We are on board the Silver Shadow for our first sea day. It was mostly foggy this morning. Now the fog has lifted and the mountains of the "inside passage" are in the distance. We are still in Canadian waters although we were checked through U.S. customs when we boarded and are technically in the United States. Quite a story, that.
Saturday was relaxing by Michael's and my standards. We took the Sea Bus, a ferry, to North Vancouver and checked out the local market. There we bought a large solar powered lucky cat to add to our collection. We also took a couple of driver-less subway trains, called the Sky Ride, to various Vancouver neighborhoods where we walked around and enjoyed the relatively clear weather. The Sky Ride was mostly underground but it did become elevated in the suburbs. A hike through part of Stanley Park and a walk through Chinatown and Gastown finished the day. We had some good, if over priced, meals in three different neighborhoods.
Sunday was something else. Michael and I took an early walk to the pier at Canada Place. There were two large ships visible. We walked along the pier a short distance and spotted our cruise ship, the Silver Shadow, parked way out on the end looking much smaller than the others. The day was rainy so we scouted out a route, mostly under awnings and overhangs, to wheel the luggage to the pier. Michael had arranged for early boarding so we went to the ship around 10:30 am, got checked through security much like at any U.S. airport and went through U.S. customs and on to the ship. That part was easy.
Michael asked one of the Silver Shadow's receptionists if it would be possible to have two friends on board as guests for lunch. His friend and travel agent Jim Bisciglia and his wife Brenda were driving from Seattle to Vancouver to meet us for lunch. Michael thought it would be great to have them on board, if possible. The folks at the reception desk thought it would be easily done if we got their names and passport numbers for the U.S. immigration officials. Following multiple phone calls and the Bisciglias having to wait more than an hour in the cruise terminal pending approval from the powers that be (U.S. customs), we decided that time was too short to waste on this nonsense. We went to meet them on shore. The Silver Shadow reception staff assured us that we could re-board with only the ship issued I.D.s. When we got onshore we discovered we would need our passports in order to go through U.S. customs and immigration again to get back on the ship. We had surrendered the passports to the ship staff at boarding. This caused another delay while the Silverseas agent on shore called the ship to have our passports brought to us. After hours of turmoil and worry that we could not get back on the ship before it sailed at 5:00, we managed to have a wonderful visit and a delightful lunch at a place called the Rain City Cafe in Vancouver's West End. We did make it back with 5 minutes to spare before the lifeboat drill.
Unpacking, meeting our fellow passengers and a eating a gourmet dinner were somewhat anticlimactic.
Pictures: The lucky cat, Michael studying the guide book, the Lonsdale Quay Market, The Yaletown neighborhood,The Vancouver skyline, Boathouse at Stanley park, the pier from the water and Stanley park with the skyline behind it.
Saturday was relaxing by Michael's and my standards. We took the Sea Bus, a ferry, to North Vancouver and checked out the local market. There we bought a large solar powered lucky cat to add to our collection. We also took a couple of driver-less subway trains, called the Sky Ride, to various Vancouver neighborhoods where we walked around and enjoyed the relatively clear weather. The Sky Ride was mostly underground but it did become elevated in the suburbs. A hike through part of Stanley Park and a walk through Chinatown and Gastown finished the day. We had some good, if over priced, meals in three different neighborhoods.
Sunday was something else. Michael and I took an early walk to the pier at Canada Place. There were two large ships visible. We walked along the pier a short distance and spotted our cruise ship, the Silver Shadow, parked way out on the end looking much smaller than the others. The day was rainy so we scouted out a route, mostly under awnings and overhangs, to wheel the luggage to the pier. Michael had arranged for early boarding so we went to the ship around 10:30 am, got checked through security much like at any U.S. airport and went through U.S. customs and on to the ship. That part was easy.
Michael asked one of the Silver Shadow's receptionists if it would be possible to have two friends on board as guests for lunch. His friend and travel agent Jim Bisciglia and his wife Brenda were driving from Seattle to Vancouver to meet us for lunch. Michael thought it would be great to have them on board, if possible. The folks at the reception desk thought it would be easily done if we got their names and passport numbers for the U.S. immigration officials. Following multiple phone calls and the Bisciglias having to wait more than an hour in the cruise terminal pending approval from the powers that be (U.S. customs), we decided that time was too short to waste on this nonsense. We went to meet them on shore. The Silver Shadow reception staff assured us that we could re-board with only the ship issued I.D.s. When we got onshore we discovered we would need our passports in order to go through U.S. customs and immigration again to get back on the ship. We had surrendered the passports to the ship staff at boarding. This caused another delay while the Silverseas agent on shore called the ship to have our passports brought to us. After hours of turmoil and worry that we could not get back on the ship before it sailed at 5:00, we managed to have a wonderful visit and a delightful lunch at a place called the Rain City Cafe in Vancouver's West End. We did make it back with 5 minutes to spare before the lifeboat drill.
Unpacking, meeting our fellow passengers and a eating a gourmet dinner were somewhat anticlimactic.
Pictures: The lucky cat, Michael studying the guide book, the Lonsdale Quay Market, The Yaletown neighborhood,The Vancouver skyline, Boathouse at Stanley park, the pier from the water and Stanley park with the skyline behind it.
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