**** Vancouver FAQ Thread **** A few updates in main post!

[DisneyBasket]

This may be a strange questions but did any of you that are from the east coast have an issue with the time difference?

We were glad we went out a few days early! (We are from the Philadelphia area.) We slept about 14 hours the first night! But we were good after that. I have had more adjustment issues coming home, surprising to say. Usually I adjust well west to east, and have more trouble east to west.

Just build in enough time to rest, you should be OK.

 

[lbgraves]

I was surprised that I had an issue adjusting to flying from NC to CA when we went on the PC repo. We got up at 5 a.m. NC time to drive to the airport and were eating dinner at Rainforest Cafe in DTD at 6:30 p.m. CA time. The fireworks went off late at DL and I heard those when I was trying to fall asleep. Thankfully we had 5 days to adjust before getting on the ship. We will have 2 1/2 days in Vancouver before our Alaskan cruise next month. Also, the kids are a bit older and it was their first time on a plane that they could remember anyway so we were a bit hyped up with all the excitement.

 

[goslingl]

We were glad we went out a few days early! (We are from the Philadelphia area.) We slept about 14 hours the first night! But we were good after that. I have had more adjustment issues coming home, surprising to say. Usually I adjust well west to east, and have more trouble east to west.

Just build in enough time to rest, you should be OK.

Thanks! We are staying on Vacover a coupe of days before the cruise so that should help

 

[Pocahantas]

Well, Hotwire finally came through for us. I booked Le Grande Residences at Sutton Place for our the two nights before our cruise for $152 per room per night and finally had a 5* with 90% recommendations (which is the Pan Pacific) for the two nights after our cruise for $136 per room per night.

22 days left before we leave and all of our hotels are taken care of!!!

 

[goslingl]

I was surprised that I had an issue adjusting to flying from NC to CA when we went on the PC repo. We got up at 5 a.m. NC time to drive to the airport and were eating dinner at Rainforest Cafe in DTD at 6:30 p.m. CA time. The fireworks went off late at DL and I heard those when I was trying to fall asleep. Thankfully we had 5 days to adjust before getting on the ship. We will have 2 1/2 days in Vancouver before our Alaskan cruise next month. Also, the kids are a bit older and it was their first time on a plane that they could remember anyway so we were a bit hyped up with all the excitement.

I have not been to the west coast in years and was not sure how I would do. We are not leaving Ky unti 4:30 PM and will get into Vancover at 8:30PM their time so I am hoping that wi help

 

[goslingl]

Well, Hotwire finally came through for us. I booked Le Grande Residences at Sutton Place for our the two nights before our cruise for $152 per room per night and finally had a 5* with 90% recommendations (which is the Pan Pacific) for the two nights after our cruise for $136 per room per night.

22 days left before we leave and all of our hotels are taken care of!!!

Congrats

 

[jlwhitney]

Check with your airline to see what they recommend for airport arrival for your flight. Usually international flights say you should arrive at the airport 3 hours before flight time - that would be 2pm for your flight. It roughly 30-40 minutes from the port to the airport, I'm not sure I'd risk going to Grouse Mtn between debarkation and flight time - but that's just me.

You can't check in at the airport till 3 hours before so there would be no reason to get there any earlier. We checked in around 10:45 and it took about 30 mins tops to get through check in/customs/security.

If you really wanted to go zipling, don't put your luggage out the night before and skip breakfast. Hand carry them off at 7:30am (thats when those who wanted to get off fast could get off). Rental car station should open around 7 or 8am, rent a car (alamo/national are right there). The drive to grouse mt. is about 20 mins so you could easily be there by 9/9:30. Allow 2 hours to zipline or so so that brings you to between 12 and 1 (I give big estimates, to allow cusion time). and from there head to the airport, and that drive close to an hour or a little under (not sure completely).

I have not been reading much about difficulty getting through vancouver airport, so if you got there by 2:30 I think you would be fine.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

We made reservations at the Vancouver Fairmont at the airport for the night before our return flight. Yay!

Now we are looking at the Blue Horizon on Robson Street for our stay before the cruise. We like the reviews that we have seen on Trip Advisor and other places. We have reservations there, but they can be canceled. Does anyone have any recent reveiws of this property? (We booked a "Superior King" room, so we will be higher up.)

It seems like there is A LOT going on in Vancouver that weekend (August 6 & 7)...fireworks, music festival...it should be bustling!

We've stayed at the Blue Horizon before. It is very nice and the balcony views are great.

Just a recommendation for anyone staying in Vancouver - Stanley Park is a must! Also, they have a horse-drawn trolley that circles the park, it is really fun and would be good for children too.

 

[seamour]

The announcement that DCL was sailing to Alaska in/out of Vancouver was like a dream come true for me. We've sailed DCL twice before and my daughters LOVED IT, my wife and I have always talked about going on an Alaskan cruise, AND we have a second home in Vancouver (where we spend a total of about one month each year). So this was absolutely perfect.

We have been taking our twin daughters to Vancouver since before they were one year old, they are now almost seven. Vancouver is, bar none, THE most kid friendly city in the entire world. There is an absolute TON of things for kids to do there, so do yourself a favor and try to spend a day or two there before and/or after your cruise. While many of the obvious suggestions have already been posted and discussed, I cannot emphasize how much kids ages 2-8 will absolutely LOVE the Kid's Market on Granville Island. It is a two story marketplace with arcades, playground and tons of great shops entirely devoted to kids. Behind it is a terrific pond that is always full of ducks and to the side of the pond is a great waterpark that is FREE (waterslides, spray cannons, etc--all for free). Granville Island is on the south side of False Creek. On the far east side of False Creek is the Vancouver Science World. It looks like a giant golf ball, but it is full of three stories of amazing things that your kids will love, and the hourly shows that they put on are fantastic. Kids from 2-12 will all have age appropriate places to go to and things to do. Kids (and grown ups) of all ages will really enjoy getting around False Creek on the water taxi's (False Creek Ferries or, my favorite, the Aquabus) which stops at Granville Island and at Science World. Vancouver is a remarkably compact city and it is very walkable to get from almost any hotel that you will be staying in to the water taxi station on the city side of False Creek. By far, THE best way to spend some time in Vancovuer as a family, is to rent a bike and ride around Stanley Park. If you only have an hour or two, just ride around the Sea Wall. If you have more time, stop off at the Aquarium (one of the world's best), visit the totem poles, stop at the water park or the pool, ride through the gardens, etc. There are lots of bike shops all over town, so there will be one close to wherever you are staying.

I could, and over the next year, probably will go on and on about places to go and things to do in this wonderful city, but I wanted to post something to get started to truly encourage all of you to seriously consider spending a day or two or more in Vancouver, rather than just flying in, transfering to/from the boat and flying out.

I can absolutely promise you that whatever age your kids are, they will love Vancouver.

Would love ideas for teens as we will be there in August. On my short list to be narrowed down still I have Granville island (would the water area be fun for 13 and 16 yr olds?), Science World (we can get a free admission from our local science museum membership), the Aquarium (as DD and I love any type of animals), a hop on hop off bus, Stanley Park. Too much to do in the one day we have but would love some pointers for what the kids would enjoy. The mountain and suspension bridge are not an option for me with health issues.

 

[seamour]

Just added some airport hotel stuff to the first post. Going to add a few more things tonight too.

just a big thank you for all the awesome work you are doing, wow! Totally impressive!

 

[mellers]

Would love ideas for teens as we will be there in August. On my short list to be narrowed down still I have Granville island (would the water area be fun for 13 and 16 yr olds?), Science World (we can get a free admission from our local science museum membership), the Aquarium (as DD and I love any type of animals), a hop on hop off bus, Stanley Park. Too much to do in the one day we have but would love some pointers for what the kids would enjoy. The mountain and suspension bridge are not an option for me with health issues.

Well, my teen loves the aquarium, and she also enjoyed the International Buddhist Temple Gardens in Richmond

 

[staffieri]

You can't check in at the airport till 3 hours before so there would be no reason to get there any earlier. We checked in around 10:45 and it took about 30 mins tops to get through check in/customs/security.

If you really wanted to go zipling, don't put your luggage out the night before and skip breakfast. Hand carry them off at 7:30am (thats when those who wanted to get off fast could get off). Rental car station should open around 7 or 8am, rent a car (alamo/national are right there). The drive to grouse mt. is about 20 mins so you could easily be there by 9/9:30. Allow 2 hours to zipline or so so that brings you to between 12 and 1 (I give big estimates, to allow cusion time). and from there head to the airport, and that drive close to an hour or a little under (not sure completely).

I have not been reading much about difficulty getting through vancouver airport, so if you got there by 2:30 I think you would be fine.

Thanks for the info. Do you know the code I put in for wanting to rent a car at the port?

BIG HELP!!!

 

[rav4lcrv]

Through ABD we received a free breakfast at the hotel in Barcelona. Is this also the case at the Waterfront hotel for the Alaska cruise?

 

[jlwhitney]

Thanks for the info. Do you know the code I put in for wanting to rent a car at the port?

BIG HELP!!!

For national/alamo just put in vancouver and they will give you a list of places in the area (don't know the code)...you want canada place-cruise ship, NOT canada place pan pacific

 

[seamour]

I can't resist posting this news. A Grey Whale wandered into False Creek, a small inlet south of downtown Vancouver. It wandered around between the tourist attractions for several hours before heading back to sea.

Sample of TV news coverage
Sample of newspaper coverage

Grey whales are not rare in the region, but it is extremely rare for a whale to go into such a busy waterway, full of boats and surrounded by people. An equivalent experience might be a moose walking through Times Square or an aligator waddling through Cinderella's Castle.

cool!

 

[staffieri]

For national/alamo just put in vancouver and they will give you a list of places in the area (don't know the code)...you want canada place-cruise ship, NOT canada place pan pacific

Thank you. Di it and the cost $75

 

[Doingitagain]

Through ABD we received a free breakfast at the hotel in Barcelona. Is this also the case at the Waterfront hotel for the Alaska cruise?

Good question, we booked the Fairmont Pacific Rim through DCL for a prestay and were wondering if breakfast was included.

 

[jlwhitney]

Thank you. Di it and the cost $75

Awesome, have a great trip and wonderful day in vancouver. We spent three nights and loved the area and did a day in whistler.

 

[kgsmith]

Through ABD we received a free breakfast at the hotel in Barcelona. Is this also the case at the Waterfront hotel for the Alaska cruise?

Oooh, I hope so. I haven't heard anything about a free breakfast at the Fairmont Waterfront. In fact, I'm having a difficult time getting any information about the ABD from DCL.

 

[seamour]

The hotel looks awesome but I just checked rates for our pre cruise stay next year and website says rooms start at $9,664.00 US a night.....that is some hotel or the website is having issues....certainly too rich for my blood!! LOL!!

MJ

yikers! LOL hope that was a website issue.