Urban trekker

Most businesses will be opened - holidays hours. There will be entertainment and lots of it at Canada Place and Jack Poole Plaza a short distance away. There has not been fireworks downtown since pre-Covid as no one seems to want to put up the money. There has been in the past a citizenship ceremony at Canada Place as I have been a volunteer at that but I am pretty sure it was held somewhere else last year. If the weather is nice and sunny there will likely be over 100,000 people over the course of day partaking in the various events. I will check out the Canada Place and Port of Vancouver web sites to see if anything is listed yet. The celebration at Canada Place is reportedly the largest outside of the nation's capital. Hope this helps - I will be volunteering there again this year - just don't know my actual role yet but it will likely be manning one of the info booths. Dennis

You haven't factor in the time it takes to get to the ferry going both ways. That will add at least 90 minutes + the ferry ride is taking a little longer these days as they are taking a different route because of problems with a couple of the ferries on the route. Dennis

The Bliss sailed empty from Vancouver to Seattle - probably hard to do a one nighter with her due to the tide situation for going under the Lions Gate Bridge. P.S. - just got off the coastal sailing so was told this by ship's staff.

While I haven't used the parking option I do agree with Martin Cath about the Access Inn near the airport - I stayed there recently prior to catching an Amtrak bus to Seattle - it is a well maintained property and I would stay there again. I got some really good pricing by booking during a Black Friday sale. When checking in the clerk even commented about that price.

At least when you embark the marathon mess will be over but you are actually near ground zero on Sunday May 5, 2024. You are in the chute area for the finish of the race. If you are going to change get a hotel that is east of Burrard. I am a long time volunteer with the Marathon - this will be my 18th year of volunteering and believe me it is real zoo - even to cross the street you sometimes have to walk a whole block to get around the barricades. Hope this helps. Dennis

There are three Fairmont's in the downtown core but they are fairly close to each other so it won't make a big difference where you start your tours from. The #1 attraction is Stanley Park and it's only about a 1KM from Canada Place and you can walk there from the pier along the promenade. After that it's a crap shoot as to which is next so I will throw out them out and I am sure my fellow poster MartinCath will be along with more details. Granville Island, Grouse Mountain, Gastown and Chinatown, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Shipyards across harbour from pier, Van Dusen botanical garden, Queen Elizabeth Park, West End of Vancouver and English Bay. Hope this get you started

One thing - you mentioned you are sailing the first weekend of May - is that the May 3- 5 weekend. If so that the weekend that the Vancouver International Marathon and over 18,000 runners will converge on Canada Place to pick up their race kits etc. and then on the morning of May 5 will finish the race just to the west of Canada Place. Thankfully you are staying at the Pan Pacific so other than been busier than usual shouldn't affect your getting on the ship. There is a food court in the waterfront center across the street from the Pan Pacific which you can access from Canada Place - no need to go outside - there is an underground connection. I will arrive on the Bliss on April 5 but we are the only ship in town that day so I won't be able to give you much help. Hope this helps you somewhat.

Yes you can walk from the cruise port to the Park or vice-versa. I would suggest that you take the bus to the park and then start a slow walk along the seawall back to the cruise port. This picture will give you an idea of what there is to explore as you walk from the cruise port to the park. The green in the upper right of the picture is the Park. Hope this helps a little. This picture was taken at the Convention Center - next door to the cruise port and looking west to Coal Harbour and the Park.

Agree with the others - Glacier Bay. Dennis

Wonder if this might not be another native run development - much like what has been done at Icy Strait Point. And just exactly where on the inside passage is it located or what "big town" is it close to.

While more expensive an 8 year old might like the offerings that Disney Cruise Lines has to offer.

NCL docks in downtown Skagway like all the other cruise lines - think you might be mixing up Skagway with Ketchikan where NCL docks at Ward's cove which is several miles from downtown. While 7AM is the time noted as arriving - the ship has to be cleared by the local authorities before anyone can disembark. The private tour operators are well versed in arrival times etc. Dennis

Yes that quite the hockey game. I was there selling 50/50 tickets and was joking before the game that if you wanted to silence the Leafs fans all you had to do was score three fast ones on them - well that did happen but we let them back into the game but ended up victorious after the big stars woke up in the 3rd period.

Yes - it shouldn't be a problem. Customs at Vancouver - at least based on my experience is a formality - they collect your custom decoration, look at it, might ask a question or two and you are on your way. You then exit the secure area and walk a short distance to where the buses are waiting to load - about a two or three minute walk. Hope this helps. Dennis

and me getting off a midnight and having to use transit to get home in Surrey would be a challenge. Dennis