Not-quite-Live < limited > cruise journal: QE (Q427) Alaska cruise: 10 night, 30 Aug – 9 Sep 2024 plus Vancouver pre & post

[mking8288]

Temple for prayers.  For religious faithful, this is apparently consider a must visit when in town, we stopped by this impressive Buddism temple on Steveston Hwy, 15 minutes drive from Richmond central, near the Steveston Village ... next to a # of local farms, yes - fresh grower's vegetables and fruits, etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Similar and like reflection ponds, assorted backdrops, indoors and outdoors, for praying offered - 

 

 

 

 

 

P

 

 

[mking8288]

EV are popular here and charging stations are easily spotted ... apparently, like this one, solar powered in Richmond, British Columbia

 

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[mking8288]

After checking out popular Asian food court options at the Lansdowne Mall, now a flagship for the T&T Supermarket chain founded in 1983 by an immigrant Taiwanese women with help from the husband, which also has Subway ( 🙄 huh !!!) and KFC Dinner tonight ... ignoring Tim Horton and IHOP.  We drove the "neighborhood" and decided, time for Cantonese dinner and not pizza. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Jetlag bugs sneaking up again, 8 PM and 6,000 steps, and even the adult nieces were sleepy again - I am the only night owl awake.

 

Tomorrow morning, we'll leave our guesthouse at 9:30, after the local morning rush hour commuter traffic, and head into the city of Vancouver to East,  North & West Vancouver to see the totems poles, come back via the Lions Gate Bridge and then see Stanley Park & Seawalls. 

 

High rise apartments (flats) and condo units surrounding Grandville Island & waterfronts. 

 

 

 

 

Warning - guard your food when outdoors, especially pizza, seagulls will dive in and snatch it from above 😉

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[dexddd]

19 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Good late morning, yes this B&B is as described and after a mostly restful night of sleep, jetlag and nothing rolling or rocking ... awake and found a Keurig in the gallery (kitchenette)  A light home breakfast till the girls wake up and then we'll be out of here to start our all day tour, stopping at Grandville Island, lobster rolls 😂 and sample the smoked salmon.

 

 

More pre-cruise photo stories later. 

 

Strong & fast WiFi here "free" of course (included) hahaha 🤣 

No beans?

[dexddd]

Seem to be spending lots of time at Food Republic.

 

Back in lower 48, headlines 'Turbulence In The Air' as UA FA vote to strike.  You might want to look at that 30+ day trip after yours to get home.  I saw you ran map driving west, do you have it in reverse?  Maybe take penalty and keep van to get home, drive and sustain, for your convenience of course, itinerary changes made based on customer's input.  No fuel saved.

Edited August 29 by dexddd

[mking8288]

 

Good morning, from homebase away from home in Richmond, BC. and 8:15 AM local time, 14 deg. C or 57 deg F.  We start our QE Alaska cruise tomorrow. 

 

Nice, sunny & beautiful day ahead. Another good night sleep to ease jetlag. It's DIY light breakfast ... baked (reheated) the goodies a little too much, plus coffee. Should leave to go north into the city around 9:30

 

 

Internet speed check - Shaw is cable ISP at the guesthouse, pretty good.  Google Fi / T-Mobile 5G here is blazing fast. Telus 3G on a backup mobile line isn't bad either.

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Plans & routings - morning rush hour is 7 to 9 AM, traffic is typically heavy.

 

Canada Place terminal is about 40 minutes from here, similar to the drive from YVR airport.  Sun-Yat Sun Park in old Chinatown is almost the same on a different, easterly route & passing thru Queen Elizabeth Park. Stanley Park at the Totems Poles is close to 1 hour. 

 

[mking8288]

5 hours ago, dexddd said:

... Turbulence In The Air' as UA FA vote to strike ... might want to look at that 30+ day trip ... take penalty and keep van to get home, drive and sustain, for your convenience of course ... changes made based on customer's input.  No fuel saved.

🤔 Hmmm, would beans from Costco suffice for your convenience? Otherwisez I will report back by breakfast onboard this Saturday 😁

 

For real, I read it's Air Canada too ? which we almost booked but I hate flying the non-stop from EWR.  Well, if it happens - we'll have a good claim thru Allianz travel insurance and coverage might just cover the extra one-way Hertz rental & other expenses.  It will be a hell of a long 5 to 7 days going thru middle America on a cross country, unplanned adventure.  We'll deal with that when it ... 

 

The 2 girls are WFH on 9/11 and they can remote from the minivan if worst come to worst, it's manageable - very comfortable ride, practically brand new with no even 2,000 miles on the tires.  Then, will be Denny's and McDonald's along the routing and maybe Cracker Barrel's or Shake Shack 

 

 

 

FYI - Cunarders, the “for your convenience” line is familiar to regular NCL cruisers used to unforeseen circumstances & changes. Utterly, mostly BS to sail & sustain 😉

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[mking8288]

We are off, on a abbreviated day tour of the City of Vancouver - Queen Elizabeth Park drive-by, Chinatown & then using Hwy 1 to Lyons Canyon Park.

 

1st stop 

 

 

Continuing north

 

[*Miss G*]

4 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Lyons Canyon Park.

 

Do you mean Lynn Canyon?  I love it there. 

[mking8288]

Oops, auto-correct ...Fat & sticky fingers keying in a quick post.  Thanks. 

[mking8288]

Chinatown - quick photo walking tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[*Miss G*]

37 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Oops, auto-correct ...Fat & sticky fingers keying in a quick post.  Thanks. 

 

I’m just excited you’re going!

[dexddd]

@mking8288

I don't know if I have any other pictures of my one and only time on Cunard, but this was an example of the nightlife at the time.  Very memorable cruise.  May your cruise be as memorable.

 

I do seem to recall black Russians costing about $2.50 cash.

 

Sorry about it being wrong rotation, I could not get it to come onto CC the right way.

[mking8288]

Next 

 

First - pit stop, photos to come 

[mking8288]

What a great lunch we just had, heading to Lonsdale Quay for another stop, then Stanley Park via Lions Gate Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, this - 

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[techteach]

Looking forward to hearing about Stanley Park. I was there in 1968. Do you think it’s changed? We’re sailing QE Vancouver to San Fran in about 2 weeks and staying at the Westin located next to Stanley Park. I’m really enjoying your posts and love having all of your friends join in.

[NE John]

12 minutes ago, techteach said:

Looking forward to hearing about Stanley Park. I was there in 1968. Do you think it’s changed? We’re sailing QE Vancouver to San Fran in about 2 weeks and staying at the Westin located next to Stanley Park. I’m really enjoying your posts and love having all of your friends join in.

If I might chime in from recent visit - Stanley Park is one of the finest parks in North America. Check out the Rose Garden, hopefully they’ll be some late summer blooms still there. The air is also so clean around Stanley Park so walk around the shoreline walkway overlooking the bridge. One can spend a day in that park. 

[mking8288]

Lynn Canyon Park & Suspension Bridge - photos batch 1 of 2 

 

Parking fees applied, QR code or via the app. About CA$7 for 2 hours on Apple Pay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Lynn Canyon - photos, set 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Lynn Canyon - HD 1080p video clip ... best watched on a fast internet connection 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Beautiful day for a hike! Thanks for the food pics.

 

[mking8288]

Lonsdale Quay SeaBus Terminal & harborview of skyline in North Vancouver  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traffic !   Heading to Stanley Park next 😁