Vancouver Info if needed

[Putterdude]

I checked with them and they will drop off at the airport, but....we need to be there by 2pm and they will not guarantee this, so I am still looking for a tour with drop off.

Thanks, Laenie

 

Sorry, I don't have another idea...someone else may have...or you may be stuck with a ship's tour.

[Putterdude]

Thanks for your tips. We LOVE seafood, so that is probably what we would be after.

 

Joe Fortes has been a touch stone in Vancouver dining for more than 25 years...about 7 to 8 blocks from your hotel. http://www.joefortes.ca/

 

Cardero' which a pleasant walk along the sea wall from your hotel would be another good choice...also has some great yacht harbour views. http://www.vancouverdine.com/carderos

[nymaineac]

My mom and I are looking to come back to Vancouver (before and after an Alaskan cruise) - most likely the third week of June (but could be the 10th - still not sure) Can anyone suggest a hotel near the airport for the first night and then one downtown for 1-2 post-cruise nights? It would need to be in a safe location and not outrageously priced. Thanks!

[Putterdude]

My mom and I are looking to come back to Vancouver (before and after an Alaskan cruise) - most likely the third week of June (but could be the 10th - still not sure) Can anyone suggest a hotel near the airport for the first night and then one downtown for 1-2 post-cruise nights? It would need to be in a safe location and not outrageously priced. Thanks!

 

 

There are any number of moderately priced hotels out around the airport most of which will have free shuttles to and from the airport. A partial list would include 2 Holiday Inn Express, Delta, Coast, Ramada and Sheraton.

Downtown hotels tend to be more expensive but some of the more moderate ones include, the Blue Horizon, Best Western-Downtown, the Sandman and the Holiday Inn on Howe St. You could also watch Priceline and Hotwire, Hotwire has has some excellent deals lately.

[nlc42904]

Hey Shoppie!

My cruise ship sails into Vancouver on a Sunday at 8am, and my flight doesn't leave until 6pm. I would love to explore the city, but having trouble choosing what exactly to do. It is my first time in Canada and my family will be flying back much earlier, and I am a female in my early 20s, so I'm looking for safe excursions and an easy commute. I am thinking of doing the Big Pink Bus HOHO tour, but the trolley run by the same company in Chicago was awful. Do you know anything about this company? What are the "must see" things in Vancouver that I can knock off the list in the short time I am there? I would really like to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but I'm having trouble finding out how long it will take to get there and if I'll have time to do anything else if I go there. Any info you can give me would be great! Thanks so much!

[Putterdude]

Hey Shoppie!

My cruise ship sails into Vancouver on a Sunday at 8am, and my flight doesn't leave until 6pm. I would love to explore the city, but having trouble choosing what exactly to do. It is my first time in Canada and my family will be flying back much earlier, and I am a female in my early 20s, so I'm looking for safe excursions and an easy commute. I am thinking of doing the Big Pink Bus HOHO tour, but the trolley run by the same company in Chicago was awful. Do you know anything about this company? What are the "must see" things in Vancouver that I can knock off the list in the short time I am there? I would really like to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but I'm having trouble finding out how long it will take to get there and if I'll have time to do anything else if I go there. Any info you can give me would be great! Thanks so much!

 

Working backwards...you will likely be off your ship and thru customs between 8:30 & 9:00, if you are flying directly back to the US you will need to be at YVR 2 hours before flight time and YVR is a full 35 mins from downtown Vancouver which ever way you decide to go out there, cab or Canada Line. So you have roughly 6 hours to see the city.

If you want to see a lot of the city in that time then IMO there is nothing better than a HOHO and again IMO the Vancouver Trolley Company is the best product if only for its live narration.

If it's the Capilano Suspension Bridge you want to go see then that is going to chew up about 4 hrs if you allow 2.5 hrs there and 35 to 40 minutes of travel in either direction. With getting there you have a couple of options, take the SeaBus from Waterfront Station over to Lonsdale Quay and then transfer to a #236 bus and reverse the process to return or you can take the CSB free shuttle that departs from in front of Canada Place.

Now you still have the matter of luggage storage....there is a luggage checking service at Canada Place called Priority Baggage Service or you can take your luggage to one of the nearby hotels and tip the bell desk to hold your luggage for you.

Vancouver is about 99.9% safe so you wont have any worries there.

Things that you can easily walk to from Canada Place include historic Gastown and a ride up the Vancouver Lookout. A walk to Stanley Park along the Seawall from Canada Place is also a good investment of time, however at 1,000 acres you won't have time to see a lot.

If you want to take an actual excursion Land/Sea Tours has some excellent tours that will pick you and your luggage up at Canada Place, do the tour you choose and deliver you out to YVR.

[vbmom87]

Putterdude or others: Do you know if the cruiselines/airlines offer luggage direct service in Vancouver? If they did, this could save nlc42904 time when checking in the airport and they would not have to deal with what to do with their luggage. It is a wonderful service where it is offered. My sisters used it out of Anchorage and it was great!! They toured Anchorage for the day and didn't see their luggage until they got to their home airport. The service also includes your boarding pass.

[scottbee]

Putterdude or others: Do you know if the cruiselines/airlines offer luggage direct service in Vancouver? If they did, this could save nlc42904 time when checking in the airport and they would not have to deal with what to do with their luggage. It is a wonderful service where it is offered. My sisters used it out of Anchorage and it was great!! They toured Anchorage for the day and didn't see their luggage until they got to their home airport. The service also includes your boarding pass.

 

I doubt it. This is because most cruise passengers from Vancouver are heading to the USA, and as USA departures require you to check in with your bags as you pre-clear US Immigration & Customs at the airport.

[Putterdude]

Putterdude or others: Do you know if the cruiselines/airlines offer luggage direct service in Vancouver? If they did, this could save nlc42904 time when checking in the airport and they would not have to deal with what to do with their luggage. It is a wonderful service where it is offered. My sisters used it out of Anchorage and it was great!! They toured Anchorage for the day and didn't see their luggage until they got to their home airport. The service also includes your boarding pass.

 

Princess used to offer such a service up until last year but they have evidently ceased doing so and that is where my knowledge ends on the topic.

[martincath]

Priority Baggage at Canada Place will send your bags to the airport for collection there - depending on what you do, not having to return to where you started to pick up bags may save significant time...

 

NB: their website is notoriously slow at updating each cruise season, and right now is showing no Services info at all - they may be in the middle of (very inefficiently!) updating. If you're cruising really soon, call them to check on current pricing.

[Putterdude]

The difference between luggage "EZ Check" programs (called different names by different cruise lines) and Priority's transfer is that with the cruise lines program the luggage goes directly from the ship to a person's flight and in the case of Princess could be used for a flight, including those to the US, departing after 10:20 am. Unless there is a change this year Priority Luggage does not transfer the luggage until after they close their Canada Place location at 4:00 pm and this will not support a flight until after 6:00 pm as you must collect your luggage at their YVR location and then proceed to check it with the airline.

[martincath]

I'm familiar with the 'EZ-check' type service PD; I was offering a potential alternative since nobody has been able to confirm any cruise companies actually offer an 'EZ-check' service in Van. Double-checking an archived version of their website, Priority Baggage do indeed state that bags are available 'no earlier than 4:00pm' - I thought they were available *at* 4pm, which would have been adequate for a 6:00pm flight, so thanks for that useful tidbit of info.

 

Although if cruise companies are no longer offering their own direct-to-the-plane service, it would seem there's a gap in the market. Perhaps PB will step up and start doing at least one transfer earlier in the day so folks with afternoon flights can make use of their services...?

[Putterdude]

The post wasn't directed at you I was only pointing out the differences to the OP.

You might think there would a market for this type of service as most people will have likely checked their luggage by 10 am. However PB still does not offer an airline luggage check in like the "EZ Check" did and to do so maybe a problem from a CATSA and TSA perspective; i.e. the luggage could/would be checked in with no corresponding pax check in.

[martincath]

No offence taken - it's valid info, a lot of folks might not have known the difference, just wanted to clarify my mistake was in the specifics of delivery time rather than the generalities of the service:p

[nlc42904]

Thank you guys for all of the advice!

[BCHappyGal]

We are arriving in Vancouver on a Tuesday afternoon and heading to the cruise terminal around noon on a Wednesday in August. Staying at Fairmont Waterfront. Need suggestion on what to see and where to eat in this short time frame. Have never been here. Also, best way to get to hotel from airport. I really appreciate your suggestions!

 

There is so much to see and do in Vancouver and you have very little time. However I will post my list of FUN activities and you can pick... I do suggest that IMO you should try for Stanley Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain if it is a nice day ohterwise substitute GAsTown and China Town for Grouse Mountain.

 

Info on Vancouver from a local!

 

My favorite must do attractions are

 

1) Grouse Mountain – http://www.grousemountain.com – this is a wonderful scenic mountain only about 15 mins from downtown Vancouver. Ride the airtram to the top for lots of fun activities that include a loggers show, birds of prey show, 2 movies (1 about the Vancouver area and 1 about the 2 Grizzly Bears who make their home on Grouse Mtn) ride a chair lift higher up the mountain to visit the wind turbine that generates approximately 30% of the power required for Grouse Mountain Resort and visit with 2 live Grizzly Bears. Thrill to a 2 hour Zip Line Tour. Enjoy a meal in any of the restaurants. Caveat only spend the money to go up on a clear day.

2) Capilano Suspension Bridge – http://www.capbridge.com – this is Vancouver’s oldest tourist attraction and I still enjoy visiting it! Located on Capilano Road just before you reach the Grouse Mountain parking lot. Walk across a suspension Bridge over the Capilano Gorge, wonder the trails thru the rain forest, walk thru the treetops on the new Tree Top Adventure, traverse a Cliff Top walk, visit the trading post for a huge selection of souvenirs, watch native weavers and/or carvers at work.

3) Capilano Fish Hatchery is also located on Capilano Road and is a great place to view salmon jumping up the fish ladders to get around the Cleveland Dam. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capilano_River_Regional_Park

4) Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge – http://www.lynncanyon.ca - is also located in North Vancouver and is much less touristy than Capilano but it also is not as spectacular. The bridge is slightly higher above the water but much shorter in span. Located in a Provincial Park this bridge comes with some nice hiking trails and you will find an ecology centre in the park as well as picnic tables and a food concession outlet. Should you choose to enjoy the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge always cross the suspension bridge first and then hike down the trail to the lower (Twin Falls wooden) bridge to cross back over the Lynn Valley River and return to your car – that way you are hiking downhill rather than uphill. It is also free to visit this suspension bridge!

5) Stanley Park – http://www.vancouver.ca/parks/parks/stanley/ - is the crown jewel of Vancouver's parks. As one of North America's largest urban parks, covering over a 1000 acres and offering an abundance of activities. Enjoy the totem pole collection near the Brockton Point Light House, hiking trails, beaches, water parks for the kids (young & old), rose gardens, miniature train, petting zoo, aquarium –http://www.vanaqua.org – many view points, and several restaurants.

6) Vancouver Aquarium – http://www.vanaqua.org – is Canada’s largest aquarium and is committed to the conservation of marine life and education. Located in Stanley Park this is a fun place for the family to visit.

7) Gas Town – the location where Vancouver originated. The name is derived from a very colorful character named Gassy Jack who was one of the first settlers in the area and a salon keeper – while in Gas Town don’t miss your photo op with the statue of Gassy Jack and by the Steam Clock.

8) At the start of Gas Town is the Harbor Centre Tower http://www.vancouverlookout.com a great spot to start your tour of Vancouver with a birds eye view of the city. Either take the elevator up to the lookout level or go to the top and enjoy a meal in the revolving restaurant.

9) China Town is only about 6 blocks over from Gas Town and is the largest China Town north of San Francisco. While in China Town enjoy a visit to the Dr Sun Yat Sen Classical Gardens http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com and also make sure you visit the world’s thinnest building it is only 6’ wide!

10) Granville Island – http://www.granvilleisland.com – is a huge public market area which not only sells fruit & veggies but you can also buy frozen fish to be shipped to your home. Many artists make this their home and you can watch them at work in their studios – making this a great place to buy unique souvenirs. The Granville Island Brewery is also located here and you can stop in for a free tour & tastes. There are theatres for live performances and many fine restaurants. A fun way to get to Granville Island is via the Aquabus – http://www.theaquabus.com

11) Burnaby Village Museum – http://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca – is an open air museum with over 30 restored homes, shops, school, church and a 1912 carousel situated on 10 acres

12) Gulf of Georgia Cannery – http://www.gulfofgeorgiacannery.com – is a restored fishing cannery located in the historic fishing village of Steveston (part of Richmond). Here you see exhibits that showcase the history of the fishing industry in British Columbia. Once finished in the museum it is great fun to walk along the fishing docks and see the fishing boats which are selling their catch. There are also some excellent restaurants located here.

13) The Vancouver Maritime Museum located on the shore of English Bay is fun for the whole family with lots of hands on exhibits for the kid in all of us. Here to you will find the ship St Roch which the RCMP sailed from Vancouver to Halifax via the Northwest Passage and then completed the return journey in 1944. You actually get to tour this ship. http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com

14) Queen Elizabeth Park http://www.vancouver.ca/parks/parks/queenelizabeth The 130 acre (52 hectare) park is one of the most beautifully maintained public parks in the world. Second only to Stanley Park in annual visitations, it receives nearly 6 million people a year who marvel at its superior standard of garden plantings.

The park was originally quarried for its rock which served to build Vancouver's first roadways. In 1929 the Board proceeded to acquire the property which had become an abandoned eyesore but still served as the site for two holding reservoirs for the City's drinking water. Dedicated as a park by King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth (the present Queen's mother) on their much lauded visit to Vancouver in 1939.

15) Fort Langley is the restored wooden fort built by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a trading post. It is the origin of British Columbia and was the first capital. This Fort is operated by the Federal Parks Board. http://www.fortlangley.org

16) If you are a wine lover you might want to rent a car and spend a day visiting a few of the many excellent wineries located in the Fraser Valley only about a 1 hour drive from your hotel. Almost all of the wineries offer free tastes & tours. Two of the wineries have excellent restaurants on the premises. This makes for a very fun and relaxing day. Check out the Fraser Valley Wine Association web site for a map of winery locations and a brief description of each winery http://www.fvwa.ca

17) If you are a real animal lover than don’t miss “Mountain View Conservation & Breeding Centre” It is located in Fort Langley about an hour drive from downtown Vancouver. Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre is a leading non-profit Canadian facility that breeds endangered species in family groups for re-introduction back into their natural habitat in Canada and around the world. This facility is not a zoo their goal is to breed rare and endangered wildlife and re-introduce these animals back into their natural habitats. Presently Mountainview hosts over 50 species of the world’s most threatened animals and birds. See animals such as the spotted dog from Africa, Giraffes, and much much more. Here you do not wonder around as in a zoo rather you are given a guided tour with commentary on each animal group. Check it out at http://www.mtnviewconservation.org

18) VanDusen Botanical Garden is a scenic 55- acre garden of international renown – a living museum of plants collected from around the world and artistically displayed amidst rolling lawns, woodlands and five tranquil lakes, all in the heart of Vancouver and just 15 minutes from downtown.

Due to Vancouver’s mild climate, plants bloom at the Garden year-round. This same climate creates a unique environment where plants from varying climate regions thrive and grow – at VanDusen you will see plants from the southern hemisphere, tropical areas and the high Arctic tundra along side native species. The Elizabethan Maze (one of only six in North America) provides year-round fun.

19) UBC Botanical Garden located at the University of British Columbia covers 110 acres and includes an Alpine, Asian, Native, Food, and Japanese Gardens. http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org

20) Dazzle your senses when you visit Minter Gardens nestled against 7000 foot Mt. Cheam in beautiful 'Super Natural' British Columbia. One of the most spectacular show gardens in the world! Eleven themed gardens are designed to dazzle the senses with massive displays of artistic floral designs.

Minter Gardens is located 90 minutes east of downtown Vancouver just off the Trans-Canada Hwy. #1 at exit #135. http://www.mintergardens.com

21) Enjoy a FREE walking tour of Vancouver. The Gastown tour starts in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and ends at the Steam Clock in Gastown. The Downtown tour starts at the Vancouver Art Gallery and ends at the Olympic Cauldron. There is also a China Town tour and a Granville Island Tour. Check these tours out at http://www.tourguys.ca

 

 

Vancouver has a bunch of hop-on hop-off buses

 

http://www.vancouverpinkbustours.com/

 

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/tours/hop-on-hop-off

 

http://bigbus.ca/home/

[jnc411]

Sorry I did not read all the posts on this thread, there are a lot of them :). We just booked the Delta Vancouver Suites for 3 days between cruises. We booked on Hotwire and the Delta is what we got. I put in Downtown location, hoping that it would have a good location for exploring and close to Canada Place Cruise terminal, I checked the comments on trip advisor and they gave good reviews. Just wondering where from the hotel do we go to get the HoHo trolley ? and is there a convenience store near if we need to replenish some things for the second cruise ? Also from the trip advisor comments the inhouse restaurants are a bit pricey, is there more moderatly price eating near there.

Sorry for all the questions , do appreciate any input , we have not been to Vancouver before. Thanks for your help.

Cori

[Putterdude]

Good win on Hotwire....I used to have colleagues stay there when in town (and when I used to work) I have been in some of the rooms and I am sure that you will like it. Vancouver Trolley has a flag stop at Waterfront Station a block away or you can walk over to Canada Place and start the loops there. There is a 7-11 a block away on Seymour St. There is food court in Harbour Centre across the street from the hotel, a Tim Horton's a block up Seymour St. Little better dining is at the Rogue Kitchen and Wet Bar in Waterfront Station, Steamworks, Water Street Café in Gastown and also in gastown the Old Spaghetti Factory.

[gardener718]

Hi:

 

Just a bit of info from me and a lot to check out from here (thanks so much for sharing). lol I don't know anything more about it, accept the brief description.

 

Princess is offering a $69 Pink Bus on /off Tour which includes sending 2 suitcases to the airport when you get off the cruise (I assume they will have to be claimed before checking into your flight. with a train ticket (I need info about that) to the airport. My flight does not leave till 11 p.m., long day, but this seems perfect and hopefully I can see Vancouver as a tour and then get off to shop, sightsee, visit and see the sunset. I do need to find out their schedule, both for the bus & the train, and probably the luggage, so I can make sure I can make all the connections and not miss where I need to be when I need to be there. lol

 

Any info or suggestions about this or anything else would be wonderful.

 

Thanks!

 

Marianne

 

Just realized I will be in Vancouver 3 times, start, middle and end.

 

Diamond Princess 7/6/13-1/20/13 in Vancouver on the 6th, 13th & 20th lol obviously the longest on the 20th.

[martincath]

...We just booked the Delta Vancouver Suites for 3 days between cruises... Also from the trip advisor comments the inhouse restaurants are a bit pricey, is there more moderatly price eating near there...

I'd take the tripadvisor priciness comments with a pinch of salt - from the prices on the online menus for the Delta, they're certainly not expensive for downtown. PD may have missed the price angle in his reply, as you're not going to save money by dining in Rogue/Steamworks or Water St Cafe (unless you're comparing to room service pricing) - although Old Spaghetti Factory is indeed ridiculously cheap (3 course spaghetti dinner for $10!)

 

Malone's at Pender & Seymour (walk around your hotel's block to opposite corner) is pretty cheap, and quite tasty - excellent local beer selection these days and completely renovated from it's previous dive bar incarnation. The Railway Club at Dunsmuir & Seymour, 2 blocks away, is excellent value for pub grub downtown, though it's far from fancy and has very limited hours for meal service. You'll pay less in either of these than at the Delta.

 

Further up Seymour at W Georgia (3 blocks) there are three cheap & cheerful little places offering Sushi, Thai food and Pizza respectively (can't recall the name of the sushi joint for the life of me, but it's GoGo Thai, and Megabites Pizza). I've eaten in GoGo and it was OK food for *really* low prices - personally I'd rather pay more for better, but everything was hot, fresh & reasonably tasty with full dinners (soup, salad, rice, entree) starting at less than $10. The sushi & pizza places fit the same sort of price-point - far from the best in town, but almost mall food-court level pricing.

[martincath]

Princess is offering a $69 Pink Bus on /off Tour which includes sending 2 suitcases to the airport when you get off the cruise (I assume they will have to be claimed before checking into your flight. with a train ticket (I need info about that) to the airport. My flight does not leave till 11 p.m., long day, but this seems perfect and hopefully I can see Vancouver as a tour and then get off to shop, sightsee, visit and see the sunset. I do need to find out their schedule, both for the bus & the train, and probably the luggage, so I can make sure I can make all the connections and not miss where I need to be when I need to be there. lol.

Interesting package, seems dubious value though - 'train to airport' means only one thing, our 'subway' known locally as the Skytrain - full adult fare at peak time is $4, later in the evenings it's $2.75. 1 day HoHo pass is < $40 with all of the companies (again, adult rate - seniors pay less). Sending bags to airport (last years pricing, may be a little higher for 2013) with Priority Baggage at the pier is $40 fixed rate for 1-4 bags.

 

So if you're travelling solo, the Princess deal would save $. Two of you though, with 2 bags each... do it yourself and then you can choose which HoHo rather than being stuck with the included one (i.e. check Tripadvisor to see which one sounds best to you, they all go basically the same places).

[Putterdude]

PD may have missed the price angle in his reply, as you're not going to save money by dining in Rogue/Steamworks or Water St Cafe (unless you're comparing to room service pricing) - although Old Spaghetti Factory is indeed ridiculously cheap (3 course spaghetti dinner for $10!)

.

 

 

Didn't miss a thing, first off the Delta's restaurant is not open for dinner...you can get some finger/sharing dishes in the lounge though. I personally consider consider their breakfast offerings in the $12 to $17 range expensive that why I suggested Tim's and the food court. I don't consider the dinner entrée prices at the Water Street Café starting at $16.50 and lots of entrées in the mid-$20 range expensive. Steamworks has many entrées in the $12 to $14 range (much like Malone's) and the Rogue's entrées start at $13 and topping out at $25.

[Putterdude]

Hi:

 

Just a bit of info from me and a lot to check out from here (thanks so much for sharing). lol I don't know anything more about it, accept the brief description.

 

Princess is offering a $69 Pink Bus on /off Tour which includes sending 2 suitcases to the airport when you get off the cruise (I assume they will have to be claimed before checking into your flight. with a train ticket (I need info about that) to the airport. My flight does not leave till 11 p.m., long day, but this seems perfect and hopefully I can see Vancouver as a tour and then get off to shop, sightsee, visit and see the sunset. I do need to find out their schedule, both for the bus & the train, and probably the luggage, so I can make sure I can make all the connections and not miss where I need to be when I need to be there. lol

 

Any info or suggestions about this or anything else would be wonderful.

 

Thanks!

 

Marianne

 

Just realized I will be in Vancouver 3 times, start, middle and end.

 

Diamond Princess 7/6/13-1/20/13 in Vancouver on the 6th, 13th & 20th lol obviously the longest on the 20th.

 

I have looked up the tour on the Princess website. The tour will begin and end at Canada Place, the cruise terminal, with the last stop there being 6:46 pm. It is Hop On/Hop Off type of excursion which will allow you to get off and on at various stops that interest you. Here is a link to the tour bus company http://www.vancouverpinkbustours.com/

 

The transfer out to the airport is the Canada Line (a subway) which departs every 12 minutes in the evening from Waterfront station which is the low-rise, red brick building that you will see to the left as you leave Canada Place....it's about a 3 block walk and the ride out takes 24 minutes. There are 2 trains that leave from that platform, you want to be sure you catch the one that reads "YVR/Airport".

Incidentally you appear to be on a 14 day back to back cruise. Your cruise begins and ends in Vancouver, the middle of your cruise will be a day spent in Whittier, Alaska. While off topic there really is not a whole lot to see in Whitier and you may care to look at excursions to Anchorage and back.

[jnc411]

Putterdude and martincath: Thanks so much for all the great information , I am takeing notes and makeing lists, it will make it so much easier for us to find our way around with all the information you gave us. I did not see the online menu on the web site, but will check it out , I was just going by what I saw on TripAdvisor, the person that wrote the review had stayed there many times.

It is good to hear that the hotel is at a good location and that it is a nice place, we bid on a 4 star hoping for a good result, I know that can go either way.

I did go on google last night and brought up a map for dining locations etc. and the map was so full of dots that it was impossible to see what I was looking for, but both of your comments make it more clear and very helpful. Thanks so much.

And putterdude I think you were on the other thread I posted "couldn't book" and tried to help me out there also , as you can see we went with plan B and reorganized , so it is working out ok.

Cori

[Putterdude]

Always happy to learn that things have worked out for someone. Hope you have a great visit to our city and a wonderful cruise. Don't forget to wave to me as you sail by my home, I am about an hour after you sail under the Lions Gate bridge on the starboard side.