We had set the alarm for 7:00, but we were both awake slightly ahead of it going off. We took turns getting showered. Then we packed up the last odds and ends. I got the magnets in and put them in my hand luggage. Then we left our cabin for the final time.
We decided to check out how busy the Windjammer was. There were no tables available inside, but there was a booth in the outside area where we had lunch the previous day. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was actually pretty warm. Sitting outside was not a hardship. We also got some entertainment. The locals came to visit. There are some really big seagulls in Vancouver. Unlike their British cousins, they were not aggressive, but they were very sneaky. They waited until food was unsupervised even for a matter of seconds and swooped in. One or two at the time were standing guard at the railings and then more flew in if there was some food to be had. We were safe from them. Not only were we about as far away from the railing as we could get, but we also knew better than leaving food unsupervised if there were birds around.
We both had juice and coffee. Graham had fruit, yoghurt and oatmeal. I had one last bowl of congee. I am not sure when I will be getting my next congee. I am not sure if this is something that will be available on our transatlantic cruise. I made sure that I savoured every bite. We were in no rush to finish breakfast as we still had some time until the estimated time that are tag number would be called. Once we were done, we checked the screens that showed which tag numbers had been called. They were not far away from ours and rather than going to our assigned departure lounge, we sat down near the champagne bar. This turned out to be a wise decision. About 10 minutes later, it was our turn.
Disembarkation was an absolute charm. There was no line to get off the ship. Once we got to the terminal building, there was plenty of port staff to make sure that we were heading in the right direction. Like in 2013, neither the Canadian nor the US authorities were interested in us. The luggage was all lined up when we got to the baggage hall, and it did not take long for us to find our bags. I was not entirely happy that we did not have to clear any immigration formalities at all. I know a lot of people who done an Alaska cruise with Disney Cruise Line last year had emails sent to them that they were overstaying on their ESTAs, because they flew back from Vancouver and the USA had no record of them ever leaving the USA. I was worried the same would happen to us. Well, this is just another thing that Royal Caribbean is better at. Once we were home, I checked our electronic immigration records for the USA, and we were showing as having departed from the USA the day we left Ketchikan.
Once we had left the terminal building, we headed towards the Skytrain station. Unfortunately access to the line that services the airport is not at the Canada Place end, but at the opposite side where we had met for the food tour before the cruise. Our hand luggage consisted of a backpack each and the suitcases have wheels. This was not really a problem. We were a bit worried about how busy the trains would be during rush hour on a Friday morning. Fortunately, when the train came about 5 minutes later, the answer was not very busy at all. It got a little bit busier as the train passed through the city centre, but it never got so busy that it became a problem. About 25 minutes later, we were at the airport. Not only was it quick and convenient, but it was also an absolute bargain at CAD4.25 per person.
It was still way too early. It was a beautiful sunny day and initially we spent some time soaking up a few rays of sun on a bench just outside the terminal. I knew that there was a totem pole somewhere near the check in desks and I went to find this to take some photos. At some stage we were both ready for some more coffee. I had seen a food court advertised earlier. We decided to check this out. They were however a little optimistic with the indicator on how long it would take to walk. We walked through the whole international terminal and there was still no sign of the food court. Graham decided that he had done enough walking. We went to find somewhere to sit. I can be very stubborn when I put my mind to it. I was determined to find this food court. I did not have much further to go. I found a Starbucks and they had a white chocolate macadamia nut cold brew. I rather liked the look of this. I got two of those and headed back to Graham. I like my cold brews, but I was not sure what Graham would make of this, but he really liked it.
At some stage, a member of airport staff came through. We must have looked lost as he asked us where we were going. He pointed out where we needed to go for check in and told us when check in was due to open. This was still a while in the future. We did not mind. We had somewhere to sit and everything we could possibly have needed nearby. Around the time check in was due to open, I headed over there to check if there was any sign of life. There was and I went back to get Graham. The line for check in for economy and premium economy was quite impressive, but there was only a very short line for the business class check in. As we still had status at the time, we were able to check in there. When we got to the front of the very short line, we heard the words that you do not want to hear if you are travelling – “My manager needs to speak to you”. The manager was called. When he got there, he explained that the seats we had chosen where out of commission and there were no other seats in premium economy. He offered us bulkhead seats in economy, a voucher of USD100 per person, a refund of the fare difference and lounge access. Bulkhead seats are a hard no for me. If I fly standby, I have to put up with them or emergency exit seats if this is what it assigned to me. I will never understand why people like them so much. I most certainly will not entertain sitting in one of those areas if I have paid for a commercial ticket. Graham saw the expression on my face and asked if premium economy was available on the Heathrow flight. We were supposed to fly into Gatwick again and then had a separate flight booked from Heathrow to Manchester in the evening. I had booked a dayroom at Heathrow as we were due arrive at Gatwick in the morning and the flight up to Manchester was quite late in the evening. The Heathrow flight was leaving in the evening and was delayed by a couple of hours but would still get into Heathrow about 5 hours before our onward flight. He made sure that we fully understood this and then confirmed that he indeed had two seats in premium economy. They were not together, but he promised that they would try to get us seated together. We said that it would be great if they could manage this, but it was not a deal breaker. He commented that we would of course still be able to use the lounge while we were waiting. He took us back to the check in desk and explained what was agreed and we were checked in. In the meantime, he got our lounge passes and gave us directions on where to go. He then arranged for somebody to escort us to security. I know BA has a horrible reputation and I am not necessarily a fan either, but I could not fault the service the provided us with that day.
Clearing security was a charm even though there was some construction going on in this area. Then we were free to explore the terminal. Vancouver airport is the second prettiest airport I had the opportunity to fly out of. The only airport that I think is nicer still is Honolulu. There are all kinds of carved statues as well as a stream with koi carp, an indoor garden, and a huge aquarium with tropical fish. We appreciated our surroundings for a while, and I took some photos. Then we went to find the lounge.
It turned out that the actual lounge was closed for refurbishment. They had a temporary lounge set up with a selection of comfortable seats as well as some tables and chairs. There was a grab and go section at the front of the area with sandwiches, salads and cakes at the front and there was a table with a selection of hot dishes at the back. There also was a bar and a grab and go cooler with water and soft drinks. There was also an amazing view over the runway, which made this aviation fanatic very happy. This ticked all the boxes for us. We had somewhere quiet and comfortable to sit. There were facilities to charge my gadgets. There was also as much food and drink as we wanted. As a freebie, this was very nice indeed. However, I am not sure if I would have been quite so happy about this set up if I had paid a small fortune for business class tickets.
We relaxed for a bit and then we checked out the food options. Graham had a sandwich and some crisps. I checked out the hot food options and I had some tortellini in a cream sauce with ham and peas and well as a chicken breast in a white wine and tarragon sauce. Both were nice, but my favourite was the pasta. Graham had some of the tortellini as well. I had a ginger ale and Graham had some water. I got some tiramisu for my dessert. Once we were fed and watered, we sat down in the comfortable chairs and read for a bit.
A while later, we decided to get another drink. Graham had a coffee, and I had another ginger ale. We were well looked after by the staff. One member of staff in particularly made sure that we were OK and had everything we needed. When she saw my phone, she offered to take a photo for us. We had a lovely relaxing afternoon. Around dinner time, we decided to have a beer. They had some of the beers from the microbrewery that we visited as part of the food tour on tap, and we enjoyed this very much. I had another portion of the tortellini for my dinner. Graham had some kind of noodle dish.
We saw the inbound flight arrive. Once our flight was listed, we headed over to the gate. Throughout the afternoon, our seat numbers had changed on the app, but we were still not seated together. While we were waiting for boarding to start, I checked once more, and we were now sitting together. I went to speak to a gate agent, and he printed our new boarding passes. Soon afterwards, we started boarding. Once we were seated, the cabin crew came round with a choice of sparkling wine or orange juice. I had the sparkling wine, and Graham had the orange juice. Graham was asleep before we had even taken off. Unfortunately, he was leaning on my arm rest that had the table in. Once we had reached cruising altitude, they came round with the bar service. I had a gin and tonic. The member of cabin crew also asked if I wanted to take a drink for Graham. I got him a bottle of white wine and put it in his seat bottle. It was empty in the morning so he must have found it at some stage. I decided to have another go at watching the remake of Mean Girls. This time there were no technical issues. I did enjoy it, but I did not think it was as good as the original.
When dinner came round, Graham was still fast asleep and leaning on my arm rest. I did not have the heart to wake him up. Admittedly, if I had been hungry, all bets would have been off. However, it was that I was curious about what an airline does to steak, which was one of the options, rather than being hungry. Therefore, I did the responsible and kind thing. I passed on dinner and let Graham sleep. I did however have some white wine. Once I had finished watching Mean Girls, I went to sleep as well.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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