Holland America Alaska Cruisetour - Cruise Day 1

Cruise Day 1 - Wednesday - August 15th, 2012

    Thanks to our plush beds and blackout curtains, Roy and I woke up feeling much more human than we felt when we collapsed Tuesday night. We wandered the hotel trying to find breakfast and resorted to the hotels’ restaurant, Oru. Our mouths hit the menu when we saw their buffet breakfast was $30 per person! What happened to the $9 omelet like I got at Sawmill last Sunday?! That even came with a drink and a side! We settled on a smaller a la carte breakfast choice that still cost us as much as our dinner from the previous night. After breakfast we packed our bags and the hotel was gracious enough to hold them once we checked out of our room and we hit the streets of Vancouver.

We decided to buy tickets for the Big Bus, a hop on hop off narrated tour of the city. We rode through all of the boroughs such as Yaletown and Chinatown and around Stanley Park. The city still looked the same to me…high-rise, after high-rise, after high rise. Finally, the Big Bus drove through Gastown which looked unique. There were not any high rises and the buildings had character which was a twist compared to the uber modern glass monstrosities around the rest of the city.

 

  

     I am not a big city girl by any means and my time in Vancouver confirmed that. I mean, hello, I broke the curtains because I tried to open the large drapes in our hotel room by yanking them open only to find out that there was a button that would slowly open them electronically.  I was completely out of my comfort zone in the city of Vancouver. I do not like crowds or a fast pace atmosphere. I believe in Southern hospitality and taking my time. Twenty-four hours in Vancouver was enough city life to last me a long time and make me truly appreciate my beach life in Wilmington.
     Anyway, to snap me out of my cranky city induced mood I grabbed an iced chai latte at Starbucks (my absolute favorite) and headed back to the Fairmont Pacific Rim to get our luggage.  We made our way across the street to Canada Place and effortlessly went through security and check in and boarded the Holland America Line Volendam.
     Our room was ready upon check in so we were directed to our ocean view stateroom on the Lower Promenade deck. The stateroom was spacious, well, as large as cruise cabin is going to be, it had a large picture window, and a bathroom that you could actually turn around in. Roy and I settled in and then grabbed our cameras and set off to explore the ship. The Volendam has approximately 1400 guests onboard and crew of 600. There are 10 decks, 5 restaurants, 2 pools, a casino, a culinary arts center, a sports court, a fitness center and spa, and a variety of other lounges and bars.

 

For dinner, we decided against the Rotterdam dining room and we went to the Italian restaurant, Caralleta. The food was wonderful! We went our separate ways after dinner as Roy went to the evening show and I set out for the Greenhouse Spa. The spa was offering an arrival special Top to Toe massage and facial so I reasoned that was a perfect way to begin vacation! The masseuse was very excited to learn that I was from North Carolina because Michael Jordan is his hero. When I told him that I was from Jordan’s hometown, he decided that I deserved an added bonus for my massage and he used hot stones. He made me promise not to tell anyone, but I don’t think he has to worry about that since I can barely remember his name, much less pronounce it!

 

Vancouver - Pre-Cruise Night - August 14th 2012

Day 1 of our Alaska Cruisetour with Holland America Line
August 14, 2012

     They say that when you travel you learn more about yourself. You are pushed outside side of your comfort zone. Well, I can attest to this and I am only 3 days into this vacation. As soon as we landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada it was as if the flight attendants kicked me out of my world and said “Welcome to the real world, Christina”. There were people everywhere. No one was smiling. Everyone was in a rush. Few people spoke understandable English. And we had not even left the airport.
     Roy and I survived the 3:30am wake up and the plane changes in Charlotte and Phoenix without any problems. When we arrived in Vancouver, we found our barely damaged luggage and cleared Customs. We decided we wanted our adventure to start right away so we chose to brave the Sky Train and take Canada Line from the airport into downtown as it only cost us $8.75 per person versus the $35 for a cab. We rode the train to the very end of the line and got off at the Waterfront Station and proceeded 3 blocks, luggage in tow, to the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.

        Holy Moly. I didn’t know I had made reservations at the Taj Mahal. I have never stayed at a Fairmont property before, but I knew they were supposed to be very nice and they are only located in select major cities around the world. I figured I would take advantage of my lovely travel agent discount and we could spend a pre-cruise night in Vancouver. The check in at the Fairmont Pacific Rim was seamless and the receptionists were friendly and spoke clear English – seemed normal. We proceeded to our room where we came face to face with a solid wood door with a doorbell. Yes, a personal doorbell for our hotel room. We walked in and still the room seemed fairly standard…2 queen beds, flat screen TV, wall of windows overlooking the city. It wasn’t until I walked in the bathroom, which is always my favorite part, that I realized I was not staying in a standard hotel. The bathroom floors were marble, the shower was glass, and the mirror had a tv within the mirror. Yes, you read that correctly…there was a small television within the mirror of the bathroom. You know, so you can keep up with ESPN while you shower. After screaming for Roy to check out the bathroom, I began to notice more of the details of the room. There were no light switches. The lights were powered by a touch screen panel that gave you settings for different moods…groom, spa, relax, night, welcome. There was an Ipad for our use in the room which gave access to a virtual concierge, weather, internet (for a fee), and room service. The staff somehow knew when we left for dinner because when we returned, the lights were in “relaxed” setting, the drapes were closed, there was soft music playing, and I suddenly noticed the painting above the beds which was now illuminated. We were definitely not staying at a Hampton Inn.

      After being overwhelmed by the luxurious Fairmont, we set out to see Vancouver. The area of Vancouver has approximately 2.2 million people. I think they all live downtown. I have never seen so many high-rise buildings. All of the buildings looked the same. Roy and I ventured to the Vancouver Tourism Center, only 1 block from the hotel, and picked up some maps. We walked toward the water and saw Canada Place…the convention center and cruise port. We stayed along the sea wall just as the receptionist told us to. It was amazing to see the contrast of the high-rise concrete jungle and the water and the forest located on the other side of the water from us. We watched seaplanes take off and land, people were jogging, families were playing in the grassy areas. It truly was beautiful along the water. We proceeded toward the marina to Cardero’s , a restaurant our receptionist at the Taj Mahal recommended to us. We were seated immediately out on the patio overlooking the marina and we enjoyed a seafood dinner in the sunshine. As we made our way back the Pacific Rim, we noticed that BMWs are like Hondas or Toyotas back home. They were everywhere! The wealth in the downtown area was noticeable everywhere you looked. We held our eyes open as long as we possibly could, but inevitably we were asleep before 9pm; midnight back home.