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arebee

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Posts posted by arebee

  1. 18 hours ago, twangster said:

    Day 1 - Getting To The Ship

    I left my hotel at 9am walking 1/2 mile to the light rail Bridgeport station.  It's concrete sidewalks all the way so managing my two spinner suitcases wasn't as bad as I feared it might be.  Drivers here respect the crosswalks unlike some big cities where crosswalks are target zones for pedestrians.

    The two zone fare one-way was $4.20 CAD or $3.12 USD.  Pretty inexpensive transfer to the ship.  I purchased with my credit card having notified them of my international travel plans before hand.  If you take the train from YVR airport there is an additional fee when leaving the airport.  That fee didn't apply to me since I boarded the train further down the line.

    Since the Canada Line services the YVR airport luggage isn't an anomaly although there isn't a luggage rack.  I slid mine into a window seat next to me while I sat in the aisle seat. 

    The first "Waterfront" train that arrived at the station was packed with daily commuters on this Monday morning so I waited for the next train that was nearly empty.

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    Arriving at the end of the line the Waterfront station is approximately one 1/4 mile from Canada Place in downtown Vancouver.  I used the elevator from the train platform to reach street level and made the right turn to head towards Canada Place.  The paper ticket card I purchased is needed to exit the platform so keep your ticket handy at all times.   

    Once at Canada Place the cruise terminal is accessed by going down the ramp following the signs.  Taxis, shuttles or private cars would drive down the ramp.

    I arrived shortly before 10am.  Total transfer time from my hotel including walking to the train and to Canada Place was around 50 minutes.

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    Departing guests were making their way up while I headed down.

    The terminal uses four stages to mark the embarkation process with signs for them labelled one through four.  Step 1 is the baggage drop which is geared for vehicle traffic down on the P2 level of the parking garage below the terminal.  For pedestrian arrivals you can use a parking elevator to reach the P2 level.

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    Following the signs in the parking garage I was led to the baggage drop off in the parking garage.

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    There is a desk set up for guests who did not print luggage tags at home.

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    Guests with tags already on their bags can skip this and go directly to the drop area.

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    This is organized by forward cabins to the left and and aft cabins further down.

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    With baggage dropped off, it was back up to the terminal using the same elevators or stairs.  Here there were signs for step 2, check in,  up the escalator.

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    The check in hall is up one floor following the signs for step 2.

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    Terminal contractors with tablets were here to greet me, scan my SetSail pass and passport, take my photo and finally stamp my setSail pass.

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    Following the signs for the loop around to step 3 the path takes you outside along the edge of the building to an escalator down to security.

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    At the bottom of the escalator I was directed through to security where I didn't take any pictures but it's clearly marked for step 3.

    Typical cruise security with carry on through X-Ray and guests through metal detectors much like airport security.  

    After this was step 4, US Customs and Immigration.  No pictures but it was nice to pre-clear US customs here so we wouldn't have to deal with it mid-cruise.  They have kiosks where you scan your passport, make your declarations and proceed.  

    With that complete I was led to a holding area since guests were still debarking the ship.  Time at this point was 10:25am.

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    Initially there was seating for around 250 guests but with the ship delaying embarkation they expanded this and added another 250 seats, then another 250 seats.  

    The terminal appeared to have wifi available but it didn't work.

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    Instead my phone switched to 3G cellular this far into the interior of the terminal away from the LTE signal I had been enjoying outside.  T-Mobile includes Canada and Mexico in my home area so my phone works no different compared to being at home with no additional charges. 

    Terminal contractors were very apologetic stating it doesn't usually take this long before the ship is ready.  I suspect departing guests were slow to leave as we could see a few heading off and through the terminal from time to time as we waited.  Finally the ship was ready for us and we were led to the typical embarkation photo area and outside to the gangway.   

    Time to start boarding - 11:25am.

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    They were busy loading the ship down on the dock below us.

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    Up the covered gangway and onto the ship.

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    It was a very organized embarkation with the four steps clearly labelled and easy to follow.  In fact it may be one of the most logical and easier embarkations I've experienced.

    We stayed in the Fairmont on West George street for a week last September (straight up the road form the port).  We walked down the hill to the port for our cruise on a HAL ship.  I agree with you about the crosswalk thing, its nice they respect it but if you are in it when the light changes they start blowing their horns.   I also liked the embarkation, it was smooth but you do a lot of walking to finally get to the waiting area.

  2. 17 hours ago, CrusingWithMatt said:

    The victory ship was a self guided tour. I believe they do guided ones on the weekend. $10 adults $5 veterans. Very cool and it took us a little over an hour to see everything at a very relaxed pace. Tomorrow we board Brilliance!

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    That brings back some memories.  I served on a ship that was commissioned in 1944 and she served from WWII until the 90's.  Nothing like haze gray and underway.

  3. I've done the snuba in St. Thomas.  Won't do it again.  Now that could be that I am a certified diver and this just didn't cut it.  I did it because my wife and brother in law wanted to try it.  We were tied to a single take with 6 hoses.  The person doing the excursion was in scuba.  They wanted everyone to keep up but the person running it kept way ahead of everyone and kept signaling for them to catch up, I was in the lead and was pulling everyone along.  Not fun.  The air lines were about 10 feet at best so don't think you're going deep.  And yes, I think we only had about 15 minutes maximum, other than that we had snorkel equipment to keep you occupied while the other groups was doing snuba.    Actually, my wife and I did a discover scuba excursion in Cozumel and that was better.  Don't know if they offer that in Nassau. 

  4. Sorry, don't agree with the "sterile" comment.  It looks like a nice boat.  The indoor gym might be a good idea to get more people involved.  Less wind and heat for those who might not like to be out in the sun.  Overall, I wouldn't mind trying a cruise on her.

  5. Just now, J.reynolds said:

    Yeah that's what I meant they won't need a weeks worth of soda trust me lol I just didn't want any complications getting drinks for them or spending the extra money if I didn't have too 

    I don't know for sure if you have to buy two like the deluxe alcohol package.  Someone will be along shortly with the correct answer.  But if you don't buy the package, they can get drinks any place that serves, at a cost of course. 

  6. 9 minutes ago, twangster said:

    The town is a 20 minute walk or there is an inexpensive shuttle that can take you into town.  1h 45m should be enough time to eat in town or on the ship.  There are some restaurants very close to the port about 5 minutes from the ship. 

    The shuttle:

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    There is a place down one of the side streets that sell reindeer sausage.  I wanted to get one but they weren't open at the time and didn't get back in time to get one.  Its a little shack.

  7. 2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

    I wish I could figure out why Royal continues to remove very popular items from their specialty restaurant menus.  The Red Velvet Cake has disappeared from some ships, too.  Very weird and seemingly ill conceived.

    The worse thing they removed was ME!!!!  But I am more popular in the Schooner than the restaurants.

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