Vancouver answers from a Vancouverite

[SUBWAYMIKE]

We will be in Vancouver for 2 days pre-cruise in September and our daughter wants to spend one day going to Butchart Gardens and Victoria. I saw that tours from Vancouver are very pricey and was suprised that the ferry doesn't leave from either city but docks far from town. Any ideas?

 

Last visit to Vancouver we spend a wonderful day driving to Lynn Canyon park and then on to Whistler. On the way back to Vancouver we stopped at a park with a great waterfall. I would love to repeat this but our daughter is pushing for Victoria.

 

Mike

[vickie_bernie]

We will be in Vancouver for 2 days pre-cruise in September and our daughter wants to spend one day going to Butchart Gardens and Victoria. I saw that tours from Vancouver are very pricey and was suprised that the ferry doesn't leave from either city but docks far from town. Any ideas?

 

Last visit to Vancouver we spend a wonderful day driving to Lynn Canyon park and then on to Whistler. On the way back to Vancouver we stopped at a park with a great waterfall. I would love to repeat this but our daughter is pushing for Victoria.

 

Mike

 

A day trip to Victoria is a great idea, but it will be a very long day!! You can catch the ferry to Victoria from Tsawassen. PCL tours also offers day trips with their bus, which I would recommend. http://www.pacificcoach.com/

 

You can also take local transit when you get off the ferry once you arrive on Vancouver Island, there is a bus to Butchart and then you can take a bus to Victoria. Here is the link http://www.transitbc.com/regions/vic/

 

My personal thought is unless you can go over to Victoria for at least an overnight trip I wouldn't do it. Especially because you want to do Butchart too, and then Victoria and they are about a half hour drive apart, maybe longer depending on traffic.

 

September is my favorite time here, still nice weather but cooler. less crowds too. Also it would be very disappointing to go to Victoria and do the gardens if the weather was rainy.

 

I think a day trip to Grouse, Lonsdale Quay for lunch and shopping, and maybe a stop at Capilano Suspension bridge would be a great day. Buy a transit day pass $9 each and enjoy.

 

Another great day trip might be head down to Steveston in Richmond walk around, have a nice lunch of fish and chips.

 

If someone is coming during the last two weeks of August until Labour Day our National Exhibition is going on and is a short bus ride -- definately take transit as parking is a pain. www.pne.ca

 

If your daughter is really into gardens, you could check out Queen Elizabeth Park http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/parks/queenelizabeth/ -- Van Dusen Botanical Garden is very nice and has a wonderful restaurant http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/parks/vandusen/ and there is another great garden a bit further afield call Minter Gardens, you really need to rent a car for this one. http://www.mintergardens.com/minter.htm

 

I am sure there are many more ideas, hopefully my fellow Vancouver friends can come up with some.

[Putterdude]

Thanks everyone! Wonderful advice.:D The bus it is. The picture is great Vickie. I can't wait to visit.

 

Are you all excited about the 2010 Olympic games?

 

You are most welcome!

You bet the vast majority of Vancouver and Whistler people are excited about the 2010 Winter Olympics and the detractors are the baiscally those same types who didn't want Expo 86 either although it proved to be the best then to come along in decades and it put Vancouver on the world stage. The opportunity to host a World Exposition or an Olympics is a once in a life time opportunity and the benefits of same are currently being felt if only thru full employment at this very moment and the legacy of the games will be felt for years afterwards. To my knowledge there is not a city that previously hosted an Olympics that wouldn't jump to do it again.

I think it is a wonderful opportunity and I am sure that the Vancouver communities and Whistler will prove themselves to be wonderful hosts to the world.

[Urban trekker]

Speaking of the Olympics I drove up Whistler way to check out the new Whistler Olympic Park which will be the home for the biathlon, cross country skiing and ski jumping competition and they have done a good job in building this facility - it will after the games open up an entire new area for recreation including cross country and mountain bike.

 

You can check out the site here:

 

http://www.whistlerolympicpark.com

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

Quite right Ut, we had a very quick glimpse at it in mid-May when we were up there. Plus didn't I read that the Thunderbird Arena at UBC was just opened last week, way ahead of schedule. As I recall, the Olympics were the catalyst to get going on the long overdue Canada Line to the airport and of course the very badly needed up grades to the Sea to Sky Hwy. And what about you at the Giant's games at the Pacific Coliseum are you luxuriating in the upgrades there for the Olympics yet, if not when?

[CA Dave]

Arrive by air Friday at 2pm, board ship at 1PM Sat. What to do? We are at the Hyatt on Burrard. After reading the boards and exploring online I see that Vancouver is a city I would like to explore for several days. Unfortunately we only have one afternoon and one morning.

 

Walking is not a problem. What about the $9 transit pass? Will that cover both half days? What should we not miss? I aasume we should stay close to downtown? We like history, city life, gardens, the ocean, 'diners, driveins and dives' type food (not as a regular diet!), site seeing/people watching. I'd better quit, it's starting to look like an on-line dating ad. Thanks!

[judynorth]

Arrive by air Friday at 2pm, board ship at 1PM Sat. What to do? We are at the Hyatt on Burrard. After reading the boards and exploring online I see that Vancouver is a city I would like to explore for several days. Unfortunately we only have one afternoon and one morning.

 

Walking is not a problem. What about the $9 transit pass? Will that cover both half days? What should we not miss? I aasume we should stay close to downtown? We like history, city life, gardens, the ocean, 'diners, driveins and dives' type food (not as a regular diet!), site seeing/people watching. I'd better quit, it's starting to look like an on-line dating ad. Thanks!

 

Granville Island would be a great place to spend the afternoon (or perhaps morning, but it would be tight). You can people watch, enjoy the waterfront, try some of the interesting food, and explore the market - lots of fun. You can get there on the Aquabus for $2.50 pp each way.

[vickie_bernie]

Arrive by air Friday at 2pm, board ship at 1PM Sat. What to do? We are at the Hyatt on Burrard. After reading the boards and exploring online I see that Vancouver is a city I would like to explore for several days. Unfortunately we only have one afternoon and one morning.

 

Walking is not a problem. What about the $9 transit pass? Will that cover both half days? What should we not miss? I aasume we should stay close to downtown? We like history, city life, gardens, the ocean, 'diners, driveins and dives' type food (not as a regular diet!), site seeing/people watching. I'd better quit, it's starting to look like an on-line dating ad. Thanks!

 

Day pass is great if you are travelling a lot on transit. Regular fare is $2.50 for 90 mins. So you would have to do 4 trips in one day to make it worth your wild to get a day pass. If you are just touring around that afternoon just pay as you go. Day passes are good from first bus to last bus in the same day.

 

I would recommend, stanley park, walk up Denman, down Robson (great shopping, and people watching) -- that would be your afternoon.

 

Dinner at one of the many restaurants recommended on this thread.

 

Next morning, I would visit Granville Island, thing get going there around 10 am, you can take the ferry over called the Acqua Bus http://www.theaquabus.com/ you could even have breakfast there. Back to the hotel to grab your stuff and then onto the ship, and enjoy the cruise.

[Putterdude]

I have started a thread on the Alaska board re the power outage in downtown Vancouver so if Ut , V&B or anyone else have any updates you may care to post them there.

[Urban trekker]

Thanks PD - will check out that thread - by the way did you lose power the other day when that sudden wind storm hit the Sunshine coast.

 

FYI - your old hotel had power this afternoon yet across the street was affected.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

No, actually I had my old Wednesday golf partners up for 36 holes on Thursday so while we were buffeted by the winds and the balls went every which way but straight the power did stay on. We live in an area with underground services and we have a former BCH guy in the neighbourhood who has made sure that we are circuited in such a manner that it would be a pretty serious event for us to loose power.

[JerseyJT]

Thanks PD - will check out that thread - by the way did you lose power the other day when that sudden wind storm hit the Sunshine coast.

 

FYI - your old hotel had power this afternoon yet across the street was affected.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Dennis - Do you know if the Residence Inn has power? We arrive on Friday.

[Urban trekker]

Yes they do - the outage this morning is more towards the Waterfront and Gastown - repairs are now being made and they hope to have the about 1100 people and businesses affected with power later today. The Residence Inn never lost its power. I know from news report that the Pan Pacific is affected and that Canada Place is using aux power/generators to keep Port operations running.

 

Hope you enjoy your coming visit - the weather will be sunny and warm - temps in the mid 70's.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[JerseyJT]

Yes they do - the outage this morning is more towards the Waterfront and Gastown - repairs are now being made and they hope to have the about 1100 people and businesses affected with power later today. The Residence Inn never lost its power. I know from news report that the Pan Pacific is affected and that Canada Place is using aux power/generators to keep Port operations running.

 

Hope you enjoy your coming visit - the weather will be sunny and warm - temps in the mid 70's.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Thanks for the info. Feel alot better knowing that the hotel has power. We sail out of Ballentyne on Saturday. Has that pier been affected at all?

 

Weather sounds good. We can't wait to see your beautiful town.

[Putterdude]

It doesn't seem that the port itself has been to badly effected but the Pan Pacific and Fairmont's Waterfront were impacted. As of noon half of the power was on and the balance they are forcasting by tomorrow night. Traffic lights are being operated by generators and the full transit system is up and running.

[Urban trekker]

On Monday the port had to bring in extra people to help with the embarkation process as it had to be done manually but the ship still sailed at 5:30PM so it was pretty much on time.

 

Walking through downtown today there is still an area that is affected - it now looks like it will be Wednesday morning before everything is back to normal - the fire basically ruin 14kms of cable - all that has to be repaired.

 

Jersey - I see that you are sailing out of Ballentyne Pier - they are to the east of the outage and haven't been affected.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[vickie_bernie]

Wow is all I can say about the power outage --- and thank goodness I didn't have to drive my bus down there yesterday or today.

 

All transit runs that drove thru the area were affected by the traffic due to lights being out - but they are now being run by generators. Routes were running a half hour late! Thankfully the trolly buses that run on overhead electricity were not affected as the power to those line comes from an independent sub station, but they would of been affected by the traffic.

 

The wind that came thru last week was sudden and caused one of my big deck umbrellas to break.... oh well could of been much worse.

[Oakview]

I am looking for reputable limo services to take 5 of us from the Amtrak Station to the Westin Grand on Robson St. and to Ballantyne the next day in September. Can anyone offer some input?

 

Also, what are the local Vancouverites opinion on the Westin Grand and it's location?

[isles1]

I am looking for reputable limo services to take 5 of us from the Amtrak Station to the Westin Grand on Robson St. and to Ballantyne the next day in September. Can anyone offer some input?

 

Also, what are the local Vancouverites opinion on the Westin Grand and it's location?

We liked Limojet Gold. We used their service from the airport to the Hampton Inn Downtown. We found the driver to be very courteous and the towncar was immaculate. They also offer limos for a bit more money. http://www.limojetgold.com

 

You can check their website to see if they have rates from Amtrak to Downtown. The airport to Downtown in a towncar was about $40 CAN with taxes. They do offer transfers from hotels to cruise piers, but it will likely cost you 3-4x as much as a cab, depending on the route.

 

By the way, if you have not already been there before, the Westin Grand is a beautiful property. We stayed there post cruise in an Executive Suite on the 31st floor (top). I highly recommend upgrading to an Executive room on the 30th or 31st floor. The view is great! The cost to upgrade is $40-80 p/n, depending on the room and includes full breakfast (hot and cold) in Aria, the hotel's restaurant. Breakfast alone is $20 p/p for Continental, so it's worth it in that sense. You can e-mail me at isleshockey at gmail dot com and I'll give you the contact info for the reservations manager...she helped us with the upgrade from a basic, Starwood Award stay room.

 

Have a great trip!

[Putterdude]

I argee with everthing the Isles 1 has said. Limo Jet Gold is the "offical" limo company of the airport and a good operation. Amtrak comes into the Pacific Central Station which is much closer than the airport and I would think the fare would be <$25.00. The Weston Grand is a great hotel, even as locals we stay there from time to time if we are stuck in the city. They may offer a shuttle to the port.....I know the Weston Bayshore Inn does.

[Oakview]

Thank you both for the replies. I am looking forward to the Westin Grand, it looks beautiful in the pictures.

 

Unfortunately, LimoJet doesn't have anything large enough to accommodate 5 plus the luggage. I'm researching because it would be less worrisome to know we have transportation in place upon arrival. If we took cabs we would probably need 3 so looks like limos are the way to go.

[Putterdude]

Sorry about Limo Jet Gold, here is another one that I am familiar with that might be worth a try as they do have stretched limos.

http://www.starlimousine.com/

[Oakview]

Puterdude,

 

Thanks for the additional help on Limo service. I just e-mailed Star asking for a quote. I decided to have all the Limos in place after a less than pleasant experience with transfers through the Cruise Co. last year in Hawaii. No one told us what or where to get our transfer at disembarcation so I ended up paying for a van cab to the Moana. The day we left for the airport O called the number on the tickets and got a voice that when sked for a cab to the Moana replied, "we're in Gretna, LA." Funny thing is, I'm from Metairie, a N.O. suburb across the great Mississippi River from Gretna!

 

So I decided to have limos at each place needed that I have the number and if they're not there I know whom to call.

[Putterdude]

Wow that is quite a story....no wonder you want things pre-arranged. If Star dosen't work out there are other limo services which you can find by doing a google search "Limo Search, Vancouver"; it is just that I have not had any experience with the others.

By the way have you thought of phoning the Weston Grand and seeing if they will pick you up in a shuttle van. The station is less than 10 mins from the hotel?

[Oakview]

You know I had not contacted the Westin. Seattle Sheraton doesn't have shuttle service so I guess that stuck in my mind that most hotels don't have shuttles. I shall do that tonight. I like one outfit in Seattle but have YVR and San Diego to arrange. When one travels with 4 other women everything must be "discussed". I'm one of those people who can consider all angles and make decisions very easily and quickly but not two of the others. Thanks for the reminder.

 

By the way, an apology for getting your call name wrong. DUH ! I didn't even pay attention to the picture of the golf cup and was thinking of the shortened term for "computerdude". My b-i-l is a golf fanatic and has had every piece or part you can name surgically fixed or removed and the one thing that keeps him going since his first heart attack in his early 40's has been the question, "When can I get back on the golf course , Doc?" My husband didn't play much after the kids came along, it was never a passion for him. It is a great passion and sport one can do for your entire life.

 

Thank you again for the hint.

 

Jean