mk-ultra

All packed-up and ready to go.  This is the first time I've ever shuffled stuff between bags to make sure I don't bust UA's 50 lb. bag limit.  I can already feel the anticipation (wheee!) of what promises to be a great trip.  😀  I doubt I'll sleep much tonight.  That's a good feeling.

Had breakkies at the "Honey Salt" restaurant here at the JW (gotta use up that property credit).  For the second time in my life, I remembered to snap a pic before demolishing the plate.  Holding up the [APPLAUSE] sign.
It's their slightly-modified take on eggs Benedict.  American bacon and sautéed spinach, with the world's crispiest skin-on breakfast potatoes.  Really, really good.  They actually decently toasted AND lightly buttered the English muffins, which makes me want to hug a chef.
 

Had breakkies at the "Honey Salt" restaurant here at the JW (gotta use up that property credit).  For the second time in my life, I remembered to snap a pic before demolishing the plate.  Holding up the [APPLAUSE] sign.
It's their slightly-modified take on eggs Benedict.  American bacon and sautéed spinach, with the world's crispiest skin-on breakfast potatoes.  Really, really good.  They actually decently toasted AND lightly buttered the English muffins, which makes me want to hug a chef.
 

The Parq has a park on floor 6, where The Victor restaurant is.  Comes complete with a view of the BC Stadium that nothing short of a wide-angle can capture decently, and a Canadian goose that will stare menacingly at you for intruding into its domain.  The Victor does a full-on Sunday "roast" with prime rib and a Yorkshire pudding on weekends -- which will be dinner tonight.  Inside.  Away from the goose.

Taking some pics yesterday I totally missed that mama bear has a cub.  So, cub:

Friction-less trip from YVR to the JW Marriott Parq.  About 20 minutes in a ludicrously oversized black SUV. 😛 Got the usual FH&R room upgrade to a floor 16 "water" view room that overlooks False Creek to the southeast.  The big silver globe on the other side of the creek is Science World.  May check that out tomorrow.  Looks like it's geared for kids though.  Luckily, I'm still  brat at heart.  There's a walking/running/biking track all the way around the False Creek basin.



Gonna ask the concierge to pre-book another car for boarding day.  Learned my lesson in L.A. when several thousand other people also had the bright idea to hit the Uber or Lyft button at the same time to get to the ship.  1100 show time on Monday.
A lot of the restaurants here at the JW appear to be closed.  I read that on Tripadvisor after I'd already booked.  Still, there's plenty of food on-property (I had poutine and a beer while watching the Oilers <> LV Golden Knights game).  Did I mention the JW is also a casino?  Oops.  I'll give them a shot at my money tomorrow.  There's only one 3:2 shoe-dealt blackjack table in the entire place.  $25 min, so fewer ploppies.  All of the others are continuous-shuffle-machine and there are a bunch of stupid ones that require a $1 side bet each hand.
Tons of food (at every wallet level) within a 5-10 minute walk from the JW.  If you want to buy yourself wine for your one-bottle allotment the closest place, Robson Wine & Spirits, is a little under 10 minutes.  It's in the direction you'll want to go in to check out local restaurants, so not wasted time.

The Parq has a park on floor 6, where The Victor restaurant is.  Comes complete with a view of the BC Stadium that nothing short of a wide-angle can capture decently, and a Canadian goose that will stare menacingly at you for intruding into its domain.  The Victor does a full-on Sunday "roast" with prime rib and a Yorkshire pudding on weekends -- which will be dinner tonight.  Inside.  Away from the goose.

When you least expect it, BOOM... A marathon appears right outside of the hotel.  It actually ends at Canada Place where the cruise terminal is.  I should grab my luggage and join in.  Also, met a Vancouver native PD officer.  She was super-nice and gave me a little history.  🙂  This is the off-ramp from Cambie Bridge.

Taking some pics yesterday I totally missed that mama bear has a cub.  So, cub:

Jerks opened a really decent double-deck 3:2 blackjack table at 7PM.  So, so much for giving them my money tomorrow.  Did a couple of hours there.  Haven't seen DD dealt cards-up anywhere, so it was a little weird.   Took a beating though.  Met some nice folks who played well.

Friction-less trip from YVR to the JW Marriott Parq.  About 20 minutes in a ludicrously oversized black SUV. 😛 Got the usual FH&R room upgrade to a floor 16 "water" view room that overlooks False Creek to the southeast.  The big silver globe on the other side of the creek is Science World.  May check that out tomorrow.  Looks like it's geared for kids though.  Luckily, I'm still  brat at heart.  There's a walking/running/biking track all the way around the False Creek basin.



Gonna ask the concierge to pre-book another car for boarding day.  Learned my lesson in L.A. when several thousand other people also had the bright idea to hit the Uber or Lyft button at the same time to get to the ship.  1100 show time on Monday.
A lot of the restaurants here at the JW appear to be closed.  I read that on Tripadvisor after I'd already booked.  Still, there's plenty of food on-property (I had poutine and a beer while watching the Oilers <> LV Golden Knights game).  Did I mention the JW is also a casino?  Oops.  I'll give them a shot at my money tomorrow.  There's only one 3:2 shoe-dealt blackjack table in the entire place.  $25 min, so fewer ploppies.  All of the others are continuous-shuffle-machine and there are a bunch of stupid ones that require a $1 side bet each hand.
Tons of food (at every wallet level) within a 5-10 minute walk from the JW.  If you want to buy yourself wine for your one-bottle allotment the closest place, Robson Wine & Spirits, is a little under 10 minutes.  It's in the direction you'll want to go in to check out local restaurants, so not wasted time.

When you least expect it, BOOM... A marathon appears right outside of the hotel.  It actually ends at Canada Place where the cruise terminal is.  I should grab my luggage and join in.  Also, met a Vancouver native PD officer.  She was super-nice and gave me a little history.  🙂  This is the off-ramp from Cambie Bridge.

Taking some pics yesterday I totally missed that mama bear has a cub.  So, cub:

Friction-less trip from YVR to the JW Marriott Parq.  About 20 minutes in a ludicrously oversized black SUV. 😛 Got the usual FH&R room upgrade to a floor 16 "water" view room that overlooks False Creek to the southeast.  The big silver globe on the other side of the creek is Science World.  May check that out tomorrow.  Looks like it's geared for kids though.  Luckily, I'm still  brat at heart.  There's a walking/running/biking track all the way around the False Creek basin.



Gonna ask the concierge to pre-book another car for boarding day.  Learned my lesson in L.A. when several thousand other people also had the bright idea to hit the Uber or Lyft button at the same time to get to the ship.  1100 show time on Monday.
A lot of the restaurants here at the JW appear to be closed.  I read that on Tripadvisor after I'd already booked.  Still, there's plenty of food on-property (I had poutine and a beer while watching the Oilers <> LV Golden Knights game).  Did I mention the JW is also a casino?  Oops.  I'll give them a shot at my money tomorrow.  There's only one 3:2 shoe-dealt blackjack table in the entire place.  $25 min, so fewer ploppies.  All of the others are continuous-shuffle-machine and there are a bunch of stupid ones that require a $1 side bet each hand.
Tons of food (at every wallet level) within a 5-10 minute walk from the JW.  If you want to buy yourself wine for your one-bottle allotment the closest place, Robson Wine & Spirits, is a little under 10 minutes.  It's in the direction you'll want to go in to check out local restaurants, so not wasted time.

Oh, I also promised to mention how it went with Canadian Customs.  Zip -- done.  Walk to a kiosk, scan your passport, have it take your photo... collect the paper ticket it spits out and walk to the exit where they collect the ticket.  Just past that, grab your bag(s).  Everything except waiting for the bags to hit the luggage carousel was FAST.  Kiosk noted I'd already filled out my GENDEC.  All it did was ask if I wanted to modify it (vs. having to answer all the questions).  ArriveCAN is definitely a way to shave some time off getting through Customs.

Super-duper easy trip to SFO this morning.  Driver was 30 minutes early, so we just went with it.  I can wait here at SFO as easily as I can at home.  Plus, here (Centurion Lounge) has champagne and nibbles.  They roughly doubled the size of the lounge in late December.  Not packed at all.  Lots of seats.  Short lines for buffet and booze.

Security lines were massive.  At least an hour.  I don't think I've seen SFO this packed on a Saturday morning.  Pre-Check + Clear = bypass all that in 5 minutes 🙂  I'm in a very good mood.
Tip if you're flying UA out of SFO's domestic terminal (3).  Get dropped off at the last 2 doors (12-13).  It's an area dedicated for bag drop if you've already done the check-in on the United app and it's never slammed.  My flight to Vancouver is leaving from terminal 3, not the international one.  That's actually a plus.  The lounge is in terminal 3.

Pushback and wheels-up were on time.  SF is catching the East side of a low, so we get a nice tailwind to Vancouver.  1+46 en-route.  It's Bailey's & Coffee o'clock onboard.

Super-duper easy trip to SFO this morning.  Driver was 30 minutes early, so we just went with it.  I can wait here at SFO as easily as I can at home.  Plus, here (Centurion Lounge) has champagne and nibbles.  They roughly doubled the size of the lounge in late December.  Not packed at all.  Lots of seats.  Short lines for buffet and booze.

Security lines were massive.  At least an hour.  I don't think I've seen SFO this packed on a Saturday morning.  Pre-Check + Clear = bypass all that in 5 minutes 🙂  I'm in a very good mood.
Tip if you're flying UA out of SFO's domestic terminal (3).  Get dropped off at the last 2 doors (12-13).  It's an area dedicated for bag drop if you've already done the check-in on the United app and it's never slammed.  My flight to Vancouver is leaving from terminal 3, not the international one.  That's actually a plus.  The lounge is in terminal 3.

Also: totally random aside.  First time I've tried a wrinkle-release spray.  What kind of magic is that?!  It works.  I'll have a couple of blazers pressed first thing if they look funky after I board, but wow.  Put me on team #wrinklespray.
 

All packed-up and ready to go.  This is the first time I've ever shuffled stuff between bags to make sure I don't bust UA's 50 lb. bag limit.  I can already feel the anticipation (wheee!) of what promises to be a great trip.  😀  I doubt I'll sleep much tonight.  That's a good feeling.

Sorry the queso fundido wasn’t good.  It is one of my very favorites…but I will say, without any wavering, that I make the best queso fundido on the planet.  One day it will be famous 🤣  The secret is the homemade chorizo….but I will say no more !
Im just glad that it’s back on the menu !  The last time we went to a Sabor, it wasn’t there.  I was devastated.   …but one of the servers found some and sent it to us at our restaurant the next night.  It was very sweet.

Super-duper easy trip to SFO this morning.  Driver was 30 minutes early, so we just went with it.  I can wait here at SFO as easily as I can at home.  Plus, here (Centurion Lounge) has champagne and nibbles.  They roughly doubled the size of the lounge in late December.  Not packed at all.  Lots of seats.  Short lines for buffet and booze.

Security lines were massive.  At least an hour.  I don't think I've seen SFO this packed on a Saturday morning.  Pre-Check + Clear = bypass all that in 5 minutes 🙂  I'm in a very good mood.
Tip if you're flying UA out of SFO's domestic terminal (3).  Get dropped off at the last 2 doors (12-13).  It's an area dedicated for bag drop if you've already done the check-in on the United app and it's never slammed.  My flight to Vancouver is leaving from terminal 3, not the international one.  That's actually a plus.  The lounge is in terminal 3.

All packed-up and ready to go.  This is the first time I've ever shuffled stuff between bags to make sure I don't bust UA's 50 lb. bag limit.  I can already feel the anticipation (wheee!) of what promises to be a great trip.  😀  I doubt I'll sleep much tonight.  That's a good feeling.

Yay!  Off to beautiful Alaska on Quantum of the Seas in a few days.  This will be my first time on a Q-class ship, so looking forward to something new.  This will also nicely round-out my RCL “bingo card”.  I will have been on every ship class save one: Quantum Ultra.
The basics:
Deck 10 Grand Loft Suite (RoyalUP from a Grand Suite -- Star Class on the cheap).
2 additional days pre-cruise in Vancouver to play around, staying at the JW Marriott Parq.   https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/yvrjw-jw-marriott-parq-vancouver/overview/
Interesting curve-ball: once you board on the 8th, no getting off the ship.  Canadian Customs closes shop at 5 PM on the 8th.
1 additional post-cruise day in Seattle, staying at the Lotte Hotel.  https://www.lottehotelseattle.com/ Easy walking distance to Pike Place.
Cruise itinerary:
Day 1 Vancouver (in lockdown once you board)
Day 2 Vancouver (0330 sail-away -- that's gonna be brutal because I'm not going to miss going under Lionsgate Bridge)
Day 3 Ketchikan
Day 4 Sitka
Day 5 Juneau
Day 6 At sea
Day 7 Victoria
Day 8 Seattle
I kinda splurged (hey, vacation) and booked private car service from YVR to the hotel.  AK weather (looking at you, Juneau) can’t decide whether it wants to rain, snow, or rain and snow… so I packed all the things.  I never travel this heavy, so having an extra pair of hands is worth it to me.  Shoulder season roulette on the weather.  Juneau still dipping below 32F.
Last time I did an AK cruise it was a straight SOBO from Seward to Vancouver in 2016 on Radiance.  Also in May.  Lucked out on the WX, just some occasional rain.  Seriously, if you can snag a cruise on Radiance, do it.  It's a very cool sorta flashback.  I loved it.  Not what you want with kiddos who need constant stimulation (O-class for you, then), but damn it's a neat ship.

Also: totally random aside.  First time I've tried a wrinkle-release spray.  What kind of magic is that?!  It works.  I'll have a couple of blazers pressed first thing if they look funky after I board, but wow.  Put me on team #wrinklespray.