3 days pre-cruise in Vancouver - journal of our visit

[crusingici]

Hi all,

Not sure this will be helpful to anyone but I thought I would post what we did in Vancouver for our first visit before our cruise. I posted my journal of the cruise in the HAL section as we cruised on the Volendam.

 

We LOVED Vancouver!! I will post each day separately to stay within the guidelines of # of acceptable characters. If anyone is interested in receiving the link to my photos on kodak gallery you will need to write out an email address as Kodak is an "invitation only" area -but I can send the link for you to view without having to join (eventhough it is a free site). You can also order photos from that site if you need any for your own album.

 

_____

May 6-10, 2006 – Pre-cruise visit in Vancouver

 

Actually, I should state the dates as May 7-10 as we missed (due to circumstances beyond our control – weather and smoke in the Houston Traffic Control center…..) our 10:00 am flight non-stop Houston to Vancouver and had to spend 9 hours in the airport……. So that put us arriving Vancouver about 2:30 am which is 4:30 am “home time” – went straight to bed (had been up 23 hours) as soon as we hit the door of our hotel room! We knew we could sleep late Sunday am as it was the Vancouver Marathon and streets would be blocked off all morning.

 

We spent 4 wonderful nights in Vancouver and I do believe we walked every square mile of that beautiful city! We stayed at “Rosedale on Robson” (corner of Robson and Hamilton) as it is part of a time share we own. It was very nice – a condo with kitchen, den, and bedroom. It was across the street from the City Library (just to give you a point of reference). We love to walk and hike so we had no problem with the location. It is close to one of the trolley stops if you choose that route of transportation, as well as about 2 blocks from a stop on the Sky Train; many city buses were seen coming and going in the vicinity. It was one block from an Internet Café, which was helpful since we did not take a laptop. The hotel had a very nice restaurant attached, Rosie’s.

 

Sunday am:

 

We slept till 7:00 am (about 3½ hours) – too wired to sleep late. The Vancouver marathon was this am – my husband was interested in this as he used to run marathons, having traded those in to now do triathlons. In the 50s with light rain – we bundled up and went out to explore. Found a wonderful café open for breakfast….. Bellagio. Delicious – and a “frenchy” atmosphere – really cute. IT ws on Homer St. The fresh squeezed orange juice was probably the most delicious I’d ever had…..tasted fresher than fresh! We strolled around after breakfast – finally bought tickets to the “hop on hop off” trolley. They told us the tickets would be valid for 3 days because of the marathon today – a good deal! Well, we found out a day or so later that we had bought “Big Bus” and I had read about and wanted “The Vancouver Trolley Company” – I did not know there were TWO trolley companies. We stayed on the trolley for the city tour to get the lay of the land……….but because of the marathon it did not run its full route so we got off at Canada Place. The Rydam was docked! I was so excited to see my first HAL cruise ship! And just think in 3 days we would be boarding the Volendam! There were also two NCL ships there – the Sun and I forgot the other one. They looked much larger than the Rydam. We walked all over the area – drizzled a bit – walked back to our hotel and took a much needed nap.

 

We walked back to Canada Place and visited the Visitor’s Information Center. The sun had come out so we struck out to walk the Sea Wall to Stanley Park. It was a beautiful walk. We stopped for a drink at an outdoor café – watched the sea planes taking off and landing – took many photos of the beautiful area. ( I ended up with 218 photos of Vancouver during our 2½ days) After we entered Stanley Park we decided to walk back to the hotel down Robson Street. We will save touring the park for another day. Robson was very crowded and we were surprised at the steep hills – reminded us a bit of a mix of NYC and San Francisco! The shopping reminded us of Canal Street in New Orleans. We saw SO many Starbuck’s! Sometimes there would be one across the street from each other – so you did not have to cross the street to get to one! Vancouverites must love coffee!! We saw several other local brand coffee houses mixed in along the blocks as well. We decided to walk back to Canada Place to watch the Rydam leave at 5:00 – we took photos and watched as it backed out and around the Norwegian Sun and then went under the Lion’s Gate Bridge about 5:30. As we walked back to our hotel we watched out for a “White Spot” – I had read reviews and wanted to eat at one – found one on the corner of Georgia and Granville so we ate supper there – yes, their burgers are VERY good! Of course we’d not had much lunch – a piece of pizza each to tied us over. I loved the coleslaw and “fresh” fries with potato skins left on. My DH is a chocolate malt connoisseur … so ordered one of the “triple shake” to go – and approved of it – said they know how to make a malt!

 

We had walked about 5-6 miles today, up and down hills, so were tired as our lack of sleep was catching up with us – went back to our hotel and soon went to bed.

 

We enjoyed our condo/hotel very much – it was very spacious for 4 nights. We were surprised we could open the window – don’t find that in the “lower 48”….well, not in the south where we live – especially on the 8th floor without a screen! It was nice to let fresh air into the room.

[crusingici]

Monday:

 

We got up refreshed and headed out to find breakfast at 6:30am – LOL! We found out this is a sleepy city – not much happening before 10:00am!!! We had read about the Elbow Room café so walked there to find out it opens at 8:00 – we did not really want to hang around another hour. Hardly any traffic or anyone else out at this hour of the morning. We headed over to Canada Place AGAIN and found the food court was open – we at a locally owned Greek restaurant – he cooked our omelets fresh as ordered and they were delicious. When we found out we were heading to Grouse Mt he gave each of us a bottle of cold water to take “on the house”. I walked around inside the Pan Pacific Hotel – beautiful. We walked down to the Waterfront Center to buy our Seabus tickets. We found the “day pass” to be a better bargain so purchased those – then discovered we had little more than 2 minutes to catch the Sea bus – or wait another 15 minutes or so – so we scurried down thru the building to the gate and made it with a few seconds to spare….nice large ferry with plenty of room and plenty of windows to enjoy the view. Once at shore in North Vancouver we saw the bus terminal to catch the bus to Grouse Mountain – we had gotten info on this from the Visitor Center the day before. It is very organized. We did not have to wait long till our bus pulled up – and we used our “day pass” to ride it coming and going. It took about 20 minutes to reach Grouse Mt and we noticed we passed the Capilano Bridge on the way up so thought we might stop there on the way back. We enjoyed the tram ride up Grouse Mt – it offered breath taking views of Vancouver and the surrounding area. It had snowed the day before so there was abundant snow everywhere – the snow plow was out making pathways. We could not walk any of the trails – we watched one film on the history of Grouse Mt that was interesting….but DH did not want to sit thru the second film. I looked around the gift shop and we decided to leave. We caught the bus and got off at Capilano Bridge. This was one of our favorite things to do in Vancouver as we really enjoy walking in nature – the bridge was not scary to us (even though I am frightened of heights this did not scare me in the least – but we’ve been on other swinging bridges elsewhere and were aware of the sensation). We loved the hiking trails and the wooden bridges and walkways that were built in the trees in the rainforest – beautiful and lots of fun to walk – we spent quite a while here. I bought a few trinkets in the gift shop and then we decided to try the restaurant across the street….. Bridge House. The tulips outside were beautiful. It looked like a Swiss chalet – very small inside – only about 9 tables – we were seated immediately – the food was very good – different but very tasty. I had a quiche and DH had an open faced salmon sandwich. We were beginning to feel tired so waited for the bus to take us back to the ferry – the ferry back to Vancouver and then decided to use our Day Pass on the Sky Train – it dropped us 2-3 blocks (uphill!) from our hotel. Once back to our room we crashed about 3:15.

I woke up at 5:00 from such a dead sleep that I honestly did not know if it was 5:00 that evening or 5:00 the next morning! My DH thought I was kidding!!! I had 11,000 steps on my pedometer – I deserved to be dead tired! J We were not very hungry so just walked the one block to the Internet café for me to catch up with family and friends and ordered a few pieces of the delicious pizza we’d had yesterday. Went back to the room and watched the last half of “American Idol” (I was surprised there were so many American channels on Vancouver TV!) and crashed early to bed.

[crusingici]

Tuesday

We woke up early, as usual…..slept much better last night – think we are finally getting caught up from the jet lag and all the walking…………good because today we plan to tackle Stanley Park – we decided against renting bikes and will just walk it as there is something about construction near the Lion’s Gate Bridge – not sure about the alternate bike trails. DH went down to the pool for free muffins and returned to the room with them for us to eat with our fresh “Starbuck’s “ coffee I had made. We dressed and decided to once again head over to the Elbow Room to eat breakfast….. for 9am. They were open and we were seated immediately. Cute place. The write up on the internet says the waitresses are “rude” to the clientele – they are supposed to be rude – that is the atmosphere……and we wanted to see what it was all about. Our waitress was really cute and she TRIED to be rude – but with a smile. It was funny to watch her. I asked for water and she flipped her hand over to point to the water cooler and glasses. I got up and got my own! We had heard her tell the next table of business men that she brings them their first cup of coffee, after that they could get up and get their own. It was all in good fun and we enjoyed it. The food was good – very tasty and filling….. portions too large but that is ok – we can leave food on our plate! Since we were near Granville Island we decided to go there next to keep from back tracking……so, yes, we walked to the Aquabus dock (our waitress actually gave us the correct directions and was NOT rude!). I had read about these cute little electric ferries and really wanted to ride one – they hold only about 20 folks (FYI, the day pass does not work on these – but of course this was the next day for us)….and were so cute. We walked the entire island in about 10 minutes – not much to it. I bought a nice pair of hiking boots for ½ price as I desperately needed a new pair before our cruise excursions…..so I wore them the rest of the morning to try to begin to break them in – I had plenty of band aids with me – which I did need to use later on. I did enjoy the Public Market and seeing all the beautiful fresh fruits and meats, etc. Many booths of unusual items. We spent some time at the booth of a local bee keeper. She had all kinds of cute things made from bees wax and naturally flavored honey – we bought lightweight small souvenirs that could be easily packed. I also spent quite a while in the Kids Mart stores – as long as DH would let me! Cute kids toys. We took the Aqua Bus back and walked back to our hotel to drop off our packages and my new shoes – I decided not to try them out in Stanley Park.

 

We decided to take a nap – we NEVER nap at home – is it the Canadian air??? I think it is all this extra mileage we are putting on our feet! After we woke up about 2:00 we decided to take the trolley – well, once we arrived to Canada Place they told us we had to get off and wait 20 minutes for the next one to take us on to Stanley Park!! We could be there in 20 minutes if we walked – so off we went down the Sea wall again!

 

Temperature being in the low 50s plus the wind chill factor, we decided not to rent bikes but to walk it – and also we were told there would be a detour just before Lion’s Gate Bridge due to construction – the detour did not appear too conducive to biking. The map said it was 5 km to Prospect Point so at 2:40 we are striking out around the park along the Sea wall. When we greet the orange blockade due to construction, we head “into the woods” where we had seen others go before us……well, somehow we miss whatever trail they must have taken and we end up not on the Sea wall but on the “Avison trail” in the woods – it is really a beautiful area ….and the trail is a nice small-rock type of service – and then, we realize it is almost straight up and a “switch back” sort of design – now had we been on a bike I would have had to have turned back as it was all I could do to push my own body up that trail – in a few moments I have to admit I was really complaining about significant “rear burning” going on! My athletic DH was laughing at me – but it was no picnic for him either!!! Had we been going DOWNhill it would have been a breeze………funny thing is, when we checked our map this was the very trail we had agreed NOT to take as it was very curvy on the map and we saw others that would be straighter – but oh, well……. We finally arrived at Prospect Point and I saw a café with food and beverage – I was sweating – and needed to sit! I was laughing at the same time – we decided it would make for great laughs and memories later on! This was only the beginning of a lot of backtracking we would be doing in Vancouver …… not such a bad deal to be burning those cruising calories in advance!

After sharing a salmon sandwich (it was one of the most delicious things I would eat during the entire 11 days we would be gone – probably having something to do with how hard I’d worked to get there!) and drink we struck out to walk to the “point”. A man was playing beautiful classical violin music for tips and it was perfect for the gorgeous serene setting – views were breath taking and yes, worth every step and huff and puff to get there! We could see the Sea wall below and steps leading down to the right so we headed down……..but not to the Sea wall – to a “dead end lookout point” which meant we had to climb all those steps back up and head out another direction……. At this rate we may have to spend the night in Stanley Park!! We had no idea if there was even transportation out of the park from this area. It was 4:15pm but sunset would be a long time yet…… It actually was shorter to go on and finish walking the Sea wall than to back track the 5km we had already traveled……so off we went. We were just walking the road when DH decided to get to the Seawall we HAD to strike off on a trail……so with map in hand we headed down the Merilees Trail ( I think that was the one). It was a very pretty walk and several bikers passed us by so we were not all alone. Finally we spotted an opening thru the trees and saw the Sea wall – just had to walk down some rocks and roots to get there – so we carefully made our way out – finally!!!

 

My feet are sore but so glad I have on my old tennis shoes and not those new hiking boots! We met up with a local fellow who stopped to inquire about the construction we’d passed – we laughed as we told him we had gotten “mis placed” so could not really tell him how much farther till either he’d have to turn back or figure it out on his own! He told us we were now on Third Beach when we asked where we were. We kept walking all around as the scenery constantly changed – and I photographed every few minutes. At one point DH reminded me we would never make it back before dark if I kept stopping!!! I loved the huge city swimming pool that was located right on the edge of the water – I mean this pool is HUGE! We got back to Denam St/Beach Ave about 5:00 (according to our map that would be a bit more than 9 km since we entered the park about 2½ hours ago) and figured we’d missed all trolleys back to our hotel. We had NO idea what bus to take so what else – we’d walk back! Those uphill climbs were not favorable – but I refused to complain anymore. DH says he is tired of walking and when I chastise the triathlete for complaining he quickly tells me running is NOT as tiring as walking – so I suggest he go ahead and run back….I will be fine walking by myself. LOL!

 

We finally get back to our hotel at 6:20 – we just really did not do well with trying to use our trolley ticket today! Eventhough we are really tired we had a lovely day to see Vancouver and Stanley Park – we think we have REALLY experienced it all as most visitors do not – so we count our blessings of good weather and being physically able to walk as much as we did today!

 

I have taken about 220 pictures so as tired as I was I walked the block to the Internet café to have my pictures burned to a CD – just in case I begin to run out of memory on the cruise and need to empty this card. I posted notes to friends and children of our eventful day and headed back to the hotel.

 

I took a wonderfully hot soaking bath and we decided to eat at Rosie’s – the restaurant attached to the hotel. It was very good – but I probably would have enjoyed the corner off the table at that point! I had a steak romaine salad and DH had a beef dip sandwich – which was what we would have called a “philly” sandwich at home. He has enjoyed trying various ales on our trip thus far – I take a sip now and then of his but I do not enjoy beer ….but I do think I like the ale more than beer – still it’s not my choice of beverage.

 

Well, today I logged 23,000 steps on the ole pedometer!!!! I think I deserve extra credit for that Avison trail that was straight up that mountain!!!! My feet are swollen and sore, my legs are stiff……but I feel exhilarated from all the exercise and gorgeous sites we’ve seen! It was much better than sitting in a trolley sight seeing all afternoon!

 

We settle down to watch the last half of American Idol….thinking none of them really wowed us….. began packing for leaving for the cruise tomorrow and hit the sack at 9:30!

 

 

Wednesday, May 10 - cruise day!

This is the day we’ve been planning for for over a year – I am a bit apprehensive but excited. We wake up at 5:30 – got in our 8 hours of restful sleep - -had coffee in the room – DH went down to the pool area to bring back complementary muffins to tie us over until we can eat a “real” breakfast. We finished packing and getting everything in order.

 

We decide NOT to walk anywhere for breakfast this morning and head over to Rose’s for the breakfast buffet. We found the food very good – except that we just did not care for the “maple infused sausage” – it was just too bland for our “Louisiana” taste buds.

 

We went back to the room to rest before our cruise J – I caught up my journal while DH watched a bit of TV. We decided at 10:00 to go ahead and check out – get a taxi and go to Canada Place.

 

The rest of this journal can be found on the HAL board for the Volendam cruise May 10-17.

 

We LOVED our stay in Vancouver. We felt we experienced most sections of the city that the average visitor does not see or really get a feel for. Vancouver is a beautiful city and we once again agreed she is a mix of San Francisco and New York City – 2 of our favorite cities.

 

I hope most cruisers will find a way to add a few days onto their cruise vacation to spend in Vancouver. We found everyone to be very kind and helpful……it was a delight!

[red knight]

Out of curiousity what Ales did your DH find that he REALLY enjoyed? We have so many nice ales around here, I think we are spoiled and somewhat jaded, so I would be interested in knowing what he found that he liked.

[crusingici]

Is there one named Granville Ale? He seemed to think it was the name of a street that began with a G (geesh, how did he remember that???) and then he drank several Alaskan Ales but did not know it by any other name than Alaska.

 

Hope that helps a teeny bit! :)

[dam1050]

So glad you enjoyed our city so much pre-cruise. You certainly did get to lots of great local sites in such a short time. I'm sure your review will help many others who are staying pre or post cruise in Vancouver.

 

Might it have been Granville Island Breweries "English Bay Pale Ale" that your husband enjoyed? http://www.gib.ca/

 

Dave

[crusingici]

I went to the link you shared - I remember him trying the honey lager - that was the one he usually had, I'm sure. I did taste it and thought I could develop a taste for it as it was a bit more like a wine than a beer. But I am not much of a drinker so see no need in trying to develop an alcohol taste! It was fun for him to try several kinds.

 

Yes, we DID enjoy your beautiful city!! It was so much more fun to actually be in the midst of everything as we got a feel for several different neighborhoods. We did not get the chance to walk Chinatown or Gastown but did "trolley" thru it several times since they were fairly close to our hotel.

 

It is amazing to me what diverse climates and activities are in such a small area! Snow skiing and beaches within about 1/2 hour of each other! the beauty of the mountains surrounding the city and all the WATER! We just LOVE water - DH really enjoyed the float planes taking off near Canada Place - we sat at the little cafe for quite a while enjoying the beautiful day and watching the planes (it was good to be off our feet for a while too!).

 

We really do not enjoy the usual touristy things and like to strike out to see what the locals enjoy....but having said that I have to say one of my favorite things was the "tree house adventure" area of Calipano Bridge - it was worth every penny of admission to us -- it was fun to walk among the lush greenery and the walkways were so unique - a cute idea -- and a good way for travelers to get exercise without intending to do so!

 

Something that really struck us about Vancouver - everyone who lives there looks so fit and healthy - we assumed most of the over weight folks were visitors or newbies to the area. We heard lots of locals speak about walking to work or biking -- that was refreshing to my husband since he is so into doing triathlons. In the US, or at least in our area, it would be a cold day in h*** before anyone would walk to work! Of course with close to 100 temps with 98-100% humidity most summer days no one can breathe outside much less walk! Most exercise is accomplished indoors around here.

 

I do understand why there have been so many positive glowing reports about the beauty of your city and why so many cruisers recommend a day or so to enjoy it......we are very happy with our time spent there.

 

It is SO clean! That was another super A+ for your area - it was very refreshing to be in a metropolitan area that is CLEAN.

 

good going to whom ever is in control there!:)

[dam1050]

LOL -- We're probably so fit as most of us really enjoy walking a lot! As you saw we have many many miles of seawall (some of which was closed for repaving this year causing you to go through the hillier trails in Stanley Park) and for the many thousands of us who live downtown it is far easier to get around on foot than to drive. Combine that with the fact we have much rain over the winter months when we can't get out as much to enjoy nature, and you'll find us out at every possibility when the weather is dry. I've lived here all my life and don't drive and I'm in my 50's.

 

As far as Chinatown and Gastown go -- they seem more popular with the tourists than they are for us locals .... Granville Island beats Gastown any day in my book!

 

On a future trip you might want to get to Lynn Canyon Park on the North Shore where they have a free suspension bridge and ecology centre you'd probably enjoy as well.

 

Those float planes you saw in the harbour are the quickest and best way to get over to Vancouver Island from here as well. No driving way out to ferry terminals and waiting in line -- just direct harbour to harbour!

 

I don't drink alcohol myself, but do know those Granville Island brews seem quite popular. :)

 

I'm glad you found everything so clean -- it's funny, when you've lived here all your life, you take things for granted and only seem to remember how much nicer things used to be. That said, we still seem to come up in the top places in the world to live year after year.

 

It is such a shame that so many cruisers do not take the time to spend a couple days, or they hop on a bus to/from Seattle instead of flying direct to Vancouver and staying here. Their loss .... :D

 

Dave

[red knight]

Granville Island Breweries are good, not as good as Okanagan Springs Beweries but not bad!