Help. Vancouver. Ship docks at 7, husband has MUST attend Zoom at 9

[caymancouple]

Any ideas?  Regent docks at 7am.  Husband has a must attend, ( Like we are canceling if he can't have good internet to lead the meeting) Zoom meeting.  Any ideas to make this work?  Thanks

[martincath]

Even if it's a full disembarkation on a busy day, rather than a port stop with perhaps just your ship, it will be trivially easy for your hubby to get off the ship and find some internet.

 

The only issue I see is if the Zoom call is something that requires 'secrecy' from random Vancouverites - while I doubt matters of national security would be involved, corporate info perhaps? Basically, if DH would be willing to discuss the same topics on a cellphone call, he'll be fine without spending a penny - but if he'd want to be inside a locked room where nobody can overhear he'll have to spend some money!

 

There is free internet at Canada Place itself, although the port authority are cheapskates so the signal may struggle to maintain a video call - especially if there are lots of folks all getting off ships around the same time, booking Ubers, calling home etc. etc. The free city-provided network is better - and much more widespread, even including decent coverage throughout many of our parks. This broadcasts everywhere as an open connection named #VanWiFi - I know that many people managed live video chats during the Pandemic, when witnessed tests by official observers were needed to board, and a lot of them were done on the city and Canada Place networks in a short space of time for all the folks who didn't do their research and schedule them in hotels, before leaving home etc.

 

So personally I would take a wander either to the top deck of Canada Place or along the Seawall (weather dependent, not much shelter on CP but there's a huge covered swathe of Seawall and sidewalk a block away at the Convention Centre West building). Check for signal strength, and unless you get unlucky there should be somewhere with at least a bench to sit on!

 

Don't mind spending a small sum, like buying a coffee? Every cafe that doesn't have completely open internet will give you the WiFi code if you make a purchase. Personally I'd never take a call inside a cafe, but I've certainly seen more than a few 'Starbucks Laptop Campers' ignoring social mores and obviously having meetings in a room full of other customers! Fortunately, there are outside tables (and again, Seawall under the convention centre offers you a couple of options without the worry of being rained on).

 

Lastly, if this is a 'nobody should overhear me!' situation then you're in luck - as well as the obvious 'book a hotel room' option (there are some day rooms around, generally swankier hotels though, so you might actually pay less by booking a cheap hotel for the night than paying for a few hours in a fancy room) we are a city with a metric buttload of 'book some office space' options, and many are easily walked to from the pier - Gastown is, believe it or not, a bit of a tech hub!

 

There are ad hoc AirBnB type services like Peerspace - taking advantage of the fact that many office buildings still have only a third of their staff back in person on any given day to use 'real offices' by the hour - as well as dedicated 'shared office space' with desks, pods, rooms etc. through the likes of WeWork (who have three buildings downtown within ~10mins walk, with actual room space as cheap as $15/hour/seat the room holds, e.g. this one).

 

In short - this is not going to be a problem in the slightest, so you and hubbie can relax! Worst case he really needs to book somewhere for a super-secret call, you can do that in advance (and possibly claim back the expense from work!)

 

Edit - rereading your post, I noticed that this is a meeting your DH is supposed to be running - so I'd lean toward advance booking of a dedicated office space, especially if you really meant that you would cancel the cruise rather than have him miss this call! You can contact them in advance whether it's a WeWork or Peerspace office to find out details of the available tech, internet speed, etc. etc. - if it's a port stop or a self-disembarkation he could be in a downtown office by 8am with a full hour to prep, ensure his devices are hooked up and working etc. My wife has gone straight to work or a breakfast meeting every time we've disembarked in Vancouver, in all cases she's been sat there before 8am ready to go!

 

Second Edit - juuuuuust in case of a silly mistake derailing things, have you already accounted for Time Zones when you say the meeting starts at 9am? We're one or two hours behind Texas depending which part you're in!

Edited June 11, 2023 by martincath

[caymancouple]

5 hours ago, martincath said:

Even if it's a full disembarkation on a busy day, rather than a port stop with perhaps just your ship, it will be trivially easy for your hubby to get off the ship and find some internet.

 

The only issue I see is if the Zoom call is something that requires 'secrecy' from random Vancouverites - while I doubt matters of national security would be involved, corporate info perhaps? Basically, if DH would be willing to discuss the same topics on a cellphone call, he'll be fine without spending a penny - but if he'd want to be inside a locked room where nobody can overhear he'll have to spend some money!

 

There is free internet at Canada Place itself, although the port authority are cheapskates so the signal may struggle to maintain a video call - especially if there are lots of folks all getting off ships around the same time, booking Ubers, calling home etc. etc. The free city-provided network is better - and much more widespread, even including decent coverage throughout many of our parks. This broadcasts everywhere as an open connection named #VanWiFi - I know that many people managed live video chats during the Pandemic, when witnessed tests by official observers were needed to board, and a lot of them were done on the city and Canada Place networks in a short space of time for all the folks who didn't do their research and schedule them in hotels, before leaving home etc.

 

So personally I would take a wander either to the top deck of Canada Place or along the Seawall (weather dependent, not much shelter on CP but there's a huge covered swathe of Seawall and sidewalk a block away at the Convention Centre West building). Check for signal strength, and unless you get unlucky there should be somewhere with at least a bench to sit on!

 

Don't mind spending a small sum, like buying a coffee? Every cafe that doesn't have completely open internet will give you the WiFi code if you make a purchase. Personally I'd never take a call inside a cafe, but I've certainly seen more than a few 'Starbucks Laptop Campers' ignoring social mores and obviously having meetings in a room full of other customers! Fortunately, there are outside tables (and again, Seawall under the convention centre offers you a couple of options without the worry of being rained on).

 

Lastly, if this is a 'nobody should overhear me!' situation then you're in luck - as well as the obvious 'book a hotel room' option (there are some day rooms around, generally swankier hotels though, so you might actually pay less by booking a cheap hotel for the night than paying for a few hours in a fancy room) we are a city with a metric buttload of 'book some office space' options, and many are easily walked to from the pier - Gastown is, believe it or not, a bit of a tech hub!

 

There are ad hoc AirBnB type services like Peerspace - taking advantage of the fact that many office buildings still have only a third of their staff back in person on any given day to use 'real offices' by the hour - as well as dedicated 'shared office space' with desks, pods, rooms etc. through the likes of WeWork (who have three buildings downtown within ~10mins walk, with actual room space as cheap as $15/hour/seat the room holds, e.g. this one).

 

In short - this is not going to be a problem in the slightest, so you and hubbie can relax! Worst case he really needs to book somewhere for a super-secret call, you can do that in advance (and possibly claim back the expense from work!)

 

Edit - rereading your post, I noticed that this is a meeting your DH is supposed to be running - so I'd lean toward advance booking of a dedicated office space, especially if you really meant that you would cancel the cruise rather than have him miss this call! You can contact them in advance whether it's a WeWork or Peerspace office to find out details of the available tech, internet speed, etc. etc. - if it's a port stop or a self-disembarkation he could be in a downtown office by 8am with a full hour to prep, ensure his devices are hooked up and working etc. My wife has gone straight to work or a breakfast meeting every time we've disembarked in Vancouver, in all cases she's been sat there before 8am ready to go!

 

Second Edit - juuuuuust in case of a silly mistake derailing things, have you already accounted for Time Zones when you say the meeting starts at 9am? We're one or two hours behind Texas depending which part you're in!

Your post was a TON of help.  We are going with your recommendation of Peerspace.  2 very good options very very near the pier.  Thank you.

[martincath]

3 minutes ago, caymancouple said:

Your post was a TON of help.  We are going with your recommendation of Peerspace.  2 very good options very very near the pier.  Thank you.

No probs - that's why they pay me the big bucks! 😉