cheriemck

When wandering around Stanley Park a few years ago we found a very large downed tree. As we recall the cut rings faced the trail. We went back last year but couldn't find it. 

We're going back this year (for the last time...again) but this time we'll be on a tight schedule. Does anyone know the tree i'm speaking of? I believe it was taller than my husband at 6'. 

Fingers crossed that someone knows! TYIA

We were just in Vancouver for 3 nights last weekend. (We stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle with points.) We passed by Trump several times during that time and never saw protesters.

Shoot- I had a reply in the works to Gardyloo but got distracted and it was gone when I came back! shadowmeboy answers the question I was going to ask about the Falls so I'll take them off the list of possibilities. Our rental car is free (rewards expiring just after the trip) BUT if a free rental car is just going to cost us anxiety I'll let it go. What are the down sides to the car? I'm ok with parking it to house our luggage then using it to get to the airport.

We are coming into Pier 91 and are the only ship (Legend May 8). I'm thinking that we'll take the National shuttle to their downtown location to get the car. We can drive to the waterfront (parking $3-4 hr?) then piddle around the waterfront or do the ferry/water taxi, eat lunch then head for the airport.

Thoughts? or should I ditch the car idea? Thanks!

I was considering renting a car (using points) post cruise to store our luggage then drop at the airport for our 3:30 flight. (good idea? bad? thoughts??) We are 'nature people' so shopping doesn't draw our attention much but we wouldn't mind seeing a bit of the market. Is Snoqualmie Falls a reasonable option? or is there a bit of walkable waterfront area nearby the cruise terminal? With such limited time, I want to have a plan A in mind. Plan B (if it's bad weather) would be stay on the ship as long as possible then lunch and the market. We are TSA pre-check so we don't have to get to the airport crazy early. Thanks for your advise!

With limited accessibility, how much time should we budget for Grouse playtime before dinner? We will probably stay on a fairly east coast schedule. I'd like to be outside for sunset so does 7 make sense for our dinner res?

Thanks for the whale tours info- I'll start researching them tonight

WOW! What wonderful information. It seems so clear now. Thank you both!

I think I'll plan the whale watching trip for one day with some time at English Bay before and/or after. We thought it was so beautiful last time.

For the other day: get DayPasses and maybe use it for 'something' in the morning.

Capilano (noon-2), then take the 236 bus to Grouse then ride the free w/ dinner reservation lift up to the Plateau for 2-3 hours. Dinner reservations for 6ish.

Am I correct to understand we will then ride the lift back down? Then we'll take the 236 bus to the Seabus back to Canada Place. I think our hotel is only 2 blocks- Marriott Pinnacle.

Sunset is calculated for 8:25 so I'm wondering where we might have the best opportunity for a nice view. Up on Grouse? On the lift? On the SeaBus? I may slide my timeline to take advantage of the best view.

While I'm thinking about sunsets- we have 3 nights so I'm interested in good sunset spots for the other 2 nights as well. Thanks so much!

I am so grateful for all the info I've found on this site! I'm hoping for some advise for our pre-cruise in Vancouver. We visited Vancouver in 2014 pre-cruise and loved it. We loved Stanley Park and Lynn Canyon and found some funky little eateries. We love nature and hiking and listening to or staring at water. We like good value for our money. here we go- We are 2 adults, 50's, moderately active, arriving from Atlanta on Thursday, April 27th at 11 am. We're renting a car (free) at the airport then taking a scenic route along the coast before (Wreck Beach is too scenic for us, so we'll skip that one), checking into our hotel. We may stop at Granville.

I've heard that parking is an issue so we may turn it in immediately or keep it for a day or 2, if you think we should.

I'm considering a whale watching cruise for one day. I know there are no guarantees but I can't find much info on CC so I'm wondering if it's not really 'a good value'.

The other full day will be centered around Capilano and dinner at the Observatory. I'm unclear on how much there will be to do on Grouse We love to hike but have our limits as far as difficulty. Steep climbs are bad on the knees and hips these days.

Keep in mind too that we are from the east coast so the time difference will be factor.

Thoughts?? Thanks so much for your input!

I'm interested too. I'm assuming/hoping they'll be the same for an 8 day on the Legend. I want to decide on our Steakhouse nights. Thanks!

The Residence Inn was a great choice for us. We stayed 3 nights pre-cruise and were very happy. The breakfast was good and the wifi was fast and free. The location ended up being a positive for us. If you turn left (away from Canada Place) you end up at English Bay, which is just beautiful. From there we walked to Stanley Park from the south end. Part of the time we stayed on the seawall and part in the interior. We had an amazing day there. On our embarkation day we took a taxi to the port and dropped off our luggage (easy breezy) and then walked up to the main entrance of Stanley park and saw that part, including the rose garden. The roses weren't in bloom but they had so many other flowers in full bloom we didn't miss them. There are PLENTY of restaurants close by. We walked everywhere excepted from Amtrak to the hotel ($10) and then the hotel to the port ($10). If it hadn't been for all the luggage we could've walked that as well. We walked to the Seabus and took it over to North Vancouver and went up to Lynn Canyon.

Feel free to ask any other questions. Hope this helps!

Any thoughts for our best options if it rains?

I have the Klondike Museum on the list. Any other ideas?

Thanks!

That looks great too! I printed the map :)

We're coming Friday April 25th. I hadn't considered the Water Taxi and West Seattle but I like that idea. I guess we'll have to see what time it is when we can get there since there are only limited crossings. Maybe we can see the Waterfall Garden before or after.

Our flight arrives in Seattle at 1:10pm and we're departing via Amtrak at 6:50pm. Our plan is to drop our luggage at Amtrak ($4 per bag) and (if the weather cooperates) walk to Pike Place via the seawall, returning back to Amtrak through Pioneer Square. I put together a walking map but realize that it doesn't 'know' the area like a local would. I don't want to miss something wonderful that may be a street or 2 over! This is on a Friday if that matters.

Could someone please suggest a route for us so we don't miss something? Head west until we hit water? We like scenery and history. We aren't into shopping and we intend to just grab a bite to eat as we go whenever something looks interesting.

Thank you so much!

ugh-

thanks for letting me know about my link. I just tried it and it showed the area I'm presently in so apparently it doesn't create a link that I can cut-n-paste.

Should we just head west until we see water?

Our flight arrives at 1:10pm and we're departing via Amtrak at 6:50pm. Our plan is to drop our luggage at Amtrak ($4 per bag) and (if the weather cooperates) walk to Pike Place via the seawall, returning back to Amtrak through Pioneer Square. I put together a walking map but realize that it doesn't 'know' the area like a local would. I don't want to miss something wonderful that may be a street or 2 over! This is on a Friday if that matters.

This is the mapquest link http://www.mapquest.com/#e6a1b35c8167e392ffc9d13b

Can anyone please drag the route for us so we don't miss something? We like scenery and history. We aren't into shopping and we intend to just grab a bite to eat as we go whenever something looks interesting.

Thank you so much!

I just called and was denied because my tickets were non-refundable. :(

I only paid $58 for the two tickets so I'm not too upset. Still that would've been nice. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Thank you so much! The evening train suits our schedule better but I was so afraid to miss a single minute of scenery!

My next questions have to do with our time between our flight arrival (Friday, 1:10pm) and the train departure (6:50pm) so if anyone reading this has suggestions/tips, I'd appreciate it.

Is it worth it to spring for a taxi ($40) or ok to take Light Rail (40 min, $3pp). I plan to check our luggage at King Street ($3 per bag?)

then walk to…. Where?

Am I correct to estimate that we’ll have between 2 and 3 hours?

How early should we check in? 6?

Please correct any misinformation you see. When I return I'll add my experience for the next CC researcher.

Thanks a bunch!

We're planning to take the train from Seattle to Vancouver (end of April). Taking into account, sunrise and sunset, would we miss a lot of scenery if we take the evening train? I've read that the scenery on the Vancouver end is beautiful. Thank you for your help!

I just booked ours ATL to SEA $174 each way with no baggage fees. We've never flown SW so I hope we'll like it.

I'll start researching your suggestions on my lunch hour. I'm glad to see the Skagway suggestion as well. We're doing Dyea Dave but we'll have time afterwards.

My DH and I will be in Ketchikan 8-5 on May 4th and are interested in scenic hiking. We are in relatively good shape but our goal isn't for a challenging hike but rather a scenic one. Does anyone have any pointers or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

We were off and on our way by 10. We were in a cove- loved it by the way :)