Alaska Sojourn: Coral Princess cruisetour, Alaska Railroad, Radiance of the Seas

[EmpressofPurple]

Greetings my CruiseCritic friends and family!

 

I am writing this blog-style trip report of our three-week Alaskan adventure on the Princess board because that is where our journey began... but we ended on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas, so I will post a link on the RCI board to this review as well.

 

To give you a brief review of the background and timeline:

 

1) The players:

 

Me! Denise H., known here as the Empress of Purple, lifelong New Yorker and frequent cruiser... lately mostly on RCI, but originally mostly on Princess (though going back to Carnival and the Big Red Boat when my kids were little). I had never been to Alaska before, finding the added cost of flights from NYC usually higher than the cruise itself, not to mention the cruisetour and shore excursions (especially as a single parent paying for 3). Now that my kids are grown, I treated myself to this special trip with a roommate...

 

Denise S., known here as DKNYC, also a lifelong New Yorker and frequent cruiser (although she has cruised a wide variety of lines, including Cunard, Celebrity, and coming soon, Azamara). In fact, we met here on CC, then onboard the Explorer Repo to Port Canaveral a couple of years ago... found out we lived near each other in the city, and became great friends. I have shared cabins and cruised with other CC friends in the past, and this was another great success -- good thing, since we have three more cruises planned together in the next year! DKNYC had been to Alaska on Holland America many years ago, but weather prevented glacier viewing, and there was no land portion on that trip, just the cruise itself.

 

We are the same (certain) age, both still working hard to pay for our cruising habit. We both enjoy good food and seeing new sights, and tend to avoid adrenaline-junky activities (i.e., no ziplining, ATVs, etc.). I do not drink alcohol, so I leave any bar reporting to DKNYC; she leaves the information about the gym, active outings (hiking, biking, snorkeling, etc. --although I didn't do any of those on this trip!) to me. DKNYC left her lovely jack russell terrier behind in a fancy doggie hotel (probably cost more than the cruise), and besides my two (grown) kids, I left behind three cats, one very elderly and ill who lasted just long enough to say goodbye to me upon my return (sniff, goodbye dear Cookie).

 

The itinerary:

May 13-4: NYC to Vancouver

May 14-21: Coral Princess Northbound (first sailing of the season)

May 21-24: Princess Cruisetour EA4 (Talkeetna, 2 nights Denali, Fairbanks)

May 25: Alaska Railroad Fairbanks to Anchorage

May 26: Bus from Anchorage to Seward

May 27-June 2: Radiance of the Seas Southbound

June 3-4: Vancouver to NYC

 

The activities:

Vancouver #1: Capilano Suspension Bridge, Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus, 5-mile run over Cambie Bridge

Ketchikan #1: Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

Skagway #1: Rental Car, Drive to the Yukon, Emerald Lake and Carcross

Juneau #1: Harv & Marv 6-person whale watch

Glacier Bay and College Fjord scenic cruising (Princess)

Talkeetna: On-property nature walks & presentations

Denali:Tundra Wilderness Bus Tour

Fairbanks: Sternwheeler Riverboat Tour

Alaska Railroad 12-hour trip Fairbanks to Anchorage

Anchorage: Anchorage Museum Tour

Seward: Kenai Fjords Boat Tour (my favorite excursion of the whole trip)

Hubbard Glacier scenic cruising (Royal Caribbean)

Juneau #2: Mt. Roberts Tramway, Mendenhall Glacier Bus, souvenir shopping

Skagway #2: National Park Service tours of local sites, local bus riding

Icy Strait Point: Toured local museum displays, souvenir shopping, nature walk

Ketchikan #2: Public bus to Totem Bight State Park and Saxman Totem Park, Alaska Discovery Museum, souvenir shopping

Vancouver#2: Brunch with cruise friends heading out on Radiance for a B2B, public transit to 6-mile run around Stanley Park, and West Van Run 1-mile race on departure morning

 

We worked on this itinerary for months, comparing different cruiseline tours, DIY options, looking at the private tours, etc., etc. One of the things I love about getting to visit with highly cruised people is learning from their experience. Every trip I took for the past two years, I interviewed everyone I met who had been to Alaska, seeking detailed information. One piece of advice I remembered from years ago was to be sure to do a land trip in conjunction with the cruise, since you weren't sue you'd get back to Alaska, and having paid for the airfare, get as much out of the trip as you could.

 

The itinerary was partly decided by the need to do a one-way northbound or southbound cruise, while trying to avoid the cost of open-jaw airfare. While we couldn't return on the same cruiseline (because that would mean either two weeks on land and a month-long trip, just too long... or NO land trip at all) we COULD do a 4-night post-cruise cruisetour after the northbound Coral Princess, take care of ourselves for 2 nights, and connect with the Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas heading southbound just six days later... and fly roundtrip from NYC to Vancouver!

 

We purchased the airfare from Philippine Air the day it came out, and it was a great price -- and at the time, great flight times, too, getting us into Vancouver in the early afternoon, and returning late at night on a red-eye. As you may surmise, they changed our flight times, flipping it around so we ARRIVED in Vancouver at 3:30 in the morning... and had to leave mid-afternoon, cutting short our last day in that lovely city. Oh well, it all worked out very well any way... and we got two free checked bags with them, too, critically important when you have to pack for all weathers.

 

For those of you looking for a quick, brief note of Alaskan activities, tours, sights, etc. -- please look elsewhere! This review is not for you. For those who enjoy a leisurely, vicarious cruise and land tour with a chatty, opinionated guide, happy to share personal views and experiences, where we went, what we ate, who was with us, animals we saw, trips we took, etc, etc. -- then welcome aboard!! Be forewarned... in my word processor, the original notes are over 30 pages long (and will be much longer once I fill in the abbreviated phone notes)... you will be getting a LOT of detail. I took a lot of photos on my cell phone which I will share in this trip report, and I took fairly detailed daily notes on this laptop... for the first seven days. After that, the days were so full, I would send myself an email from my phone with shorthand notes of our activities and sightings! Hopefully I can fill out those notes a bit as I refer to the photos, and give you a sense of each day as it went by.

 

A couple of notes: after this experience, I will never again travel where I spend just 1 night in a location, 2 would be an absolute minimum and 3 is preferred, especially if there is travel time from place to place. While we had a great time at each lodge, I would have much preferred to have at least 2 nights at all of them. Yes, time is limited, and we were trying to squeeze in a lot of sightseeing, but it was exhausting and unpleasant, even with your bags being handled for you on the Princess leg.

 

Also, I had specifically wanted to travel with Princess because I had heard they were the best outfit to travel with in Alaska. Even though the cruisetour was a bit pricey, when we costed out doing that portion DIY (i.e., traveling from one location to another, renting a hotel for a night) their prices were comparable or better to doing it on your own. I also really appreciated their handling the luggage transfers on a daily basis. HOWEVER... having now done the Princess cruisetour, I do NOT feel it is make-or-break to having a great Alaskan experience. The lodges were much less elegant and well-appointed than I anticipated; in fact, they didn't have basic amenities I have come to expect at even lower chain hotels, such as coffeemakers, fridges, microwaves, wi-fi. They were very basic, nice lodgings, with great locations... but there were other hotels right nearby which could definitely compete with them, and now that I feel more confident about traveling on my own, I would consider doing the entire land portion DIY. That being said, the Princess leg was terrific, as you read in the attached detailed notes.

 

Just to whet your appetite, I'll post a few Alaska photos in this post... going forward, I will add them as they enhance the activities being described.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EmpressofPurple]

FRIDAY, MAY 13 - DAY #1 – TRAVEL AND PRECRUISE IN VANCOUVER

Departing at 8:30 pm, my daughter and I emptied the minivan of its usual contents (folding bike, picnic cooler, disposable shopping bags, yoga mats, emergency workout bags – swim, yoga, run) and loaded my four (yes, four) bags into the back seat: the two checked bags would be my giant rolling bag (carefully weighed to be under 50 lbs.), small hard sided rolling bag filled with various liquids (toiletries, nutritional supplements, bug spray, air freshener, laundry soap, etc., etc.), and my two carryons, a small rolling bag with two days’ worth of clothes and my laptop in the center, plus a nifty new underseat bag that also happens to have two wheels and a telescoping handle, so in case the airline gate-checks my rolling bag due to overcrowded conditions, I can roll the little bag onboard! (that one holds all my travel paperwork, vitamins, and in-flight necessities, such as kindle, needlework, travel kit with inflatable neck pillow, soft socks, eye mask and earplugs, second travel kit with face and hand moisturizer for dry airline cabin air, travel meds, and various personal care items, etc.)

 

About an hour before departing, I thought we might want some snacks at the airport (even though our flight was technically from 12:30 am to 6:30 am, a time when I am not usually eating) so I packed a quick bag of food: 2 x two mini bagels with cream cheese and lox… a hard boiled egg… a small bag of cherries… a small bag of popcorn… and a plain donut. (Yes, I did manage to eat all of this in the airport between 9:30-11:30 when we started boarding, even after having ordered in Chinese food for dinner with my daughter before we left at 8:30… my travel companion nibbled on hers over two days, and still has some leftover I believe). I put all this in a plastic bag, since you can bring a bag of food onboard in addition to your two carryons… but then I put it into a small insulated bag (from our one Disney cruise, actually!) and I was glad to learn my travel companion only had one carryon, so she just carried the insulated food bag on as her second bag. I also had my insulated water bottle (an amazing metal bottle that keeps iced drinks cold even in the 105 degree temperatures of a Bikram Yoga class) in a carrier that also holds my vitamin case, but I keep the water bottle empty until we get past security in the airport.

 

I had spent the week prior seeing to many obligations before this trip: the usual laundry, room cleaning, house cleaning, etc… plus wrapping up a number of items at work, and setting things up for the person who would be covering for me while I was away on this three-week trip… plus attending an unexpected funeral for the death of my dear uncle, which happened the day before I already had a day scheduled off of work (so missing two days in a row the week before the trip). And what was I doing that day? Hosting Jeff Galloway, the founder of the national marathon and half-marathon training program I belong to in NYC. I picked him up at the airport, brought him to the YMCA for a full day of activities: a seminar on running till you’re 100, demonstrations on the indoor track, leading a fun run along Hudson River Park, and then serving as keynote speaker for the kickoff of our local running club, Galloway NYC. I’m the webmaster and on the leadership team for our club, so I was also busy taking photos for the website, facebook page, etc. in addition to presenting on our social media connectivity, website updates, and other club benefits. Then, of course, we had our first group run that Saturday, and Sunday was Mother’s Day, so even the pre-travel weekend was packed!! It was hard to catch up from those two missed days at work; I had to skip my usual 5-hour work-study + class at my Bikram Yoga studio, which I hated to miss since I knew I wouldn’t have time to take a class on the short week before we left on the trip… and I had just completed a 30-day challenge in April (where you take 1 class per day, every day, for 30 days) so I was really in the swing of the Yoga thing… sigh…

 

Anyway, I did manage to wrap things up at work so I could take off Thursday for personal care and final household stuff: washing and putting away the last batch of laundry (including all those running clothes), cleaning my room, packing a few final items I had gathered between Sunday and Thursday to add to my already overfull FOUR bags, and at last a nice afternoon at a local spa, getting a gel manicure (which in my experience does indeed last 2-3 weeks), a pedicure, a chair massage, an eyebrow wax, etc. I usually prefer to do this all a day or two before traveling so I can tend to any fix-ups, but alas no time for that this week!! I got to spend the morning with my son while doing the laundry; he works at night, so we wouldn’t get to say good-bye later in the day. He also stopped by the salon to say farewell on his way to work.

 

Walking back from the salon I stopped at the grocery to lay in some groceries for the kids (I live together with my two adult children who can easily run the house on their own, but it was easy for me to pick up the basics for them, and we were completely out of milk, eggs, juice, bread, coffee creamer, so why not? That’s how we do things, with each of us pitching in as we can. I just got an email that my daughter’s boyfriend successfully fixed our dishwasher which was leaking… we’ve been washing dishes by hand for the past few weeks waiting for the part to arrive… but of course, the dishwasher is still pretty much disintegrating, so we do have to consider a new appliance purchase in the next year… sigh, there goes another cruise…)

 

Back to travel stories: Leaving at 8:30, we picked up my daughter’s boyfriend (who would driving us to the airport) and then my travel companion and good friend, who I will refer to by her CC name of DKNYC – why? Because we are both named Denise, and that gets confusing!! We live about 40 blocks apart in Manhattan and enjoy each other’s company on land as well as at sea. We actually met on a cruise, the Explorer repo in 2014 from NYC to Orlando (although we had “known” each other via CC even earlier). This is our first time sharing a room and traveling together, but I have had many positive experiences traveling with CC and cruise friends in the past, and given our frequent outings in NYC – including to the theatre, dinner, and even a 10-hour movie marathon – I’m pretty sure we will get along famously. We loaded her three bags into the trunk, and set off for JFK.

 

The ride to the airport was uneventful (well, except for the usual NY area traffic) and we arrived as planned at 9:30 for 11:30 boarding. Ariel and Tom took lots of photos of us at the airport entrance with our bags, and we wandered into the unfamiliar Terminal 1 at JFK to search for Philippine Airlines. As mentioned in my intro, we had booked these tickets THE DAY they opened up last year, snagging a great rate under $500 for a round trip to Vancouver. HOWEVER, about a month after we bought them, Philippine Airlines flipped the travel times on their head, so rather than leaving Friday around noon and arriving around 3:30pm, we were leaving “Friday” at 12:30 AM (i.e., slightly after midnight on Thursday night) and arriving at 3:30 AM!!!! (Also, on our return, rather than having a full day in Vancouver and flying out overnight on the redeye to arrive on a Sunday in NYC, we will lose most of our last day in town and fly out at 2:00pm to arrive late Saturday night.) Oh well. There really were no other affordable options by the time they made that change, so we just updated our travel plans accordingly and adjusted our expectations.

 

So… we went to our assigned gate, found seats… and they announced that our flight had moved from gate 5 to gate 3 (that’s after it had already changed from gate 7 which was what we had printed out on our tickets when we checked in at home). So we moved to gate 3, joking about how it was like the movie “Airplane!” – “now leaving from gate 2… gate 3… gate 4…” with the characters running along inside the terminal to follow the plane outside… and no sooner had we settled in at gate 3 when they announced we were back at gate 5!! Well, we decided to relax, eat some of our snacks, and head over when it was closer to boarding.

 

Denise had researched the plane layout, and stayed up until 12:15 the night before to select our seats (so we didn’t have to pay extra to pick our seats earlier)… and she got us two great seats, towards the rear of the plane. While most economy rows had three seats, this row just had two, and we a little extra “air” on either side of us. Of course, the plane was fairly empty, and if we had wanted to we could have moved into an empty four-row in the center of the plane and taken a nap! I put on my inflatable neck pillow, eye mask, enjoyed the provided blanket (!!) and pillow (!!!) and fell asleep… only to be awakened by the steward shortly thereafter for a meal! At one a.m.!! And not being one to miss a meal, I did wake up to enjoy some beef lasagna (vs. a Filipino fish dish), a pasta salad (some pasta with your pasta?) a roll with butter, and some red velvet cake. Cute plates and cups. After eating, I promptly fell back asleep. Apparently DKNYC stayed up and watched some TV.

 

Denise & Denise at the airport

 

On the plane (sorry so fuzzy)

 

Ooh, blankets!

 

Ooh, dinner! (The lasagne was actually pretty good)

 

Landing in Vancouver at 3:30 am

 

Thanks, plane

[EmpressofPurple]

Vancouver Airport and Hotel Transfer

Despite a delayed takeoff due to late arrival of our plane, we still arrived in Vancouver early, around 3:15 a.m. We leisurely exited the plane with our carryons, enjoyed a beautiful first nations display in the airport, headed down to the luggage carousel to collect the rest of our bags (using the free luggage carts!!) and went out to get a taxi. We then returned to the airport to ask the information desk if there was a shuttle to our hotel, but there was not, so we went back to the taxi line. Flat fare from the airport to the downtown district was $31; we paid $35 total with tip (would’ve been $37 if we’d had a twonie…)

 

Beautiful Vancouver Airport

 

In the airport museum -- hey, we look pretty chipper for 3:30 am!

 

Free luggage carts!! Thank you, Vancouver, how civilized. In NYC they're $6.00 apiece... grrr....

 

And boy, did we need them...

 

More First Nations artwork in the information area

 

(Ugh, wish I could make these photos smaller somehow...)

[EmpressofPurple]

We arrived at the hotel around 4:00 a.m. and asked if there were somewhere we could rest until heading out to the Capilano Suspension Bridge to arrive when it opened at 9:00 a.m. Alas, no rooms would be available until checkin later in the day, but we were welcome to sit on the couches in the lobby, and breakfast would start shortly at 6:00 a.m. We enjoyed some lobby coffee (coffee coffee coffee became our catchphrase in Vancouver) and headed up for breakfast at 6:00 a.m.

 

Breakfast was the standard Hampton Inn fare: the flip waffle maker, a covered server with eggs and Canadian bacon (hey, we’re in Canada)… I also had some cut fruit (honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple – just like on a cruise! – plus some orange slices, and I added some sliced banana too) and took a mini yogurt and a bran muffin for snacking on the road. Plus juice and more coffee coffee coffee.

 

 

Yeah, we had a lot of bags...

 

 

Relaxing in the comfortable lobby

 

 

Ooh look, they have free running meetups at this hotel! (of course, not on any of the days we're staying there...)

 

 

Stylish breakfast area

 

 

Nice spread

 

 

Hearty fare for a full day ahead

[catwoman6226]

Hi Denise! I don't usually post 'thank-you' comments for reviews, but I am thoroughly enjoying yours so far, and want to encourage you to keep up the details! I'm definitely a 'more is more' when it comes to reviews. I knew I'd like your posts after the first verbiage but when I saw your initial pictures, and the mountains and the lake.....I was hooked.

 

Ahem, I also emailed my usual travel companion and told her Alaska has to be our next destination!

 

Looking forward to reading more.

[MomtoCCC]

Looking forward to reading this as well! :)

[AF-1]

I love waffle makers; and thanks for getting us excited about your cruise. Nice pics of Alaska.

[EmpressofPurple]

Thanks, catwoman, I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we did!

 

Capilano Bridge

We headed down to the lobby at 7:00 am to meet with the hotel shuttle driver and book an 8:00 transfer to Canada Place where we would pick up the first free shuttle bus to Capilano Park at 8:30, hoping to be there before the part opened at 9:00 am. Reading up on this was very wise; we had heard that the park got very crowded later and on weekends, hence we decided to go on Friday, and to try to be there as early as possible. And indeed, there were still a dozen people there ahead of us (they had come through private transportation) and with that many people on the bridge, it was quite bouncy!! Alarming and beautiful and exciting. The views over the treetops, hundreds of feet high, was breathtaking. Despite the unusual sensations, there was no real danger, just nervous-making.

 

 

Beautiful early morning views at Canada Place while waiting for the free shuttle to Capilano

 

Totem Poles in the Convention Center at Canada Place

 

 

On the bus to Capilano... while onboard, we purchased our Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus tickets (with a $2pp coupon from the hotel)... and since we didn't start using them until after 12pm, they were good for the next day, too! We did NOT purchase our Capilano admission tickets on the bus, however, since they couldn't honor the $3pp coupon (also from the hotel) -- for that we had to purchase our tickets at the entrance to the park.

 

 

On the way to Capilano, we drove through beautiful Stanley Park... more photos of that on the way back, and from my run on our return trip to Vancouver in nearly three weeks.

 

 

We were very impressed with the parking skills of the bus drivers who squeezed their large vehicles into the tiny parking lot next to this admission area. Tickets are not cheap, but well worth it, even just for a morning visit like we had. Lots of activities and entertainment, as you will see.

 

We rushed through the great historical displays and totem park at the entrance to the park so we could get to the bridge before it got too crowded... although as you'll see in the next post (only 6 pix per post on CC alas) it was already quite full!

[EmpressofPurple]

 

First view of the bridge... whoa...

 

 

Steep steps to enter the bridge

 

 

We're out here! You can tell DKNYC is a bit nervous... she purchased a well-earned "I survived the Capilano Suspension Bridge" t-shirt at the end of our day here!

 

 

Look at the river waaaaay down below

 

 

About to climb the steep steps at the far end and exit the wobbly bridge

 

 

We made it! Now look at all these things to do on the far side...

[EmpressofPurple]

Hi Momtoccc and AF-1 (I love flip waffle makers too!)

 

Thanks for reading along. You see how long it's taking me to do each post, by the time I get it up there are two new comments I missed!

 

Alaska was amazing. It was a hard decision for me to travel there, aside from the expense: to me, cruising is about relaxing in warm weather. How could it be a cruise if it's COLD?!? (My cruising experience is pretty much limited to the Caribbean... I haven't had the good fortune yet to do Europe, the Baltics, or exotic destinations...)

 

But as you will see, this is a unique and special travel destination. I actually enjoyed the land travel as much or more than the cruises (though as noted in my initial comment, next time I would try to spend at least 2-3 nights at each resort).

 

Okay, on with the photos and stories from Capilano!!

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

At the far side, we started following the crowd to look at the fish ponds, but then decided to go the other direction before that got too crowded. There was a “Treetops Adventure” which sounds harder than it is: imagine multiple tiny suspension bridges high in the trees overhead, with the same stairways at each end, attached at the trunks to large circular platforms. The feeling was very much like a level of the old game of Donkey Kong!! A wonderful adventure. The weather was amazing, too, and by this time I was getting quite warm, walking on these narrow walkways from tree to tree.

 

 

Treetops Adventure from below...

 

 

Stairs up to the canopy

 

 

I took selfies at almost every stop... there were dozens of tiny suspension bridges hanging between the trees... such fun!

 

 

Here you can see the two bridges connecting to the platform in the background...

 

 

Here you can see the narrow stairs up and down to the bridges...

 

 

I'm glad we went early, and ran straight to the bridge, and then straight to the treetops adventure... this is one of the only photos while I was up there where there was another person on the bridge near me... I'm sure later it got very crowded...

[EmpressofPurple]

I thought DKNYC had taken the lower path, called “Nature’s Edge Boardwalk” so I headed down that… down and down and down, realizing I would have to climb back up and up and up at some point… but again, just amazing views, this time off into the same gorge that the giant suspension bridge crossed… ultimately this route came out at the far end of the fish ponds we had left at the beginning, so I got to see everything. I went back to the start, and it turns out DKNYC had been there the whole time, looking at the scientific displays (which also sound fascinating).

 

 

Entrance to the Nature's Edge Boardwalk

 

 

Beautiful trail in the forest, clinging to the side of the cliff

 

 

Great views of the bridge from this perspective

 

 

And the river way down below...

 

 

The trail ended back where we began, by a tranquil fish pond (which we had rushed away from the crowd there so I could do the Treetops Adventure before it got too crowded).

 

 

One of the many beautiful, informative and creative scientific displays that DKNYC enjoyed while I was off on my adventures...

[EmpressofPurple]

We then headed back across the giant suspension bridge – the only way back to the start – swimming like salmon upstream, against the late morning crowds that were arriving by that time. I can only imagine that this attraction became more and more crowded as the day went on. We browsed the gift shop, and I found an outlet next to a giant stuffed bear in a Mountie uniform where I could charge my phone, which had died after dozens of photos on the bridge, treetops, and nature’s edge walks.

 

After I had enough charge to take pictures, I headed off to do the cliff walk: a series of pathways suspended from the side of the mountain, over huge gorges. While the walkways were solid, and had chest-high netting all around them, the stairs up and down were open underneath, and I kept saying to myself, “don’t drop the phone! Don’t drop the phone!” I had been using my selfie stick, which gave me a little extra reach for shots including myself, as well as nature shots, like a handheld tripod (or unipod as it were).

 

There were a number of platforms along the cliff walk, some solid, some metal grating, and some transparent. These truly left you with your heart in your throat as you looked out over the abyss. There were beautiful waterfalls, and lovely flowers and trees everywhere. I came back to the beginning, passing beautiful ponds and plantings, disappointed to realize that I could have been getting stamps at each site to show I had been there. Oh well, a great reason to go back to Capilano again one day!

 

 

Heading back... I did NOT get a photo at the narrow exit stairs, where we had to wait to get off the bridge due to the influx of people arriving!

 

 

Mountie Bear

 

 

Entrance to Cliff Walk

 

 

Stairs!

 

 

On beautiful curved walkway suspended from the cliff

 

 

"Don't drop the phone, don't drop the phone"

 

(More cliffwalk photos in next post)

[EmpressofPurple]

 

Glass platform

 

 

Standing on glass platform, curved walkway in the background (and heart in my mouth)

 

 

"Don't drop the phone, don't drop the phone..."

 

 

Waterfall and pool in background over triangular platform

 

 

Exit stairs -- "Don't drop the phone, don't drop the phone..."

 

 

Exit stair selfie

[EmpressofPurple]

 

Passport stamper... I wasn't about to go back over the suspension bridge, back up to the treetops, back out to nature's edge, to get a full set. Sigh.

 

 

Waterfall at end

 

 

Lovely stone bridge

 

 

Throughout the cliffwalk, there are signs and information about the power of water

 

 

Lovely waterwheel garden at the return to the gift shop

 

 

Views of the circular walk from above

[EmpressofPurple]

Once I returned, we took turns sitting and watching our charging phones, and shopping in the gift store, with 10% off any full-price purchases thanks to our hop-on, hop-off tickets. (As noted above, we had purchased the hoho bus tickets on the shuttle to Capilano, utilizing the $2 off coupon that we had been given by the check-in clerk at the Hampton Inn; we couldn’t pre-purchase the Capilano entrance tickets with the $3 off coupon in advance, however, only at the park itself.)

 

I got a piece of salmon jerky, some maple candy, ice wine candy, 3 magnets… and a soft Vancouver ¾ sleeve soft t-shirt on sale! (so no 10% off of that) A three-piece band started singing and playing on the back porch, and I unplugged my phone to take pictures of them, plus some other staff in turn of the century costume.

 

 

Beautiful flowering trees

 

 

Old-timey music on the back porch

 

 

I might have done a little shopping...

 

 

Local characters

 

 

You know I had to get in on the act!

[EmpressofPurple]

After shopping, charging our phones and taking selfies with the cast, we went to the rest room, then walked back to the entrance of the park, where we had rushed past displays and totem poles to get to the bridge as quickly as possible, and enjoyed the displays.

 

 

 

 

 

Rats, another stamper...

 

 

Great interactive historical displays

 

 

Fierce faces

[EmpressofPurple]

Before we left we had some iced coffee coffee coffee at the Capilano coffee company, and exited the park to catch the free shuttle back to the Westin Bayshore, where we could pick up the Hop-on Hop-off bus while enjoying some beautiful scenery.

 

Of course, we just missed the free shuttle… but another showed up shortly. The driver was a cheerful and energetic woman who gave great tour info as we drove down from Capilano. We always tried to leave a loonie or a twonie for all of our shuttle and trolley drivers. She left us a block from the Westin, and gave us directions on how to walk to the hotel (which we had stopped at on the way up to the park).

 

 

 

Coffee coffee coffee

 

 

Driving back over the Lionsgate Bridge

 

 

Our shuttle driver was like a tour guide to the city, funny and informative.

 

 

Downtown glass towers.

Edited June 26, 2016 by EmpressofPurple

[EmpressofPurple]

The sights on the water were so beautiful we walked past the hotel parking lot to take pictures of the snow capped mountains rising above the marina, the flowering trees, etc., etc. … and of course, just missed the trolley coming into the hotel parking lot. So we sat down to relax, and I walked back up the block to the funny coffee shop we had just passed, “Breaking Bean,” with the same logo as the show Breaking Bad, where I bought yes, iced coffee coffee coffee (with an extra cup of ice, to extend the drink) and two oatmeal raisin cookies for 99 cents! DKNYC and I shared the coffee and the cookies, and before you know it the trolley had arrived.

 

 

 

Beautiful views

 

 

Urban marina

 

 

Coffee coffee coffee

 

 

We caught the trolley!

 

(grrr, some of my photos are not uploading, I don't know why...)

[Planning is Half the Fun]

Reading your post is great fun! We're going in 56 more days. I hadn't heard about those stamps - glad for the warning at Capilano. And my husband would like to know if the Breaking Bean place had any merch - that's right up his alley!

[EmpressofPurple]

You will have a great time! Yes, get the stamps at each location at Capilano so you don't have to backtrack (or, like me, not bother) -- and go as early in the day as your schedule permits. Are you doing the Hoho bus, too?

 

Don't recall merch at Breaking Bean, but it's probably there... I took the exterior photo for my daughter who was a Breaking Bad fan... and then when we missed the trolley went back for the coffee (which was amazing).

[jd019]

Loving this detailed review!

[EmpressofPurple]

 

Lovely foliage

 

 

Giant tree

 

 

A whole family fits inside!!

 

 

Grabbed a quick photo of the lion overseeing the Lion's Gate Bridge!

 

 

Nice shot of the bridge from this perspective, too

 

 

Runner's statue... Vancouver Skyline... Canada Place... Floating gas station!

[EmpressofPurple]

So much to see here!!

 

 

"Woman in Wetsuit" (to avoid copyright infringement of Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen!!)

 

 

Chinese Dragon

 

 

Teahouse

 

 

Pauline Johnson Memorial

 

 

Totem Poles

 

 

Horse-drawn carriage

[EmpressofPurple]

jd, planning, so happy you are enjoying!

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We enjoyed the tour around all of Stanley Park (where I planned to run the 6-mile course around the seawall on our return trip to Vancouver in 3 weeks) and on to the false creek ferries, where we had a free ticket to Granville Island. We exited the trolley and walked out to the ferry dock, taking the 5 minute ride to the island. There we saw dozens of buskers, playing and entertaining crowds on the street and throughout the food markets.

 

 

Beach with inukshuk

 

 

Our hop-on/hop-off trolley

 

 

False Creek Ferry dock

 

 

Ferry Info poster

 

 

All aboard!

 

 

We're on our way... on the five-minute ride...

[EmpressofPurple]

We walked past fresh fruit, meat, pastry, bread, and cooked foods of every variety. Though unique with its selection and high number of street performers, it was also reminiscent of other similar food markets such as Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, or the Amish market in Philadelphia, or the food hall in Saint John, New Brunswick. (Can you tell I love food markets like this?)

 

 

 

Buskers!

 

 

Food, glorious food...

 

 

Pastries

 

 

Mmmmmeat

 

 

Beautifully piled-up fruit