking for help)...just a person hanging out with an abundance of items.

Astoria is a lovely little town. The only "con" is that it can easily be a cancelled port due to the tricky entrance/exit. We enjoyed the maritime museum with a tour of a USCG light boat. Since you like walking, there is a walk to the Astoria column that may get you to your 20k steps. If history is your thing, I found a couple of walking tours (https://www.oregon.com/recreation/historic-astoria

 

)

I also loved Astoria in fact almost bought a condo there as a 2nd home..

Jancruz1

[Jim_Iain]

To speed up immigration I filled ArrivalCan while on plane.  
 

 

After arrival there were no lines and we cleared immigration collected luggage and out of terminal in 20 minutes 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

I got a kick out of this sign especially the fine print.  

 

Edited Sunday at 12:24 AM by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Time to get SkyTrain

 

 

2 Concession (Senior)tickets came to  US$10.54

 

[AMHuntFerry]

46 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I got a kick out of this sign especially the fine print.  

 

The following sign freaks out one of our "so you've never met a mountian lion while hiking on a trail" friend:

different strokes...;)

 

[AMHuntFerry]

40 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Time to get SkyTrain

 

 

2 Concession (Senior)tickets came to  US$10.54

 

Curious...what was the senior discount and what is the minimum age (asking for a friend 😉 )?

Edited Sunday at 01:12 AM by AMHuntFerry
A question really needs punctuation

[Jim_Iain]

The sky train was running about every 7 minutes 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

We took the SkyTrain to the end of the line - Waterfront Station. 
 

it was a 5 minute walk to Canada Place.  
 

A pleasant guide pointed us to the ramp for luggage drop and checking. 
 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

From wheels down to our room was 1 1/2 hour.   By the time we got to check in the whisked us  to the Vista / Owners suite area and in no time we were aboard. 
 

The head butler met us and escorted us to or room.   Very efficient experience.  
 

Learned something new.  They do Virtual Safety drills now.   I thought we were going to do the actual drill with life jackets. 
 

 

[Maclet]

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Curious...what was the senior discount and what is the minimum age (asking for a friend 😉 )?

A one zone fare is $3.20 for adults and $2.15 for those over 65.  Getting the skytrain at the airport adds on an additional charge of $5.00.   (all figures in CAD)  No other station charges this extra amount.  So I'm assuming Jim's figure of $10.54 USD was for 2 tickets.  The train is an excellent way to get to the pier.

[JazzyV]

Bon Voyage!

[Jim_Iain]

The internet was doing well for the last post but this one took 20 minutes. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 03:20 AM by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

20 minutes ago, Maclet said:

A one zone fare is $3.20 for adults and $2.15 for those over 65.  Getting the skytrain at the airport adds on an additional charge of $5.00.   (all figures in CAD)  No other station charges this extra amount.  So I'm assuming Jim's figure of $10.54 USD was for 2 tickets.  The train is an excellent way to get to the pier.

Yes indeed.  2 tickets.    Great service. 

[Jim_Iain]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 03:30 AM by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Well that’s all for now.  
 

We left on time.   You can definitely feel and hear the thrusters. 
 

 

 

Beautiful sunset just before dinner. 

 

[AMHuntFerry]

51 minutes ago, Maclet said:

A one zone fare is $3.20 for adults and $2.15 for those over 65.  Getting the skytrain at the airport adds on an additional charge of $5.00.   (all figures in CAD)  No other station charges this extra amount.  So I'm assuming Jim's figure of $10.54 USD was for 2 tickets.  The train is an excellent way to get to the pier.

Thanks, we've used it to get from the airport to downtown. It hates one of our Visa cards though.

[walkingsoon]

Thanks for the thread, Jim.

 

Regarding the priority boarding procedure, does the meet and greet by a butler only apply to Vista/Owner or do Penthouse folk get them as well?

 

The Canada Line is indeed very user friendly, even for people several decades beyond their prime and hauling too much luggage. It's a very low stress experience, easier than any other large city public transport that I've been on. The fact that it's way cheaper and faster than vans, ship transfers, taxis or Ubers is a bonus. For future reference if you should ever need it, the long term parking at the first stop up from the airport (Templeton Station) is also very user friendly and, if pre-booked online, very reasonably priced.

 

I'm curious how you like the R-class ship. I loved my one trip on the Pacific Princess. I'm eyeing a Marina class sailing for this coming spring.

 

Walkingsoon (not quite 20k today, though)

[lj77346]

On the Regatta now and the WAVES menu is now the same as the one offered on the Vista.  The surf and turf now has a wagyu beef patty instead of the pieces of steak, no more teriyaki salmon.  Now there is a cod sandwich, mahi burrito, a shrimp roll and a (sort of) Philly cheese steak.  Also at lunch there was no Humphrey Slocombe ice cream, just vanilla, chocolate, Neapolitan, pistachio and rainbow sherbet.

 

We got to Canada Place at a little after 11 and there was a huge line, but it was for the Holland America ship. We asked where do we check in for the Regatta and were told to go downstairs where we went through security (there was no line), through U.S. border control where they used facial recognition so everyone moved through quickly. Then we went to the area for the Oceania check in and since they were already processing passengers, we got in line and in a minute or two were at the counter, had our pictures taken, passports checked, answered the health questions and got our key cards.  We arrived at Canada Place a few minutes after 11 and were on the ship around 11:25.

[Harters]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I got a kick out of this sign especially the fine print.  

Such a civilised country. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

23 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Best laid plans. - Glitch 1

 

We got stuck behind a major accident.  When we got to the airport the airport was mobbed.   When we went to check luggage the machine jammed.    We missed the 1 hour check in by 30 seconds so they had to book us on next flight.    Even the supervisors couldn’t override. 

Just reading this raised my blood pressure.  We just took our daughter and SIL to Ireland and Scotland in early August and the trip started with their flight out of Denver being cancelled and all of our flights JFK to Dublin cancelled.  Talk about stress.  Luckily we had no ship to catch but it was a terrible start to the long anticipated trip.  I’m sorry your trip went sideways right off the bat but hopefully that will be the one and only glitch!

 

Joanie

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Thanks, we've used it to get from the airport to downtown. It hates one of our Visa cards though.

 

Funny you should mention it.    I thought I could use Apple pay but maybe user error I couldn't find a place to tap it.   

 

Iain slipped his Visa in and it rejected it.     I then used my Chase Sapphire and worked perfect.

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

Thanks for the thread, Jim.

 

Regarding the priority boarding procedure, does the meet and greet by a butler only apply to Vista/Owner or do Penthouse folk get them as well?

 

The Canada Line is indeed very user friendly, even for people several decades beyond their prime and hauling too much luggage. It's a very low stress experience, easier than any other large city public transport that I've been on. The fact that it's way cheaper and faster than vans, ship transfers, taxis or Ubers is a bonus. For future reference if you should ever need it, the long term parking at the first stop up from the airport (Templeton Station) is also very user friendly and, if pre-booked online, very reasonably priced.

 

I'm curious how you like the R-class ship. I loved my one trip on the Pacific Princess. I'm eyeing a Marina class sailing for this coming spring.

 

Walkingsoon (not quite 20k today, though)

 

It has only been less than a day but I LOVE the ship.    The peaceful Blue and Silver pallet are both modern and relaxing.    Everything is pristine and the staff is engaging and helpful

 

I believe the butlers meet all the guests but hopefully some of the Oceania regulars can confirm     When we arrived there was no lines for any class.    Just a slow trickle of those later checking in.

 

On the way to our room there was a general announcement that all rooms were available.   We were told our room would be available immediately upon boarding at 11AM, but of course we were late.

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, lj77346 said:

On the Regatta now and the WAVES menu is now the same as the one offered on the Vista.  The surf and turf now has a wagyu beef patty instead of the pieces of steak, no more teriyaki salmon.  Now there is a cod sandwich, mahi burrito, a shrimp roll and a (sort of) Philly cheese steak.  Also at lunch there was no Humphrey Slocombe ice cream, just vanilla, chocolate, Neapolitan, pistachio and rainbow sherbet.

 

We got to Canada Place at a little after 11 and there was a huge line, but it was for the Holland America ship. We asked where do we check in for the Regatta and were told to go downstairs where we went through security (there was no line), through U.S. border control where they used facial recognition so everyone moved through quickly. Then we went to the area for the Oceania check in and since they were already processing passengers, we got in line and in a minute or two were at the counter, had our pictures taken, passports checked, answered the health questions and got our key cards.  We arrived at Canada Place a few minutes after 11 and were on the ship around 11:25.

 

Thanks for posting.   You will have to remind me your name.   I hate calling people by their monikers.  

 

Thanks for the wonderful information.  It was of course much quieter when we arrived.   Just after crossing the ramp down to the parking lot a Guide asked if we were boarding a cruise.   When we acknowledged she walked us over to the ramp and said just walk down the ramp and follow the signs.    I have to say it was really efficient.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 03:38 PM by Jim_Iain

[jonthomas]

18 hours ago, Jancruz said:

I also loved Astoria in fact almost bought a condo there as a 2nd home..

Jancruz1

Yes Astoria WAS lovely  but not now.

SF is OK from a tour bus, that takes you to select areas  for tourists to see  but no way can you enjoy it on your own as we like to do most ports.

 

We are enjoying the Regatta very much, yes it doesn't impress like the Vista   but the food is very good, clientelle is congenial, only 2 very bored small children.