SA71

If you want to take coffee back to your room or you want to wander about with coffee in hand, is it served in a paper cup ala starbucks style? Or do you get a real mug?

Can you get latte/mocha/americano in the MDR at breakfast or do you have to get it at the caffe before you go for breakfast?

Thanks.

7 day round trip Hubbard glacier from VAncouver BC. When is the best guess as to when the two formal nights will be?

embarkation day - vancouver departure 5 pm

day 1 - cruising inside passage northbound

day 2 - icy strait point arrival 3 pm departure 10 pm

day 3 - cruising hubbard glacier

day 4 - juneau

day 5 - ketchikan

day 6 - cruising inside passage southbound

day 7 - arrival in vancouver 7 am

Formal nights?

special "sunday" Brunch buffet? (although obviously not on a sunday as that is the turnaround day).

Thanks

Ballantyne is only a short taxi away from canada place...maybe 10 min. If you are staying at the Pan Pacific you will have absolutely no problem getting a taxi to ballantyne...there is always a line of taxis out front waiting.

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This is not my video but it may help. It's 6301 on Reflection. No doubt someone here can tell you if the Solstice would be the same.

The aquabus goes to several spots on false creek...not just granville island. http://the aquabus.com

The Yaletown station of the canada line is very close to the yaletown aquabus stop.

Ramada closer to Stanley Park...short bus ride. Aquabus is on false creek...the other side of downtown.

Take a look at google maps...downtown vancouver is surrounded by water on three sides. To the north is Burrard inlet (coal harbour) which is a deep water port where the cruise ships and container ships come in under the Lions Gate bridge. To the north west is the pacific ocean (stanley park) and to the south is False creek (aquabus to granville island...which is not really an island in the true sense). Lots of trolley buses running down Granville street to get you from the Ramada to the aquabus at the base of Hornby st. Bus system is called Translink...http://www.translink.bc.ca

Based on location...Ramada would be better...3 blocks to Waterfront station southbound (for airport) and 5 blocks to Canada place (cruise ship terminal).

The Best western hotel on Drake is on the other side of downtown so you would need a cab to the cruise ship (or a looong walk with luggage) or you could walk 5 blocks to Yaletown/Roundhouse station on the Canada Line and take it north to waterfront station - the cruise ship terminal is next door.

I have not read any reviews of the hotels in question so not sure if this is a significant factor.

Oh yes..7 am means you should be at the airport by 5 am as you will clear USA customs here before you board. Stay downtown for your holiday and then transfer to a Richmond hotel with free airport shuttle (10 min ride) for the night before the flight to FLL. If you stay downtown the first train is 4:48 am...personally I would take a cab at that hour ($40 approx).

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I think there are free shuttles to Grouse mountain from downtown. As for shuttle to the airport, assuming you are physically able to carry/pull your own luggage the Canada line skytrain is the fastest way...30 min max. Skytrain station is right beside the cruise ship terminal. Skytrain is clean and safe here with departures every few minutes to the airport and despite it's name it is underground in downtown. You want Canada line, not the Expo line or Millenium line (these go to the suburbs). Only the Richmond hotels would have dedicated airport shuttles...a good option if you have an early flight to Aus after your cruise...you dont want to be caught in the morning rush hour trying to get from downtown to richmond (where the airport is) unless necessary. Check yvr.ca for info.

http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/cruiseandtourism/cruiselineschedules.aspx

Schedule has been updated. You dock at Canada Place/downtown. If it's a rainy september day then I would not bother with Grouse Mountain as the view will be poor.

Is this for your panama canal cruise? I was looking at the metro vancouver port cruise ship schedule to see if the Island Princess will dock at Canada place, but can not see it there at all for May?

http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/cruiseandtourism/cruiselineschedules.aspx

Are you going FLL to LA then getting on another ship to come to Vancouver?

Anyhoo, I am sure you know what you are doing. Just wanted to mention though that come May 1, there is at least one cruise ship in Vancouver every day, on the weekends there are two or three, so I would not wait too long to book the pre cruise days, because lots of OTHER people WILL be cruising out of Vancouver on those days!

Hotwire calls the two good downtown areas "shopping and entertainment district" and "coal harbor and stanley park" although the latter is more high end. "Vancouver downtown south" would also be good with a short skytrain ride to real downtown. If you are into outdoors stores (like REI in the usa) there are several on broadway near the so called "vancouver downtown south"hotwire block.

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In looking for budget friendly hotels downtown please be aware that the downtown EASTside is where all the homeless and druggies hang out. It goes from skyscrapers and women carrying prada handbags in the WESTend to skid row in the space of a few blocks as you go east on hastings st. Do Not book a hotel east of Carral st or Columbia st on Hastings,Powell, Cordova etc. Ie W Hastings good, East Hastings bad! Just wanted to mention as there are cheap hotels on east hastings street but they cater to clientelle that want to rent the room by the hour, if you catch my drift. Canada place (cruise terminal) and all the attractions listed by BC girl are all in the west end. Other possibily cheaper hotel options are thd Holiday Inn or Park Inn on Broadway, a short skytrain ride to downtown.

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We upgraded before sailing for $11.50 usd per day. If you upgrade"onboard" then you should expect to pay the "onboard" price ie a $15 difference. If you could upgrade onboard for the same price as beforehand then Celebrity is losing money. Early bird gets the deals...its all marketing.

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In my original post, I forgot to mention we are on a southbound cruise, Whittier to Vancouver on the NCL Sun. Does the Sun usually disembark at Canada Place?

http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/en/about/cruiseandtourism/cruiselineschedules.aspx

Canada place can up to two large plus one small ship docked at the same time. If a third large ship is in port on the same day then it has to dock at Ballantyne, which is NOT in downtown, rather in the industrial container port dock further into the harbour. The schedule so far does not reflect any ships arriving in Vancouver on Sept 15, but it probably is not up to date yet, as just last week I checked for my july sailing on the Celebrity Century and it was not showing, but it is now. Check back.

If you are staying downtown (ie near the cruise ship terminal) then you don't need a car, in fact it is more of a hinderance than a help, as many of the streets are one way and parking is $$. Many highlights in the downtown core that are walkable or accessible by bus- Vancouver has an excellent, safe, clean public transit system - buses, skytrain (like a subway), seabus etc.

Right downtown:

"Fly over Canada" multimedia presentation at Canada Place

Vancouver Aquarium at Stanley park

Horse drawn trolley tours of Stanley park (narrated)

Seawall at Stanley park (walking, bikes)

Vancouver Art Gallery

Shopping on Robson Street (high end stores)

Beach Avenue (the beach!)

Short bus/cab ride:

Granville Island (shops, restaurants, local artisans and pottery, Stanley Theatre, Arts Club Theatre)

Grouse Mountain Skyride (clear day can see to Washington state USA)

Capilino Suspension Bridge

Car rental required:

Whistler (2 hr drive) - lots of mountain lakes here and beautiful views! Someone suggested in an earlier post that you could check out of a Whistler hotel at 9 am and head to Vancouver to check in for your cruise - yes this is possible BUT I would not recomend it, as the road (Sea to Sky Highway) is the only route to Vancouver and if there is an accident (lots of curves on this road and it is ocean on one side and cliffs on the other) or a rockslide you could be delayed several hours, and there is no detour possible that will meet your time constraints!

Enjoy!