Alaska Cruise II

Today was our first sea day. No rush. Breakfast in the "secret room"; a small lounge reserved for Celebrity Elite members. It was peaceful and quiet.

After breakfast we stayed for the Cruise Critic meet and greet function. We met some very nice people from near Sacramento in California.

We attended a fascinating talk by the ship's naturalist, Milos. He discussed Alaska's widlife with pictures. He also discussed how the world had formed since the dinosaurs had roamed the plains.

I managed to get my time in the gym before our butler brought us tea and canapes to the stateroom. It is always interesting to explain to him what we need and our likes and dislikes. It will be interesting to see if he gets it right the second time.

While we were relaxing in the afternoon, we passed very close to the shore along Alaska's Inside Passage. We saw two Killer Whales, the largest members of the dolphin family. We also saw a bald eagle in flight. It was a beautiful part of the cruise.

After dressing for formal evening, we returned to Michael's Club, the "secret room" for a drink before dinner. Ingrid had a Michaelangelo, a cocktail with champagne, mango and other drinks, while I had a diet Cuba Libre, rum and coke.

Dinner was delicious, as it always seems to be on Celebrity. The Sea Bass was prepared properly. I also had Chateaubriand.

After dinner, we went to the show, which was a dancing and singing production. This one was not our scene, although I am sure the other guests enjoyed it. An early night before Ketchikan tomorrow.

Alaska Cruise I

Today's the day we boarded our cruise ship to Alaska.

We had a relaxing early morning in the hotel. Once again, we made ourselves a cup of Starbucks coffee using the sachets provided by the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver. Our view of the marina, the bay and the mountains made for a pleasant morning. After catching up on all the necessary e-mails, we wandered over to the White Spot restaurant in downtown Vancouver for breakfast. It was only two blocks from the hotel.

We were given coupons for the White Spot on our Vancouver Trolley yesteday. This gave us 50% off one of our entree's. The ambiance and the food were good.

After breakfast we returned to our hotel, where we checked out and caught a cab to Canada Place where our ship, the Celebrity Millennium was berthed. We would normally have walked, but because a section of the promenade was under construction, we would have had to carry our cases up two large flights of stairs.

We arrived at Canada Place at noon, perfect timing. We put our cases directly onto the moving belt to load them onto the ship. We did not need a porter to assist. Getting through American immigration was a breeze. The agent was very friendly.

After a few minutes wait we checked into the ship. The lady checking us in, a native of Vancouver was extremely friendly and helpful. We even spent a few minutes discussing some aspects of the city. She confirmed our upgrade to a suite. Thanks to Andrea at Frosch Travel in Houston. Well done!!

As we were about to leave the ships check-in, a crew lady approached us with our room keys and told us that she would like to offer us complimentary dining this evening at the ship's fine dining restaurant, the Olympic. What a pleasure. It is definitely a major benefit to stick with one cruise line or group in order to achieve Elite status.

We boarded the ship with no wait at all. The staterooms were not ready, so we went to the Waterfall Restaurant, where we were able to sit outdoors, enjoy the weather, the sights and have a light lunch salad.

The afternoon was spent exploring the ship. Our Sky Suite is, for us, the perfect stateroom; not cramped, but not too big either. We met our room steward and our butler, both of whom are very hospitable. We sailed out of Vancouver an hour late because the ship took longer to refuel than anticipated. We sailed past Stanley Park under the huge Lions Bridge on our way to the inside passage to Alaska. Exciting!

We went to the Olympic restaurant for a delicious meal. Yummmm! We both had rack of lamb, done to perfection. The service was amazing.

The "Welcome Aboard" show was the usual mix of talk and entertainment. The one aspect that we found particularly appealing was the teaser for the production show tomorrow. The singers and dancers were very good.

We eventually only got to bed after midnight, tired but looking forward to a fun, entertaining and educational cruise.

Vancouver II

A fun day in Vancouver.

We decided to take the Hop-on, Hop-off trolley around Vancouver this morning. The purpose was to see as much as possible in one day. The cost of $36 ($38 less hotel $2 coupon) per person was a bit steep, but allowed us to achieve our aim. The drivers were interesting, offering titbits of information all the time.

Before we left, we made ourselves some delicious Starbucks coffee from the sachets placed in our hotel room for use with the in-room coffee maker. We like the Westin Bayshore and would recommend it. We did however, get our rooms through Priceline, getting a good deal. Vancouver hotels can be very expensive.

We were picked up by the Vancouver Trolley Company outside our hotel. The red route trolley started by touring through Stanley Park. We decided to come back to the park in the afternoon for some exploring. We got off the bus at the False Creek Ferries, where we travelled across the bay to Granville Island by ferry. The trolley ticket included a free ferry ticket. Neat!

We went directly to the Blue Parrot, a small coffee shop in the Public Market on Granville Island. We ordered coffee and an avocado sandwich to share. The coffee was STRONG and the sandwich was big enough for the two of us to have a good meal. We sat by the window, watching the passing parade of people and boats. The weather was gorgeous.

After breakfast, we wandered through the market. The variety of food on sale was fascinating. There was a fun atmosphere with many buskers inside and outside the market. We walked to the opposite end of the island where we found the blue route trolley to continue our journey.

We got off again in Chinatown, the second biggest in North America after San Francisco. We walked around and even managed to buy some stuff. We even found delicious lychees for a snack in our hotel.

Boarding the blue route trolley again at the other end of Chinatown, we traveled through downtown to Canada Place, the cruise terminal. We changed trolleys, back to the red route to go back to our hotel to drop off our purchases and to have a short rest.

Time for more touring. We boarded the red route trolley again to return to Stanley Park as planned. We got off at the Totem Poles. Very interesting. We walked down to the bay and walked around the tip of Stanley Park, enjoying the varied views. We returned to the Totem Poles where we again got onto a red route trolley. After a short ride, we got off at English Bay, where we ate a tasty early dinner at the Boathouse. We sat on the upper outside deck, which was heated. The food and ambiance were good.

We managed to get the last trolley for a ride back through downtown back to Canada Place. We could have got a ride with the trolley back to our hotel, but decided instead to walk along the promenade. We found a series of many plaques highlighting true interesting stories about Vancouver's fascinating history. We watched the sea planes take off and land from one of North America's busiest seaplane ports.

So.. a really enjoyable, busy day. It worked out that we toured the city for over nine hours!

Vancouver I

Hi All
Today we flew into Vancouver on our way to board our Alaskan cruise ship on Friday. We had heard that Vancouver is a really terrific city, so we arrived two days early to verify this idea.

Continental Airlines was kind enough to upgrade both of us to business class for our four hour flight from Houston. We were served a delicious brunch of vegetable soup and a chicken wrap. We watched the movie "Leap Year" which was good light entertainment. We used our Sony noise canceling headphones instead of the earbud headphones given to us. The quality makes quite a difference. A second movie was screened, but I used the time to write some work e-mails.

We met up at the airport with a cruise buddy from our January Panama Canal cruise. He was with his new bride. We caught a cab together to the hotel.

The hotel, the Westin Bayshore is very clean and comfortable. The receptionist was friendly and efficient.

After putting our luggage into the room, I needed to spend about ninety minutes working on some specification sheets for an upcoming convention in Pittsburgh. Having got that out of the way, we were free to spend the afternoon exploring our district of Vancouver. It was raining softly but steadily, but we had brought umbrellas and rain jackets, so we were not deterred in any way. The temperature was comfortable in the mid teens centigrade.

We walked along the Seawall up to Canada Place, where the cruise ships dock. It was not very far. I was amazed to see a seaplane port in action.

We walked through the quaint touristy Gaslamp district, where we saw the world's first steam powered clock. We waited for it to "chime" the quarter hour using steam whistles. Fun!

We walked up to the Chinatown, after which we went to the Steamworks micro-brewery for a delicious lunch of beer battered fish 'n chips, a salad and some of the locally brewed dark beer. It hit the spot!

After our late lunch we strolled back to hotel, enjoying the local sight and sounds.

We planned tomorrow's full day of touring Vancouver's attractions.

Watch this space.....