Eagles and Whales and Bears, oh my!!! COMPLETED 3/4/2012 - Page 14 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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What an amazing last day! I'm sorry the patch wore off for a while, but seems like you soldiered through. Tea at Palo looked wonderful and dinner looked like amazing fun! The scenery shots are all fantastic. Hard to believe it's nearly over! Glad there's more cruising in your future!
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Sorry to see your trip come to an end. It's been so much fun reading three different interpretations of the same cruise! Glad you've got another in your near future!
To everyone who has been following along, thanks! Please keep coming back. I have a few more days to tell you all about as we did some pretty cool things when we returned to Vancouver and then in Seattle before this cruise vacation truly comes to an end. Hope to have it all done before the end of the week-end.
Tuesday September 6, 2011 We leave the Wonder and great friends but we enjoy a short return to Vancouver for the two of us.
For whatever reason I was up well before dawn and discovered we were back in Vancouver. It was a little after 5 am. The city looked amazing from our veranda.
We must have just arrived as what appeared to be the pilot boat was just leaving.
We relaxed for about another hour before finally getting up for the last time this cruise.
We spent a few minutes checking to make sure we had everything packed in our day bag and took a few more pictures of things in our cabin.
When it got to be closer to our breakfast time we took a few more pictures from our veranda and then headed off to Parrot Cay. We were both sad to see this come to an end but excited that we still had one more day in Vancouver.
As evident by the shots in the hallway, the crew was very busy working to turn the ship over. No more Alaska cruises this season so the Wonder was heading to Victoria for some deep cleaning in dry dock.
We took a few more pictures on our way to breakfast. People were already heading off the ship. It is nice to have the late dining seating when it comes to getting off the ship.
Most everyone was already in Parrot Cay. Amy had an early flight so she had already left.
We checked out the menu, got a few things to eat and chatted with our fellow cruises at the table. All too soon it was time to go as our “character/color” (Mickey Red) was called which meant “You have to go now”. We said good-bye (and to Mark and Cheryl a short farewell as we would be seeing them in Seattle) and wished them all safe travels.
We found our place in line to leave the ship, saw Cast Members who were saying a fond farewell and exited the ship. Of course that did give me an opportunity to take a few pictures!
Soon we saw the Canadian Customs sign and followed it into the area where the luggage was waiting.
The cool thing about coming back to the Pan Pacific was that it was a hop, skip, and a jump to the area where their Bell Captains were waiting. They quickly took our suitcases and we went to check-in. Moments later we were all done and heading up to room. This time we had selected a “city view”. And it was as awesome as the “harbor view” room.
Next we headed down to find the “Hop on/Hop off” trolley and redeem our free day. We were so happy that the two day pass did not need to be consequent days. We were validated and off we went.
Since we had spent that lovely day pre-cruise we had seen most of the scenery before, but it was still wonderful.
Our first destination today was the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. We got off at the appointed spot, took a few pictures, and walked over to the aquarium. As you can see we were enjoying another day of great weather. Wish we could have bottled a bit of it and taken it to Alaska with us. We kept hearing that we were so lucky to have this nice weather and temps as the weather in Vancouver the past summer had been cool and wet.
We found the map of the area and also the entrance to the aquarium.
We went inside and paid our fee for the day (it is a bit pricy at $21 per person, and I also gave an extra $2 for Marine Mammal Rehab).
We went around and viewed the various aquarium tanks of species in and around the British Columbia coast.
Then we headed outside to see what I most wanted to see – the Beluga whales! The handlers demonstrated how they had trained the whales. It was not a show where the whales did jumps or flips or that type of exhibition, but how they have trained them to allow the handlers to examine them without fear. No matter what, they are beautiful animals and their status is “near threatened” to “critically endangered” in this area of the world. Hopefully the active research that goes on at the facility will help keep more of these remarkable animals out of harm’s way so that many generations of humans will be able to enjoy their beauty.
When the outside exhibit was over the whales went into another holding area. We were able to go below that area and watch their antics!
We were also below a pool where there were harbor seals. We watched them from below for a while.
Then we went back up and watched them and the Pacific white sided dolphin from above.
We spent several hours there, ate a fairly expensive lunch ($25 for hamburgers or sandwiches and drinks), and bought some souvenirs before heading back out to catch the trolley after walking back to the trolley stop.
We were able to get some more pictures of things that we either missed or didn’t get good shots of on our previous trip on the trolley as we headed to Granville Island.
The picture of the running man is a statue to commemorate Harry Jerome, a Canadian Olympian who competed in 1960, 1964, and 1968. He, unfortunately, died very young and he is well loved by his country. The statue is located in Stanley Park on the sea wall and runners, joggers, bikers, walkers all enjoy seeing it as they go around the walkway.
Notice the picture of the “Girl in the Wet Suit”? This one was taken from the trolley. We had seen her on our tour pre-cruise as we walked in Stanley Park when it was low tide. Now it was definitely high tide!
As an aside, for anyone who will be in Vancouver at any time and travel on the Hop on/Hop off trolley, please use the coupon book they have available. I knew we could get the ferry for free to Granville Island, but after we were back home and looking over the book I realized I could have used many more of the coupons on our travels that day! Lesson learned!
This trolley was pretty empty.
More pictures as we moved along.
I got a somewhat better shot of the statues at English Bay called “A-maze-ing Laughter”. This work of art was part of the 2009-2011 Vancouver Biennale. However, from the research I did on them they are very popular and perhaps will become a permanent part of the city.
There was a lot of activity going on from joggers, bikers, kayakers that it looked like residents and tourists were taking advantage of the wonderful weather even though it was a Tuesday.
We got off the trolley and walked down to find a ferry ready and waiting for us. We took the pleasant trip over to the island to see some of the establishments we had missed on our previous trip.
There were outdoor musicians playing and we found a neat water sculpture that I just had to take pictures of.
Then it was time for a snack. We found a GREAT Gelato shop and we sat and enjoyed our treat.
Then we walked around some more. I did some shopping in a few of the stores. The geodes we saw were incredible!
After our last stop at the Toy Company (and spending a bit more $$) we headed over to the next trolley stop.
On the way we walked by the marina. As we walked by we realized that there was a man there balancing rocks on top of rocks on the embankment of the marina. It appears it is his form of artwork. It was really incredible!
On the trolley again (I can’t believe this is the only picture of the outside of the trolleys I got the entire trip!) we headed back through town. We were not going to get off until we were back at the Pan Pacific. We did, however, get some good shots of skyline, the Science Center, Chinatown, and Gastown.
As we neared the Pan Pacific we noticed the Wonder was still in its berth. More on that in a moment!
Back at our starting point we decided we needed to see the Olympic Caldron and the “Digital Orca” (looks like a Lego Orca!). This was a short walk down from our hotel and I am so glad we took the time to go.
Then, as we walked back towards Canada Place we were seeking a place to have dinner. Just across from Canada Place were some restaurants and shops. We checked out a few but nothing caught our fancy. At that location there was another sculpture. This one is called “The Drop” and represents water and all it means to Vancouver.
In the area where this sculpture is had a great walkway and the views of North Vancouver and Canada Place were awesome. As we stood there we realized that the Wonder was moving! We stood and watched as she backed out of her berth, turned and headed towards the Lion’s Gate Bridge and to dry dock in Victoria.
Afterwards we were getting pretty tired so we opted for dinner at our ever favorite Food Court! Bob with some Asian type thing and me with good old MacDonald’s.
After dinner we headed back to our room, took some city view night time pictures, checked the weight of our suitcases (again) and got ready to go to Seattle via the shuttle tomorrow morning.
Next up: The shuttle back to the US, the only other monorail outside Disney, The Seattle Space Needle, and one more dinner with good friends!
You certainly packed in a lot into your last day into Vancouver! I love the shots of the belugas from the aquarium - such beautiful animals and it was so cool that you got to see the Wonder leave. I was surprised she left so late, having seen how they'd got her so ready for dry dock when we got off in the morning. I wonder if the Cast Members got a day in Vancouver or whether they had too much still to do on board?
Great last tour of Vancouver, such a beautiful-looking city. You sure got your moneys-worth out of the trolley tickets even without using the coupons! I wish all cruise terminals had a nice hotel attached-- you really can't beat getting off the ship and then walking to check-in! How lovely to be able to say goodbye to the Wonder as she headed off to dry dock!
What a beautiful day in Vancouver! The picture of the balancing rocks - one looked so much like a face! I even think I saw ears on it!!
And very that you were able to see the Wonder sail away!
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I love the shots of the belugas from the aquarium - such beautiful animals and it was so cool that you got to see the Wonder leave. I was surprised she left so late, having seen how they'd got her so ready for dry dock when we got off in the morning. I wonder if the Cast Members got a day in Vancouver or whether they had too much still to do on board?
that you were able to see the Wonder sail away!
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