All good things always come to an end. This was not just the end of our cruise, but it was also the end of the holiday. When our alarm went off at 07:00, we were still moving. I was somewhat surprised by this as the first departure group was supposed to get off at 07:00. We were in no rush. We had chosen a 09:00 departure as we had a 10:00 transfer, but our flight was not until late afternoon. The worst that could happen if we ended up being delayed is that we would miss our transfer and, in this case, we would just take the Skytrain. We got up and go ready. By the time we had packed the last odds and ends, we could actually see the dock on our stateroom TV.
On Holland America, you can actually stay in your cabin until it is time to get off the ship. However, we decided to get some breakfast. We figured that we may as well take our hand luggage with us. We went to find our stateroom host to say goodbye and to give him an additional tip. Then we headed to the buffet. We figured it would probably be quite busy, but this was not the case. We had no issue finding a table. We had some orange juice each. Graham had fruit and oatmeal. There was no congee or link sausages that day. I had some sausage patties, hash browns and scrambled egg.
While we were having breakfast, they started calling debarkation groups. None of the colours that were called where the ones that were available from guest services. I assume they were excursions and Holland America transfers. Just as we were getting ready to leave, they finally called the first of the regular debarkation groups. We headed downstairs and foundsome seats near guest services where we could see a screen that showed when debarkation groups were called. They processed them pretty quickly and it was our turn about 20 minutes later.
Debarkation was a charm. There was no line to get off. When we were outside the ship, there was plenty of staff to direct people. For the first time ever, we had to go through immigration on arrival in Vancouver and this was the fourth time that we have cruised into Vancouver. This was really low key. There were a number of immigration officials and when we got to the front of the line, one immigration official just had a very quick look at our passports and waived us through. Collecting our luggage was also easy. Everything was well organised and again, there was plenty of staff around to point people in the right direction.
Once we had our luggage, I checked the instructions on our transfer voucher. This seemed straightforward enough. We headed towards the door that was indicated on our voucher. As soon as we entered the area, we were intercepted by a member of staff who checked our voucher. She advised that she would inform dispatch of our transfer company that we were ready and directed us to a waiting area. What was happening in this area was fascinating to watch. Prebooked transfers were on one side and taxis were on the other, but still within plain view for us. They let four of each in at the time and only let the next wave in once all four had left. I assume that is the new system that was causing so many issues. Still, things were moving, and our wait was not too long.
We had a clear run to the airport. Our driver Daniel was originally from France but has lived in Vancouver for many years. We had worked for the city of Vancouver but is retired and does some driving as a hobby and for some extra cash. He mainly does tours. He was a font of knowledge. I am not sure how we got onto this topic, but he told us that there are some really nice Croatian restaurants in Burnaby. We stayed in Burnaby last year and will stay there again next year. We will definitely make use of this knowledge then. I love Croatian food, and this is probably the only cuisine that we cannot get in Manchester.
He dropped us right outside the check in area for KLM. We found seats nearby. I did a Starbucks run. 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 said that this was not as good as the one he had at the hotel. I enjoyed mine though.
I settled down with my book. The seats were comfortable enough and there was somebody playing the piano. Graham was getting antsy, and I told him that if he wanted to head for the Skytrain and go exploring, I was quite happy to sit with the luggage and read. He took me up on this. I enjoyed reading and listening to a couple of sets from the piano player.
Graham came back a couple of hours later. He had explored some of the areas close to the airport. He also had spotted some totem poles on the way to the Skytrain. I decided to check this out. One of the totem poles was actually inside the terminal and I had found this last year. The others however were new to me. There were three that were actually outside. I tried to figure out how I could get to this area, but in the end, I just took some photos through the window. The final totem pole was on the footbridge linking the terminal with the Skytrain station.
Once I came back, I did another coffee run. I got Graham an Americano, and I got another vanilla sweet cream nitro cold brew with chocolate cold foam for me. When we had finished our coffee, I decided to check when check in would open. I noticed that it was already open. I went back to get Graham and the luggage. This time we had no issue with the self-service kiosks and the baggage drop was to an actual person rather than a machine. The whole process did not take long, and we were free to go through security. Security was well organised as well, and we were through very quickly.
Vancouver is one of my favourite airports. Like Singapore and Honolulu, the airport is an attraction in its own right. Vancouver airport has a huge aquarium. In the same area is also Spirit of the Sea, which is a landscape consisting of rivers, rocks, bridges, plants and traditional First Nation sculptures. Closer to our gate was Gulf Island. This is a round glass structure without a roof that contains three fir trees and other plants. This had been closed last year but was open this time. Around the outside of this are various tide pools. This is such a unique set up.
We settled down at our gate. By then we were both ready for a bite to eat and something to drink. I picked up some sandwiches from Subway. I got a steak & cheese sub with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber for Graham and a Bourbon BBQ steak & Cheddar sub with pickles, olives, and sweetcorn for Graham. I left those with Graham and picked up a bottle of water for him and an orange soda for me from a shop opposite our gate. We had our food and drink and then we both settled down to read until boarding started. Boarding was a pretty smooth affair again and soon we were settled in.
The flight was very pleasant. When I had done online check in the day before, I had been offered twin seats at the back of the aircraft at a reasonable cost. We had jumped onto this opportunity. Not only was it nice not to have a stranger next to us on an overnight flight, but we also had a little bit extra space. As soon as we had reached cruising altitude, dinner was served. We got a garden salad followed by a choice of chicken or vegetarian pasta. This time Graham went with chicken, and I went with pasta. Both dishes were edible, but nothing special. Dessert was a cheesecake in a pot. We both had white wine and water with our dinner.
I decided to watch an old favourite, Crazy Rich Asians. This turned out oddly prophetic. We had some loose plans to head back to Singapore in Novet, but nothing had been firmed up at the time of this flight. We started to firm things up shortly after this flight. It turns out that we will stay at the hotel where the opening scenes of the movie were filmed over my birthday. Contrary to what the movie is trying to make us believe, the opening scenes were not filmed in London, but the Eastern and Oriental Hotel in Penang, Malaysia. I settled down to get some sleep once the film had finished, but Graham decided on having a Lord of the Rings marathon.
I woke up when breakfast was served. We got a croissant with butter and strawberry preserve, some fruit, a yoghurt and orange juice. We also had a coffee each. Once I had finished my breakfast, I played Trivial Pursuit until we landed. We had a nice smooth flight and landed slightly ahead of schedule. Depending on what runway you land on, it can take forever to get to the terminal, but it did not take very long until we were parked at the terminal. There was a short wait until we could disembark, but soon we were on our way.
Amsterdam Schiphol is another airport I have a bit of a love hate relationship with. It is easy enough to navigate, but it is a bit bland and functional. They had spent some money since we last passed through this airport and some of it is now really nice. I had even read that they had an indoor garden area in one part of the airport. We did not see this. The area where our departure gate was had not changed from how I remembered it. There was nothing in that area apart from a limited number of seats, water fountains and a bathroom. Each gate is in a separate room and the doors are only opened shortly before boarding starts.
We managed to get some seats right in front of our gate and settled down. For the most part, I alternated reading, playing a game on my iPad and watching the world go by. I had a couple of short cat naps as well. We had some amusement as there were some mice running around inside our gate area. While we were waiting for our flight to bard, I realised that I was definitely going down with a cold. Considering that I had only recovered from a cold the day we got on the flight to head to Canada, this really did not seem fair. Still, I had not had a cold for over two years before that. Considering that we had a layover of just over four hours, boarding time came round quite quickly. They started pre-boarding pretty much as soon as they opened the door to our gate area. Once they started main boarding, this was a quick and painless process. Soon we were in our seats waiting for take-off.
The flight back into Manchester was short and sweet. I spent most of it asleep. We were parked about as far away as you can get from immigration, but it was kind of nice to stretch our legs. Immigration was probably the quietest I have ever seen it. I suppose we arrived in a quiet period where all the lunchtime flights had been processed, and the evening flights had yet to arrive. I expected a bit of wait for our luggage considering how far out our plane was parked and also because our luggage was probably the first on the plane. We did however just have to wait a few minutes.
As we arrived back on a Sunday and the trains between the airport and the city centre are very unreliable on a Sunday, I had booked a transfer. We check in and about 5 minutes later, our driver collected us from the waiting area. We had a clear run home. Once we got home, we put our luggage into the living room and then we headed for bed.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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