Vancouver Info if needed

[woodworker&knitter]

We spent a few days in Vancouver pre and post cruise this past September. The trolley is definitely the best way to see the city. Be sure to get off and enjoy the sites. Stanley park is absolutely beautiful. There is also another free trolley that takes you to different sites within the park. Since it was raining pretty hard when we we were at the park we took the park trolley rather than walk. We also spent some time at the aquarium. We then got back on the trolley and got off at Gastown. We went to Storeyum and enjoyed it very much. There were many other stops on the trolley that we didn't have time to get to.

The next day we went to Capillano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. They are very close to each other and can be done on the same day. We had a great day.

We also took the ferry over to Granville Island which I did not enjoy as much as the other sites.

I hope this helps, we planned our stay in Vancouver from the advice of people on these boards and had a fantastic time.

Can't remember which Thread I was reading but apparently Storeyum closed in 2008.

[Putterdude]

Can't remember which Thread I was reading but apparently Storeyum closed in 2008.

 

This is correct....it is to bad.

[pizzalady1]

We are landing in Vancouver at 1 PM the day before our cruise. The hotel we are staying at is Sutton Place on Burrard St. With that location and such a limited amount of time available, what recommendations do you have for seeing at least some of Vancouver's best?

 

We have the same timing as you do. We are going to do the Vancouver Trolley--in the afternoon of the first day we will just go around the whole 2 hour tour. On day 2 we will do the hopping on, hopping off at the places we want to spend some time at. Not sure when you are going, but the Vancouver Entertainment Book is on sale for $15, including shipping and it has a $25 coupon for the trolley, but it is not good for July and August.

 

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/

Edited April 22, 2009 by pizzalady1

[stduck]

My husband and I are flying into Vancouver on July 16, late evening and departing on the Diamond Princess on July 18. Should we spend our first full day on an all day tour to Victoria and our morning free time on a Vancouver city tour before boarding ship?

[Putterdude]

My husband and I are flying into Vancouver on July 16, late evening and departing on the Diamond Princess on July 18. Should we spend our first full day on an all day tour to Victoria and our morning free time on a Vancouver city tour before boarding ship?

 

A day in Victoria is certainly and option if that is a priority for you. But it is pretty much a 4 hour trip in either direction unless you wish to go by float plane at a cost of about $225 pp rtn. On the other hand Vancouver is a much larger city and trust me you will be kept hopping for your day and a half. I often recommend that people on their first trip to Vancouver take one of our HOHO bus excursions that will show you most of the city's sights in a time efficient manner. But things like Stanley Park and Granville Island will burn up a full day and then there are things like Gastown, Chinatwon, Yaletown, a visit to BC Place Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held, GM Place where the gold medal hockey game will be played during the Olympics and I haven't yet told you about the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Sooo the decision is yours.:)

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/

http://www.bigbus.ca/

www.capbridge.com/

http://www.grousemountain.com/Summer/summer-activities/

http://city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/parks/stanley/

http://www.granvilleisland.com/en

http://www.gastown.org/

[jumpjump]

Hi hi!

 

I'll be traveling on my on & want to do some dancing - found Broadway Ballroom online. I figure I'll be catching a cab back to the hotel.. but is the neighborhood ok? It's also closest to downtown Vancouver. Do you know if this place is good? I enjoy ballroom/dancesport so it's not the usual salsa/bachata dances.. an occasional viennese waltz is fun!

 

thx :)

[Putterdude]

Hi hi!

 

I'll be traveling on my on & want to do some dancing - found Broadway Ballroom online. I figure I'll be catching a cab back to the hotel.. but is the neighborhood ok? It's also closest to downtown Vancouver. Do you know if this place is good? I enjoy ballroom/dancesport so it's not the usual salsa/bachata dances.. an occasional viennese waltz is fun!

 

thx :)

 

I am not familiar with the facility but the location is perfectly safe and you won't have any trouble getting a taxi back to your hotel.

[Urban trekker]

PD - I was down by Canada Place this noon for a little bike ride and saw the Princess ship but didn't realize that was the one that you were on although by that time you were probably already off the ship and heading for Horseshoe Bay and the ferry.

 

Trust that you had a good cruise up the coast - was it rough or did you get lucky with the weather and seas.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

Yes that was the Coral that we were on but I guess they hadn't had a chance to put up the commorative palque yet....you know the one stateing that I had sailed on her.:D The trip was smooth, did have coastal haze on Saturday and a lot of fog on Sunday. Disembarkation in Vancouver went very smoothly, they were were easily 15 mins early disembarking everyone and of course we were among the last off. We were off the ship, picked up bags, thru customs and in a cab inside of 15 mins....spent an hour at our son's home in North Van and were on the 11:20 ferry home.

There was an incident on the Coral where a pax had to be airlifted off and I did post some pictures on the Princess Board.

[TCF]

Welcome home Putter....

[trekkerlady]

I booked Ous Hotel for post-cruise through Priceline. Can anyone give me some feel for location? I have seen good reviews on TripAdvisor and have had some email conversations with them and they seem very helpful. We are looking for things to do in Vancouver - docking at 7:30 am 6/8, flying out morning of 6/9, so we have basically all day on 6/8 to sightsee. I've heard Butchart Gardens are not to be missed. Easy to get to? How much time should we budget to spend there? We'd like to go to Sun Yat Sen Restaurant in Chinatown - have heard it is excellent. Is that far from Yaletown where I understand Opus Hotel is?

 

Thanks for any assistance - especially from the Vancouverites!

[Putterdude]

I booked Ous Hotel for post-cruise through Priceline. Can anyone give me some feel for location? I have seen good reviews on TripAdvisor and have had some email conversations with them and they seem very helpful. We are looking for things to do in Vancouver - docking at 7:30 am 6/8, flying out morning of 6/9, so we have basically all day on 6/8 to sightsee. I've heard Butchart Gardens are not to be missed. Easy to get to? How much time should we budget to spend there? We'd like to go to Sun Yat Sen Restaurant in Chinatown - have heard it is excellent. Is that far from Yaletown where I understand Opus Hotel is?

 

Thanks for any assistance - especially from the Vancouverites!

 

The Opus is a modern boutique hotel which might be described as avant-garde. It is located on the edge of Yaletown and is a safe location. Butchart Gardens are in Victoria on Vancouver Island and would involve a ferry trip and some 4 hours in either direction...so not likely an option for the time you have in Vancouver. The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens are gardens located in Chinatown but do not include a restaurant...it is a fairly easy walk from the Opus. As this sounds like your first trip to Vancouver, you may want to consider taking one of the HOHO excursions as a quick and easy way to see a lot of Vancouver plus you have the option of getting off the trolley or bus at sights that interest you. I will include some links below for you convenience:

http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/

 

http://www.bigbus.ca/

[Kamloops50]

I booked Ous Hotel for post-cruise through Priceline. Can anyone give me some feel for location? I have seen good reviews on TripAdvisor and have had some email conversations with them and they seem very helpful. We are looking for things to do in Vancouver - docking at 7:30 am 6/8, flying out morning of 6/9, so we have basically all day on 6/8 to sightsee. I've heard Butchart Gardens are not to be missed. Easy to get to? How much time should we budget to spend there? We'd like to go to Sun Yat Sen Restaurant in Chinatown - have heard it is excellent. Is that far from Yaletown where I understand Opus Hotel is?

 

Thanks for any assistance - especially from the Vancouverites!

 

You can't do Butchart Gardens in the time you have. To properly see the

gardens you need at least a good day of 12 to 14 hours. The gardens are not in Vancouver but on Vancouver Island .

You might want to see Queen Elizabeth Park or the Van Dusen Gardens .

They are both easily accessed by the Vancouver Transit system.

[stduck]

DH and I are arriving in YVR July 16 late pm. We are looking at tour operators online to pick tours to do before our cruise on July 18. Any comments on Viator and the other is LandSea tours. Viator is considerable savings for the same tour. Thanks for any comments.

[Putterdude]

I honestly don't know ViaTour but can recommend Vancouver Tours (Land Sea Tours). You may also want to consider one of the HOHO tours.

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/

http://www.bigbus.ca/

[trekkerlady]

Thank you Putterdude and Doopydozer. Your input is valuable and helps us considerably. Someone else had recommended the Sun Yat Sen Gardens and a restaurant there for some great Chinese food! One week to go and we're on our way! Trekkerlady

[CBVAN]

I am arriving in Vancouver in mid June. I was looking into mid priced hotels and was given a list which included the following 3....Day's Inn on Pender St., Ramada Ltd. on Pender St., and Blue Horizon on Robson St. Could you give me any input on these hotels? What type of areas are they located in? Should I be looking at any others you could suggest?...Thanks!

[Urban trekker]

While all three hotels are in reasonably good locations - the first two are remodeled older properties located more in our financial district while the Blue Horizon which would be my pick is located in the heart of the shopping and restaurant district in the main downtown core - so unless there is a huge price difference I would take the Blue Horizon.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

I would concur 100% with Ut remarks. However you may also want to try biding for a room on Priceline.com as people, including myself have been getting 4* hotels in the $65 to $100 range. Once on Priceline you go to the biding screen and start biding for 3.5*+ in the Downtown Vancouver area at $65. All of these hotels will be in good areas.

[CBVAN]

Thank you for the info....It has really been a help!

[papadave]

I'd like feedback from anyone familiar with this relatively new attraction in the Botanical Gardens at the University of British Columbia. It sounds pretty good, but at $20 per adult for a one hour tour it also seems to stretch our budget.

[Urban trekker]

My cycling friend Bulletproof Courier has a short video on this attraction on his blog - here's a direct link to the story:

 

http://bulletproofcourier.blogspot.com/2009/04/greenheart-canopy-walkway-helmet-cam_25.html

 

PS - he is away right now so if you email him for any other info he might not reply right away.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

Pappadave, if the UBC gardens don't work for you may I suggest the Vandusen gardens and the Dr. Yen Sat Yu gardens.

 

http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/vandusen/website/

 

http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/

[msapoch]

Can someone tell me if you can rent an electric wheelchair or scooter at the entrance to Butchart Gardens?

 

Thanks

 

Madeleine

[cdkempton]

Madeleine:

 

http://www.butchartgardens.com/planning-your-visit/visitor-services/vis

Check this out. Scan down to Wheelchairs for the info you are looking for. Good Luck!

Edited June 13, 2009 by cdkempton
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