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Going on an Alaskan cruise! (Back! Pics on last page if you want!)
urahonky
Cynical Old ManRegistered User regular
Cynical Old ManRegistered User regular
Hey guys!
I just booked my honeymoon cruise recently and I had a couple of questions. Any additional advice/knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
First off, I will be flying into Vancouver (Canada) a day before the cruise and would like to know if there's anything I should see while there. Also, do I need a passport? If so, where do I go to get one? Is Vancouver, BC french speaking? If so, how much would I need to know to get around? (I know Quebec is really french speaking)
The cruise is 7 days, so is there anything you guys can think of that I need? I happened to get a room in the almost center of the ship (middle floor, near the middle elevators), so would I have to worry about being sea sick? I've been on a boat before and didn't seem to have a problem, but I wasn't on it for 7 days.
I did a lot of research on the boat (Serenade of the Seas) and it seemed to be rated highly wherever I looked. Also the company is Royal Caribbean. Ah... That's all I got for now.
Thanks for reading!
e: Is there anything I should know about the public transportation in Vancouver?
I just booked my honeymoon cruise recently and I had a couple of questions. Any additional advice/knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
First off, I will be flying into Vancouver (Canada) a day before the cruise and would like to know if there's anything I should see while there. Also, do I need a passport? If so, where do I go to get one? Is Vancouver, BC french speaking? If so, how much would I need to know to get around? (I know Quebec is really french speaking)
The cruise is 7 days, so is there anything you guys can think of that I need? I happened to get a room in the almost center of the ship (middle floor, near the middle elevators), so would I have to worry about being sea sick? I've been on a boat before and didn't seem to have a problem, but I wasn't on it for 7 days.
I did a lot of research on the boat (Serenade of the Seas) and it seemed to be rated highly wherever I looked. Also the company is Royal Caribbean. Ah... That's all I got for now.
Thanks for reading!e: Is there anything I should know about the public transportation in Vancouver?
urahonky on
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http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1082.html#entry_requirements
D'oh! I'll be going July 3rd - 11th.
There are probably a half dozen languages more common than French in Vancouver. You'll be fine speaking English.
As for what to see, that's not the easiest question to answer. Vancouver is a world class city and there is no shortage of things to see or do. There are parks, museums, art galleries, suspension bridges though forest, an ocean, incredible restaurants, and like malls and stuff.
I was looking at cruises up to Alaska for a honeymoon myself in May and one of the big tips was to arrange off boat excursions yourself in advance as apparently you could do way better stuff for a much lower cost. Then again, that probably depends on which boat you're taking.
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
So yeah, you will not need it in the slightest. You'd probably be hard pressed to find someone that could speak French. The customs guy will probably indulge you if you wanted to though.
I have been on the Alaska 7 day before myself just with a different company. Your room is the best available for anti-sea sickness but you should pack some of those ginger tablets/gravol or something. They helped me a lot. If its rough, you don't have to stay in your room there are plenty of other places to be.
I went in May and it was pretty rainy still. Looks like you're heading up at a better time, weather wise. Consider your dinner seating options on the boat and see whether you need to dress up or you can always choose the casual dining instead. I would take a rain jacket just to be safe, especially if you book any of the extra day trips like whale watching or something. Those were really fun, I would recommend doing some day trips to get off the boat and out the way of the jewelry shops in the towns :P
Public transportation is pretty straightforward, if you let us know where you are staying and for how long (pre/post cruise?) we can probably comment better on whether you will even need it.
For things to do it depends how long you have and what you like. There's nice views up on the north shore, pricey shopping on Robson, big mall shopping at Metrotown, good trails and even a couple of beaches if you like that kinda thing. What's your style?
You also may not have a clock in your cabin. If that will drive you bonkers, bring one with you.
As far as motion sickness, you'll probably be fine on the ship, but it doesn't hurt to bring some ginger pills or whatever with you. Keep in mind that if you'll be doing anything that involves you getting on a smaller boat (excursions, tendering, etc), they move around a lot more, so you may want it for them. We took a 40-minute ferry ride as part of an excursion recently and there were a lot of green people by the time we got off.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
It is pretty damn awesome and a good way to waste a day.
Initially we were thinking of getting there a day early to take a walk around town. So July 3rd we'd get there, and our cruise would leave July 4th at 5pm. But it seems Vancouver has a lot more to do than I thought, so I might be able to talk her into letting us get there July 1st or something, that way we have time to sight see.
The Aquarium sounds fantastic. Also, really anything is good for us. ESPECIALLY for her since this will be her first time out of the country (hell, out of the east coast of the US) so it'll be an experience for her (I'd lived in Germany for 4 years).
The ship is casual clothing (looked for that) so dinners and stuff won't be too fancy (which I'm okay with). I will certainly pack some of those pills you guys are talking about. I don't want to be caught without them.
I was assuming that we'd find a hotel nearest the airport and/or the dock where our cruise was, but if you guys suggest a better area I'm open to anything. Like I said we haven't even reserved our hotel yet to keep us open.
And thanks i n c u b u s.
Oh nice, I'll see if I can coerce her into going on that day then.
I don't know Vancouver at all, unfortunately. A google indicates Canada Place usually has a bunch of activities for Canada Day (they haven't updated their site for this year yet, obviously), but I don't know where else would be good for fireworks viewing.
It seems that she doesn't want to go there earlier than July 3rd (something about not having money for a hotel, pfft), so we'll be missing out on that. Oh well. Since I am down to just half a day in Vancouver I will look into the Aquarium and/or this place called Science World (not sure what it is, but she read about it and it sounded pretty nifty).
I kinda wanted to stay longer (huge travel freak) but I guess we can do it later.
THIS
holy shit this. i did this a couple years ago and it was the most beautiful thing ive ever seen. there was even a dogsled camp up there and they drove us around for a while. it was a whole lot of awesome. we are going back up there sometime this summer and i'm really excited about it.
another pretty fun thing to do was to go out on a fishing boat with a native. we went out of hoonah and the guy told us some pretty great stories. i also saw 3 bald eagles just chilling in the trees looking for salmon.
Stanley Park is close to Canada Place already (where cruise ships leave from). You'll literally be looking at Stanley Park when you arrive on the water, so you can't possibly get lost. You can walk it.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with Science World, its a bit dated. If you really wanted to go though, just get on the skytrain at Waterfront (where the terminal is/Canada Place) and get off at Main St Science World station. You'll be able to see the giant dome to walk toward, its like across the street, then reverse when you are ready to come back, its only a few stops. Quick and easy.
Hey thanks for all the information onceling. I appreciate it. We were looking at the skytrain as well. I'm trying to find a good hotel near the airport / Canada Place (that's where the dock is, huh?)
Taxis are plentiful, so transportation shouldn't be a problem. And no, Vancounver isn't French speaking. As far as getting into Canada, I did the same thing for my honeymoon and only needed my driver's license, but that was back in 2003, so I don't know how much things have changed.
The boat will be big enough that sea sickness shouldn't be a problem.
The only thing I really regret (and this is partly my mother's fault, since she bought the honeymoon for us as a present) is the age demographic of the cruise. Make sure you're on a line with people your own age. Except for people that brought their kids, my wife and I were the youngest people on the ship by at least 15 years. Except for the "honeymoon" stuff, it was honestly one of the most boring weeks of my life. Every town we ended up in had the same bullshit tourist areas, with all the same bullshit trinkets.
so awesome
Sitka, Petersburg, Juneau, and Ketchikan especially were great
Make sure and bring extra memory cards or a laptop (you will be taking a MILLION pictures). Binoculars are nice too. Someone will see a bear and you'll see a brown dot, and wish you had some.
Here, I made you a map.
Some general advice:
- Don't go very far east of Canada Place. I marked Main & Hastings on the map as a place you don't want to go, but that's just one particular nexus of suck in the lower east side. Confine your travels to Canada Place and environs west & south. It gets pretty bad, pretty fast as you travel east from Canada Place. I cannot even begin to describe some of the things I've seen in that area. Stay away.
- That being said, some of the best clubs are on the edge of that area. If you do go, just be careful.
- Be very careful of extremely cheap hotels, especially if they're at all close to Main & Hastings. My girlfriend ran a conference in Vancouver a few years back, and this one tripped up some of the attendees. There are many cheap "resident" hotels around there. They aren't really hotels, they are slum dwellings where you will likely acquire syphilis, bed bugs, or perhaps syphilitic bed bugs. I'm guessing you really don't want any of those. If a hotel seems too good to be true, it may very well be. Don't skimp on accommodations, do check for reviews online, and make sure the hotel is out of that danger zone east of Canada Place.
- I did Canada Day fireworks at Canada Place once, and really didn't enjoy it. It gets extremely crowded, not really in a fun way either (at least in my opinion). If you do go, be on your guard, Vancouver cops are trigger happy on the pepper spray.
- For the love of all that is right and good, bring umbrellas. Summers are usually pretty dry in Vantown, but when it rains, it doesn't do it half-assed. Like twelve days of near-constant rain. Even if you're doing the aquarium, a lot of the shows are around open-air pools, so having umbrellas with you is vital.
- Do not leave your valuables unattended, even for a second. If you're renting a car, leave nothing of value in the car. Vancouver junkies will happily smash a window to steal an item worth as little as $5. $5 Canadian.
The good news is that your physical person is in very little danger. Vancouver (especially the lower east side) has terrible property crime rates, but usually low levels of crime leading to injury. There is a pretty serious gang war going on right now though. Mind you, "serious gang war" in Canada is probably what passes for "Tuesday" in most major American cities.
I threw a favorite sushi place of mine on the map. I don't know if you like sushi, but if you do, you owe it to yourself to try Vancouver sushi. Every other place I've been, including Japan, has had sushi that was both inferior to and more expensive than the sushi I regularly had in Vancouver.Edit: Oh, and stay off the Skytrain. It probably doesn't go anywhere you want to go. Also, its nicknames are "the Grimetrain" and "the Crimetrain". In Vancouver, there are two types of junkies. Those who live in the lower east side, and those who commute from Whalley in Surrey to the lower east side. Yeah, commuter junkies.
I'm pretty sure we won't be renting a car. We'll probably just do the taxi thing. And she thinks that it'd be best if we get a hotel near the airport, because they have a shuttle that goes right to our cruise line. Even though I told her if we get a hotel near Canada Place we'll be fine, but she doesn't want to get lost.
Oh and I'm sure we will get the best reviewed hotel that we can get.
I FUCKING LOVE THE AQUARIUM.
Translink (the public transit system) is abso-fucking-lutely amazing. Its just unreal how well designed and flawless it runs.
http://www.translink.bc.ca/?p=1.txt
It's all gang related, and the downtown east side of Vancouver isn't really all that scary so long as you keep your wits about you. If you want an amazing cheap burger, Save On Meats in the DTES is exactly what you're looking for. Really, the place itself is an experience.
The Grouse Grind is great if you're in decent shape and like to climb a lot of stairs and see some baby bears at the top (so cute!)
Kits beach is pretty nice, and 4th avenue in Kits is also fun to walk around (protip: The Starbucks Uwe Boll frequents is at 4th avenue and Bayswater street)
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
If you like to shop, you'll have to check out Robson street. Basically, everything expensive or swanky you can find in Milan or Paris, you can find on Robson street.
Finally, you are going to want to find and try some of the restaurants. Vancouver has, literally, the BEST selection of restaurants in all of North America, rivalling even New York. In fact, I'd say Vancouver has the best sushi anywhere outside of Japan, so you'll want to try out some of the sushi places around town if you are into that.
Oh, right, if you have time, you should check out the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. It has the finest collection of aboriginal art and artefacts anywhere in the world, with some absolutely wicked carvings by famed Haida artist Bill Reid (he carved the sculpture that appears on the new $20 bill).
You can see the sculpture in the Vancouver airport. Its fucking unreal. Pure Jade and massive.
It'll be the last Canada day before the Olympics are here next February. I'd put money on VANOC sponsoring some fireworks for Canada day.
Also, the question about whether you needed french here kind of made me laugh. Cantonese, Mandarin or Hindi are probably more likely to be heard on a daily basis here. :P
Aquarium is a good recommendation. After all, what says love more than they these guys, who live there:
1. Come in to the airport, get in a cab and go to your downtown hotel.
2. Check out in the morning and leave your bags with the front desk.
3. Go to the aquarium.
4. Go back to your hotel, grab your bags and ask them to call you a cab. Tell the cab driver you want to go to the cruise terminal and which boat name you are on.
5. Cab driver drops you off, good to go.
I assume this is how your itinerary would work.
If you stayed near the airport:
1. Come into the airport, get in a cab and go to your Richmond hotel. (There's only one hotel at the airport itself and man is it expensive, the Fairmont Vancouver Airport if you want to check it out). Take a look at Richmond on the map for a visual.
2. Check out in the morning, get in a cab to go downtown and to the aquarium. Sit through rush hour traffic across the bridge to downtown (not sure what you'd do with your bags because you'd waste most of your day if you went back to Richmond afterward).
3. Make your way to Canada Place after the aquarium.
In short, stay downtown. Richmond sucks (sorry if anyone lives there).
I don't know what your hotel budget is, but I'd say the hotels like RIGHT at Canada Place are pretty pricey. I'd just take a look at an online hotel booking site like hotels.ca and look at everything in the non-scary places on burger's map. Then just book according to your budget.
Mostly they're just shooting each other (or in once case, a gang member's wife) in targeted hits, and they've been spread all over the region, not just in City of Vancouver proper. I wouldn't really worry about it.
Vancouver is only dangerous by standards of Canadian cities. See this survey. Basically, you just need to follow the usual precautions when visiting most big cities: don't leave valuables lying around in your car and stick to well lit and well traveled places at night (especially since you're not familiar with the city).
Also, there have been a few purse-snatchings reported on the skytrain a while ago, but I haven't heard any reports recently. The Skytrain an above-ground subway: it's not going to be spotless, and you should probably avoid it late at night, especially since you won't be familiar with the city.
1. Where do I go to get my USD converted to CDN?
2. How much would I need to bring if I'm getting a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the port (MAYBE food, depending).
3. How easy is it to get a cab from the airport in Vancouver?
I'm so damn excited to do this. I can't wait!!
1. Banks should be able to do it at the best rate. If you can't get your bank to do it, there should be currency exchange in the airport since it's an international one. Might be a point or two worse though.
2. Depends on how far the airport-hotel-port are from each other, but I'd say bring CDN$100. US credit cards work in Canada, so if you have a credit/debit combo card just use it as a credit card.
2.a Speaking of banks, call them and let them know you're travelling to Canada so they don't do something asstarded like "omg international charge, DISABLE CARD NAU" and leave you up shit creek.
3. Wouldn't know, never been.
4. It's "Zed" not "Zee" and the first letter of the alphabet is eh, don't spook the locals :P
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Well, you'd end up paying your standard out of network atm fee, but that's it. At least all the times I've gotten foreign currency that's how its been. Usually a better rate than the cash places and no commission charges. Plus you don't have to worry about carrying all that cash around. If you're only going to be getting $100-150 I suppose it won't much matter.