Serenade to Alaska- 8/1/04- Part 1 Vancouver

[fajitapita]

My DH and I just got back from a wonderful 7-day cruise to Alaska on the beautiful Serenade of the Seas. We had great service, great food, and PERFECT weather! I will do a day-by-day account for this review and hope to pass on some helpful information.

 

Friday, July 30: I learned the hard way never to schedule a flight into San Francisco during the summer. Our flight from Santa Barbara to SFO was delayed because of fog in San Francisco. Therefore, we were going to miss our connecting flight to Vancouver. Luckily for us, we weren't flying the day of the cruise (had a friend who missed the first couple days of her Radiance cruise in June for this same reason). The United representative was very helpful and found us a flight to Los Angeles and then an Air Canada flight to Vancouver (BTW, it cost $10 for an airplane lunch on Air Canada! We didn't get one). All went well, and we landed in Vancouver only 4 hours later than we had planned. (The airport in Vancouver is actually very pretty with LOTS of glass and "waterfalls" near the escalators.) Customs was a breeze, got our luggage, and then out the door to find a taxi. If I remember correctly, we paid around $25 with tip for a ride to the Hyatt Regency. I used Priceline (for the first time based on fellow CC recommendations) to make our reservation and got a great deal for $70 a night (I bid $60 and was accepted, but then they add tax, fee, etc.). The hotel is located on Burrard and Georgia streets, right in the middle of the financial district, and a great central location. We were about a 4-block walk to Canada Place, which of course, isn't far from Gastown or the seawall promenade leading to Stanley Park. We walked to Gastown and ate a great dinner at an Italian restaurant called Umberto Al Porto at 321 Water Street. If you don't like the views of the boxcars on the neighboring railway, ask for a table downstairs, which doesn't have a "view" and was great for us (live piano player down there, too).

 

Saturday, July 31: We walked down to Canada Place for coffee and pastries at a Starbucks just across the street (if you can't find that one, have no fear, there's at least one coffee place on every block!) HAL's Zaandaam and the Coral Princess were in port, and the Radiance was down a ways at Ballantyne Pier. My DH and I then headed off to walk the ENTIRE distance around Stanley Park. We loved the way the seawall is set up- one lane for walkers, the other for rollerbladers and/or bicyclists. I believe there's a place somewhere to rent both, but we wanted to walk. We walked back to our hotel via English Bay and then back up Burrard. After a short rest, we walked back down to Canada Place and ate lunch at Shlotsky's Deli (near the Starbucks across from Can. Place). Decided we hadn't done ENOUGH walking yet, so continued through Gastown. One recommendation here- stay on Water Street, and don't deviate, even a block or two, as the area isn't QUITE as nice as Water Street. We walked back to the hotel and treated our aching feet and legs to a soak in the hotel spa. We walked (again!) over to Keg Caesar's at 595 Hornby for dinner. I had a great roasted red pepper sirloin for dinner and then split a brownie sundae with DH. STILL not enough walking for the day, so we decided to walk to English Bay for the Celebration of Light International Fireworks Competition. It was Sweden's night to impress everyone, and the most certainly did that! It definitely put our Santa Barbara 4th of July fireworks display to shame! The full moon decided to accompany the fireworks. It was a great way to end the day!

 

(For those of you who live in Vancouver, consider yourselves lucky! What a beautiful city! And a great transportation system, too (although we actually only used a cab to/from airport, hotel, and pier). We were impressed with what we saw of the combined lightrail, ferries, and bus system.)

[fajitapita]

Sunday, August 1: Embarkation Day!!!

We took a cab from the Hyatt to Ballantyne Pier for about $15 CAD. Our driver was very talkative (unlike our first one from the airport) and gave us a little history lesson along the way. We were at the pier by noon, dropped off our luggage, went through the screener with our carry-ons (make sure to pack pool attire and a change of clothes for dinner!), breezed through the short line for deck 9, and then up to the Customs area. (Lemonade, water, cookies, and sandwiches provided) We didn't have a long wait until our number was called, but we were unfortunately ushered into the line for cues 5 and 6 (which I believe are for visitors other than U.S. citizens), so our line didn't seem to move quite as fast as the other ones. A little while later we were on our way to get our sea pass picture taken, and then on board where we were offered small samples of Bahamamamas or fruit punch. Our cabin wasn't going to be ready until 1:00, so my DH read his book at the pool while I went around and took lots of pictures of the ship. I also went to Portofino's and made a dinner reservation for Friday night as it was our 10th anniversary. At 3:30, I met the Clarke Family for a quick chat as I had been chatting with Julie on the roll-call board (unfortunately our sailing didn't even have close to the 25 necessary for the official Meet and Mingle). We went down to our cabin to get ready for the Muster Drill at 4:30 and found that our luggage was there. We were in cabin 9509, an inside cabin with only one next-door neighbor (there was a closet of some sort on the other side- never heard any noise from room attendants using it). Our cabin was plenty big for the 2 of us and well laid out with lots of storage for all of our clothes and toiletries. (One thing I like better about the Serenade over the Explorer/Mariner- the hair dryer is located above the safe, and there's a plug for it on the vanity. The other ships' hairdryers were located and plugged into a drawer, thus leaving less space for items. For those who are curious, it's a 1200 watt hairdryer and yes, you do have to keep pushing the button down to run it). Muster Drill went smoothly, and then it was back up to deck 12 for sail away at 5:00. Got a great view of the other three ships at Canada Place (Celebrity Infinity, Norwegian Sun, and HAL Statendam). We were able to see the ship pass under Lions Gate Bridge before we had to go down for early seating dinner at 6:00. We were seated at table 542 with waiter Bijou and assistant Andre who gave us great service and recommendations all week. Our head waiter was Jose from Santa Monica, CA by way of Argentina, and I've never had a harder working head waiter. He was there every night helping his team, pouring water, wine, grinding pepper, serving dressing, etc. (Usually we've only seen our head waiters the night before we hand out tips.) Our table partners were John and Connie from Middletown, Connecticut and Herman and Margaret from Stuttgart, Germany. We enjoyed their company very much. The traditional Ship Shape menu seems to be gone, but every night there was a "heart healthy alternative" selection on the main menu. I really enjoyed dinner the first night- onion tart (actually more like a quiche), spinach salad, broiled Alaskan Ling Cod, and white chocolate fondue for dessert. At 7:45 we went to the Welcome Aboard Show- I recommend getting there ASAP as there's only one seating that night for all guests. Tim Seivert was the CD this trip. He seemed kind of nervous the first night, and definitely wasn't as outgoing/obnoxious as our previous CDs have been on Caribbean cruises. Tim was probably a good fit for this itinerary. The show included a preview of the production shows, Flash and Fever who did a plate balancing act, and Ed Regine was the comedian. They all performed later in the week, too. When we came back to our room to unpack, we were surprised to find turn-down service, complete with chocolates on the pillows! We then went to the Majority Rules Game Show in the Safari Lounge (a lot of fun!), and I actually sang (not well at all!) a Sheryl Crow song at Teaser Karaoke. I'd always wanted to do karaoke, and I thought what the heck, I'll probably never see any of these people again after this week! Tired and very ready for a wonderful vacation, we headed back to the cabin.

[fajitapita]

Monday, August 2nd: At Sea

I woke up early, and as DH likes to sleep in while on vacation, I headed down to the ShipShape Gym. (Here's one area that I like on the Voyager class better- the Explorer/Mariner held their aerobics, etc. classes in its own little area while the classes on the Serenade were basically in the middle of the gym.) The gym was popular this morning, but I only had to wait about 2 minutes for a treadmill to open up. After DH woke up, we went to the Windjammer for breakfast and ate at the outdoor (but covered) area at the back of the ship (here's another thing I liked better about the Serenade over the Mariner/Explorer- more places to eat outside). At 11:00 I headed down to the Safari Lounge for Bingo- the first time I've ever played on a cruise- as I had "won" a free card at karaoke the night before. Of course I ended up spending another $25 to buy the "minimum" amount of cards. At 1:30 DH and I went to the Tropical Theater for the Destination Seminar: Glaciers- the chisel that carved Alaska. The speaker wasn't that inspiring, but I did learn a lot of glacier vocabulary. We used the Solarium pool (salt water) and spa in the afternoon. So did a lot of families as there was Family Time in the Solarium every day for 2-4 hours (12-2 or 12-4). I liked the Solarium Cafe (another plus over the Voyager class) as you could get up to get a snack without having to go all the way to the Windjammer (and thus possibly lose your pool chair!). Granted the pizza at the solarium wasn't the world's greatest, but they also had cookies, brownies, and fruit. Combine that with the Solarium Bar on the other side, and you were set! (BTW, speaking of pool chairs, I didn't see a lot of chair hogging going on, and there were lots of available chairs. Maybe not if you're a party of 6, but the 2 of us always found 2 chairs together). Pool towels were available at the pool (different from our last 2 cruises as we had to make sure we had 2 in our room by the end of the cruise or we'd get charged). Saw signs posted stating "Royal Caribbean does not allow for the saving of chairs" and always saw at least one member of the "Pool Crew" around. That night was the Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception at the Safari Lounge. I went, had my picture taken with Captain Nikolaos Antalis, had a glass of champagne, hors d'oeuvres, and listened to the band before the Captain introduced some of his crew. It was formal night, and there were a lot of people looking their best, smiling pretty for the cameras. For dinner that night I had shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, Alaskan salmon, and low-fat strawberry cheesecake. All very good, but I'd have to argue with RCI's definition of cheesecake- more like a sponge/angel food cake. After dinner we headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge where I saw the one whale of the entire trip up close and personal (all the other whales I saw were just spouting or I caught the tail-end (pun intended). This whale (a small one) passed close to the ship, rolled on its side, and seemed to wave one of its pectoral fins at us! (I think he was also smiling at us...) Celebrity Showtime was at 9:00, and we saw Bowzer from Sha-na-na for the second time this year (saw him on the Mariner in January). DH and I actually didn't mind sitting through the show a second time (and it was the same exact show...) DH retired early tonight, so I went to karaoke (just to observe this time), took pictures of the chocolate buffet in the dining room (there was a great chocolate statue of liberty!), and then went up to the Vortex Disco (Viking Crown Lounge) to watch a bit of 70's night. The cruise director staff was teaching passengers how to do the Manhattan Skyline dance (or something like that). The Royal Caribbean dancers also performed a tribute to Mama Mia (Abba), and then all the male cruise director staff dressed up as the Village People and did a great rendition of their songs. Tim the CD actually seemed to let his hair down (o.k., so he doesn't have a lot of hair to let down...) and dressed up as the guy with the black hat, leather jacket (no shirt!) and jeans. It was pretty funny.... Oh, today was the only day we saw any rain. It was mostly cloudy all day, but didn't rain until the sun went down.

 

Tuesday, August 3: Hubbard Glacier!!!

Woke up to beautiful skies! Glad the rain cleared away during the night! DH and I ate at the aft covered section of the Windjammer again for breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful snow-capped mountains. When we got up to leave and walked toward the front of the ship, I was in awe of the towering snowy mountains we were approaching! BEAUTIFUL! Evidently they're not visible a lot due to clouds, but we had a very clear day. As we approached Yukatat Bay we staked out some deck chairs on deck 12 forward right by the gym. We picked up 3 locals who were going to narrate our passage to the glacier. It was amazing to see their small boat dock up next to the ship. As we pulled in to the bay, the Celebrity Mercury was pulling out. We decided to move to the deck above us (portside) and stood the entire time as there weren't any deck chairs there.There were a lot of ice chunks/bergs in the water, and as we approached the glacier we saw many harbor seals sunning themselves on them. The water was smooth as glass and the winds were minimal. As we pulled up to the glacier HAL's Oosterdam pulled out. The captain pulled up to the glacier starboard side first (right side). There was quite a bit of calving going on, and we heard the white thunder. One of the best shots we got was on deck 12 above the outdoor pool looking across the ship to the glacier as the size of the people on the other side put the size of the glacier in perspective. While we were eating lunch at the Windjammer, a big chunk of the glacier fell off and bobbed up and down in the water a few times. When the ship pulled away, we went up to the golf course and took pictures and video from up there as nobody was using the course at the time. Tonight was Italian night: creamy garlic soup, salad, chicken marsala, and tiramisu- all very yummy. The waiters also sang tonight (O Solo Mio, or something like that?) At 8:30 we went to the Movie Madness Game Show (movie trivia) at the Tropical Theater with Tim (CD) and Jerome (Asst. I believe). It was a lot of fun... Tonight's entertainment was the production show "Vibeology" which I really enjoyed- Elvis, Beatles, Motown, Bee Gees, Paula Abdul, George Michael, Jacksons, Eurythmics, etc. People may disagree with me, but RCI has great production shows (o.k. so I've only cruised RCI in the last 2 years, maybe I'm prejudiced)- great music, singing, dancing, costumes, lighting, special effects, etc. Where else can you see entertainers flying above a stage at sea? At 10:30 we returned to the theater for the Love and Marriage Game Show. The CD seemed to ask the same questions as the ones that were asked in January on the Mariner. The couple who was married for 45 years won.

[fajitapita]

Wednesday, August 4: Skagway!

The Coral Princess, and NCL Star and Spirit joined the Serenade for a beautiful day at Sakgway. It was warm with few clouds. DH and I were going horseback riding, so we got off the ship and walked to Southeast Tours for our 10:30 excursion. We rode up with 7 other passengers in a van over Whitepass into the Yukon. Our driver was great, gave us a lot of history and information about Skagway, and let us out whenever we wanted to take pictures. We drove to Emerald Lake (saw the sign for the Cinnamon Cache Bakery) and met Joni and her team of horses. I hadn't been on a horse since 1977 when I was 7 (too tired to to the math? I'm 34), and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. My horse, Spirit, took very good care of me and seemed to know I was an inexperienced rider. DH's horse, Shelly, was good, too, but kept wanting to snack along the way. We stopped at an area overlooking Emerald Lake (beautiful!) to take pictures and then rode some more before we dismounted and took a rest and more pictures. The horses were great and really seemed to know the trails. We mostly walked the horses but did trot in a few areas. After a 10 minute break, we rode back to the ranch, watered the horses, and then watered ourselves with sodas and some yummy baked goods. We were also treated to some poetry written by a real live cowboy. Our driver dropped us back in town by 4:30, although he would have taken us to the ship. I would highly recommend this excursion, as we got to go over Whitepass, see Emerald Lake, ride horses, and get out to take pictures whenever we wanted to. For more information, visit these two sites:

http://southeasttours.com/03_skagwa..._horseback.html

http://www.yukonhorses.com/default.htm

Tonight was Alaskan night in the dining room, and probably the least attended as many people were still on excursions as we didn't leave until 8:30. I had salmon and potato bake, salad, halibut, and white chocolate truffle cake- all very yummy. We went out on deck for sailaway, and it was absolutely beautiful! If the weather is good, go out to the very front of the ship on deck 5 for sailing out of Skagway. Saw waterfalls, whales spouting in the distance (starboard side), and the water was incredibly smooth. We hung out in the Safari Club, read books, and shared a brownie from the Seaview Cafe. At 10:30 we went to the theater for Variety Showtime: Flash and Fever performed again, this time with an incredible ladder balancing act. We also saw Yakov Noy, a visual comedian, who was probably my least favorite of the trip. When we returned to our room that night, there was a rabbit on our bed! No, it didn't sneak on board in Skagway, we had our first towel animal creation of the cruise!

 

Thursday, August 5: Juneau!

Coastal Helicopters (http://www.coastalhelicopters.com/t_icefield.htm) met us by the AJ Pier at 8:00 (evidently they actually don't have permission to park onsite, but they got as close as they could) and drove us to the airport. After we paid for the excursion we were ushered outside where our helicopter was waiting. However, we couldn't board it as the battery wasn't completely charged yet. A few minutes later we still couldn't board as a fuse had blown. Luckily another helicopter was on its way back so we boarded that one instead. (Glad we didn't take the other one!) We had a great flight over to Herbert Glacier, and I got a chance to videotape most of it as I was lucky enough to be in the front seat! DH was sitting in the back with another passenger and took lots of pictures. We landed on the glacier and spent 15-20 minutes walking around it. The weather was perfect, and I only wore jeans and a light windbreaker- no gloves even! On our way back we flew over Mendenhall Glacier and got a great view of that and the waterfall near it. Coastal dropped us back at the ship. We dropped some of our gear off and then went back out to catch the shuttle- $2.00 ticket good for all day. (Here's a tinly little gripe against RCI- why don't they just consider this part of your port fees and offer "free" shuttles? If we tendered in, we wouldn't have had to pay an extra $2.00 to be tendered in. FYI AJ Dock is the furthest away from the town and would have been a MUCH longer walk than the one we had in Skagway.) Juneau was pretty busy that day as there were 4 other big ships in port, too- Dawn Princess, Celebrity Infinity, HAL Veendaam, and Crystal Harmony. We did a little shopping and picked up a cute t-shirt for our DD (at home with Grandma and Grandpa) at the Del Sol store. Today we ate lunch at the Seaview Cafe. I had a Cuban sandwich and DH had a tuna melt- both very good, but the onion rings and french fries left a bit to be desired... Decided to play mini-golf and use the Solarium as most people seemed to still be in town. As we sailed away, I saw an eagle swoop down, catch a rather large fish in its mouth and "swim" with it to shore where it proceeded to tear into it! It was a bit windier tonight during sailaway, but the waters were still calm. Dinner tonight was crab cake, salad, fresh catch of the day, and apple cobbler with a scoop of icecream- all very yummy. Many whales were spotted during dinner and people kept standing up and going to the windows. After dinner we went to the Schooner Bar (lots of great windows- one of the main reasons I love this ship- you always know you're on a ship) to spot whales as it was getting too cold outside to be on deck. Tonight's entertainment was the second production show- Stage to Screen. The RC singers and dancers did a great rendition of Hairspray, Westside Story, Sweet Chairty, Little Shop of Horrors, and (my favorite) Chicago. At 10:30 we went to the Safari Club to watch the hilarious Quest game- a definite must, especially if you've never watched or participated. Tonight's towel animal- an elephant!

[fajitapita]

Friday, August 6: Ketchikan, and our 10th anniversary!

The port was busy again today as the 7 Seas Mariner, NCL Star, and HAL's Amsterdam (and Veendam after Amsterdam left) joined us in Ketchikan. A representative from Southeast Sea Kayaks (http://www.kayakketchikan.com/guidedtrips.html) met us and another couple at the dock and walked us (short walk) to their store. We were fitted with Columbia rain jackets (no rain today, but they kept us warm) life vests,and dry bags and then took the four of us plus a couple from the Mariner in a small aluminum boat out to Orca's Cove. There was a larger boat there with kayaks tied up to it. Our guide, Mark from Australia, took the 6 of us out in 3 double kayaks, and we had a wonderful time. He was very knowledgable of the area and wildlife. The sea was like glass today- no wind, no swell, no waves. We saw jellyfish, sea stars, sun stars, 7 bald eagles, and humpbacks spouting in the distance. We kayaked for about 2 hours around the local islands and then went back to the larger boat for a great snack of crackers, cream cheese, capers, red onion, and smoked salmon! They took us back to the store, and we stopped in a few shops on our walk back to the ship. After lunch at the Windjammer, we read and took a nap in the solarium. We entered Misty Fjords around 5:15 and headed up to deck 13 above the gym for some great views. Misty Fjords was beautiful, but didn't live up to its name as it was too sunny out! (Must have been one of the 6 days the Ketchikan area doesn't get any rain!) People on the starboard side supposedly saw a bear, but we didn't see much wildlife on the portside. The scenery was beautiful, and it was amazing how the captain turned the ship around on our way back out. If you're viewing from the front of the ship, look towards the back at the Viking Crown Lounge as the ship is turning- SURREAL! It was definitely colder and windier on the way back out. We had enough time to view the fjords and still get ready for our 8:00 dinner at Portofino's. It was not a very busy night as it was lobster night in the main dining room. However, I didn't miss the lobster as I had tiger prawns with risotto, ribbon pasta with a creamy sauce and mushrooms, the halibut fillet (on top of lobster ravioli and spinach) and the flourless chocolate cake. Unfortunately, they brought out our anniversary cake after we had already eaten dessert! The waiters said they didn't sing as it was a quiet, intimate restaurant, and if they did, they said they'd probably scare away the customers! So, 2 other tables next to us took it upon themselves to sing for us instead! We decided to give them our cake... After dinner we went to Who Wants to Feel Like a Millionaire in the Safari Club. Contestants won the fantastic prizes of RCI keychains, luggage locks, luggage tags (looks like leather, smells like plastic), and hats. Entertainment that night was Roger Behr, a singing impressionist, and I think I might have seen him on our Explorer cruise in 2002. He was o.k. Tonight was the Gala Buffet (open from 11:30-12:15 for viewing and pictures, 12:30-1:30 for dining). After our HUGE dinner at Portofino's, we decided to skip it as the sight of more food probably would have made us sick!

 

Saturday, August 7: Cruising the inside passage

Talk about calm seas all week! Incredible- definitely the smoothest sailing I've ever been on! Today was cloudy with the sun peeking through occasionally, making it warm enough to sit out by the main pool. At 10:00 a.m. I went to "View from the Top" in the Centrum where the Captain, Chief Engineer, and Hotel Director answered questions from the audience. It is very obvious that Captain Antalis loves his ship and is very proud to be the captain of it. He stressed safety and the environment a lot while answering the questions. Sunday was his last day on the ship as he was going to go home to Greece for vacation. When he was in Germany for the building of the Serenade, he was lucky enough to get some tickets for the summer Olympics in Athens. So, he said if you see a man with gray hair in the audience waving a Royal Caribbean flag, you'll know it's him! We packed most of our stuff before we went up for lunch at the Windjammer. Spent some time in the outdoor spa and pool. Checked out the Centrum shops as most were having good sales (here's another thing I missed about the Voyager class- the Promenade- I really liked the shops better on the other ships. I felt claustrophobic every time I went into the shopping area on the Serenade. It was one of the only times I felt "crowded" on the ship. Good thing I'm not big on shopping!) Finally figured out where the cinema was on deck 6 near the Pit Stop bar and casino. Played chess (very poorly) with DH in the Safari Club. Passed out tips to waiter, asst. waiter, and head waiter. If I recall correctly, tonight was International Night, and the waiters sang again and paraded by with flags. I had shrimp cocktail, fish, and some kind of pecan/caramel parfait that our waiter recommended that was really good. Entertainment tonight was the Farewell Show- they showed part of the Cruise in Review Video, and Ed Regine was the comedian again- very funny. After we finished packing and put our luggage out the door, we went up to deck 12 and enjoyed the unusually warm, windless night. It was absolutely perfect outside!

 

Sunday, August 8: Debarkation

Had breakfast at the Windjammer. They started calling the colored tags around 7:30/7:45. We waited out on the pool deck until they called ours (yellow #5) at 9:00. We had purchased transfers (earlier in the week on the ship), and I WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN! Getting off the ship and on to the buses wasn't a problem (except we didn't realize that our luggage would be sent to the airport separate from us). We boarded the buses around 9:30, got to the airport by 10:10, but our luggage didn't come until 11:10!!! I'm not sure why they didn't send our luggage at the same time they sent us! If our luggage wasn't ready, why were they in such a hurry to get us off the ship? Finally got our luggage and went to the United counter, hoping to catch the 1:00 flight, but it was unfortunately already oversold. It was only 11:30, so they wouldn't let us check in for our 3:00 flight to San Francisco. This meant we had to lug our suitcases around until 12:30. Luckily we found a place to sit down and have some lunch. The flight to SFO was great, had a 2 1/2 hour layover in SFO, and then home to Santa Barbara where we were slathered with kisses by our 4 year-ol DD. What a great thing to come home to!

 

Overall, this was a wonderful trip! Service, food, entertainment, ship decor, ports of call, excursions, weather, everything! There's one (kind of silly) thing I'd like RCI to change, and that's those little cards you stick in the key slot of your door. One side says, "Do not disturb", and the other says "Make up my room". I'm sure they could add the word please in there somewhere... I feel like I'm saying "Hey cabin attendant, make up my room this instant!" Adding the word please just seems so much nicer!

 

I will definitely be cruising with Royal Caribbean again, and hopefully in the not-so-distant future. My brother is turning 40 next year, and I'd love for all of us to go on a family cruise. Neither he nor my parents have cruised with RCI since 1979, and I would love to take them on a Voyager class ship as I've told them all about the ice skating rink, royal promenade, rock climbing wall, etc. We'll see when DH can take some more vacation...

 

Sorry this "review" is so long, but once I start typing, I just can't seem to stop. Besides, it let me "relive" my cruise a bit! Happy cruising, everyone, and thanks to all of you fellow CC'ers for your wonderful advice on Alaskan excursions!!!!

[Lisa Waverley]

Hi,

I'm enjoying reading your trip report. We had just come off the Coral Princess on the 31st July and I am in the process of writing my report. It is on the Alaska board.

 

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency at the same time that you were. We also got it on Priceline for $60. WE were at the same fireworks too and thought they were awesome. A friend who lives in Vancouver who went to all the different displays said that the one we went to, put on by Sweden, was the best. It certainly was the best fireworks display we have seen. We were also amazed at how orderly the crowds seemed to be and also with so much space along English Bay, how uncrowded the area was that we sat in.

[Rala]

Fajitapita, What a great review!! Thank you so much. We will be on the same cruise leaving 8/29. I am even more excited now after reading your review. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Belated Anniversay wishes to you and again thanks for the great review!

[fajitapita]

Hi Lisa,

My DH and I spent probably 30 minutes watching your ship get loaded on the 31st in Vancouver. Saw lots of people coming out to their balconies, taking pictures, giving other people tours, etc. It's amazing how quickly they get food, luggage, etc. on the ship!

 

Rala,

Glad you enjoyed the review. You are going to have a FABULOUS time! :)