Suggestions for what to do in Vancouver pre and post cruise

[Face Like Fizz]

I'm looking for ideas on how to make the best use of our time in Vancouver for our family of 5 including 3 teenagers. We have a full day before our cruise in a couple of weeks and a few hours after the cruise.

For the full day we're wondering if we should book a city tour with a company like Landsea Tours or do something ourselves? A tour is appealing as it's easy and visits a variety of places. But is it suitable for teens? If we do our own thing where should we go? What's the best method of transport? (We're staying at the Fairmont at the airport if that makes a difference.)

After the cruise we currently have Disney ground transfers booked to the airport but we don't need to check in until 2pm so it'll get us there rather early. We could instead book the DCL debarkation port adventure but it goes to the Capilano suspension bridge and I'm terrified of heights and wouldn't be able to do it. Could I just remain with the bus while the rest of the family did it? Another possibility is to leave our luggage at the cruise terminal and go to Stanley Park for a couple of hours.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[havaneselover]

We’re going on 8/20. Pre-cruise we are doing Stanley Park (carriage tour and aquarium) and fly over Canada. We also have dinner reservations for Sunday night. We are traveling from the East Coast so this was all I thought we could handle and feel somewhat rested for boarding on Monday. My mom’s flight leaves at 2 PM on Monday and she’s headed straight to yvr. We are stuck until 11:15 pm so we’re zip lining in Whistler post cruise.

 

[Face Like Fizz]

We’re going on 8/20. Pre-cruise we are doing Stanley Park (carriage tour and aquarium) and fly over Canada. We also have dinner reservations for Sunday night. We are traveling from the East Coast so this was all I thought we could handle and feel somewhat rested for boarding on Monday. My mom’s flight leaves at 2 PM on Monday and she’s headed straight to yvr. We are stuck until 11:15 pm so we’re zip lining in Whistler post cruise.

We're travelling from the UK with an 8 hour time difference so I might be being a bit optimistic in how much we'll be able for. We might find all we want to do is sleep the day before the cruise!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We did the hop on hop off double decker bus tour. This is an easy sit and ride all over the city, including Stanley Island, or you can get off, see the totem poles, aquarium, shopping district, etc. and get on the next bus. This is their web site, but there are other "deals" at other sites: https://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com/...wn-vancouver-hop-on-hop-off-tour-ticket_25743

 

[cmph]

We were just there in June and spent a few days before the cruise in Vancouver (stayed near Stanley Park) and one day post-cruise at the Fairmont in the airport. My kids are 9 and 13, so general reviews for our family on what we did:
First full day - we walked to Stanley Park, bought tickets for the horse-drawn carriage tour, and while we waited for our time - checked out the salmon stream and artists' displays near the ticket booth. We all enjoyed the tour of the park, and for our first day after traveling, this was a smart way to avoid complaints b/c I didn't make everyone walk constantly. We grabbed a cab from there to Granville Island. While we enjoyed our lunch there, I wouldn't go there with kids again. It's a wandering/walking/browsing experience mostly. The actual food market would have been so much fun for just DH and me, but was boring and crowded for my kids. The kids' market is geared younger children, nothing of interest to my kids there. They do have whale watching tours booking same-day from there, but we already had that booked for Juneau.
Second day - tried to kill my kids by making them wake up early to go to the bear breakfast at Grouse Mountain. (Side note: breakfast is the last part of this event, so I had hangry kids, as did everyone else with kids who attended.) Grouse Mountain itself is really nice, though! We didn't stay as long as I would have liked b/c of the early wake-up and resulting death stares I had by 11:30am. Of all the fun things to do there, my family's favorite part was playing on the snow hills they still had piled up, LOL! From there, we took the free shuttle to Canada Place, SO easy. We had lunch at a restaurant on the water and then went to Flyover Canada. This was probably the entire family's favorite tourist-y thing we did in Vancouver. You'll have read that it's like Soarin', which it is, but better b/c all the smells actually work. There is a little pre-show thing too. It's super easy to catch a taxi from there back to your hotel.
Post-cruise - had the DCL transfer to the airport (only reason was our entire extended family was doing this). We were too tired to want to do anything. We had lunch at the airport, connected to WiFi, and napped in our room! The hotel's restaurant is very good. No one cared to use the pool but there is one (the kind you set currents to flow in), and a whirlpool. DH and I went outside to this funny little park they installed between the departures drop-off and parking garages and had a little walk. If we'd had more energy, I would have suggested taking the train for free to a nearby "European-style" outdoor shopping mall.

For the full day, you aren't particularly convenient to most tourist activities if you are staying at the airport. Grouse Mountain is pretty far, but you could take cabs to the port and take the free shuttle that goes between there and Grouse Mountain; this would be one idea if your kids want to see bears, but it's fairly involved travel for your only touring day. Stanley park and Canada Place are closer. You may want to play it by ear, depending on everyone's energy levels, and use cabs but not book a whole tour.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Has anyone gone to Vancouver’s Chinatown? It is something we’re interested in but haven’t seen mentioned

 

[Face Like Fizz]

We did the hop on hop off double decker bus tour. This is an easy sit and ride all over the city, including Stanley Island, or you can get off, see the totem poles, aquarium, shopping district, etc. and get on the next bus. This is their web site, but there are other "deals" at other sites: https://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com/...wn-vancouver-hop-on-hop-off-tour-ticket_25743

I hadn’t thought about that bus. Thanks for the link.

 

[Face Like Fizz]

We were just there in June and spent a few days before the cruise in Vancouver (stayed near Stanley Park) and one day post-cruise at the Fairmont in the airport. My kids are 9 and 13, so general reviews for our family on what we did:
First full day - we walked to Stanley Park, bought tickets for the horse-drawn carriage tour, and while we waited for our time - checked out the salmon stream and artists' displays near the ticket booth. We all enjoyed the tour of the park, and for our first day after traveling, this was a smart way to avoid complaints b/c I didn't make everyone walk constantly. We grabbed a cab from there to Granville Island. While we enjoyed our lunch there, I wouldn't go there with kids again. It's a wandering/walking/browsing experience mostly. The actual food market would have been so much fun for just DH and me, but was boring and crowded for my kids. The kids' market is geared younger children, nothing of interest to my kids there. They do have whale watching tours booking same-day from there, but we already had that booked for Juneau.
Second day - tried to kill my kids by making them wake up early to go to the bear breakfast at Grouse Mountain. (Side note: breakfast is the last part of this event, so I had hangry kids, as did everyone else with kids who attended.) Grouse Mountain itself is really nice, though! We didn't stay as long as I would have liked b/c of the early wake-up and resulting death stares I had by 11:30am. Of all the fun things to do there, my family's favorite part was playing on the snow hills they still had piled up, LOL! From there, we took the free shuttle to Canada Place, SO easy. We had lunch at a restaurant on the water and then went to Flyover Canada. This was probably the entire family's favorite tourist-y thing we did in Vancouver. You'll have read that it's like Soarin', which it is, but better b/c all the smells actually work. There is a little pre-show thing too. It's super easy to catch a taxi from there back to your hotel.
Post-cruise - had the DCL transfer to the airport (only reason was our entire extended family was doing this). We were too tired to want to do anything. We had lunch at the airport, connected to WiFi, and napped in our room! The hotel's restaurant is very good. No one cared to use the pool but there is one (the kind you set currents to flow in), and a whirlpool. DH and I went outside to this funny little park they installed between the departures drop-off and parking garages and had a little walk. If we'd had more energy, I would have suggested taking the train for free to a nearby "European-style" outdoor shopping mall.

For the full day, you aren't particularly convenient to most tourist activities if you are staying at the airport. Grouse Mountain is pretty far, but you could take cabs to the port and take the free shuttle that goes between there and Grouse Mountain; this would be one idea if your kids want to see bears, but it's fairly involved travel for your only touring day. Stanley park and Canada Place are closer. You may want to play it by ear, depending on everyone's energy levels, and use cabs but not book a whole tour.

Thank you for such a detailed reply. This is super helpful and you’ve given me a lot to think about. My children are older than yours (14, 16 and 19) but from the sound of things Granville Island won’t be for them given we'll be tired. Stanley Park and Flyover Canada certainly sound worth considering.

 

[havaneselover]

We were just there in June and spent a few days before the cruise in Vancouver (stayed near Stanley Park) and one day post-cruise at the Fairmont in the airport. My kids are 9 and 13, so general reviews for our family on what we did:
First full day - we walked to Stanley Park, bought tickets for the horse-drawn carriage tour, and while we waited for our time - checked out the salmon stream and artists' displays near the ticket booth. We all enjoyed the tour of the park, and for our first day after traveling, this was a smart way to avoid complaints b/c I didn't make everyone walk constantly. We grabbed a cab from there to Granville Island. While we enjoyed our lunch there, I wouldn't go there with kids again. It's a wandering/walking/browsing experience mostly. The actual food market would have been so much fun for just DH and me, but was boring and crowded for my kids. The kids' market is geared younger children, nothing of interest to my kids there. They do have whale watching tours booking same-day from there, but we already had that booked for Juneau.
Second day - tried to kill my kids by making them wake up early to go to the bear breakfast at Grouse Mountain. (Side note: breakfast is the last part of this event, so I had hangry kids, as did everyone else with kids who attended.) Grouse Mountain itself is really nice, though! We didn't stay as long as I would have liked b/c of the early wake-up and resulting death stares I had by 11:30am. Of all the fun things to do there, my family's favorite part was playing on the snow hills they still had piled up, LOL! From there, we took the free shuttle to Canada Place, SO easy. We had lunch at a restaurant on the water and then went to Flyover Canada. This was probably the entire family's favorite tourist-y thing we did in Vancouver. You'll have read that it's like Soarin', which it is, but better b/c all the smells actually work. There is a little pre-show thing too. It's super easy to catch a taxi from there back to your hotel.
Post-cruise - had the DCL transfer to the airport (only reason was our entire extended family was doing this). We were too tired to want to do anything. We had lunch at the airport, connected to WiFi, and napped in our room! The hotel's restaurant is very good. No one cared to use the pool but there is one (the kind you set currents to flow in), and a whirlpool. DH and I went outside to this funny little park they installed between the departures drop-off and parking garages and had a little walk. If we'd had more energy, I would have suggested taking the train for free to a nearby "European-style" outdoor shopping mall.

For the full day, you aren't particularly convenient to most tourist activities if you are staying at the airport. Grouse Mountain is pretty far, but you could take cabs to the port and take the free shuttle that goes between there and Grouse Mountain; this would be one idea if your kids want to see bears, but it's fairly involved travel for your only touring day. Stanley park and Canada Place are closer. You may want to play it by ear, depending on everyone's energy levels, and use cabs but not book a whole tour.

What are your thoughts on how intense fly over Canada is? My 74 year old mom will be with us. She has never been on Soarin’.

 

[garytam]

We will be spending 2 days pre-cruise, one of the place the whole family want to go is the night market in Richmond. Lots of authentic Chinese street food.
https://richmondnightmarket.com/

 

[AngelDisney]

What are your thoughts on how intense fly over Canada is? My 74 year old mom will be with us. She has never been on Soarin’.

I just spent the Canada Day long weekend in Vancouver with DM83 and DD21. My mom has never been to amusement park for decades. We took her to Fly Over Canada and she really enjoyed the ride. She was oohing and ahhing the whole time. I think your mom would love it!

 

[AngelDisney]

Has anyone gone to Vancouver’s Chinatown? It is something we’re interested in but haven’t seen mentioned

We have visited Vancouver twice but never been inside the Chinatown. However, we visited the Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Chinese Classical Garden during our first visit which is near the Chinatown. They have a free tour explaining how the garden was designed for Feng Shui purposes. We really enjoyed the visit there.

http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We will be spending 2 days pre-cruise, one of the place the whole family want to go is the night market in Richmond. Lots of authentic Chinese street food.
https://richmondnightmarket.com/

We will be in Vancouver during the Richmond Night Market in Sept. Is it as crowded as the online info photo show? All seafood or some authentic Chinese food for sale?

 

[cmph]

What are your thoughts on how intense fly over Canada is? My 74 year old mom will be with us. She has never been on Soarin’.

I agree with PP that she should be fine. It's somewhat ideal timing if she suffers from any sort of motion sickness, since she'll be taking medicine for the cruise anyway! The pre-show is in a little room and has some seats; it's one of those rooms where a movie is playing on the walls all around you. The ride itself has you strapped in to seats, and the most intense part is really the wind blowing on you, IMO. There is no fast movement or anything jerky. The motion sickness part I only mention b/c it moves you as though you're flying through the movie screen, and that's not my favorite. Once I hit 30, apparently every motion possible started to cause me issues. I was already on meclizine and fine (took my first the day we flew and just kept taking it nightly).

 

[Mich123]

We were in Vancouver pre and post cruise last month with our 19 and 22 year old daughters. I highly recommend Stanley Park. Before the cruise, on Sunday, we rented bikes outside of the park, at the Denman Bike Shop on Denman Street. It was pretty inexpensive and the bikes were great.

Before renting bikes, we had a delicious dim sum at Dinesty Dumpling House on Robson Street. We got there right before opening (11 am) and there was a crowd waiting. It was really good!

We also did Fly Over Canada. It’s like Soarin, but a couple of minutes longer, I think. Very fun! A small discount if you buy your tickets online. We bought tickets a couple of hours before.

After the cruise, DH and I went back to Stanley Park and walked it. That was fun, too. DD22 did express walk off and flew home because she had to work and DD19 was grateful that we could get into our hotel room early so she could go “back” to bed. Cruising can be exhausting!

 

[Karlzmom]

Has anyone gone to Vancouver’s Chinatown? It is something we’re interested in but haven’t seen mentioned

Yes. Its a neat place to walk around and the Sun Yet Sen Garden is beautiful. Be aware, the walk from the Coal Harbor area (where the Port/Pan Pacific is) will go near areas with significant homeless camps. We were not hassled at all, but it could get scary if someone got aggressive based solely on numbers.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Chinatown is historically a pretty poor area of town, but if you can overlook some parts it is still a cool area to visit, eat some Chinese buns, have dim sum etc.

The Richmond night market is almost always very very crowded but I think it is worthwhile to attend. Many places only take or prefer cash. The food options are numerous but it is “street food style”. It’s not a place to sit down and have a big Chinese meal. If you are interested in great Chinese food I recommend Kirin, Dinesty, Sun Sui Wah, etc. (They also exist in Richmond). The night market is comprised of a lot of stalls selling trinkets and more stalls selling food. Really fun to visit. Weekends only.

Post cruise, Stanley Park does sound like a great option (rent bikes!). You can easily take the Canada line (subway) back to the airport for around $4 per person on a weekday, a bit less on a weekend.

You can take the Canada line into downtown as well from the fairmont YVR but because there is a “from airport” surcharge it will cost an additional $5 per person. However, you could get a day pass for travel for the rest of the day. Our public transit website is translink.ca for more info.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We will be in Vancouver during the Richmond Night Market in Sept. Is it as crowded as the online info photo show? All seafood or some authentic Chinese food for sale?

I meant to quote this in my above post but missed it. So see above!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Your family might enjoy the Capilano suspension bridge. There's a freebie bus that picks up from some of the hotels in Vancouver.

https://www.capbridge.com/

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Yes. Its a neat place to walk around and the Sun Yet Sen Garden is beautiful. Be aware, the walk from the Coal Harbor area (where the Port/Pan Pacific is) will go near areas with significant homeless camps. We were not hassled at all, but it could get scary if someone got aggressive based solely on numbers.

Chinatown is historically a pretty poor area of town, but if you can overlook some parts it is still a cool area to visit, eat some Chinese buns, have dim sum etc.

The Richmond night market is almost always very very crowded but I think it is worthwhile to attend. Many places only take or prefer cash. The food options are numerous but it is “street food style”. It’s not a place to sit down and have a big Chinese meal. If you are interested in great Chinese food I recommend Kirin, Dinesty, Sun Sui Wah, etc. (They also exist in Richmond). The night market is comprised of a lot of stalls selling trinkets and more stalls selling food. Really fun to visit. Weekends only.

We love authentic Chinese food and would appreciate any recommendations for restaurants. We live near Chicago and frequent Chicago’s Chinatown. Is Chinatown accessible by public transportation?