Chasing Waterfalls – Prologue

This is really the continuation of the prologue from the last trip report. All this started back towards the end of November when I noticed during my lunch break that Graham had filled my inbox. Most of the emails were regarding a possible Iceland trip. However, there was something else he had found that was a twin centre stay in Canada including a day trip to Niagara Falls from Toronto followed by an Alaska cruise at the end of April. I instantly fell in love with this. What was even better was that this included a day cruising around the Glacier Bay National Park. This had been on my bucket list ever since our first Alaska cruise. Suddenly everything fell into place. We had Norway and Iceland cruise booked for June, but the gap between November and June was way too long for our liking. We had made some plans for a short getaway in April, to break up the year, but I could not get leave when I needed it. I knew this would work much better. I also figured that I did not need to go to Iceland twice in a year.

The trip that Graham had found was put together by a travel agency. I know from working in the travel industry for a big chunk of my adult life that not all travel agencies are created equal. A good travel agency is worth its weight in gold but choose the wrong one and things can descent into a nightmare. The agency in question was not one I had personally had any dealings with, but I have a friend that has worked multiple travel agencies over the years and is very well connected in that part of the travel industry. She came up trumps. She did indeed know the company. She voiced some concerns about their customer service. This is definitely not what I wanted to hear. She was about to start a new job with a cruise specialist agency and asked if I could wait. I would have dealt with her in a heartbeat, but the offer would have expired by the time she had started the new job. She did however put me in touch with somebody she knows that was already working there. The experience was nothing short of amazing. Our travel agent Lisa really listened to me and worked with me every step of the way even when I vetoed the airline that she had based her quote on.  I had provided her with a link to the offer. Not only was she able to match the package, but it actually came out slightly cheaper. What makes the difference between a good travel agent and a great travel agent is attention to detail. She had picked up on the fact that the hotel the original offer was based on was not one of the pick-up points for the included excursion to Niagara Falls. She did find us a hotel that is actually nicer than is one of the pick-up points for the excursion. She also managed to get continental breakfast included. Within 24 hours, it was all sorted.

This is an absolute dream itinerary. We flew to Toronto and had three nights there. This gave us two full days there. The first day, we had a full day excursion to Niagara Falls included and then we had a full day to explore at our leisure. Then we flew over to Vancouver for two nights before going on a cruise that included Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, and Ketchikan as well as two days of scenic cruising through the inside passage. This trip also gave us the opportunity to explore a new ship and a new cruise line. Ms Koningsdam is slightly bigger than Radiance of the Seas that we were on last year and is the same age as my beloved Ovation of the Seas. The cruise line is Holland America. I have to admit that Holland America was never really on our radar. They very much have a reputation to be a Seniors at Sea cruise line. However, the whole trip was just too good to pass up. This meant that I did a lot of research including binge-watching You Tube videos from a couple I have been following since 2021. They have done a number of Holland America cruises and are a similar age than me. The more I watched, the more I loved what I saw. There are some really nice touches on Holland America that I knew we would appreciate. For once, I actually felt that I would enjoy a lot of the entertainment. They have a lot of live music ranging from duelling pianos to classical music. The main theatre is more of a show lounge and a lot of the main shows are based on dance, which is something I enjoy. They also have an orange party every cruise that celebrates their Dutch heritage. Overall, I felt following my research that Holland America would be a great fit for us.

As part of the cruise package, we had a drinks package, Wi-Fi and gratuities included. We also had some on board credit, some shore excursion credit, and a meal in one of the speciality restaurants included. I sent Graham the menus for the steakhouse and the Pan-Asian restaurant and was very surprised when he chose the Pan-Asian restaurant. I was happy with either. Once this was decided upon, I made our reservation. We also used our shore excursion credit to book an excursion in Juneau that we had done previously and had really enjoyed. This combines a visit to the Glacier Gardens with a visit to Mendenhall Glacier. We knew that if we had nothing booked for Juneau, there was a distinct possibility that we would not get off the ship. Most of the excursion was covered by the credit we had about $20 per person was a very low price to visit Mendenhall Glacier. That was really why we booked this as we wanted to do the short and easy hike to Nugget Falls.

The next few months consisted of some very low-key planning in stops and starts. I ordered our embarkation shirts and made a graphic for a magnet. Holland America lets you do online check in very early. I did most of this at the beginning of the year, but we were getting a new credit card as our joint card was due to expire at the end of March. I had to wait until the new cards arrived to complete this part of the online check in. I also added an unlimited laundry package for the cruise. This is really good value on Holland America and the only caveat is that whatever you send has to be machine washable. I liked the idea to come back after the holiday and essentially the laundry is done.

Fast forward to the beginning of April. I had tasked Graham with finding us something to do in Skagway and Ketchikan as I was struggling to make a decision. A few days later, I went for my break at work to find that Graham had again filled my inbox. However, rather than ideas for Skagway and Ketchikan, he had found a bunch of great options for Vancouver. I loved every one of them and started to figure out how I could make all of them fit. This was actually quite easy. 

The first suggestion was Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. Apart from the actual suspension bridge, there are various hiking trails including a loop trail that takes in a waterfall and the suspension bridge. This looked good to me. The trail takes about an hour. I had a look at what else is in North Vancouver. Apart from Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain which I was already aware of there are two further mountains, a salmon hatchery, a dam, a beach, a petting farm, a museum, and a gallery. This either did not grab me at all or is something that is best enjoyed in summer. There is also something that looked like Granville Island in sheep’s clothing. I also found out that there is a German restaurant near the Sea Bus station. A plan started to form.

Due to the time difference between Toronto and Vancouver, we were due to arrive in Vancouver at midday. As we were coming in on a domestic flight, there would be no formalities to clear. We also had private transfers included with our holiday. A bit of further research showed that this could be done in just over an hour by public transport including a 15-minute walk from the closest bus stop to the park or with a 20-minute Uber ride which turned out to be pretty good value. This looked perfect for our arrival day. We could go for a leisurely walk at Lynn Canyon Park to stretch our legs and then have dinner at the German restaurant. We could then take the Sea Bus back towards Canada Place. This is the only mode of public transport that we had not used last year. From there it would be a leisurely walk back to the hotel.

The second suggestion that Graham had come up with was a full day excursion to Butchart Gardens and Victoria. We had been to Victoria three times previously and have always loved it. We also went to Butchart Gardens back in 2022 and we both really enjoyed this. The excursion included a round-trip journey on the ferry between Vancouver and Victoria. This had potential for wildlife sightings with a good chance of some passing Orcas. I was all for this. What made this appear to be just meant to be was that one of the pick-up points was our hotel.

This left one thing. Last year we did a floatplane excursion. For a fully paid-up aviation nerd, this was an obvious choice of activity. We both loved it, and our plan was that if we would ever end up in Vancouver again, we would book a longer flight. With our full day in Vancouver all planned, there was not time for this. I had originally looked at booking a late afternoon flight on the day we arrive in Vancouver. However, I did not really want to get off one flight and get straight on another. There was also the feeling that I may tempt fate by scheduling this after a flight clear across the country.

However, I was not ready to give up on a floatplane excursion completely. They run the shorter flights like the one we had taken last year very frequently. I figured a short flight is better than no flight. I checked the options for the day we get on the ship. Holland America does not start check in until midday and we were due to be collected from the hotel at 11:45. The floatplane terminal is only a short walk from the hotel. The first available flight that day was 09:45. As the standard flights only last 30 minutes, this would give us plenty of time to get back to the hotel, get ourselves organised and check out in time for our pickup. The added bonus with this was that our ship would be in port, and we would get a nice aerial view of our ship. When I got home, I shared with Graham what conclusion I had come to. I ended up booking the Victoria excursion and the floatplane excursion that evening. We never did book anything for Skagway or Ketchikan and decided to play this by ear once we got there.

After this, I pretty much put the trip on the backburner for a while. I wanted to get the previous trip report completed before we left, and I had got very behind with working on this during March. I did update our API for the flight and fortunately I noticed that somehow, I managed to delete the ETA emails from last year. Unfortunately, you can only retrieve an existing ETA if you have the reference number. I had to apply for new ones. At £3.50 per person, this was not a hardship, and they came through straightaway.

I had the Saturday and Sunday of the Easter weekend off and as both of us were feeling under the weather, this gave me an excuse to have a look at what Toronto had to offer. We have one day in Toronto. One must see thing for me was an installation by Dale Chihuly at one of the local hotels. I also liked the look of the CN Tower, and I found numerous recommendations to time a visit that you get up there in daylight, enjoy the sunset and then appreciate the skyline of Toronto at night. We did not plan anything definite for our day in Toronto but decided to have a good wander.

Speaking of Chihuly, I noticed that the Chihuly Flower Pool fountain in Vancouver is only two blocks away from our hotel. I was not overly impressed by this last year, but it would be a shame to be so close and not to see this.

Easter Saturday marked two weeks until the cruise and our single digit day until we were leaving for Canada. This also marked the day our boarding passes were released. We had booked a guarantee cabin and I had expected that we would get our cabin assignment with the boarding passes. When this did not happen, I did some research. Apparently with Holland America, most cabins are assigned within 5 to 7 days before sailing with some only being assigned at the port. I suddenly realised that there was a very real chance that we would be in Canada by the time we would get our cabin assignment. Still, this was beating last year when we did not know if there would be a ship for us until we were already in Canada.

Even though the planning had happened in stops and starts, I felt pretty organised. There was really only one stumbling block. The print for the magnet was supposed to arrive between 16th and 18th April and they had not shown up by Easter. Still, I knew it would not take long to make one magnet, and I had a plan B in place. The only issue was with basically unlimited screen time over the weekend, things started to jump out at me. Suddenly I was no longer waiting for one parcel, but for four. Still, with two of the parcels, they were things that I did not specifically order for this trip, but I was planning on taking them if they got here in time. The only thing that I ordered specifically for this trip was some luggage tag holders as I had realised that the Holland America luggage tags are a completely different shape and size from Royal Caribbean luggage tags. However, they were on next working day delivery and I was not worried.

Easter Monday, I went back to work. I had decided to put all the trip preparations out of my mind until my final day off before the trip, which was due on the Friday. They say, the watched kettle never boils, and I wondered if something similar applies to the fretted about parcel. There was not much left to do anyway with the biggest job being the packing and even that would not take long. Other than that, it was just tying up loose ends. Instead, I was going to concentrate on kicking the cold that I had picked up the week before Easter to the curb, work through my to do list at work, and finish a book that I had been reading for ages.

 For the most part, this worked well. I made two small concessions. While I was waiting for a delayed train, I did compile a packing list. As I was dealing with laundry during the week, I also put things that I intended to take in a box ready for packing as it made no sense to store them away only to get them out again a day or two later.

Graham had filled my inbox again. It was anticipated that the cherry blossoms in Toronto would reach their peak while we would be there. This was music to my ears. As was unseasonably warm in Toronto this year, we had been worried that we would miss this.

Thursday was a bit of a mixed bag. During the night, our stateroom was assigned. We had been allocated a spa interior cabin on deck 10 forward. I was really happy with this. Graham burst my bubble a little by stating that there was a distinct possibility that one or both of us was not fit to travel come Monday. This never even crossed my mind. We both had colds that we could seemingly not shift. I figured that by the time we were due to embark on our cruise, this would have blown over. Ironically, pretty much as soon as Graham had mentioned this, I started to feel better. I had dragged myself to work for nearly a week at that point, but that day I headed for work with a spring in my step. I took that as a good omen. My mood was further improved by the fact that I had notification that the last couple of parcels I had been waiting for had been arrived.

Just like this, my last day off before the holiday arrived. Graham mentioned that maybe we should just do the floatplane trip in Ketchikan as he suspected that this could be the last trip to Alaska. I agreed with that assessment. Unfortunately, this was now sold out. Still, we figured that they usually get last minute cancellations and there was the potential that we could book this on the day. Graham did find a local operator that had availability, but as this a lot of money and not refundable, I was not comfortable booking this ahead of time if it did not come with a shore excursion protection. There is always the risk that a ship cannot make a port for whatever reason.

I had a pretty busy and productive day. I got the bulk of the packing done including everything that went in the suitcase. I also got a haircut and got my nail done. There were some odds and ends for the hand luggage and my personal item like gadgets, charging cables and medication that I could only pack on Sunday morning. There were also some tasks still to complete that could only be done a certain amount of time before departure like doing the arrival declarations for Canada and online check in for the flight. However, those tasks were not very time intensive. I settled down at the end of Saturday in the knowledge that I was basically ready to go.