Year 4 Day 145 “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 9/22/2024. Day 12 of 25-day Alaska to Las Vegas trip. Day 8 of 13- Alaska and Los Angeles cruise on Brilliance of the Seas. We are back to our original departure port, Vancouver, British, Columbia, Canada along with the Rotterdam.
We are doing a back-to-back cruise from this port. The ship is heading to Los Angeles where we will disembark. We are up early and in the Windjammer with about 1,000 other passengers. It is the last morning of this cruise and it is turn around day, so everyone is grabbing breakfast at the same time before disembarking and continuing with their travels. As a back-to-back cruiser, we had to report to the Schooner bar at 9am. There are 150 back-to-back cruisers. That is a lot of people staying for another cruise. It is amazing how many Australians are on this cruise. There is no immigration here since we started in Canada and ended in Canada. We were checked out of the ship right there into the Colony room by Royal Caribbean security. They took our room key and checked us back in where we received a new room key. They will return the old room key to our room later. We have saved the cruise room card key from every cruise we have been on.
Our new balcony room is way down the same 7th deck hallway. Almost to the back of the ship. By 10 am we are in our new room. The room currently overlooks Canada Place where there is a long line of people entering the cruise port. Canada Place opened in 1986 as the Canada Pavilion for Expo 86 and has since become a national icon and a hub of activity on Vancouver’s waterfront. Canada Place is owned and operated by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. Historically, the facility was managed by the Canada Place Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the port authority since 1993. The organization integrated with the port authority on December 1, 2012. Until we looked out our balcony and saw the lines coming into the cruise terminal we were going to get off and go do the Flyover.
Well, maybe next time. Our new room is the opposite layout. I found myself opening the bathroom door thinking it is the closet. Oh, and the balcony is little compared to last week’s room. But it will be quieter, I think. Another cruise and more water in our room.
We unpacked and decided to walk around the staterooms while the doors are open. We saw the grand suite and a two-bedroom suite. Nice rooms. We then headed to book some specialty dining. We bought the three-night package for $75.00 plus 18% gratuity for each of us. If you buy it today it is 50 percent off the regular price. So, we reserved chops two nights and Giovannis one night. We sat on deck six by the window in Vintages and watched the sea lions play in the water, the Harbour Air Sea planes take off and land, and the ship being refueled. It is a bit of an on and off rainy day, but they were washing the windows. Some of the pictures are blurry due to the camera trying to focus through rain drops on the windows. Although the Cruise ship windows are kept clean, not like the Amtrack train windows.
This is Canada’s busiest harbor. Canada Place is the tourism hub of the city, with nearly 1 million cruise ship passengers visiting each year. The port can house up to four luxury cruise ships at a time. At noon time we headed to the dining room for a special back-to-back lunch. Not a great selection, but it is quieter than going to the Windjammer.
All of a sudden, I noticed the huge pile of Sulphur. Sulpher is produced as a byproduct at Suncor’s tar sands facilities in Alberta. It is transported by rail to this 25-meter high 160,000-ton outdoor stockpile at the North Vancouver Sulphur Works. From there it is shipped to markets in Asia for use in manufacturing fertilizer. In the past ten years the price of sulfur has skyrocketed from $20/ton to over $650/ton.
After lunch I was reading that every day at 12 noon, ten Heritage Horns sound the first four notes of “O Canada” from the roof of Canada Place. With an output of 115 decibels, they can be heard throughout downtown Vancouver. During the 2010 Olympics, they also sounded whenever a Canadian won a medal. In the afternoon we headed up to the salon and the crown lounge. Wow we are parked right in the middle of the city buildings.
Checking the home cameras, I see my outside front porch Ivy is looking happy.
Cruise Compass and other flyers left in our room today (they kept me busy reading papers):
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
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To view the complete daily diary, click here – This starts at Year 1 Day 1: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count