August 23, 2015-Disembark ship, Vancouver, Pan Pacific, Hop On/Hop Off guided bus tour, dinner at Cascades Lounge

VANCOUVER

I am up very early to see our ship pass under Lions Gate Bridge.  The brochure said we would be passing under it at 6:30 am.  I went out to our verandah at what I thought was 5:15 am (I forgot about setting our time forward 1 hour!) so it really was 6:15 am.  Even so I was too late as our ship had already gone under the bridge.   While Richard is on the verandah a speedboat comes by going in the same direction as our ship.  There are 2 people in this boat.  Richard hollers to me to come out.  The guy is standing up with a trumpet and playing "Oh Canada" and then "God Bless America".  Other passengers out on their balconies are cheering.  We're all waving and saying thanks, well done, good job.  A great welcome to Canada!   In his boat's wake are dolphins!!  I got it on video.   We see lots of activity on the water.  The skyline and high rises of Vancouver.  Nickname "City of Glass".  Our docking is right near Canada Place.

Lions Gate Bridge

Sunrise 6:32 am

Vancouver

White sails of Canada Place really catch your eye

Our bags are gone.  We will pick them up in the ship's terminal in the baggage area where we will claim them by showing the bottom stubs from the tags.   Our colors are purple 1 & 2.  Estimated time for our disembarkation is 9:20 am as our group is staying overnight in Vancouver.  We are staying 1 night but others may be staying longer.  The earlier time is for those proceeding directly to the airport or taking an excursion and then going to the airport.  None will spend the night in Vancouver.  Holland America is very efficient and very well organized in these matters.  One last breakfast at Rotterdam.  I totally forgot to note down what we had or take pictures!!  I'm sure whatever we had was great.  We check our stateroom one last time to make sure we haven't left anything.  I write notes of appreciation to both Koko and Agus in which I also place some money.  I run into them so I can hand them over personally and verbally thank them for their excellent service.  I know that our account has been billed $12 pp or a total of $24 per day service charge which is supposed to be dispersed to the crew but I wanted to give something extra to our stateroom stewards.  The total service charge  amount is $168 for the 7 days.  In our final account statement are charges for drinks at the Ocean Bar, Crow's Nest, at dinner, and water from the mini bar.  Charges for dining at Pinnacle Grill/Le Cirque and Canaletto.  Charge for computer use at the Internet Cafe.  Purchases at the shops which were small like a magnet of our ship-Zaandam.  We also made some photo purchases-one of us embarking/staring our cruise and one from the first gala evening.  We have a $150 pp promo amount given to us when we made our booking with Holland America so that $300 is subtracted which helps a lot.  We take one last look at the ship before heading to the gangway.  We listen as colors and numbers are announced.  Soon we hear ours so we proceed to have our stateroom key scanned one final time and we show our luggage stub.  We see our luggage being taken away in a cart.  Also goods waiting to be delivered on board the ship for the next cruise.

Koko and Agus

Computers at the Explorations Cafe

Lounge area

Explorations Cafe-library, crossword puzzles

Explorations Cafe-magazines

Rotterdam Dining Room

Richard found his name

Getting the deck washed and ready for the next group of passengers

Our luggage is in this cart-red bags

Goods to be delivered on board for the next cruise

Once you leave the ship you cannot return so it's important to make sure you have everything of yours with you.  There is a Holland America representative waiting at the end of the gangway to help us secure our luggage, get us through Canadian Customs.  The disembarkation process goes as smoothly as the embarkation process had done on 8/16/15 when we began our cruise.  We are escorted over to our hotel for this 1 night-PAN PACIFIC.  It is located within the building that also contains the Vancouver Convention Center.  It's too early to check in and we want to do some sightseeing so we put tags on our luggage to be kept in a room until we return to check in.

Vancouver offers a lot to see and do.  In order to maximize the time we have we will do the Hop On/Hop Off guided bus tour.  We purchase our tickets from Westcoast Sightseeing at the kiosk right in front of our hotel for $78 CAD senior price for the 2 of us.  The boarding pass is good for 24 hours or until 8/24/15, 10:28 am.  Hours of availability to use the bus are 9:00 am-6:00 pm.  The stops in order from #1-#23 are:  Westcoast Welcome Center/Gastown, Art Gallery/The Lookout/Pacific Centre, our stop Canada Place, the Marriott Hotel, Robson Shopping District, Coal Harbour & Harbour Cruises, Stanley Park Pavilion, SP horse drawn tours/Vancouver Aquarium, the Totem Poles, Prospect Point, Ferguson Point, Second Beach, English Bay Beach, False Creek/Aquatic Centre, South Hornby/Marriott Hotel, the Century Plaza Hotel, Davie Street/Sandman Suites, Granville Island, Entertainment District, Yaletown, Library Square, Sports District/Sandman City Centre, Chinatown.   This first bus that we take does not have the open top.  We get off at Stanley Park Pavilion stop.  I'm looking for the rose garden.  I don't have a map of this park and it's huge.  Signage could be better.  We walk and walk, finally arriving at the Information Booth.  They have maps of the park here!!  We should have exited the bus at this stop which is the SP horse drawn tours.  Oh well, I got plenty of exercise.  We decide to walk along the seawall path.  This path is also for bicyclists, roller bladers.  We have to watch to not get run over.  It's a visually appealing walkway.  You see Coal Harbour, skyline of the city, even a gas station floating in the harbour.  After 1.5 km we reach the Brockton Gift Shop and the Totem Pole area.  At the gift shop I buy more water (it's a very warm and sunny day) some postcards, a Vancouver pin, and a Vancouver magnet.  The totems have good information al signs and make up a bit for my missing going to a totem park in Ketchikan.  We continue walking and past the Empress of Japan Figurehead, Girl in a Wetsuit Statue, past the Vancouver Aquarium, watch some silly raccoons, and finally end up at Lions Gate Bridge.  This art deco-style bridge connects Stanley Park to the Coast Mountain Range.  We backtrack and finally find a HO/HO stop.  We have walked well over 6 km.  A bus comes and we ride it all the way back to our hotel so we can check in.

Famous shopping street running through the heart of downtown

Stanley Park Pavilion

Silly racoons

View from seawall path

Path is divided-one side for walkers, the other for bicyclists and people on roller blades

Coal Harbour

Entrance to the Totem Poles

Harry Jerome Statue

Empress of Japan Figurehead

Lions Gate Bridge-connects Stanley Park to Coast Mountain Range

Going over Burrard Bridge

View from Burrard Bridge

Chinatown

Steam Clock-Gastown, first trip, time 2:30 pm

Stop #2

Our bus reflected in the building

Check in process is fast and easy.  Our bags will be brought to our room.  We are in room #1718.  A decent view.  Bathroom has tub/shower combo, hairdryer, and toiletries.  Plenty of storage in closet, dresser.  Desk/chair.  Flat screen TV.  Big chair just to relax in.  Two double beds.   It is very nice.  Our bags arrive, I give a tip.

Check in-Pan Pacific

View from our room

Then we decide to take another HO/HO ride as I still haven't toured the Stanley Park Rose Garden.  This time our bus is completely open to the sky.  Much better for viewing the sights.  We get off the bus at the Stanley Park Information Center and with map in hand make our way to the Rose Garden.  It is so pretty and I'm very happy.  We get back on another fully open HO/HO bus and stay on for the rest of the tour.  Our driver stops for a few minutes in Gastown which is the first/beginning stop where the steam clock is located.  I have enough time to exit the bus, take a few pictures, admire the clock, and get back on the bus.  We are now on the last tour of the bus.  We decide to just ride this last tour.  Our driver stops for a few seconds by the Lions Gate Bridge so we can take pictures looking directly down to it.  This art deco-style bridge connects Stanley Park with the Coast Mountain Range.  Back to our hotel it has been a long, tiring day with all the walking I've done.  Where to go for dinner?  Originally I had thought about  Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House but instead we decide to eat right at our hotel.

This HO/HO bus was better than the first one 

Lions Gate Bridge
 

Some homes we passed

Vancouver Public Library-The Words Don't Fit The Picture

Steam clock in Gastown-time on 2nd trip-6:05 pm-last HO/HO bus run

I'm disappointed in the place we chose.  CASCADES LOUNGE.  Oh well, food is food at this point.  We do have a table with a very nice view.  Service is very slow.  I order a cheeseburger with fries and coke.  Richard goes for the veggie burger with a side salad and just water.  Bill $59.78 CAD with tip. That's like $45 for 2 burgers, very small side of fries and very small side salad, and 1 soda!!  And they say Alaska is expensive??!!  We should have taken the short walk from our hotel over to the Subway!  All complaints aside, the food was tasty or maybe it was because I was so hungry??  I try to use the hotel computer to do advance check in for our flight tomorrow morning but I am unable to complete the process.  We make arrangements with the front desk for a taxi to the airport for 6:30 am.    We have a voucher from Holland America to cover the cost of this transfer to the airport.

My burger with fries and a coke

Richard's vegetable burger with a side of organic greens

View from our dinner table

I really wish I had thought to add more than just this 1 night in Vancouver.  I wish I had added 2 more nights.  I would have done the all day tour over to Victoria Island/Butchart Gardens.  I would have shopped and explored some of the neat areas like Gastown and Chinatown.  Taken the ferry over to Granville Island.   Vancouver has much to offer.