And so it begins for this year. Having dinner with a couple of Mates that I have cruised with in the past as they head north to Alaska once again tomorrow night. Today in the paper in a general article on the Port and ships for this year the say there will be almost 900,000 pax go through the Port on 14 cruise lines with 32 ships and 241 calls.
They expect the 25 Millionth pax to come through in MAY on a HAL ship. If that might be you, you're in for a bit of a treat. Surprises galore I expect.
Canada Place is one of the best ports that I have cruised out of but not on a day with 3 large ships in. It can get crowded and these days usually take place early and late in the season when things are just getting going and coming to an end. The early days can be a bit trying as new staff and procedures are tested at getting roughly 20 thousand folks off and on on turn-arounds. TAxis are in great demand and short supply....and we do not have UBER. (yet)
The trip out of Vancouver or return is the one with the best Scenery compared to Seattle and I highly recommend it over our neighbour to the south. Ships leaving for Alaska out of Seattle travel mostly in the open Ocean except for a short piece up in Alaska Proper. Those ships do however stop in Victoria for a while on their return trips to satisfy US regulations. But the Vancouver departure gets you into the The Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the Mainland for a lot more close shore cruising your next morning out and last evening coming South. So with the bigger ships of today not spending much time (if any) in the smaller channels between the Northern Tip of Vancouver Island and Coronation Island in Ak any more at all a Vancouver departure is the best.
If you go... Post up a note here and tell us about your trip.
They expect the 25 Millionth pax to come through in MAY on a HAL ship. If that might be you, you're in for a bit of a treat. Surprises galore I expect.
Canada Place is one of the best ports that I have cruised out of but not on a day with 3 large ships in. It can get crowded and these days usually take place early and late in the season when things are just getting going and coming to an end. The early days can be a bit trying as new staff and procedures are tested at getting roughly 20 thousand folks off and on on turn-arounds. TAxis are in great demand and short supply....and we do not have UBER. (yet)
The trip out of Vancouver or return is the one with the best Scenery compared to Seattle and I highly recommend it over our neighbour to the south. Ships leaving for Alaska out of Seattle travel mostly in the open Ocean except for a short piece up in Alaska Proper. Those ships do however stop in Victoria for a while on their return trips to satisfy US regulations. But the Vancouver departure gets you into the The Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the Mainland for a lot more close shore cruising your next morning out and last evening coming South. So with the bigger ships of today not spending much time (if any) in the smaller channels between the Northern Tip of Vancouver Island and Coronation Island in Ak any more at all a Vancouver departure is the best.
If you go... Post up a note here and tell us about your trip.