Fishy
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For the first time in the history of this website, there was actually good advice dispensed.
Newark was fine - we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott because they had a 14-day parking deal. The shuttle service was fine; we finagled an earlier flight home, so I did not get to see what kind of driver they use at 3 am. The 8 pm shuttle driver was not a murderer or at least he was not murdering when we saw him.
Vancouver is an awesome city. They have a waterfront and snow-covered peaks in close proximity - that is an unbeatable combination.
Not a cheap city - we stayed at the Pan Pacific before the cruise and the Fairmont afterwards. The service at both is terrific, but they're expensive. I think the Pan Pacific will bury a body for you if you're staying at the club level.
Unfortunately, there were a couple of tragic accidents outside of our hotel on both days we were there before the cruise which disrupted the shuttle buses to Capilano and Grouse, so we were unable to do both the same day. It seemed disrespectful to push past the accidents just to find another tourist bus stop, so we waited and left later in the day.
Capilano was great. Grouse Mountain was twice as great. To the guy above who threw out 45-minutes as the time to aim for going up the Grouse Grind, we did it in about 54 minutes...but my daughter is just 13. She had to stop and rest a few times, but she did well. I've never seen as many shattered human beings scattered around a hiking trail as I did going up Grouse.
At someone else's suggestion, we rented bikes and rode around Stanley as well. I'd move to Vancouver just to live closer to that park.
As for restaurants...we've come to the realization that we really just do not care that much about food. We ate for convenience - we went to the Steamworks Brewery twice and a place called Rogue once. Rogue sold a beer called Boneyard. I tried it - it was bad. (Big plus for Canada - when the bill comes, they show up with a credit card reader and handle the transaction right there. No watching your card disappear for ten minutes. Canada is way ahead on the tap and pay curve.)
The cruise to Alaska was as good as advertised. The weather was what I gathered typical for Alaska - it rained from the second we got on the ship to the second we got off. Temp was consistently 50-54.
We tried to take a helicopter to a glacier in Alaska in Juneau, but that sucker got rained out. We took a bus to Mendenhall instead and tried to find a bear, but struck out there, too. I did manage to take the family on a hike from Mendenhall down a trail that flooded behind us. Wife was thrilled to have to take her shoes off and walk through glacial streams to get back to the trailhead. Refreshing, I said.
We skipped the train in Skagway and hiked up to Upper Dewey Lake instead. It's about a three mile hike up to the lake, but there's 3,100' of elevation to be gained and it's generally pouring rain. But it's worth it - there wasn't another soul on the trail and there's a postcard view every time you look up. The lake is something like you will see once in a lifetime. It's beautiful.
We took a Deadliest Catch crab fishing boat trip in Ketchikan. It was retired from crab fishing and refitted for tourism. They give a four-hour tour, demonstrate how to fish for various crab and fish species, spot some whales, eagles, etc. Very touristy, but fun. (For Deadliest Catch fans, our cruise ship tied up next to the Time Bandit; they're fishing for salmon right now.)
A note on societal differences - we generally take Disney cruise ships. The service is great and we prefer it to the cottontops on some other cruise lines and the drunks on some others.
On the Caribbean cruises, there are a lot of Germans, southerners and Brazilians. LSU and UF garb everywhere. On the Alaska cruise, there were a lot of midwesterners, New Englanders and Asians. Michigan, Oregon and UConn were the most-seen college garb. Saw at least six-eight people wearing UConn stuff - the block C carry-on luggage that I have brought three UConn fans up to me in the terminal before we even got on the ship.
Another note: there is nothing in this world that you love more than young Japanese women love Disney characters. Nothing. Not your wife, not your kids, nothing. It was fun to watch them lost their marbles every time a person in a mouse costume was in their presence.
On Alaska - I'd go back again in a heartbeat. My daughter loved it. Eventually, we just ignored the rain and spent most of our time out on deck anyway. We got used to the rain when we were in port as well. My wife liked it, but she's done it and has no desire to go again. Typically, she likes to spend some time outside reading on deck, but that's not happening in the rain and cold, so she felt a little confined inside by the end of the trip. So...heading back to the Caribbean next year.
But we still need to walk on a glacier, so Iceland looks like a long weekend trip next spring.
Newark was fine - we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott because they had a 14-day parking deal. The shuttle service was fine; we finagled an earlier flight home, so I did not get to see what kind of driver they use at 3 am. The 8 pm shuttle driver was not a murderer or at least he was not murdering when we saw him.
Vancouver is an awesome city. They have a waterfront and snow-covered peaks in close proximity - that is an unbeatable combination.
Not a cheap city - we stayed at the Pan Pacific before the cruise and the Fairmont afterwards. The service at both is terrific, but they're expensive. I think the Pan Pacific will bury a body for you if you're staying at the club level.
Unfortunately, there were a couple of tragic accidents outside of our hotel on both days we were there before the cruise which disrupted the shuttle buses to Capilano and Grouse, so we were unable to do both the same day. It seemed disrespectful to push past the accidents just to find another tourist bus stop, so we waited and left later in the day.
Capilano was great. Grouse Mountain was twice as great. To the guy above who threw out 45-minutes as the time to aim for going up the Grouse Grind, we did it in about 54 minutes...but my daughter is just 13. She had to stop and rest a few times, but she did well. I've never seen as many shattered human beings scattered around a hiking trail as I did going up Grouse.
At someone else's suggestion, we rented bikes and rode around Stanley as well. I'd move to Vancouver just to live closer to that park.
As for restaurants...we've come to the realization that we really just do not care that much about food. We ate for convenience - we went to the Steamworks Brewery twice and a place called Rogue once. Rogue sold a beer called Boneyard. I tried it - it was bad. (Big plus for Canada - when the bill comes, they show up with a credit card reader and handle the transaction right there. No watching your card disappear for ten minutes. Canada is way ahead on the tap and pay curve.)
The cruise to Alaska was as good as advertised. The weather was what I gathered typical for Alaska - it rained from the second we got on the ship to the second we got off. Temp was consistently 50-54.
We tried to take a helicopter to a glacier in Alaska in Juneau, but that sucker got rained out. We took a bus to Mendenhall instead and tried to find a bear, but struck out there, too. I did manage to take the family on a hike from Mendenhall down a trail that flooded behind us. Wife was thrilled to have to take her shoes off and walk through glacial streams to get back to the trailhead. Refreshing, I said.
We skipped the train in Skagway and hiked up to Upper Dewey Lake instead. It's about a three mile hike up to the lake, but there's 3,100' of elevation to be gained and it's generally pouring rain. But it's worth it - there wasn't another soul on the trail and there's a postcard view every time you look up. The lake is something like you will see once in a lifetime. It's beautiful.
We took a Deadliest Catch crab fishing boat trip in Ketchikan. It was retired from crab fishing and refitted for tourism. They give a four-hour tour, demonstrate how to fish for various crab and fish species, spot some whales, eagles, etc. Very touristy, but fun. (For Deadliest Catch fans, our cruise ship tied up next to the Time Bandit; they're fishing for salmon right now.)
A note on societal differences - we generally take Disney cruise ships. The service is great and we prefer it to the cottontops on some other cruise lines and the drunks on some others.
On the Caribbean cruises, there are a lot of Germans, southerners and Brazilians. LSU and UF garb everywhere. On the Alaska cruise, there were a lot of midwesterners, New Englanders and Asians. Michigan, Oregon and UConn were the most-seen college garb. Saw at least six-eight people wearing UConn stuff - the block C carry-on luggage that I have brought three UConn fans up to me in the terminal before we even got on the ship.
Another note: there is nothing in this world that you love more than young Japanese women love Disney characters. Nothing. Not your wife, not your kids, nothing. It was fun to watch them lost their marbles every time a person in a mouse costume was in their presence.
On Alaska - I'd go back again in a heartbeat. My daughter loved it. Eventually, we just ignored the rain and spent most of our time out on deck anyway. We got used to the rain when we were in port as well. My wife liked it, but she's done it and has no desire to go again. Typically, she likes to spend some time outside reading on deck, but that's not happening in the rain and cold, so she felt a little confined inside by the end of the trip. So...heading back to the Caribbean next year.
But we still need to walk on a glacier, so Iceland looks like a long weekend trip next spring.
