Chasing Waterfalls – Day 6

Although we definitely had covered a lot of ground, it felt like the land-based part of the trip had passed in the blink of an eye. I was awake a few minutes before our alarm went off at 07:30. I found a webcam that showed our ship and then I got up and had a shower. Then I placed an online order for the Starbucks in the lobby. I got a vanilla sweet cream nitro cold brew with vanilla cold foam for Graham and a vanilla sweet cream nitro cold brew with chocolate cold foam for me. Graham got showered while I went to get our coffees. I was able to get some wooden forks at Starbucks. When I got back, we enjoyed the rhubarb and strawberry pie with our coffees.

 

Once we had finished our breakfast, we packed the bulk of our stuff. There was not that much to pack as we had only been in Vancouver for two nights. It was still quite early, and I suggested that we make a little detour on our way to Canada Place. The Flower Pool fountain that features a Chihuly Persian Wall glass installation was not far from the hotel. Better still, the north south road that this was on would essentially drop us right by the sea plane terminal. This time, Graham’s gut feeling found us the quickest route. Google maps wanted to send us two blocks further uphill. We spent a short while admiring the fountain and I took some photos before we headed downhill towards the sea plane terminal. Part of this walk goes through a little park by the seafront which is quite pretty.

 

When we got to the sea plane terminal, we checked in and were given our boarding passes. Then we were directed to the waiting area. We both took the opportunity to use the bathroom before we got on the plane. We did not have long to wait until our flight was called. This time round, we did not have a private flight. We also had a slightly bigger aircraft. Fortunately, the plane was not completely full as the twin seats were very tight. Graham moved into the row behind me. I still was a little envious when someone was offered the copilot seat. As a lifelong aviation nerd, this would have been an amazing experience.

 

We took a slightly different route this year. We flew further towards the mountains, which provided some great views. The trade-off was that we did not take a loop over the downtown area. We did however get a good look at our ship, which was a big incentive for booking the flight that morning. I really enjoyed the flight again.

 

After the flight, we headed back towards the hotel. Things went steadily downhill from there. We took a little detour so that we could have a closer look at our ship and then we headed back to the hotel. I took some photos on the way. The Anglican cathedral of Vancouver was right opposite our hotel. We decided to check this out on the way back. We headed to the main entrance and there was a sign that access was via another entrance, but it was not clear where this entrance was. We gave up and headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, we will be back in Vancouver next spring, and this will be a more relaxed proposition. The cathedral is high on my list then.

 

We headed back to the room, put on our embarkation shirts, and packed the last odds and ends. Then we just relaxed. About 30 minutes before we were due to be picked up, we headed downstairs. Our instructions stated to be at reception 15 minutes prior to our pick-up time. I wanted to allow for a bit of a margin for error in case that reception was busy. Even though it was close to check out time, we were the only people there and the check-out process took seconds. We then found some seats near reception.

 

Our pick-up time came and went, and our transfer did not turn up. After waiting for 15 minutes, I contacted the number on our transfer voucher. The person at the other end advised me that they had changed access arrangements at the port and this was causing chaos. She gave me the name of our driver and told me what car he was driving and advised me that he would be with us in about 20 minutes. I asked her if we were better off just walking to the port as we were so close. She advised that we would be better off just waiting for our driver as he would be able to drop us right where the luggage drop off is.

 

Just as I got off the phone, I could hear drums outside. I wondered what this was all about and went to check it out. It turned out that there was a protest marsh heading through. It was about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. We had come across Falun Gong before. This is a new religious movement that has its origins in Buddhism but is anti-communist and as such is banned in China. Due to the special status of Hong Kong, Falun Gong is represented there, but not welcome. I am not sure what this had to do with Vancouver and feared that this would throw a further spanner in the works. Fortunately, the protest marsh turned into one of the cross streets shortly after passing the hotel.

 

Eventually our driver did turn up and we were soon on our way. The traffic was horrendous even though he assured us that this was not too bad. Apparently, it was much worse coming from the port. Still, we could have walked quicker. When we got to the port, it was temporarily smooth sailing. Our luggage was collected as soon as we got out of the car. There was plenty of staff around to direct people and check in and security was quick and painless. Then came US immigration. It did not actually look that bad and the line seemed to be moving. However, this turned out to be a hold area, that then filtered into a second holding area that finally led to the queue for immigration. All in all, the immigration process took about 2 hours. I am not sure what caused this as when we finally got to the front, the process was quick and efficient. We were processed in less than a minute. Now, that day, there were two ships in port. The following day, they had four. That does not even bear thinking about.

 

Finally, it was time to get on the ship. There were no embarkation photos that I could see. Once we were on the ship, we headed forward. We ended up getting split up. I headed to the cabin and picked up our key cards. Our luggage was waiting for us in the cabin. I waited for a while, but Graham did not turn up. I did however meet our stateroom host. I headed back downstairs, but he was not there either. I went back to the cabin. Graham had turned up in the meantime and our stateroom host had let him in. We watched the safety video and then headed back downstairs to check in at our muster station. I had asked one of the crew members that directed people on deck 2 where our muster station was, and she advised me that it was on deck 3 inside World Stage. We headed there, but our muster station was not there. It turned out it was actually in the casino. We checked in and then we went back to the cabin to unpack.

 

The unpacking did not take very long. I had purchased an unlimited laundry package. I found the laundry bag and put as much laundry in there as I could. The rest I put in a storage stool by desk. I figured I would send this once the first load came back. I filled out the laundry inventory form and then I went to find our stateroom host to hand this over. It did not take long to find him. I handed the bag over. Then I decided to put our magnets on the door. The magnets I use are pretty strong, but I could not get them to stick for love nor money. One or two decided to stick, but if I even slightly moved them, they fell off again.  In the end, I decided that this was more trouble than it was worth. I put the magnets back in their bag and put them in a drawer.

 

By that time, I was ready to go exploring. Graham did not share my enthusiasm and stayed in the cabin. I had timed this perfectly as I was out and about just as we were passing underneath the Lionsgate Bridge. I took some photos and then I carried on exploring. The layout of the ship is not all that intuitive. Our cabin was on deck 10. The restaurant we were due to eat at that night also was on deck 10. Yet I could not figure out how to get there. I just seemed to come up to locked doors. Eventually I dropped down to the deck below. I had a quick look at the thermal suite, which was truly amazing. I was tempted to get a length of cruise pass but wanted to check with Graham first if he fancied this as well. I mentioned that and was given the hard sell. This is one thing I will not put up with. I instantly lost interest.

 

Instead, I headed through the buffet towards the back to the ship. When I got to the aft elevator lobby, there was signage there for Tamarind, which was the restaurant where we had a dinner reservation that night. Tamarind is their pan Asian concept. We had one free meal in one of three specialty restaurants included in the price of our cruise and had decided to use it that evening. Our reservation was not until 19:30. I checked at the podium, and they advised to just come whenever as they were not fully booked this evening. I also checked if there was a way through on deck 10 and was advised that there was not. I retraced my steps and headed back to the cabin. I told Graham that I had spoken to the restaurant, and they told me that we could come whenever we were ready. Graham decided that he was ready there and then. We made our way to Tamarind.

 

When we got to Tamarind, we were seated straightaway. I was delighted when we were taken to a table by the window. Our server brought us water, the menu, and a huge prawn cracker with various dips. She then came back to make recommendations for the food and to take our drinks order. Graham had a glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling. I fancied a cocktail, but as I had not eaten since breakfast, I decided to go for a virgin cocktail first. I had the Yuzu Cocktail without the alcohol, which consisted of yuzu juice, and vanilla soda. This was refreshing and delicious. I then had the alcoholic version with my main course, which consisted of yuzu juice, de lijn gin, and vanilla soda. This was even better. Graham had a second glass of Riesling.

 

Graham started with the shrimp tempura with sweet and sour sauce and sesame noodles. I could not make up my mind between two starters. As I had not eaten since I had half the rhubarb and strawberry pie in the morning, I decided to have both. I had the satay sampler, which normally consists of a Malaysian lamb skewer, an Indonesian chicken skewer, a Thai pork skewer, peanut sauce and ajad cucumber relish. As I do not eat lamb, our server asked if I wanted another chicken or pork skewer instead. I went with the pork option. I also had the Lumpiang Shanghai with minced pork, egg roll wrap, sweet chili sauce and green papaya. By the time we had our starters, we had realised that Tamarind was something very special. For his main course, Graham had crispy fried sea bass. I had wasabi & soy crusted beef tenderloin with tempura onion rings and tonkatsu sauce. We both had some egg fried rice as a side. I was stuffed after this, but there is always room for ice cream. Graham had the mango posset, which consisted of a coconut macaroon, passion fruit jelly and mango sorbet. I had the selection of house-made sorbets: lemon-basil, yuzu, and lychee. The lemon-basil was very unusual, but my favourite was the lychee.

 

Graham suggested that we go somewhere where we have view as he was hoping for a decent sunset. Koningsdam has cool venue on deck 12 that it is called The Crow’s Nest. This is an observation lounge, but also has an arts and crafts studio, and an area to play games or do jigsaw puzzles. The shore excursion desk is also up there plus a bar and a coffee bar.  We managed to get seats by the window and settled down. We decided while we were there, we may as well have nightcap. 

 

They have a Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay on this ship and Graham decided to try this. Although he did not dislike it, he prefers the Riesling. I had one of their cocktails that is exclusive to the Alaska season. The Sitka Spritz consists of Cynar, fresh lemon juice, passion fruit, topped with sparkling wine. Cynar is an Italian bitter aperitif that is made from 13 different herbs and plants. The main ingredient is artichoke of all things. Taste wise, it falls between Aperol, which I love, and Campari, which I detest. I was not at all sure on the first sip, but once all the flavours had a chance to mingle for a while, I really enjoyed it.

 

Some of the Royal Caribbean ships have a similar venue, but higher up and more towards midship, but I would not have thought this would make too much of a difference. However, for some reason I found this space to be really disorientating. I wondered if I was just overtired. We did get a bit of a sunset, but Graham reckoned that it would just fizzle out. He decided to give it a bit longer, but I decided to head back to the cabin. I left my phone with him just in case. By the time I had waited for the lift, returned to the cabin, and had got ready for bed, Graham had returned as well. The sunset did get a bit of a second wind and Graham had taken a photo for me. He got ready for bed as well and soon we were asleep.