September 19 – AT SEA

ship stats

Weather – 10º, drizzly

Steps – 7,884

dessert sampler

12 hours 20 min of daylight

As far as I’m concerned, every first day of a cruise should be a sea day. Time to explore the ship, adjust your internal clocks (if necessary) and relax before the business of touring days commences.

Today, the first day of the cruise was a sea day. No internal clock adjustment was necessary, but we were still up before 6! The sun didn’t rise until after 7, I wasn’t about to get up before the sun.

Last night’s sleep was very smooth. No rocking or

close to land

rolling at all. This morning the motion of the ocean started a bit, but pretty minimal. I wonder if this is typical for this part of BC’s west coast. I expect a bumpier ride when we cross to Japan next week.

Although we haven’t been on this ship before the one we were on in the summer when we were in Iceland is a carbon-ish copy of this one. Almost everything is where we expect it to be. I like the comfort of familiarity.

SPICY!!!

Early in every cruise there is a morning wine tasting. I’m not against a morning tipple, but something organized for a

main courses

morning always seems a bit extreme. It was nice to have a bunch of the included wines presented at once. Each evening at dinner there is a feature, included wine. We are almost always happy to take the feature. Eventually we
learn one or 2 that we particularly like and can ask for that one. This tasting got us to some of our favourites faster.

After that we wandered a bit, had a coffee, found a couple of books in the library, and had lunch at the ship’s steak restaurant. We usually have lunch at the buffet, but it was busy when we arrived. 

We also

desserts

chatted with a few staff we know from previous cruises, this is always nice.

Dinner tonight was at the ship’s Asian restaurant called Pacific Rim. It was a great meal, we started with a bit of sake, shared a few appetizers and had great mains. We shared beef tatki rolls…WOW, my mouth was ON FIRE! We had this last time we were on and they warn it’s going to be spicy…WOW! Does sake calm heat…hard to say, I tried water…sake…wine…more food…WOW!

Alaska's pretty big

Tonight’s entertainment was a comedian…he was funny-ish.

The highlight of the day was WINNING Guess That Tune!!!!! There wasn’t a theme, maybe there was…it was WINNING!!!!!

September 18 – Vancouver

home for the next 3 weeks

Weather – 18º, sunny

Steps – 6,824

12 hours 23 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Vancouver = 49º

Fortunately we weren’t scheduled to leave the hotel and board the ship until after noon…there were some technology struggles this morning. Thankfully, we had them and worked on them while we had decent wifi, Ship wifi would NOT have made the frustrations any less.

Anyway…tech problems solved, the rest of the morning was spent on breakfast

last morning at the Shangri-La

and packing what little was unpacked for the last 3 days.

We’ve settled on Ubering to the port. It’s not far, but for less than $10 we don’t need to schlep our bags.

Vancouver harbor action

We have embarked at many a port, and Vancouver has to be one that took the longest. Things were organized and civilized, but there were many, many people. Usually only security is necessary, but here all the ships are going to the US so we are doing customs here. Even if it was just security, that line was loooong. From the time we left the hotel we were on board in a little over an hour – really not terrible, but not great. There were 3 other ships in port today, in total about 6000 passengers and maybe 4000 crew. Places like Miami seem to have multiple security and customs areas, so everyone isn’t going all together. Miami has more ships than Vancouver, but in my experience it’s smoother.

welcome abord

Once on, things were smooth. A welcome

all gassed up and ready to roll

champagne, visit to our muster station, a sit by the pool and lunch. Since Covid, safety drills are now a video on TV and a visit to your muster station…that’s it, is it safer…who knows, it sure is easier.

After lunch was unpacking, meeting Maria our room attendant who will be taking care of me for the next 3 weeks.

Sail away was at 6. Originally, it was supposed to be at 8, but the sun is down by then. I’m sure that’s not why it was changed, but it’s a happy change.

September 17 – Vancouver

Lost Lagoon

Weather – 16º, overcast, a few sprinkles

Stanley Park forest

Steps – 17,021

12 hours 27 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Vancouver = 49º

Soooo, today we were NOT up before 6! More like 7:30, which is not that bad considering when we got in last night. It is a VERY rare occasion that I don’t wake up sometime in the night…last night was a very rare occasion. I cannot remember the last time I went to sleep and didn’t wake up until the morning! Maybe it was Mark’s fish last night.

Lingering was the name of the game again this morning. Blogging, breakfast, and icing my foot. I still have some plantar fasciitis going on, but it’s not terrible. I

Stanley Park forest

’ve discovered putting ice in my metal water bottle is the way to go when I’m not home with my usual ice pack.

Stanley Park forest

Stanley Park is a 20 min walk from our hotel. We walked along the park’s Lost Lagoon stopping along the way to read the info plaques. The Lost Lagoon used to be part of the sea but was landlocked when the Stanley Park bridge was built. Over time it changed from salt water to fresh. We say ducks, geese, sparrows, and herons.

Then we walked deep into the forest in Stanley Park. There are groomed paths, but the forest is mainly wild. It was beautiful. We walked beside huge trees dripping with moss.

We then circled down to the beach and found a

yet more Stanley Park forest

snack shack for an ice cream. We finished our time in the park with a visit to Stanley Park Brewery. This time Chris and I both had a flight of 4 beers.

The ice cream and the big breakfast we had made neither of us interested in lunch.

Soon we were back at the hotel for some down time before dinner at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, Carlino’s. We were disappointed.

We had a hotel credit as part of our hotel package. We’ve had this kind of package before and typically use it for a couple of drinks and a snack in the hotel lobby bar. This time the credit wasn’t applicable for alcohol. Food and drinks

guess what

tend to be overpriced in hotels. We don’t usually eat at the hotel restaurants as we

moss dripping from branches

like to wander and find interesting places in interesting neighborhoods to eat and drink. Other than eating in Carlino’s there wasn’t much else to spend this credit on. Not a terrible problem to have, but kind of a bummer compared to what we expected

Food and wine were good, but the service was not so much. They were out of the wine we wanted, no problem, but the alternative they suggested was 1.5 times the price. No thank

moss like icicles

you. We settled on a bottle with an agreeable price. Mosty, they poured for us. We are very capable of pouring, but isn’t someone else pouring, part of the price of a bottle of wine?

Eventually we expressed our displeasure and were discounted %10…great, but I want to spend ALL of our credit.

We ended the evening across the street at the Paradox hotel’s Karma bar. This was a very cool spot. I LOVE a lobby bar. The comings and goings of a hotel combined with the liveliness of a bar is super unique.

Stanley Park Brewery

DJ was ‘spinning’, service was terrific, drinks were tasty (expensive but delicious), ambiance was great, and the comp truffle popcorn was a nice touch. Next time I’d gladly stay here.

The Shangri-La was good. Once in the room, things were nice. The public spaces were just so-so. There was no lobby bar (as I said, I love a lobby bar) or really any lobby to speak of. The staff we encountered were all lovely, everyone who serviced our room left notes – that

“Some Like it Hot”

was a first. But it was almost as though we were staying at an AirBnB.

Another unique thing in this hotel is the pillow menu!! Of course this is ridiculous, but if they have it, I’m taking advantage. There was mostly normal stuff – firm, soft, feather, foam. Some was a bit out of the ordinary (for my experience with pillow menus!!) was a lavender pillow. Yes, please! It was fine…I hoped for more lavender-y.

no kidding!

What this hotel doesn’t seem to have is a water bottle filler. I surely can drink out of the sink and happily do so, but more and more places are having water bottle fillers. There’s one at the gym, but it’s not super convenient. There seem to be endless bottled water left in

before I got out of bed!

the room, so I’m not going thirsty, but to just fill my own bottle seems easier.

September 16 – Vancouver

more from the VAG

Emily Carr room

Weather – 20º, sunny

Steps – 24,776; about 18Km!!

12 hours 30 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Vancouver = 49º

Travelling west is one of the many things I love about travelling. Waking up and feeling like it is later than local time is the best. We were up before 6! That meant there was plenty of time to linger in the room. Breakfast is included with our hotel room and can be taken as room service…YES PLEASE! We very, rarely order hotel room service – cruise room service, yes, but not in hotels. Included breakfast available

old school phone

from room service is a huge perk to me.

elevator door and ventilation

Our main goal today was to visit the Vancouver Art Gallery. I’m not sure how many museums we’ll get to on this trip, so I’m glad we’re going today. The VAG is less than a 10 min walk from our hotel. We visited for about a half hour. There is currently an Emily Carr exhibit which I was really looking forward to. It was great, but it was minimal. I hopped for more. The exhibit was called “A Room of Her Own” – it was exactly that…nothing more, nothing less…a room with about 15 pieces. Museum cafés are almost always very nice…the VAG café was no exception including their outside area. We wandered through, but weren’t at all hungry or thirsty, so we didn’t stop.

Last night on the tour we stood outside the Marine

The Drop, sea plane, & Canada Place

building and learned about its history. It was too late to go in, but today we wandered through this art deco building from 1930. Stained glass windows, brass elevator doors, and an old school phone - very cool.

stained glass

We weren’t far from Canada Place where the cruise ship terminal is, so we thought we’d do a ‘dry run’ as one of the terminal workers called it. We considered walking with our bags on Wednesday when we board. Although it’s only about a 15 min walk, with luggage it’s a bit much. We’ll take an Uber.

getting to Granville Island

After a bit of down time at the hotel we

more ferry

were back on the go to Granville Island – not exactly an island, but a peninsula. Granville Island is a touristy place, but also seems like the locals go there. that isn’t exactly an island, it’s a peninsula. You can get there without a ferry, but that’s how we did it on the way there - charming. The ferries are small, capacity is about 10ish. Getting to the island took about 5 min and cost $4.  On the way out we walked.

tiny ferry

We wandered around a bit, admired the beautiful fruit, bought some pastry for the dinner we are going to and hit Granville Island Brewery. I had a flight of 4 beers and Chris had a sour.

The highlight of the day was reconnecting with one of Chris’ childhood friends.

Granville Island Brevery

Although Chris had seen Mark more recently, I hadn’t seen him for almost 10 years! We had a great evening. Mark cooked some delicious fish, we drank wine, listened to Mark’s record collection, and chilled. Our

beautiful Vancouver

plan was to take an Uber home but ended up walking! It was about an hour – might have been less if not for the wine, sleepiness, and photo stops. We got back to the hotel around 2AM…that is late for this old lady!

I think our walking record was about

hill of geese

30,000 steps – today was close. I had to add

Van by night

pre-midnight to post-midnight steps.

Van by night

Van by night

September 15 – CALGARY to Vancouver

Weather

Gastown lamp

– 9º in Calgary first thing in the morning… 18º in Vancouver

Steps – 18.066

12 hours 34 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Vancouver = 49º

As travel days go today was one of the best. A 90-minute flight and one time zone and we were in Vancouver. The flight was actually delayed by about a half hour, but we had no where to be and

Terry Fox memorial

figured it wasn’t likely that the hotel room would be read anyway, so we weren’t fussed. As long as the flight actually TOOK OFF, we’d be fine.

shelf is set up ready to go!!

A 30 min Uber ride from the airport and we were at the Shangri-La Vancouver. This hotel is right downtown. We got a half decent deal and figured it would be good for accessing things we wanted to do and to get to the ship on Wednesday.

art deco building

We had to wait about 30 minutes and our room was ready. Our room is on the 8^th floor with a balcony facing a relatively busy street. Sitting on the balcony isn’t exactly Shangri-La but is interesting to watch the street activity. Once the balcony door is closed it’s quiet.

Nothing was on our itinerary until late afternoon, so we spent a bit of time in the room, drinking tea and eating the welcome macarons.

glorious setting

We are suckers for walking tours. After a quick bite, we joined a group of about 20 for 3 hours of wandering, looking, and listening. This was a ‘free’ walking tour with a suggested tip of $30. We’ve been on plenty of free walking tours, and always tip, but this is the first one I can remember that suggests an amount. Even $30 is a pretty great price.

street art

A walking tour is always a great way to start a stay in a town. You get the ‘lay of

Canada Place

the land’ along with some background and tips and tricks. Todays’ tour was just OK. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse. Considering this was our tour guide Jessica’s very first tour it was good. We were a small group of only 9 which was fantastic…Canada, Australia, and
Germany were represented.

We stopped for a bite and a drink post tour. The bathroom wasn’t like anything I’ve every seen. 2 toilets in ONE STALL!!! WHAT ON EARTH?!? There was one door, 2 toilets separated by a half wall. This is why you always must go to the washroom with your PHONE. You don’t use it while you’re USING it, but you

military memorial

never know what might need to be documented.

What on earth?!?

Early September – vacation prep

The lead up to vacation is always something I feel I need a vacation from. Somehow when assembling my toiletries or clothes or first aid kit or foreign money stash, I feel the compulsion to organize all the areas those items usually live in. I don’t really mind doing that…I’m actually very happy to putter and tidy and organize, but I tend to ‘loose the plot’ a teensy bit. I need the house to be spic and span before leaving…doesn’t everyone want to come home to a clean house???

I have never been much of a list maker for packing or vacation prep. I start assembling a week ahead and other than forgetting an entire SUITCASE once, I’ve never really forgotten anything.

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Vancouver for a 3-day pre-cruise mini-
vaca. One of the things I’m looking forward to most about this trip is the easy journey to get to the ship. As far as I’m concerned, a 90 min fight beats an overnight one any day. We are flying Westjet and thankfully not Air Canada with their potential strike looming – could just as easily be a Westjet issue, we’re lucky. I wonder how we may still be impacted by Air Canada passengers being shunted to Westjet.

We got what seemed like a pretty good price for one way (we’re flying home from Tokyo) to Vancouver. We thought we’d take a risk on making an upgrade bid. We made the lowest bid we could, and we GOT IT! It’s a short flight, but if I can sit in a bigger seat, not sit next to a stranger and get at least one champagne I thought it was worth it. So, all in…a one way to Van was $170 in premium.

Our cruise a 19-day repositioning/ocean crossing from Vancouver to Tokyo. About a third of the cruise is in Alaska, another third is ocean crossing and the last third is in Japan.

We’ve been to Japan before. I’m very happy to be going back. From quiet culture, to the easy to negotiate Tokyo subway, to the handmade knife shopping, to the Japanese toilets I’m thrilled to be returning.

Our last vacation was to Iceland and Greenland and now Alaska. Somehow, we’ve become cool climate vacationers. That’s ok with me, a cool weather lover. But…cool weather requires A LOT more gear. We’ve taken carryon only for a previous cruise, but with the rain gear and sweaters carryon would be tough.

Chris has never been dying to get to Alaska, thinks it’ll be a lot like BC. I think he’s right-ish...we’re a bit spoiled living where we are as close to the mountains and forests that we are. I’m keen to see glaciers, bears, whales, seals, eagles, hawks, Indigenous culture, and nature. I’m more into the nature vacations than Chris is, but we a team, right???

From the weather forecast it seems like we’ll be contending with a bit of Alaskan rain, but I’m outfitted for the rain and cold as I was in Iceland and Greenland.