0500

Rather than get off the ship today – well actually I might have to get off, clear immigration and get back on – I have a lovely day planned of stitching and relaxing. Failing that – I will go for a walk in Vancouver. From here, this is the first leg of a re-positioning cruise which will end up in Florida. I had looked at booking the next leg which included a Panama Canal transit, but Royal was refusing to book solo travelers into balconies. Not just wanting to charge the usual 100% surcharge, but actually refusing to book a balcony without a minimum occupancy of two people. I adore going through the canal, and the pleasure of not being packed into crowds on deck makes the balcony worth it. Unlike some other travelers, I am not willing to book it double then “cancel” the second traveler at the last minute.

Actual events –

We sailed in reasonably early –

and I watched the city and our approach to Canada Place

before deciding that my non-refundable OBC could easily be used to get a decent venti mocha from the Starbucks on Deck 5 which opens at 0600

From there I collected my new ship’s card from Guest Services and wandered off the ship just before 0800. My two missions for the morning were to find Vancouver Starbucks skinny thermos for me and postcards for Miriam.  After taking a screen shot of the map, I checked out several Starbucks before finding my prize about 10 blocks from the harbor.

In all that walking I hadn’t passed anywhere that had postcards. The lovely desk person at the Pan Pacific Hotel directed me toward GasTown where apparently the tourist shops congregate. I didn’t need to even go that far as there was an RCMP souvenir type shop just down the street (obviously not in the direction I had traveled prior). So, postcards accomplished as well.

Anyway – here is our route:

Friday, September 29	Vancouver, BC, Canada		5:00pm
Saturday, September 30	Victoria, BC, Canada	7:00am	5:00pm
Sunday, October 1	Seattle, WA	7:00am	4:00pm
Monday, October 2	Astoria, OR	10:00am	6:00pm
Tuesday, October 3	At Sea
Wednesday, October 4	At Sea
Thursday, October 5	Los Angeles (San Pedro), CA	8:00am	6:00pm
Friday, October 6	Santa Barbara, CA	8:00am	5:00pm
Saturday, October 7	San Diego, CA	7:00am

We will completely skip over the chaos in the terminal on the way back. I was in time to make the consecutive cruisers lunch. By the time I escaped the dining room, the cabins were open. This one is a smidgen smaller but the balcony is a lot bigger.

Additionally, I don’t have a significant overhang which makes taking the occasional picture of the shore line much easier.