The city of Vancouver was founded in the late 1800’s by the British. It was originally a lumber mill village. A man named Gassy Jack was the first person to see a need for bars to serve the thirsty mill workers. The story goes that Gassy Jack gave a barrel of booze to the men that built him a saloon. His name is now transferred to Gastown, which is an area of boutique shops and restaurants these days. Vancouver’s famous steam clock is also there.
Captain George Vancouver sailed on Captain Cook’s expeditions, and later chartered the area for the British. The city was named after him, George Vancouver.
There were three tours here, including the highlights for $60 per person (2 ½ hours), or Northwest exploration and Suspension Bridge for $100 (3 ½ hours). The hop-on, hop-off bus for $50 had 29 stops and covered almost all of the city and surrounds. We have done this tour many years ago, and found it fun. And since many passengers would be leaving today, somewhere near 500, a highlight tour with an airport transfer was also offered for $80.
The Amsterdam arrived to the port at 7am, with two ships also docked there. One was the HAL Westerdam, while the other was the Celebrity Eclipse, one of the big ones. Breakfast was served early in the dining room, although we did not go until 7:30am. It was not crowded.
Leaving the ship was like going into a hornet’s nest, due to so many people debarking those two vessels and ours too. However, had we known what it was going to be like getting back onboard later, we may have changed our minds, and stayed onboard the ship. We had been given “in transit” cards, which we would need later to go through the US Customs and Border Protection in the cruise ship terminal on our way back. The time allowed for this inspection was from 10:30am to 3:45pm. All aboard was at 4pm. The procedure here is very different from everywhere else we have been.
Once clear of Canada Place, we took a right turn to walk the seawall along Burrand Inlet. The Vancouver Convention Center is located on this corner, and it was bustling with activity with all of the cafes and shops on the ground level.
Walking further, we came across the seaplane terminal, which is reportedly the world’s largest multi-user terminal. A 20 minute flight for sightseeing ran about $138 for 20 minutes. These planes were taking off the entire time we were there.
Coal Harbor Quay was next, where some mighty fine small boats to luxury yachts were docked. It is also home to many houseboats, complete with verandas and potted rooftop gardens. Some of these boats were also for sale.
The Westin Hotel and other condos and apartment buildings are situated here over-looking Coal Harbor. Turning the bend, we entered Stanley Park, a 1001 acre public park almost entirely surrounded by the waters of the Pacific Ocean. One of the highlights of this park that draws many customers, young and old, are the horse-drawn trolleys. This pleasant ride lasts for one hour and costs $50 for adults, or $46 for seniors. This is all in Canadian dollars by the way.
Some of the horses are a rare Grey Shire imported from Yorkshire, England. Other breeds used are Clysdales, Belgiums, and Percherons. Back in the 1800’s, these animals were used to haul logs in the lumber industry. Some of the larger breeds stand 2.4 meters tall, have feet the size of frying pans, and consume 27 kilograms or 60 pounds of feed a day. They can drink 100 liters of water a day as well. The trolleys are aluminum-framed with signal lights and hydraulic brakes. And they run completely on hay and oats!
The walk in the park was delightful. We did see one Douglas squirrel, and a Canada goose. What we did not see were raccoons, river otters, beavers, and great blue herons. All reportedly in this huge park. There are a whopping 20,000 bald eagles in all of British Columbia, but we did not see one here. What we did see were the trees, in fact there are ½ million trees in this park, some are over 100 years old. However, in December of 2006, a hurricane-force windstorm destroyed 10,000 trees here. That probably why we spotted many young trees planted in their space.
There are 17 miles of trails through this park with towering red cedars, hemlock, and Douglas firs to name only a few. Logging went on here from the 1800’s to the early 1900’s, until it was declared a park. Walking the seawall around the park presents stunning views of downtown, the Lions Gate Bridge, English Bay, and many sandy beaches. Sure would have been nice if we had more time to explore here. But it was time for lunch.
Backtracking at this point, we ended up at Steamworks Brewery on the other side of Canada Place. There was still a mess of people coming and going, as the two bigger ships were beginning a new run to Alaska, while we were loading an additional 500 or more folks for a one night cruise to Seattle.
Lunch was very good with a shared cheeseburger, fries, and one apple crisp with ice cream for dessert. Beers were the special draft of the day….pale ale – ice cold. Sure was nice to relax for over an hour. In hindsight, we should have lingered longer.
Finally, we made our way back to the cruise terminal with at least one million other passengers from three ships doing the same thing. Our “in transit” cards meant nothing. What we found was a long line where all of us were funneled into a row of chairs. Each row had about 100 seats, and there were six rows. Every 15 minutes, a row of guests was released to line up for the customs check. We guess we waited for about I hour in total before getting to the kiosks.
These are self-explanatory passport scanning and questionnaires for the US clearance. As long as you followed the directions, it was simple and quick. Then we lined up to see a live agent, who took our receipt, checked our photo page, and finally we were free to go back to the proper ship. Last time we did this, the Eurodam was the only ship in port, so the line was short and it moved really fast. Later on in the day, we talked to Sue, who also has sailed on this Panama cruise after the grand voyage, and when she saw the process of getting back onboard, she changed her mind and went back on the ship. Probably a good choice.
As we said, all aboard was at 4pm, when a mandatory muster drill was held for only the newly boarded guests. At least that was a good thing. Around 4:30pm, we went up to deck nine to find it was still warm outside, although the skies had become totally overcast. Around that same time, the Celebrity Eclipse began their sail out of the harbor. They were barely on their way, when the Westerdam pulled away from the pier, turned around, and followed them. We were last to leave around 5:30pm, doing 12.8 knots after we went under the Lions Gate Bridge, and headed out to sea. We would have 178 nautical miles to sail to Seattle, according to the cruise log.
Speaking of the cruise log, during this 18 day trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle, we will have sailed 5807 miles, using 227,186 gallons of fuel. Once again, the egg consumption was high at 46,570.
Our last dinner was with our favorite waiters. We had soup, salad, and one pork chop and one pasta dish with sliced chicken. Dessert was one date pudding and one rocky road ice cream. Naturally, Slam snuck us some biscotti cookies, and Marco found some ginger. It was hard saying goodbye, but we hope to see them again soon. Saying goodbye to Ellen and Aart was harder, but they will be back on the 2020 world cruise, which is only months away. By the way, we had a most beautiful sunset this evening, as the ship wove in between the dozens of islands of the coast.
There was entertainment this evening. Part of it started during dinner ,when we watched with amusement the diners down on deck four. They were part of the party-hardy one-nighters here to have fun. And fun they were having. Later, the show was a performance of the singers and dancers doing Crossroads, one of which we did see on the world cruise.
Hauling our luggage outside the room was fun (NOT). At least we will not have to carry any of it home, as we are shipping all six of them.
The final goodnight saying for this trip is: No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old familiar pillow.
- Lin Yutang -
Bill & Mary Ann
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Report #135 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada June 2, 2019 Sunday Partly cloudy & 70 degrees
