Alaska on July 19th, 2011 "Where a good tan is hard to find"

[twinmom108]

For those staying in Vancouver before the cruise where are you staying?
I'm considering the following:
The Fairmont Pacific Rim
The Four Seasons
L'Hermitage Hotel
Fairmont Vancouver

Allen & I are going to be staying at O'Canada House a B & B in downtown Vancouver a few blocks from the port.

Disney Dreamin'
Sharon

 

[MrsG]

We booked Cathay Pacific out of JFK for $525 roundtrip to Vancouver. I remember pricing flights for July last year and the same flights on Delta, etc. were close to $1000 each and Seattle was over $600. When we saw the Cathay Pacific for that price (thank you - forgot who recommended them) we jumped on it. Not sure if they will be going up once the prices are released at 330 days for other airlines. The times weren't great - both red eyes, but it is just DH & I so we don't mind. We booked Fri night going and Fri night after the cruise coming home. The Fri night after the cruise had limited seats left, already. In fact, their original price for coming home on the Fri night was $622 but when we went to book it, it came in at $525. I'm guessing it will be going up soon, if that day is available. DH has to return to work that Mon and wanted a day or so to recoup.

 

[MrsG]

Allen & I are going to be staying at O'Canada House a B & B in downtown Vancouver a few blocks from the port.

Disney Dreamin'
Sharon

We booked Pan Pacific. The Fri and Sat nights were $320 CAD with AAA discount, but Sun&Mon were about $200. We felt that was high but booked it and figured we'd do more research and we could cancel. The more people will be booking, the higher the prices will go so we decided to get it done early, Well, we were shocked how much Marriott and other hotels (not in the same category) were in comparison. Marriott with AAA disc. was $360! And we are talking city view and 1 king bed (2 double beds). We checked out a few more and they might have been lower on the weekend, but were higher on the Mon and Tues so it averaged out the same. We also noticed that the DVC points for Vancouver were very high and it almost pays to pay with cash instead. So, I guess we'll stick with it for now.

 

[Schachteles]

We booked Pan Pacific. The Fri and Sat nights were $320 CAD with AAA discount, but Sun&Mon were about $200. We felt that was high but booked it and figured we'd do more research and we could cancel. The more people will be booking, the higher the prices will go so we decided to get it done early, Well, we were shocked how much Marriott and other hotels (not in the same category) were in comparison. Marriott with AAA disc. was $360! And we are talking city view and 1 king bed (2 double beds). We checked out a few more and they might have been lower on the weekend, but were higher on the Mon and Tues so it averaged out the same. We also noticed that the DVC points for Vancouver were very high and it almost pays to pay with cash instead. So, I guess we'll stick with it for now.

We need to look at Hiltons so we can use our Honors points.

 

["Got Disney"]

Note sure where we are staying yet but looks like it may be the Sutton Inn...hmmm not sure if that is the name I will have to check out my paper work that I have been gathering. There will be 5 of us so we need a suite...this hotel has that and a full kitchen also and a store down the street.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Hello all! It's been a rough couple of weeks around here, hope everything is well with you all.

Thursday will be 11 months until the cruise!! Would anyone like to do a chat night?? Let me know and I can post the link and password again to the chatroom I set up.

 

[Schachteles]

Hello all! It's been a rough couple of weeks around here, hope everything is well with you all.

Thursday will be 11 months until the cruise!! Would anyone like to do a chat night?? Let me know and I can post the link and password again to the chatroom I set up.

Sure does seem like you guys have hit a rough stop...hope that things get better REALLY soon!!

 

[manascarfan]

Hello all! It's been a rough couple of weeks around here, hope everything is well with you all.

Thursday will be 11 months until the cruise!! Would anyone like to do a chat night?? Let me know and I can post the link and password again to the chatroom I set up.

I would be interested Tom, just not available on weekends.

 

[MrsG]

Hello all! It's been a rough couple of weeks around here, hope everything is well with you all.

Thursday will be 11 months until the cruise!! Would anyone like to do a chat night?? Let me know and I can post the link and password again to the chatroom I set up.

Hope all is well, Tom.

Been very busy here as well. I think things will calm down once school starts (that seems weird but true) I'm trying to squeeze in everything I wanted to do this summer but playing with granddaughter seems to win everytime!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Here's the link again if anyone is interested in chatting tomorrow (11 MONTHS TO GO!!):

http://www.chatzy.com/444298696857

The password is the name of the state we're going to be visiting.

What time tomorrow is good??

 

[mouseclick1]

I am very excited to see that Delta has lowered its Detroit to Vancouver rates by almost $250 per ticket. Let's hope these rates are still around in 2 weeks when I can actually book my airfare!

Hope all is well with everyone!

 

[Schachteles]

I am very excited to see that Delta has lowered its Detroit to Vancouver rates by almost $250 per ticket. Let's hope these rates are still around in 2 weeks when I an actually book my airfare!

Hope all is well with everyone!

That is awesome!!! Hope it stays that way, that $250 adds up FAST!

 

[twinmom108]

I know it's 11 months away, but I booked our flight for the way out from Colorado Springs. We're going to fly into Seattle, spend a few days in Anacortes & the San Juan Islands before going up to Vancouver. Can't wait.

 

[mouseclick1]

I just made the switch from Fairmont Pacific Rim to Pan Pacific. I was OK with paying $323 for 2 nights at the Fairmont, but when I wanted to add another night (Saturday), it would have been an additional $389. I decided at that point to check out Pan Pacific and got a much better rate. I really had my heart set on the Pacific Rim, but I'm liking the idea of having a few extra $$ to spend in Alaska.

We have also decided to fly to Vancouver and back home from Seattle. This is really just to avoid a connecting flight, since nonstop to/from Detroit only happens on Saturdays, and we didn't want to stick around Vancouver that long. The flight that I have been eyeing is down to $470 r/t! So, we'll take the evening train down to Seattle, and spend 2 nights there before flying home on Thursday. Already have my Seattle hotel booked, too!

I finally feel like we have a solid plan! I'm just waiting until we can book the airline and train, and then I will feel completely official!

Good luck to everyone with your planning! It sure is crazy, isn't it??

 

[MrsG]

I just made the switch from Fairmont Pacific Rim to Pan Pacific. I was OK with paying $323 for 2 nights at the Fairmont, but when I wanted to add another night (Saturday), it would have been an additional $389. I decided at that point to check out Pan Pacific and got a much better rate. I really had my heart set on the Pacific Rim, but I'm liking the idea of having a few extra $$ to spend in Alaska.

We have also decided to fly to Vancouver and back home from Seattle. This is really just to avoid a connecting flight, since nonstop to/from Detroit only happens on Saturdays, and we didn't want to stick around Vancouver that long. The flight that I have been eyeing is down to $470 r/t! So, we'll take the evening train down to Seattle, and spend 2 nights there before flying home on Thursday. Already have my Seattle hotel booked, too!

I finally feel like we have a solid plan! I'm just waiting until we can book the airline and train, and then I will feel completely official!

Good luck to everyone with your planning! It sure is crazy, isn't it??

It does feel better when you decide what to do. Less than a year to go and so much planning to do. Once school starts next week, I'll only have school breaks to do any planning. Once the excursions are released the fun will really begin!

 

[jlawall]

That's just means we have to start ramping up our chat so that we can hit those milestones more often.

Agreed!

 

[jlawall]

Hope everyone is having a good summer. Hard to believe that in a year from this Friday we will be heading to Seattle to start our two week vacation!

I was thinking about starting a FE list of people. I have the itch to want to start planning so I need a general number (which I know will change).

So if you are interested in participating, please send me a message

Include us as well!!

 

[jlawall]

To celebrate the one year milestone, some of us in my small group are going to be chatting online this evening.

Would anyone like to join us??

We'll probably get going at around 6pm (PDT).

Here's the link:

Chatzy Chat Room

The password is the name of the state that we're cruising to (all lower case).

I joined in for this, due to a Facebook post!!!

 

[jlawall]

We have never done the Palo dinner, I think we are going to stick to the brunch! I hate thinking about scheduling a dinner and then missing something in the main dining room.

Brunch is great and so is the main dining room, but please give Palo dinner a try, you will not regret it!!!

 

[jlawall]

ES (Elizabeth Swan)Update!!! Parley!!!

manascarfan got the 1099th post and therefore earns an ES!!!

Every 99th post = 1 ES
Every 499th post = 2 ESes
Every 999th post = 3 ESes

The current score is:

jlawall--------------- 6 ESes 299th,499th, 999th
ImTooExcitedToSleep -- 2 ESes 199th,399th
twinmom108------------ 2 ESes 699th,799th
MrsG------------------ 1 ES 99th
mouseclick1----------- 1 ES 599th
Meskamooska----------- 1 ES 899th
manascarfan----------- 1 ES 1099th

The next milestone is at the 1199th post and is worth 1 (One,Uno) ES!!!

See I retrained myself this last time!!