Vancouver answers from a Vancouverite

[mommybearx2]

Thank you for the info on how to get to the hotel. And yes, we are going through Toronto. Have copied and saved to my Alaska file which is becoming huge.

[scottbee]

Thank you for the info on how to get to the hotel. And yes, we are going through Toronto. Have copied and saved to my Alaska file which is becoming huge.

 

For a group of 14, if you're all arriving together, it would be worth getting in touch with a limo company and rent a small bus. If you google Vancouver Airport Limo, you'll find a number of companies. For example Aerocar's rate for an 8 person limo for an hour is $100. That's going to be cheaper than 4 taxis.

[Putterdude]

The Areocar rate per their schedule with YVR is $89 for a 8 pax limo and $66 for a 6 pax limo total $155 to which 12% tax must be added, the total being $184.80 plus a tip on top of that for the 14 persons . If four mini-cabs were needed @$35 each total would be $140 if only 3 were needed then the cost would be $105. The $35 rate should come very close to including a tip.

[norfolk53golf]

This one's for PD. My wife and I and two friends will be coming to Vancouver for 5 days prior to our cruise. My mate and I are mad golfers, he's a 13 capper and I'm 18. Which would be the best course to grab a quick 18 holes with reasonable green fees, club and motorised cart hire. We're booked into the Century Plaza Hotel and Spa and coming mid May 2013.

Thanks, David

Edited November 14, 2012 by norfolk53golf

[Putterdude]

This one's for PD. My wife and I and two friends will be coming to Vancouver for 5 days prior to our cruise. My mate and I are mad golfers, he's a 13 capper and I'm 18. Which would be the best course to grab a quick 18 holes with reasonable green fees, club and motorised cart hire. We're booked into the Century Plaza Hotel and Spa and coming mid May 2013.

Thanks, David

 

Virtually all of our public play courses will have cart and club rentals.

The very best municipal course in the Vancouver area would be Fraserview in southeast Vancouver, about a $25 cab fare from your hotel, but it is very highly utilized and can be hard to get on to. http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/fraserview-golf-course.aspx There are two other Vancouver muni's but with your handicaps you would find them a bit boring. Another thought would be the University Golf Club which would be again about a $25/$30 cab ride. http://www.universitygolf.com/

The two Burnaby municipal courses, Burnaby Mountain is notoriously slow to play and if we have a wet spring Riverway can be a bit soft. Cab fares would be in the range of $35 each way. http://www.golfburnaby.net/

You may care to think about Northlands in North Vancouver but plan on a $40 cab fare in either direction. http://golfnorthlands.com/

There are some great courses to the south of the city like Morgan Creek and Northview but if the green fees don't choke you the cab fare will.

I am hesitant to recommend going out to Richmond in mid-May as their courses can be soft in the spring, however here is one worth considering.

http://www.golfbc.com/courses/mayfair_lakes

[norfolk53golf]

Hi PD,

Many thanks for the info. All of you are great with the information you provide for us who will be visiting your fair city. Fraserview looks good and we will look at the others you mentioned as well. I would asume we could book a tee time at Fraserview. If you're free we would welcome a local to join us.

[Putterdude]

Hi PD,

Many thanks for the info. All of you are great with the information you provide for us who will be visiting your fair city. Fraserview looks good and we will look at the others you mentioned as well. I would asume we could book a tee time at Fraserview. If you're free we would welcome a local to join us.

 

You would need to book a time at Fraserview, as I recall they only accept tee times 7 days in advance but if you sent them an email explaining that you are coming from the UK they may accept one earlier for you. It is not likely that I will be in the city but thank you for the invitation. I was thinking after I did the previous post I could have come to my club, however it would be at least a $50 cab fare in either direction, a ferry fare, and 40 minutes in either direction on the ferry. I would pick you up on my end of the ferry and deliver you back to the ferry .... but all of this is rather impractical unless you want to make a day of it. If you want to explore this more send me an email to the address in my signature and I can provide additional details.

[norfolk53golf]

Again, thanks for that PD. We're actually Ozzies, not Poms, Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia. I will have a chat with my mate and get back to you. He is our club captain and I'm past captain, now sort of vice captain. I'm also an above knee amputee and I'm looking at contacting the BCAmputee Golf Association as well. Will be in contact soon.

[norfolk53golf]

Hi all, another question. The missus loves going to the outlet shopping centres, particularly when we have visited the States. I note that Queensborough Landing is an outlet centre. How far from Downtown is it and are there any other outlet centres around Vancouver for cheap shopping.

[scottbee]

Hi all, another question. The missus loves going to the outlet shopping centres, particularly when we have visited the States. I note that Queensborough Landing is an outlet centre. How far from Downtown is it and are there any other outlet centres around Vancouver for cheap shopping.

 

Queensborough Landing is a Skytrain ride [to 22nd street] followed by a bus ride [104,340 or 410], probably budget 50 minutes each way. However, you'll probably not find the bargains you might expect; most Canadians actually travel to the US to hit the outlet malls.

 

What kind of products are you looking for in your shopping? Metrotown (15 mins on Skytrain) is BC's largest shopping centre.

[Putterdude]

Again, thanks for that PD. We're actually Ozzies, not Poms, Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia. I will have a chat with my mate and get back to you. He is our club captain and I'm past captain, now sort of vice captain. I'm also an above knee amputee and I'm looking at contacting the BCAmputee Golf Association as well. Will be in contact soon.

 

First thanks for the geography lesson.:o

 

I think the idea of contacting the BC Amputee Golf Association is an excellent one. I suspect they will suggest that you stick with the Fraserview idea. With my club I can't guarantee that you will be able to take a cart onto to a fairway, it really depends on the kind of spring weather we have.

[Putterdude]

Hi all, another question. The missus loves going to the outlet shopping centres, particularly when we have visited the States. I note that Queensborough Landing is an outlet centre. How far from Downtown is it and are there any other outlet centres around Vancouver for cheap shopping.

 

Queensborough Landing is not a true outlet centre, it is more of a crossover of what is known in the shopping centre business as a power centre and an outlet centre. I have forgotten how far an outlet centre is normally located from retailers that carry their lines but QL would not qualify. Inexpensive shopping does not really exist in greater Vancouver, for a shopping experience I would be more inclined to focus on Pacific Centre which a regional shopping mall in the downtown core, Robson St. which is kind a rather trendy retail street downtown or if you want to go out to Burnaby then there is Metrotown.

[norfolk53golf]

Again, many thanks for all the information PD and scottbee. I will pass it on to the better half. It was a good excuse to getting a round of golf in while the wives shopped, but I'm sure we'll still manage it. I will get in touch with the Amputee Golf Association. No problems with the geography lesson. Not many Aussies know where it is either.

[Putterdude]

Given the fact we have DGC arriving in a few hours for the holidays, this is probably a good time to wish all posters and contributors to this thread a Very Merry Christmas.

 

Just a bit of trivia, we will be sailing with Vicki & Bernie who started this thread on the Emerald next month and Ut will be in Fort Lauderdale on January 26th to board the Grand for his epic cruise....and we will be getting off the Emerald on that day.

 

I note that CC has been shutting down some of the larger threads and this thread may well fall victim to the this policy soon...but let's hope not.

[remarcm]

Given the fact we have DGC arriving in a few hours for the holidays, this is probably a good time to wish all posters and contributors to this thread a Very Merry Christmas.

 

Just a bit of trivia, we will be sailing with Vicki & Bernie who started this thread on the Emerald next month and Ut will be in Fort Lauderdale on January 26th to board the Grand for his epic cruise....and we will be getting off the Emerald on that day.

 

I note that CC has been shutting down some of the larger threads and this thread may well fall victim to the this policy soon...but let's hope not.

 

Say it ain't so. This thread was a great help in planning our trip out of Vancouver on the Radiance next year. Would have never considered the Canada Line for transportation or coming a few days early to see the sights. As you say, let's hope not.

[cruzisme]

This is a great informative thread

Putter dude, you are awesome!

[SnorkelBabe]

Hi all. Thanks for this very informative thread. I've been reading and learning a lot but having just found it, I'm not able to get through the whole thing, so please forgive me if my questions have already been asked and answered.

 

My husband, I, and our two daughters who will be 10 and 15, will be spending two full days (3 nights) in Vancouver before our Alaskan cruise in July. We would love to visit Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge but wonder if we can fit them both into one day. We would want to have time to do the Eye of the Wind, zip line, wildlife refuge, and possibly the lumberjack show and a short hike at Grouse mountain. At Capilano, we'd want to cross the suspension bridge and do at least one, possibly both the cliff walk and the treetop adventure. How much time do you think it would take to do all this? Would we be able to do it in one day without completely wearing ourselves out? (We're pretty active people, but I have some foot problems that make it difficult to be on my feet all day).

 

Another question is, how do we know which pier our cruise leaves from, Canada Place or Ballantyne? I guess the cruise line will tell us in our welcome packet, but we'd like to know soon, so we can pick a convenient hotel, etc. We're on the Norwegian Sun and the cruise tt website says there are two ships in Vancouver the day we depart.

 

Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom. Also if you have any suggestions for other activities that might appeal to the typical teenager, please let me know.

[scottbee]

Hi all. Thanks for this very informative thread. I've been reading and learning a lot but having just found it, I'm not able to get through the whole thing, so please forgive me if my questions have already been asked and answered.

 

My husband, I, and our two daughters who will be 10 and 15, will be spending two full days (3 nights) in Vancouver before our Alaskan cruise in July. We would love to visit Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge but wonder if we can fit them both into one day. We would want to have time to do the Eye of the Wind, zip line, wildlife refuge, and possibly the lumberjack show and a short hike at Grouse mountain. At Capilano, we'd want to cross the suspension bridge and do at least one, possibly both the cliff walk and the treetop adventure. How much time do you think it would take to do all this? Would we be able to do it in one day without completely wearing ourselves out? (We're pretty active people, but I have some foot problems that make it difficult to be on my feet all day).

 

This shouldn't be an issue, they're quite close to each other. It makes sense to do Capilano and Grouse in the same day

 

Another question is, how do we know which pier our cruise leaves from, Canada Place or Ballantyne? I guess the cruise line will tell us in our welcome packet, but we'd like to know soon, so we can pick a convenient hotel, etc. We're on the Norwegian Sun and the cruise tt website says there are two ships in Vancouver the day we depart.

 

Port Metro Vancouver's website http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/en/about/cruiseandtourism/cruiselineschedules.aspx will show which port. Ballantyne is really just used for overflow a couple of times each year, but if there are four ships in town (or three large ships), they'll use Ballantyne

 

Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom. Also if you have any suggestions for other activities that might appeal to the typical teenager, please let me know.

[Putterdude]

SnorkleBabe, with all the activities that you have planned at both venues I would be inclined to recommend that you plan to spend the best part of day taking it all in. Incidental both venues operate a free shuttle service to/from a number of downtown locations during the summer season; you will find details on their respective websites.

Other activities that your children may enjoy would be some time in Stanley Park and particularly at the Aquarium. Other ideas would be Gastown, the Vancouver Lookout, a bit of shopping on Robson St. and a visit to Granville Island. Another thought would be to rent a car and drive to Whistler one day.

It would appear that that NCL's Sun will operate out of Canada Place on Mondays.....I hope that you enjoy Vancouver and your cruise. Please give me a wave as you sail by my home, I am about off the starboard side of the ship about an hour after you pass under the Lions Gate Bridge.

[SnorkelBabe]

Thank you both! I looked at the Port website and see that the Sun will be docked at Canada Place. Though now that we've looked at hotels, I'm not sure it makes much difference for us! We made a reservation at the Hampton Inn on Robson, it's not worth double the price to us to stay at Canada Place. :) Plus, it looks like there are several restaurants and public transportation nearby, so we think it'll be good for us.

 

Putterdude, we have a balcony on the starboard side, so we'll wave to you an hour past the Bridge.

 

I'll probably be back with more questions closer to our trip. Thanks again for your help.

[Putterdude]

SnorkelBabe; I am sure that you will enjoy the Hampton Inn and yes there are a number of restaurants close by. The free breakfasts and shuttle to the pier are also a bonus.

[SnorkelBabe]

SnorkelBabe; I am sure that you will enjoy the Hampton Inn and yes there are a number of restaurants close by. The free breakfasts and shuttle to the pier are also a bonus.

Yes! Also free wifi. :D

[Putterdude]

Yes! Also free wifi. :D

 

No question that is a win....it seems to me that often the high-end hotels after charge the big bucks then charge for wifi whereas the more moderately priced hotels don't.:confused:

[vbmom87]

I am having a hard time interpretting the Hop On Hop Off Trolley website. I emailed them with my question, but did not hear back. So, here goes:

 

I see on the website that the actual Trolley Tour of Stanley Park is limited to Summer, beginning mid-June. My question is does the regular Hop On Hop Off trolley run through Stanley Park throughout the year?

 

Thanks!

[Putterdude]

Yes the regular HOHO does run around the perimeter of the park and makes 4 or 5 stops in the park and is a completely different tour than the Stanley Park tour that operates during the summer and makes a dozen or so stops within the park.