The hotel was a bit average – clean and reasonably sized but the coffee machine didn’t work (a Nespresso, it came out cold), the floor was creaky and noisy, the curtain let light in and it was on the main road so there was lots of traffic noise. Luckily we were only there for 1 night.
Woke up around 0700, packed up and went for breakfast. The weather was fabulous, sunny and about 21C, we walked for about 10 minutes and found a creperie. I had a banana and strawberry one, Song had a strawberry cheesecake one.
Song’s friend picked her up, I’d decided to go off on my own because they speak mandarin and I don’t, so I thought I’d explore Vancouver and meet up at the boat in the afternoon. I wandered around for a bit, Vancouver had a nice vibe, nice streets and shops, very pleasant.
Met Song at the boat check in more by accident than design, then sat in a huge hall filled with mostly old people waiting to board. We reckon the boat holds about 2000, and it takes a while to get everyone on. The boarding process was a bit of a farce. We checked in were given a coloured card with a number on, and had to wait for an hour and a half to be called. Then we had to queue up for a security check for about another hour. Then they pulled out non US and Canada passport holders and we had to wait in another line. While they whizzed past us. We finally got moving only to stand in another queue, this one for US border and customs because we were leaving Canada and entering America. We spent about 4 hours waiting or queuing, because it was the US system where they fingerprint every finger and take a photo. Considering cruise ships leave Vancouver all the time, you’d think they could organise it better. There were 3 huge ships leaving, but no prioritisation, and they were all leaving at about the same time. It was a free for all. A really bloody crap system, I don’t know why they couldn’t stagger the departure times.
The ship is called the Nieuw Amsterdam, and you can track it live on several web sites – www.cruisin.me, www.myshiptracking.com etc, do a google for live ship tracking and enter the name of the boat. The shipping line is Holland America.
So, we eventually got on the boat and into our state room (every room is called a state room to make it sound special). It was basically a decent hotel room with everything you’d expect – a tv, wardrobes, 2 seater couch, small table, King size bed, bathroom etc. We also had a balcony (most of the rooms did).
After the mandatory life boat and safety briefing we went for dinner. Because the tickets cost a fair bit there are 2 restaurants on board which serve meals that are included – there were also a few that you had to pay for. We went for the buffet which was pretty good – not exactly gourmet but decent enough. It wasn’t too busy and we managed to nab a window seat and both had a salad, main and dessert.
We went up on deck and had a walk, the Canadian coast passing by, snow topped mountains off the port side (that’s a sea going term).
We went back to the cabin and there was a knock on the door and Bill and Ben (not their real names) were standing there telling us they were our stewards and would be looking after us and if we needed anything to let them know and it was nice to meet us and they hope we have a pleasant cruise. Which is the long way of saying “don’t forget to tip us.”
The ship had 11 stories, a couple of swimming pools, a showroom, several restaurants and God knows what else, but we would find out. There were also free movies on the TV and a cinema.
It also has the internet, but is $269 for the cruise, and so decided to just use free wifi in cafes when we go ashore.
