Alaska from Vancouver

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We are sailing this month on our first RCCL and first Alaska cruise on RC Jewel of the Seas and departing from Vancouver. So we will be arriving around 5pm and our hotel is downtown. Any suggestions on what to do in Vancouver? Also, what time should we get to the port? Should we plan to do anything in the morning?

[Potstech]

There are many things to do in Vancouver. Visit Stanley Park. Walk around Gastown. Take the ferry across to North Vancouver. Visit the Sun Yet San (sp) gardens. I am not sure about boarding in Vancouver but I would not plan to arrive at Canada Place until around 12:00 or so. Which hotel are you staying at so people can get an idea of the activities in your immediate area?

Edited May 6, 2015 by Potstech

[BCHappyGal]

Info on Vancouver from a local!

 

My favorite must do attractions are

 

1) Grouse Mountain – http://www.grousemountain.com – this is a wonderful scenic mountain only about 15 mins from downtown Vancouver. Ride the airtram to the top for lots of fun activities that include a loggers show, birds of prey show, 2 movies (1 about the Vancouver area and 1 about the 2 Grizzly Bears who make their home on Grouse Mtn) ride a chair lift higher up the mountain to visit the wind turbine that generates approximately 30% of the power required for Grouse Mountain Resort and visit with 2 live Grizzly Bears. Thrill to a 2 hour Zip Line Tour. Enjoy a meal in any of the restaurants. Caveat only spend the money to go up on a clear day.

2) Capilano Suspension Bridge – http://www.capbridge.com – this is Vancouver’s oldest tourist attraction and I still enjoy visiting it! Located on Capilano Road just before you reach the Grouse Mountain parking lot. Walk across a suspension Bridge over the Capilano Gorge, wonder the trails thru the rain forest, walk thru the treetops on the new Tree Top Adventure, traverse a Cliff Top walk, visit the trading post for a huge selection of souvenirs, watch native weavers and/or carvers at work.

3) Capilano Fish Hatchery is also located on Capilano Road and is a great place to view salmon jumping up the fish ladders to get around the Cleveland Dam. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capilano_River_Regional_Park

4) Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge – http://www.lynncanyon.ca - is also located in North Vancouver and is much less touristy than Capilano but it also is not as spectacular. The bridge is slightly higher above the water but much shorter in span. Located in a Provincial Park this bridge comes with some nice hiking trails and you will find an ecology centre in the park as well as picnic tables and a food concession outlet. Should you choose to enjoy the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge always cross the suspension bridge first and then hike down the trail to the lower (Twin Falls wooden) bridge to cross back over the Lynn Valley River and return to your car – that way you are hiking downhill rather than uphill. It is also free to visit this suspension bridge!

5) Stanley Park – http://www.vancouver.ca/parks/parks/stanley/ - is the crown jewel of Vancouver's parks. As one of North America's largest urban parks, covering over a 1000 acres and offering an abundance of activities. Enjoy the totem pole collection near the Brockton Point Light House, hiking trails, beaches, water parks for the kids (young & old), rose gardens, miniature train, petting zoo, aquarium –http://www.vanaqua.org – many view points, and several restaurants.

6) Vancouver Aquarium – http://www.vanaqua.org – is Canada’s largest aquarium and is committed to the conservation of marine life and education. Located in Stanley Park this is a fun place for the family to visit.

7) Fly Over Canada incorporates state of the art technology in an Imax theatre to show you supernatural Canada, Fly from coast to coast taking in breath stealing views of Niagara Falls, Lake Louise, The Rockies & more. Spectacular! http://www.flyovercanada.com

8) Gas Town – the location where Vancouver originated. The name is derived from a very colorful character named Gassy Jack who was one of the first settlers in the area and a salon keeper – while in Gas Town don’t miss your photo op with the statue of Gassy Jack and by the Steam Clock.

9) At the start of Gas Town is the Harbor Centre Tower http://www.vancouverlookout.com a great spot to start your tour of Vancouver with a birds eye view of the city. Either take the elevator up to the lookout level or go to the top and enjoy a meal in the revolving restaurant.

10) China Town is only about 6 blocks over from Gas Town and is the largest China Town north of San Francisco. While in China Town enjoy a visit to the Dr Sun Yat Sen Classical Gardens http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com and also make sure you visit the world’s thinnest building it is only 6’ wide!

11) Granville Island – http://www.granvilleisland.com – is a huge public market area which not only sells fruit & veggies but you can also buy frozen fish to be shipped to your home. Many artists make this their home and you can watch them at work in their studios – making this a great place to buy unique souvenirs. The Granville Island Brewery is also located here and you can stop in for a free tour & tastes. There are theatres for live performances and many fine restaurants. A fun way to get to Granville Island is via the Aquabus – http://www.theaquabus.com

12) Burnaby Village Museum – http://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca – is an open air museum with over 30 restored homes, shops, school, church and a 1912 carousel situated on 10 acres

13) Gulf of Georgia Cannery – http://www.gulfofgeorgiacannery.com – is a restored fishing cannery located in the historic fishing village of Steveston (part of Richmond). Here you see exhibits that showcase the history of the fishing industry in British Columbia. Once finished in the museum it is great fun to walk along the fishing docks and see the fishing boats which are selling their catch. There are also some excellent restaurants located here.

14) The Vancouver Maritime Museum located on the shore of English Bay is fun for the whole family with lots of hands on exhibits for the kid in all of us. Here to you will find the ship St Roch which the RCMP sailed from Vancouver to Halifax via the Northwest Passage and then completed the return journey in 1944. You actually get to tour this ship. http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com

15) Queen Elizabeth Park http://www.vancouver.ca/parks/parks/queenelizabeth The 130 acre (52 hectare) park is one of the most beautifully maintained public parks in the world. Second only to Stanley Park in annual visitations, it receives nearly 6 million people a year who marvel at its superior standard of garden plantings.

The park was originally quarried for its rock which served to build Vancouver's first roadways. In 1929 the Board proceeded to acquire the property which had become an abandoned eyesore but still served as the site for two holding reservoirs for the City's drinking water. Dedicated as a park by King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth (the present Queen's mother) on their much lauded visit to Vancouver in 1939.

16) Fort Langley is the restored wooden fort built by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a trading post. It is the origin of British Columbia and was the first capital. This Fort is operated by the Federal Parks Board. http://www.fortlangley.org

17) If you are a wine lover you might want to rent a car and spend a day visiting a few of the many excellent wineries located in the Fraser Valley only about a 1 hour drive from your hotel. Almost all of the wineries offer free tastes & tours. Two of the wineries have excellent restaurants on the premises. This makes for a very fun and relaxing day. Check out the Fraser Valley Wine Association web site for a map of winery locations and a brief description of each winery http://www.fvwa.ca

18) VanDusen Botanical Garden is a scenic 55- acre garden of international renown – a living museum of plants collected from around the world and artistically displayed amidst rolling lawns, woodlands and five tranquil lakes, all in the heart of Vancouver and just 15 minutes from downtown.

Due to Vancouver’s mild climate, plants bloom at the Garden year-round. This same climate creates a unique environment where plants from varying climate regions thrive and grow – at VanDusen you will see plants from the southern hemisphere, tropical areas and the high Arctic tundra along side native species. The Elizabethan Maze (one of only six in North America) provides year-round fun.

19) UBC Botanical Garden located at the University of British Columbia covers 110 acres and includes an Alpine, Asian, Native, Food, and Japanese Gardens. http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org There is also a treetop walk which is great for “fit” explorers who are not afraid of heights – however I would not recommend it for anyone who has any mobility issues. Also these gardens are not as well maintained as I would expect a botanical garden to be!

20) Enjoy a FREE walking tour of Vancouver. The Gastown tour starts in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and ends at the statue of Gassy Jack in Gastown. The Downtown tour starts at the Vancouver Art Gallery and ends at the Olympic Cauldron. The China Town tour starts at the Vancouver Art Gallery and ends at the Chinese memorial statue. All of these tours start at 11am. The Granville Island Tour starts at 3pm at the bus stop just at the entrance to Granville Island. Check these tours out at http://www.tourguys.ca The Tour Guys have added an afternoon walking tour of Granville Island and 2 evening tours….

21) A new addition I have just found for the FOODIES in the gang! Check out 2 companies that offer food tasting tours http://www.foodietours.ca and http://www.offtheeatentrack.ca – both offer an excellent tour http://www.foodietours.ca visit much more high end restaurants in the heart of the west end of Vancouver while http://www.offtheeatentrack.ca concentrates on more casual eateries in the historic original section of Vancouver! (Gastown)

I just enjoyed Foodietours “Guilty Pleasures Gourmet Tour” and was very impressed with the organization, quality of restaurants & refreshments, guides knowledge of foods and the eateries we were visiting as well as the area we were walking in. Felt it was excellent value for the money provided you did not spend the extra $20. For the alcohol! This company also offers a tasting tour on Granville Island Public Market and of the Vancouver Street Food Carts.

As for Off the Eaten Track - this company offers culinary tasting tours of various areas of Vancouver. This company has now expanded and offers a brunch tour and a dinner tour. I did the Railtown Urban Eats tour and it was Fabulous! This tour would blend well with the free walking tour offered by http://www.tourguys.ca … you could easily do the free walking tour and then meet up with this tour company for this tour for your lunch - the food is plentiful & wonderful you will not leave this tour hungry!

 

 

 

 

 

Vancouver has a bunch of hop-on hop-off buses

 

http://www.vancouverpinkbustours.com/

 

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/tours/hop-on-hop-off

 

http://bigbus.ca/home/

[xlxo]

We are sailing this month on our first RCCL and first Alaska cruise on RC Jewel of the Seas and departing from Vancouver. So we will be arriving around 5pm and our hotel is downtown. Any suggestions on what to do in Vancouver? Also, what time should we get to the port? Should we plan to do anything in the morning?

A 5pm airport arrival means 6pm hotel check-in. You'll just have enough time for a good dinner, Fly Over Canada and a walk around the downtown. You need to serious look at revising your itinery to have more days in Vancouver to appreciate a port bigger than all the Alaskian ports combined.

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With regards to when to get to the port.... depends on....

• what is your PAT or boarding time? Typically between 11am to 2pm.
  
• typically luggage are accepted 11am or a little earlier...
  
• how important is the welcome lunch trough on the ship to you... especially when they close early afternoon and you paid for it.
  

[DannyDisneyFreak]

A 5pm airport arrival means 6pm hotel check-in. You'll just have enough time for a good dinner, Fly Over Canada and a walk around the downtown. You need to serious look at revising your itinery to have more days in Vancouver to appreciate a port bigger than all the Alaskian ports combined.

txO8VK4LaLQ ZLL6du--lQA vIvtsz1b60Q Gcyt8Xdvsgs

 

 

With regards to when to get to the port.... depends on....

• what is your PAT or boarding time? Typically between 11am to 2pm.
  
• typically luggage are accepted 11am or a little earlier...
  
• how important is the welcome lunch trough on the ship to you... especially when they close early afternoon and you paid for it.
  

 

 

We won't have anymore time in Vancouver than stated. Understandable that it is a very short time but Vancouver isn't the destination for this trip. I'm just want to have a plan to make most of our short time there.

I didn't think about lunch to be honest.

[Cornishpastyman1]

We won't have anymore time in Vancouver than stated. Understandable that it is a very short time but Vancouver isn't the destination for this trip. I'm just want to have a plan to make most of our short time there.

I didn't think about lunch to be honest.

Hi Danny, I did this in a similar situation to you. All the best, Tony

 

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[CowPrincess]

>SNIP< You need to serious look at revising your itinery to have more days in Vancouver to appreciate a port bigger than all the Alaskian ports combined.

>SNIP<

 

I agree that Vancouver and area are worth visiting for several days. For many of us, though, vacation time is limited. Adding extra days just isn't a viable option for many cruisers.

[DannyDisneyFreak]

I agree that Vancouver and area are worth visiting for several days. For many of us, though, vacation time is limited. Adding extra days just isn't a viable option for many cruisers.

 

 

Even if I wanted to add extra days I already have my flight booked coming in, the cruise isn't going to wait for me, and we disembark in Seattle. I don't have the option to reconsider my time in Vancouver.

[4cats,1dog]

We did the Capilano suspension Bridge the morning of our Radiance cruise. There is a free bus/shuttle from various hotels downtown. The first one was 9:00 am. We had plenty of time to see everything then went back to hotel to check out and head to the port just in time for lunch!

Have a great time.

[Cheryl H]

We are planning to take the free shuttle to Capilano also. We get to Vancouver a little earlier than you do. We are staying at the Pan Pacific. Planning to walk over and see the Olympic torch, and maybe walk up to Rogers Chocolates.

 

We have a post-cruise city tour booked with LandSea Tours. I believe they do pre-cruise tours too. Looks like it is 10:00 to 2:00 so as long as you don't mind missing lunch on the ship, you could take in some sights with them.

 

You will love the Jewel of the Seas. The Radiance class is our favorite class of RCCL ships.

 

Enjoy!

Edited May 7, 2015 by Cheryl H

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We are staying at the Blue Horizon Hotel at 1225 Robson Street

[4774Papa]

A fellow cruiser told me about a cheaper way to see the Canadian Rockies than the Rocky Mountaineer.

 

It was the Skeena

https://www.greatrail.com/trains/skeena-train-canada/

 

It leaves from Prince Rupert.

 

Has anyone done this? I cannot find much on the internet about the cost, etc.

[zqvol]

We are sailing this month on our first RCCL and first Alaska cruise on RC Jewel of the Seas and departing from Vancouver. So we will be arriving around 5pm and our hotel is downtown. Any suggestions on what to do in Vancouver? Also, what time should we get to the port? Should we plan to do anything in the morning?

 

 

With the amount of time you have about all you can do is wander around downtown. If you had a couple of days the other suggestions are excellent.

 

You should probably head to the ship no later than 11:00 which means that all you really have time to do is wander town and go to breakfast. If you want to wait and board the ship closer to 2:00 you can go to Stanley park.

[martincath]

A fellow cruiser told me about a cheaper way to see the Canadian Rockies than the Rocky Mountaineer.

 

It was the Skeena

https://www.greatrail.com/trains/skeena-train-canada/

 

It leaves from Prince Rupert.

 

Has anyone done this? I cannot find much on the internet about the cost, etc.

It's probably the VIA Rail Jasper-Prince Rupert train they mean (which travels along the Skeena river).

 

I'm sure the train itself is a bargain compared to Rocky Mountaineer - VIA offers a rather no-frills Coach class, whereas Rocky is basically fancy or fancier service - but Prince Rupert makes the ass end of nowhere look like downtown central.

 

Unless you plan to ride the train both ways from Jasper - and even then you still need to get there from Edmonton or Calgary - you're looking at loooooooong ferry rides (Alaska ferries provide better service, for cheaper, than BC ferries if memory serves), expensive & infrequent planes (as in about the same price as flying to the East Coast from Vancouver), or driving a looooooooooooooooooong way (it's almost 1000miles from Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver by road...) to get to Prince Rupert.

 

I'm confident that any total cost basis will work out in favour of Vancouver and the RM unless VIA pay you to ride the train;-)

Edited May 7, 2015 by martincath
Added link

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We are staying at the Blue Horizon Hotel at 1225 Robson Street

 

 

So if we wanted to head over to Gastown and/or Chinatown would it be wise to do so on foot? Is there and option for public Trasportation?

[xlxo]

Assuming you are coming from the cruise terminal or Pan Pacific....

 

Gastown has you walking along Cordova and Water streets. A few panhandlers. Then again numbers increase during the tourist season.

 

Chinatown itself is OK.... however walking there may be uncomfortable crossing Hastings and some segments of the Downtown East side. Few handlers, but expect to see more drug users.

 

Of course everyone's comfort level will be different when approached by panhandlers depending on where they are from.

[tx_jackie]

Great suggestions so far! We are in a similar situation. We arrive in Vancouver the evening before our cruise and are looking for a place to have dinner that evening and some activities for the morning before boarding. Since all four of us are working and maximized our vacation days for Alaska, this is unfortunately as much time as we'll have in Vancouver. Sometimes it's just not possible to see and do it all.

[Langley Cruisers]

We are staying at the Blue Horizon Hotel at 1225 Robson Street

 

Excellent choice!! Did you pay a little extra for a higher floor? It is SOOO worth it! :)

 

We did the Capilano suspension Bridge the morning of our Radiance cruise. There is a free bus/shuttle from various hotels downtown. The first one was 9:00 am...

 

You are very brave, in my opinion, to do this on embarkation morning. :D I would not be comfortable doing this, but that's just me. Embarkation in Vancouver can be a bit of a headache; I would actually recommend getting to the port earlier than later, as there is pre-clearance for US Customs to go through and it can be a bit of a bottleneck. Just my suggestion, of course.

 

.

[4cats,1dog]

Excellent choice!! Did you pay a little extra for a higher floor? It is SOOO worth it! :)

 

 

 

You are very brave, in my opinion, to do this on embarkation morning. :D I would not be comfortable doing this, but that's just me. Embarkation in Vancouver can be a bit of a headache; I would actually recommend getting to the port earlier than later, as there is pre-clearance for US Customs to go through and it can be a bit of a bottleneck. Just my suggestion, of course.

 

.

 

you go through customs at the airport. The cruise port was security and check-in.

We did the first shuttle @ 9:00am to Capilano Bridge. We stayed about 2 hours. Saw everything. We were back at Hotel for checkout around 11:15-11:30am

We were on the ship by 12:30.

No problems.

Lynn

[xlxo]

Great suggestions so far! We are in a similar situation. We arrive in Vancouver the evening before our cruise and are looking for a place to have dinner that evening and some activities for the morning before boarding.

 

To clarify... Which hotel are you at so we can target suggestions to your location?

[Langley Cruisers]

you go through customs at the airport. The cruise port was security and check-in...

 

When embarking on an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver, one goes through pre-clearance of US Customs at the pier. This can be very long and a bit frustrating, especially if you arrive later in the day, say after 1 pm. That's what I was saying - just a heads up, really. :)

[DannyDisneyFreak]

To clarify... Which hotel are you at so we can target suggestions to your location?

 

 

Blue Horizon Hotel at 1225 Robson Street

[xlxo]

Form the Blue Horizon... I would walk East to see one of the many restaurants along Robson street for dinner. If the evening is early, walk down to the nearby cruise terminal to catch Fly Over Canada before it closes at 9pm.

 

If there isn't time, you might be able to catch of of the early shows pre-cruise.

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Form the Blue Horizon... I would walk East to see one of the many restaurants along Robson street for dinner. If the evening is early, walk down to the nearby cruise terminal to catch Fly Over Canada before it closes at 9pm.

 

 

 

If there isn't time, you might be able to catch of of the early shows pre-cruise.

 

 

Fly Over Canada; is that like a motion simulator ride? I'd love that but my wife gets motion sickness from those.

[tx_jackie]

To clarify... Which hotel are you at so we can target suggestions to your location?

 

We are staying in the Holiday Inn nearest the cruise terminal.