Sail away and Cruising the Queen Charlotte Sound

We wake up, pack our suitcases, and prepare for the long trek to the ship. Just kidding—it’s only 2 blocks! We arrive a bit early, drop off our suitcases, and are told to return around noon. With some time to kill, we head to the FlyOver Canada experience, just a few flights of stairs or a quick elevator ride away. I snagged tickets on the Viator app for about $25 each—saving a few bucks. Plus, when charging things in Canada, the conversion to USD usually means a lower price than CAD. Bonus!

The entire Fly Over Canada experience takes about 30 minutes, with the actual ride lasting 10-15 minutes. You start with a short film for 7-10 minutes, then line up to get seated. If you’ve been to California Adventure next to Disneyland, it’s pretty similar. After the ride, we wander around for a bit and then head over to check in.

Alongside the Canada Place where the ships dock. 

People had already checked in, and the Disney ship was also in port. It was like a game of "pick your adventure"—Seabourn Line or Disney Line. We headed to a room with chairs set up in an orderly fashion. They had row-by-row seating, and the place was super organized. There was flavored water if you were thirsty, and maybe even champagne—but we didn’t check out the drinks, so who knows?

Once onboard, we went straight to our room and couldn't stop oohing and aahing. It was amazing! The bathroom was huge, with a separate shower and bathtub, plus two sinks. The room itself was spacious, with a walk-in closet, safe, slippers, and lots of little extras. There was a mini bar set up, a fresh bowl of fruit, a bottle of welcome champagne, a couch, two small tables, and a balcony with two chairs and a little table.

My Makeup Station 

Walk in closet /safe. 

Sitting area w/Mini bar set up.

After unpacking, we set out to explore the ship, which has 11 floors. We were on Deck 7 forward, home to Seabourn Square, a relaxing area with a coffee bar and snacks like cookies, pastries, and gelato. Deck 4 is where the Restaurant is—beautiful and no lines. Deck 5 has "The Club" with a sushi bar open every night from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and a band plays in the evening. There's also a little casino, though we never saw anyone in there.

Casino open for business. 

Deck 8 is "The Colonnade," their buffet area for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is sit-down. Deck 8 also has the pool area and "The Patio," where they host "Earth & Ocean" pop-up lunch and dinner. Deck 9 is for Spa & Wellness and the Gym. Deck 10 is the Observation Bar, all the way forward, with a great view. They serve afternoon teas and have an evening bar with an entertainer and appetizers.

As we cruise through the Queen Charlotte Sound, we’re settling into our next 11 days on the high seas—or rather, the smooth sailing of the Inside Passage. We’re spending our days leisurely discovering the ship, eating delicious food, sipping on drinks, soaking up the stunning views, and absolutely loving life.

The Golden Hour Light 

Click on the  text  "Sail away from Vancouver" on top to see a few quick shots, not on the main body if you see an ad. 

Vancouver for a day doing the "Secret Foodie Tour"

 I booked the "Secret Foodie Tour" with TripAdvisor which is a 3 hour walking tour. The tour takes us through Gastown and we visit 5 eateries. 

It's a rainy day but we've brought our umbrellas. It's just me and Johnny with 2 guides. One is still in training we get a 2fer. Alia is from Eastern Europe and I certainly couldn't tell he was new. Andrew is our second guide who is very knowledgeable so we get a lot of personalized attention.

1. Our first stop is Pure Bread which is like a bakery. I supposed it is usually at the end but we start out there  because it's close to our starting point. We have the "crack bar" which is a butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, corn flour delicacy. We chat with our guides as we learn about their city and their backgrounds.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2.  Next stop is Meat & Bread and the funny thing about this is we are vegetarians. But not to fear, we get the Grilled Cheese sandwich and my husband says it's the best Grilled Cheese he has ever had. It's still early in the day so no crowds yet as we started at 10:30 am and it's now around 11:00 am or so. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Our third stop is MeeT which we were worried when we hear the restaurant name, but to our surprise, it is Vegan. Yay!! We have Butter Chicken Poutine which is Indian inspired, vegan twist on the national dish topped w/creamy tomato gravy and Mozza. We also have the Sweet Chili Cauliflower. Knowing that we have 2 more places after that I slow down my eating. We start splitting our food with the guides because I don't want to be too full for the next two.
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Our fourth stop is Tacofina where we have 2 Fish tacos that are full size that we split. At this stop we order a margarita. I love Mexican food and really like these fish tacos. I didn't get a pic of the fish tacos but here is what the place looks like before the crowds come in. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Our last stop is Miku which is a Sushi restaurant right across from the pier at Canada Place. Now it's close to lunch time and the place is packed. We have the Signature Aburi Oshi sushi and Salmon Oshi Sushi featuring pressed BC wild sockey salmon, jalapeno,  and Miku sauce. The interesting thing about this is they flame it with a torch so it definitely has a unique taste. We like it so much we go back here for dinner! 
   
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   

All in all we had a great time and learned about the history of Gastown as well as our guides.  This is the Famous steam clock and it's one of Vancouver's most iconic landmarks. If you want to know more about this iconic landmark check it out here. Steam Clock

If you know, you know. 

Hello Seabourne!

I’ve booked an 11-day Alaska cruise, roundtrip from Vancouver, Canada, with Seabourn Cruises. This will be my third time visiting Alaska but my first experience with Seabourn. I'm excited to try something completely new!

The dates are from June 17th - June 28th and looks like the below itinerary except for Haines. 

The ship is the Odyssey which has 229 Suites and has around 500 passengers. It's a beautiful ship, and we heard it was sold to a Japanese company, so she only has a few more sailings before she leaves the fleet. 

It's just a 3-hour flight from Los Angeles to Vancouver. If I were feeling adventurous, I could catch a 6:00 am flight and arrive in Vancouver by 9:00 am, just in time to board the ship. However, I decided to arrive a couple of days early to enjoy a leisurely stay in Vancouver before embarking on the cruise.

Here's how I start:

I fly in to Vancouver and land around 5:00 p.m. My hotel is the Pinnacle Hotel that I found on Hotels.com and is downtown near the Pier Canada Place  just a couple blocks away. 

Pinnacle Hotel Vancouver Canada

I booked on Hotels.com because that was in US currency and I usually book through them. 

I looked into taking a taxi but discovered the Sky Train and how easy it was. When you leave the airport just follow the signs that say "Train". It will take you across the street and you go up the elevator to the 3rd floor. All you have to do is Tap your credit card on the pad and the gate opens for you. However you can't enter 2 people. So I went through and handed my card back to my husband. When he tried to tap it, it said you already used it and wouldn't let him tap it. So he pulled out another card. I did see another couple it did work for, so I guess it was just us. You just tap your credit card on the screen below. 

The trains arrive every 6 minutes and have about 10 or 11 stops to reach the Waterfront station in downtown. The journey is mostly through a tunnel, so next time I’d sit at the front for a better view, as the train is driverless. The last stop is considered 2 zones, and you need to tap your credit card again when passing through the turnstile to indicate the number of zones traveled. At $8.75 per person, it’s much more affordable than an expensive taxi ride.

My hotel was about 4-5 walkable blocks away, which we did. However, next time I’d probably take an Uber to avoid the hassle of carrying our suitcases, as we both had checked luggage and carry-ons. The Hilton Pinnacle was on the left side, and our hotel, the Pinnacle Hotel, was on the right. It's a mid-range hotel—not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either.

Once we checked in and settled in we went to look for a restaurant to eat and had passed one that looked interesting. I think the name was "Fish and Hooks" or something like that. 

                                                                        Fries w/Rosemary                  The Inside restaurant and Tofu Salad w/Grilled avocado. After dinner we stopped by a Gelato cafe and had one Pistachio for my husband, and one Licorice for me.  I know that sounds gross but it wasn't. It was very light flavored and not black.  We walked around a bit and then went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is our "Foodie Tour" 

A couple photos of the view from our Hotel room. 

Dont forget the food!

 Food never disappoints. One thing new we tried was the Bento box from Ocean Terrace.  It's about $15.00 but you get 2 free casual dining restaurants with

Princess Plus and unlimited with Princess Premier.  My unexpected surprise was the seaweed salad. I actually loved it!