port adventures in Victoria, registering for mixology classes, and Palo dinner

[bcwife76]

I ended up calling DCL and asked why my 2.5 dd name is grayed out even though everything I've seen said that the tour is for the entire family with no age restrictions. In any case, she asked the person that "runs" the excursions or is the expert on the matter and she came back and said that my 2.5 dd name is grayed out because she doesn't require an actual ticket and so that's why I can't select her name. She'll be able to go on the excursion with no problems. I plan to call back in a few days and ask the same question of someone else to make sure I'm getting the same answer. In the meantime, I'll look into the suggestion an earlier poster provided as a recommendation. BTW, we ended up booking the excursion to the Butterfly Gardens and Butchart Gardens. I guess this could really go either way as far as my kids liking it or not. I assume they'll like the butterfly garden because they'll get to see butterflies and they might even land on them and also get to see other animals. Butchart gardens is questionable as they'll probably just see it as a bunch of large bushes. I know I'll like it and want to take pictures so we'll see. I looked into some of the tea excursions and one of them I believe was visiting a castle and I don't think they'll enjoy it and really see it as an historic castle but rather a really big and old house with lots of stairs.

If someone does have the information to feeding the sea lions, I would like to have that and check it out.

bcwife76...Are you sure you can check in yet? This is our second Disney cruise and we checked in this last Sunday, which I believe should be 90 days out. You do have to be paid in full before you can check in though. I don't believe there is a tier where you wait any longer such as 60 day out but I could be wrong. You might want to call DCL and double check or if someone has better information than I do, please chime in.

I'm a first time cruiser so my window to check in online opens July 14th (well, 9:01pm for me on July 13th as I'm on the West Coast). First time cruisers can begin check in 75 days out. Silver cruisers (you would be silver right?) do it 90 days out.

 

[halfmonkey]

I'm a first time cruiser so my window to check in online opens July 14th (well, 9:01pm for me on July 13th as I'm on the West Coast). First time cruisers can begin check in 75 days out. Silver cruisers (you would be silver right?) do it 90 days out.

Yes, we're silver so we registered 90 days out. I forgot that it was 75 days out for first time cruisers.

Seeing that you live in Vancouver, any tips that you can offer? We fly into Vancouver on 9/23 and have those few days to explore the city before we board on Sunday for the cruise. We plan to visit Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Stanley Park, Chinatown, and Granville Island. I'm trying to figure out where is the best place for a viewpoint of the city and I've found some recommendations for Queen Elizabeth Park, The Lookout, and Cloud 9 Revolving restaurant. Do you have a place you recommend? Also, do you have a seafood and sushi place that you recommend eating at?

 

[kiford]

Is there a general time when these tastings are held or do they vary across all ships and itineraries?

Which ones are offered and when they are offered vary by cruise, at least that's been our experience. Go to Guest Services when you first board (unless the Navigator indicates otherwise) and find out what's on offer.

 

[bcwife76]

Yes, we're silver so we registered 90 days out. I forgot that it was 75 days out for first time cruisers.

Seeing that you live in Vancouver, any tips that you can offer? We fly into Vancouver on 9/23 and have those few days to explore the city before we board on Sunday for the cruise. We plan to visit Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Stanley Park, Chinatown, and Granville Island. I'm trying to figure out where is the best place for a viewpoint of the city and I've found some recommendations for Queen Elizabeth Park, The Lookout, and Cloud 9 Revolving restaurant. Do you have a place you recommend? Also, do you have a seafood and sushi place that you recommend eating at?

It sounds like you're going to cover a lot of ground! You will get some amazing views of the city from Grouse, Cloud 9 and the Lookout for sure. Were you going to rent a car or will you be taking public transit the whole time? Chinatown is not what it used to be (personally I would just skip it), it's pretty filthy now and not the tourist destination it used to be in the 1980's and 1990's.

For seafood downtown I highly recommend Joe Fortes http://www.joefortes.ca/ it's just off of Robson street (if anyone in your group likes to shop, by the way, Robson street is the place to do it). It's a little pricey but you don't want cheap when it comes to seafood lol There are so many sushi restaurants in Vancouver, there is almost as many of them as there are Starbucks!! I don't live downtown anymore so I can't give you a specific recommendation on sushi, but it won't be hard to find a good one.

if you're going to Granville Island you could try the Sandbar as well https://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar They have a varied menu including seafood and sushi. I was there as most recently as last summer for a dinner and it was very yummy!!

 

[halfmonkey]

It sounds like you're going to cover a lot of ground! You will get some amazing views of the city from Grouse, Cloud 9 and the Lookout for sure. Were you going to rent a car or will you be taking public transit the whole time? Chinatown is not what it used to be (personally I would just skip it), it's pretty filthy now and not the tourist destination it used to be in the 1980's and 1990's.

For seafood downtown I highly recommend Joe Fortes http://www.joefortes.ca/ it's just off of Robson street (if anyone in your group likes to shop, by the way, Robson street is the place to do it). It's a little pricey but you don't want cheap when it comes to seafood lol There are so many sushi restaurants in Vancouver, there is almost as many of them as there are Starbucks!! I don't live downtown anymore so I can't give you a specific recommendation on sushi, but it won't be hard to find a good one.

if you're going to Granville Island you could try the Sandbar as well https://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar They have a varied menu including seafood and sushi. I was there as most recently as last summer for a dinner and it was very yummy!!

We're planning on renting a car. We're going to bring a boaster seat for ds 6 and a Britax Roundabout for my dd 2.5. We're going to use the Roundabout and the boaster seat on the airplane and then just use it in the rental car. We were thinking of renting one when we get to Vancouver but the logistics works out for us to just bring our own so having our own car will make our travel much easier as it will be a total of 6 of us.

I did hear that Chinatown has gotten a little dirty but I guess all Chinatowns that I've been to are not your beach front property areas. Still, it's my understanding that Vancouver has a large Chinese population so we're hoping to find some good Chinese food while there. Know of any good dim sum places?

We plan to go to Capilano Bridge on Thursday morning to beat the weekend crowd so hopefully, we'll have a better experience with it being a little less crowded. From there, we plan to go to Grouse Mtn. Then on Friday, maybe do Science World for the kids, Chinatown, and Stanley Park. Depending on time, we might also walk the streets and check out Robson St. For Sat, maybe we'll check out Granville Island, Elisabeth Park and whatever else we feel like and have time for. Maybe look for a Disney Store while we're in Vancouver to see if they have any Vancouver specific merchandise.

 

[bcwife76]

We're planning on renting a car. We're going to bring a boaster seat for ds 6 and a Britax Roundabout for my dd 2.5. We're going to use the Roundabout and the boaster seat on the airplane and then just use it in the rental car. We were thinking of renting one when we get to Vancouver but the logistics works out for us to just bring our own so having our own car will make our travel much easier as it will be a total of 6 of us.

I did hear that Chinatown has gotten a little dirty but I guess all Chinatowns that I've been to are not your beach front property areas. Still, it's my understanding that Vancouver has a large Chinese population so we're hoping to find some good Chinese food while there. Know of any good dim sum places?

We plan to go to Capilano Bridge on Thursday morning to beat the weekend crowd so hopefully, we'll have a better experience with it being a little less crowded. From there, we plan to go to Grouse Mtn. Then on Friday, maybe do Science World for the kids, Chinatown, and Stanley Park. Depending on time, we might also walk the streets and check out Robson St. For Sat, maybe we'll check out Granville Island, Elisabeth Park and whatever else we feel like and have time for. Maybe look for a Disney Store while we're in Vancouver to see if they have any Vancouver specific merchandise.

If you have the time I would highly recommend driving up Cypress Mtn in West Vancouver, the views are just INCREDIBLE of the city and surrounding areas, especially at dusk.

Can't comment on dim sum, we have yet to go to dim sum!

There are only two Disney store locations in BC, neither of them are downtown. They are at Guildford Mall (which is 15 minutes from where I currently live) and Metrotown in Burnaby.

I would still discourage going to Chinatown honestly. If you want dim sum, go to Richmond, it has a large asian population. Chinatown is near Main and Hastings, Canadas poorest neighbourhood. Not very safe. Our kids are 6 & 4 and we would not go to Chinatown with them.

 

[runjanerun]

We're on the same cruise! Any other folks have suggestions for families with young kids? Especially for our day in port at Victoria. We are travelling with kids ranging from 2 to 10, plus a senior citizen.

 

[xlxo]

Seeing that you live in Vancouver, any tips that you can offer? We fly into Vancouver on 9/23 and have those few days to explore the city before we board on Sunday for the cruise. We plan to visit Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Stanley Park, Chinatown, and Granville Island. I'm trying to figure out where is the best place for a viewpoint of the city and I've found some recommendations for Queen Elizabeth Park, The Lookout, and Cloud 9 Revolving restaurant. Do you have a place you recommend? Also, do you have a seafood and sushi place that you recommend eating at?

It sounds like you're going to cover a lot of ground! You will get some amazing views of the city from Grouse, Cloud 9 and the Lookout for sure. Were you going to rent a car or will you be taking public transit the whole time? Chinatown is not what it used to be (personally I would just skip it), it's pretty filthy now and not the tourist destination it used to be in the 1980's and 1990's.

For seafood downtown I highly recommend Joe Fortes http://www.joefortes.ca/ it's just off of Robson street (if anyone in your group likes to shop, by the way, Robson street is the place to do it). It's a little pricey but you don't want cheap when it comes to seafood lol There are so many sushi restaurants in Vancouver, there is almost as many of them as there are Starbucks!! I don't live downtown anymore so I can't give you a specific recommendation on sushi, but it won't be hard to find a good one.

if you're going to Granville Island you could try the Sandbar as well https://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar They have a varied menu including seafood and sushi. I was there as most recently as last summer for a dinner and it was very yummy!!

I did hear that Chinatown has gotten a little dirty but I guess all Chinatowns that I've been to are not your beach front property areas. Still, it's my understanding that Vancouver has a large Chinese population so we're hoping to find some good Chinese food while there. Know of any good dim sum places?

We plan to go to Capilano Bridge on Thursday morning to beat the weekend crowd so hopefully, we'll have a better experience with it being a little less crowded. From there, we plan to go to Grouse Mtn. Then on Friday, maybe do Science World for the kids, Chinatown, and Stanley Park. Depending on time, we might also walk the streets and check out Robson St. For Sat, maybe we'll check out Granville Island, Elisabeth Park and whatever else we feel like and have time for. Maybe look for a Disney Store while we're in Vancouver to see if they have any Vancouver specific merchandise.

If you have the time I would highly recommend driving up Cypress Mtn in West Vancouver, the views are just INCREDIBLE of the city and surrounding areas, especially at dusk.

Can't comment on dim sum, we have yet to go to dim sum!

I would still discourage going to Chinatown honestly. If you want dim sum, go to Richmond, it has a large asian population. Chinatown is near Main and Hastings, Canadas poorest neighbourhood. Not very safe. Our kids are 6 & 4 and we would not go to Chinatown with them.

Each view point yields a different view of the city. With a car rental, I vote for Cypress's HighPoint Lookout. On a clear day, you can see the volcano at the border....
https://fotoeins.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/hl_canday_2711pta.jpg?w=960

Yes, Vancouver's Chinatown is going through transition and diversifying into the suburbs. Richmond is the next biggest cluster.

Someone say Dim Sum? Some thoughts....

• Kirin (5 locations), Sun Sui Wah (2 locations), and Floata (Vancouver Chinatown) are high on my list because they make an effort for non-Chinese customers with bilingual or picture menus.
• Sea Harbour is a good choice in Richmond, but it's very high-end
• don't go looking for Dim Sum for dinner.... Dim Sum is "brunch". Go there for breakfast/lunch. It's basically high tea Asian style.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We're on the same cruise! Any other folks have suggestions for families with young kids? Especially for our day in port at Victoria. We are travelling with kids ranging from 2 to 10, plus a senior citizen.

We're on that cruise too. I called harbour tours this week and we're doing a seaplane tour in Victoria. It's a less than a mile walk from the port to the seaplanes. It's about $400 for the 4 of us for a 25 minute air tour. It's not a DCL excursion, I found it on tripadvisor.