Vancouver Hotel and Restaurants

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Ray M

2003-10-07 03:55:16 UTC

My wife and I are in the process of planning an Alaskan cruise for August of
next year. It looks like we will be leaving Vancouver on a Sunday, but
since we live in Philadelphia, we'd like to arrive on Friday or Saturday to
avoid a LONG day of travel on Sunday.

We'll probably book our own flight arrangements so we have more control over
when we leave Philly and arrive in Vancouver. And we'll probably get a
better price than if we book it through the cruise line.

Since we are not familiar with Vancouver, can anyone give us some advice as
to where we should stay with regard to pier location and sightseeing
activity. Or, will a hotel close to the pier be within the "tourist area"?

Lastly, can anyone suggest a restaurant or two?

Thanks
--
Ray

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Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push and you'll be smilin'

Billy Joel -- Captain Jack
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Not the Karl Orff

2003-10-07 04:35:10 UTC

Permalink

depends on which pier. One is. one isn't.

Go Fig

2003-10-07 05:19:31 UTC

Permalink

I would, cause it is usually 2 days before you can meet up with the ship
if you were to be delayed.

jay
Mon, Oct 6, 2003

Post by Ray M
We'll probably book our own flight arrangements so we have more control over
when we leave Philly and arrive in Vancouver. And we'll probably get a
better price than if we book it through the cruise line.
Since we are not familiar with Vancouver, can anyone give us some advice as
to where we should stay with regard to pier location and sightseeing
activity. Or, will a hotel close to the pier be within the "tourist area"?
Lastly, can anyone suggest a restaurant or two?
Thanks

--
Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

Cruisetech

2003-10-07 05:34:52 UTC

Permalink

If you plan to sail out of CANADA PLACE PIER (recommended) you ARE in the
heart of tourist parts of Vancouver... If you are planning to sail out of
BALLANTYNE PIER you will be 10 minutes away from anywhere nice (you do NOT
want to hang around that part of town). With the previously mentioned pier,
you are right beside an area called Gas Town, with LOTS of trendy little
bistros and touristy shops, and on the other side of the pier, is downtown
Vancouver proper, with classy restaurants and hotels..... After Victoria,
BC... Vancouver BC has the highest mortality rate for new restaurants, so to
recommend a restaurant for next year really doesn't help you, but there are
twenty odd higher end hotels all along the downtown core/pier area for you
to choose from, any TA worth their salt could set you up in an appropriate
price range. May I recommend coming REALLY early, renting a car and driving
up to WHISTLER for the day, it is a world class ski destination in the
winter (they just got the 2010 Olympic games), and pretty spectacular
mountain views in the summer.
You might also want to consider checking out Granville island, lots of
artsy/trendy restaurants and art boutiques. Another must do is a whale
watching tour, you can even make arrangements for a GUARANTEED sighting
!!!!!
Too much to see and do in two or three days, you may just have to come back
and do Vancouver for Vancouver, if you should decide to come over real
early, DEFINITELY take a ferry ride to VANCOUVER ISLAND, lovely scenery, and
Victoria is spectacular.
ciao for now

Post by Ray M
My wife and I are in the process of planning an Alaskan cruise for August of
next year. It looks like we will be leaving Vancouver on a Sunday, but
since we live in Philadelphia, we'd like to arrive on Friday or Saturday to
avoid a LONG day of travel on Sunday.
We'll probably book our own flight arrangements so we have more control over
when we leave Philly and arrive in Vancouver. And we'll probably get a
better price than if we book it through the cruise line.
Since we are not familiar with Vancouver, can anyone give us some advice as
to where we should stay with regard to pier location and sightseeing
activity. Or, will a hotel close to the pier be within the "tourist area"?
Lastly, can anyone suggest a restaurant or two?
Thanks
--
Ray
Remove NO and SPAM to reply
----------------------------------------------------------------
Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push and you'll be smilin'
Billy Joel -- Captain Jack
----------------------------------------------------------------

Howard Garland

2003-10-07 09:08:43 UTC

Permalink

I've stayed at the Pan Pacific ($$$), a magnificent hotel, literally on
one of the cruise ship piers.

Howard

Post by Ray M
Since we are not familiar with Vancouver, can anyone give us some advice as
to where we should stay with regard to pier location and sightseeing
activity. Or, will a hotel close to the pier be within the "tourist area"?

sheree

2003-10-07 11:44:32 UTC

Permalink

oops, not the pan pacific, we stayed at the pacific palisades!
--
Sheree

Post by Howard Garland
I've stayed at the Pan Pacific ($$$), a magnificent hotel, literally on
one of the cruise ship piers.
Howard

Don Howe

2003-10-07 14:26:21 UTC

Permalink

Get your free copy of the 'Approved British Columbia Accommodations Book'
from www.hellobc.com It is a guide book that describes all the Hotels,
Motels etc. in BC by area. The 'Vancouver Downtown Area' where the Pan
Pacific Cruise Terminal is can be found as a section of the Vancouver
entries. This soft cover 8" x 11" book supplies the location, addresses,
contact numbers, prices, conditions etc. As mentioned you do NOT want to
stay in the region of the Ballantyne Pier.

Two Seafood Restaurants that, through excellent food and service, have lived
more than enough years to have become traditional spots are 'The Cannery'
with a waterfront edge view of the harbor. Ask for a window table when you
make the necessary reservation and 'The Kettle of Fish' which has no view
but with equally wonderful food and service. If you are here on a clear
night a Gondola ride to the top of Grouse mountain where the view of
Vancouver from an elevation of 3500 feet in the 'Observatory Restaurant'
competes with the food for a memorable evening. See your Hotel Concierge
for directions to Grouse Mtn.and again -- ask for a window table.

Clear evening Sunsets as seen from the revolving resturant on the 42nd
floor of the Landmark Hotel on Robson Street in Downtown is not to be
overlooked (Pun intended). The views of Downtown and notably of English Bay
and Vancouver Island to the West when the sun sets is hard to beat. Ask for
a 'Sunset Table' so that you are facing West when the sun sinks behind
Vancouver Island.

Be sure to ask for further info on Vancouver when you contact 'Hello BC'.

Enjoy!!

Post by sheree
oops, not the pan pacific, we stayed at the pacific palisades!
--
Sheree

Post by Howard Garland
I've stayed at the Pan Pacific ($$$), a magnificent hotel, literally on
one of the cruise ship piers.
Howard

Post by Ray M
Since we are not familiar with Vancouver, can anyone give us some

advice

Post by sheree
as

Post by Howard Garland

Post by Ray M
to where we should stay with regard to pier location and sightseeing
activity. Or, will a hotel close to the pier be within the "tourist

area"?

Dave Smith

2003-10-07 21:01:09 UTC

Permalink

Post by Don Howe
Two Seafood Restaurants that, through excellent food and service, have lived
more than enough years to have become traditional spots are 'The Cannery'
with a waterfront edge view of the harbor. Ask for a window table when you

I ate at the Cannery a number of years ago. The place was nice. The food was
good. The waiter was a jerk. When I paid him with an American Express
travellers cheque he brought back more than $20 extra change. I tried to tell
him that he has made a mistake. He told me that he had checked his figures and
believed it was correct. I told him again that he mad made a mistake, but before
I could explain it he cut me off and said that he was sure it was correct. I
tried a third time and he was even ruder about how sure he was and how carefully
he checked. If he had given me the chance to explain I would have told him that
the TC was Canadian funds, not American.

sheree

2003-10-07 11:43:57 UTC

Permalink

we stayed at the pan pacific 3 yrs ago and it was nice. took a cab to the
pier. but since it was downtown had a lot to talk around and see. don't
miss stanley park!

we'll be in vancouver after our cruise in August. May do priceline for the
hotel this time
--
Sheree

Asya Kamsky

2003-10-07 18:47:43 UTC

Permalink

For restaurants, I can recommend two:
http://www.lumiere.ca/ for a fantastic "French" meal (fancy place,
multi-course tasting menu, very fabulous)
http://www.seafoodcannery.com/ for fantastic seafood (less fancy,
still pricy, great wine selections, fresh fish, etc).

Both of these are sort of special occassion type of places, which
going on a cruise certainly is! :)

For hotels we always book through priceline.com (using biddingfortravel.com
to see what the "going" rates are). We've always gotten nice hotels
downtown, walking distance from most attractions (though both restaurants
I recommended are a cab-ride away). We've never paid over $50 US/night.

--
Asya Kamsky

"To forgive is an act of compassion. It is not done because
people deserve it, it's done because they need it." -- Rupert Giles.

Asya Kamsky

2003-10-07 19:03:58 UTC

Permalink

Post by Asya Kamsky
http://www.seafoodcannery.com/ for fantastic seafood (less fancy,
still pricy, great wine selections, fresh fish, etc).

Sorry I got this URL backwards, it's http://www.canneryseafood.com/

--
Asya Kamsky

"To forgive is an act of compassion. It is not done because
people deserve it, it's done because they need it." -- Rupert Giles.

Mike

2003-10-09 12:13:09 UTC

Permalink

Look up the Gray LIne web site for Vancouver. We used them for a three
day package that was very good and much, much cleaper than what we could
do on our own.

Scott C. Donohue

2004-08-01 22:14:58 UTC

Permalink

Ray,

My wife and I, also from the Philadelphia area, just returned from an Alaska
cruise. We also spent a few days in Vancouver before returning home.

First, good call the trip back is a long one and not doing it all in one day
is a big plus for you.

Hotels in the peir area are Ok for sight seeing. The area of Yaletown is a
great walking area, a bit uppie, but nice.

We stayed at the Hilton Metrotown, about a 15-20 min ride to the downtown
area, nice for access to the huge mall (they are joining the metroplis mall to
the older metrotown mall the Hilton is connected to. But not so good for much
else.

I would suggest either flying out of Vancouver, or if you are going out of
Seattle, plan to go to Seattle the day before you leave. We did no plan to loose
over an hour at the boarder, and almost missed out plane.

Some good sights to consider are the BC Ferry (http://www.bcferries.com) to
Victoria & the Buchart Gardens (if you like that stuff), the Capilno Suspension
Bridge and Grouse Mountain, these two are doable in one day.

I would suggest Earls, a small resturant chain in the area. The prices are
good, the people friendly and VERY helpful and the food is great with a good
selection. We eat at the one on McCay, near to our hotel and had the waitress
offer to get us the phone number for BC Ferries and bought us dessert in hopes
that we had a good time visiting her city.

If I can help with anything else, please feel free to e-mail me directly.

Happy Trip Planning,
Scott