May 3, 2016 – Vancouver, BC, Canada

After leaving Ketchikan Sunday evening (6:00 pm), the rain stopped almost immediately. We returned to cruising southbound that evening and our full day at sea on Monday (May 2nd). Weather was beautiful, as was the scenery, as we glided safely and quietly along sheltered channels of the Inside Passage, weaving between dozens of islands and dense green forests of Canada’s British Columbia coastline. Open ocean waves of the Pacific are blocked by the islands, leaving the waterways inside the channels - the Inside Passage - relatively calm and protected. 

 

We would occasionally see small communities and logging camps whose only connection to the outside world is by the sea. Some of the channels were remarkably narrow and the air smelled fragrant with pine and spruce trees. Snow-capped mountains emerged very close to the water line. What a beautiful, calming experience!

Not only were the sights and smells striking, but the temperature was warming up as well. By the time we reached Vancouver this morning, the temperature was 68º F. Jim enjoyed doing his 3½-mile walk around the Promenade Deck this morning in his t-shirt and wind-breaker. What a change from this past week in Alaska, where the weather was raw.

Here are some photos that Jim took, while walking this morning, of Crystal Serenity arriving under the Lion’s Gate Bridge and into the Port of Vancouver. We docked by 7:00 am at Canada Place - a prominent site on the waterfront - with its rooftop that looks like a sailing ship with five white sails.  

 

Canada Place was built originally in 1986 for the Vancouver World’s Fair: Expo 86. Adjacent to Canada Place is the modern Trade and Convention Center (with a grass roof) - built as the International TV Broadcast Center for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. These two very successful events in 1986 and 2010 changed the city and put Vancouver on the world stage. Being docked here gives great advantage to cruise travelers, as it’s adjacent to downtown with a wide range of excellent hotels, shopping, dining, entertainment, and attractions available nearby

Here are some interesting facts about Vancouver that our tour guide, Chris, told us today:

• The city proper is built on a peninsula. Due to the geography, it’s almost like being on an island, which restricts lateral growth. Directly across the strait is Vancouver Island which shields the city from the Pacific Ocean. 

• There are approximately 610,000 people living within in the city limits, making it the eighth largest Canadian city. However, within the Greater Vancouver area there are 2.4 million residents, making it the third most populous metropolitan area in Canada.
   
• There has been explosive population growth in Vancouver, and 65% of its current residents were not born here. Not only that, 53% of its residents have a first language other than English. Much of that is due to immigrants from Hong Kong and mainland China. About 30% of the Vancouver 's inhabitants are now of Chinese heritage. Chris thinks that assimilation of immigrants has strengthened the city. 

• Real estate in Vancouver is extraordinarily expensive and has been ranked among Canada's most expensive cities in which to live. Additionally, Chris detailed some of the tax rates being levied, including what we understand is a12% sales tax. 

We signed up for a shore excursion today, titled “Views of Vancouver,” leaving from Canada Place at 1:00 pm. We started out by riding through the tall skyscrapers of downtown, almost all of which were built in the past 30 years. Especially impressive is that many of these were built on landfills along the waterfront in anticipation of World Expo-86 and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The Shangri-La Hotel downtown is currently the tallest building in the city.

Chris was very proud of how green the city is, with its many parks, gardens, and so many plantings featured even in high-rise buildings. We headed for Stanley Park - one of the biggest attractions of the city (and one of the largest natural parks in any North American city). The park is almost exactly 1,000 acres in size, of which 800 acres are forested. We visited Stanley Park about 10 years ago, and thought it was one of the finest urban parks in the world. We still believe that to be true. 

Stanley Park sits at the tip of the downtown peninsula and has miles of trails for walking and cycling, several miles of waterfront beaches, as well as manicured lawns, lush gardens, sports fields, and magnificent views. During our last visit, we walked the Seawall, a paved 6-mile trail (mostly flat) that runs around the perimeter of the park, and it is a fantastic walking experience. As far as we could tell today, the walk trail is still intact and just as beautiful as ever. 

 

Within Stanley Park, we made a short stop at Brockton Point to see the totem pole collection, which expresses the history of the “First Nations” people who lived here before westerners settled the area. These include carvings and work by Squamish artists. We continued through the park toward English Bay’s north shore, admiring many high-rise, modern (and expensive) apartments and condominiums along the beach. 

 

Then we crossed over a bridge to Granville Island, which was an unexpectedly interesting stop under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. This area was once an industrial manufactur­ing area, and a cement plant still remains (with very colorful silos).

 

However, now it’s a great spot for shopping and entertainment. We were given 30 minutes to explore a sample of all that this riverfront place has to offer, on our own - there are boutiques, arts and craft shops, galleries, and a covered public market with fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, etc. There were also street performers, an “improv” theater company, fine arts galleries, as well as many places to eat and drink. We could have spent the whole day here, as we just scratched the surface. But it was time to move on, so we regretfully left without buying anything.

 

Queen Elizabeth Park was our next destination. Along the way, the bus passed by Robson­strasse, a street filled with European-style shops and restaurants, and then climbed to the top of the city. This green, vibrant park was once a rock quarry; now it has been re-born as a sunken garden of blooming flowers and shrubbery. It’s said that, within the park are specimens of all the trees native to Canada; we didn’t have time to visit all of them today. 

 

The park also allows wonderful views of the city and the surrounding mountains to the north. The visit today was so much nicer than when we were here 10 years ago. Back then there was a lot of road construction and traffic jams; not so today, and the pleasant weather really helped. 

 

Chris took us back to the ship through a whole different part of the city. We drove through Chinatown relatively quickly, because it isn’t as interesting as it used to be. Chris explained that a large part of the Chinese community in Vancouver used to be concentrated in this one part of town. At one time this was known as the second largest Chinatown in North America (after San Francisco). Now, the newer Chinese immigrants are spread out all over the city and have been absorbed into their local neighborhoods. Chinatown isn’t thriving the way it was before.

From Chinatown, we passed through Gastown, which is the original (1867) settlement area in Vancouver. Here a person known as Gassy Jack established a tavern. The area soon took on his name as a destination. In 1971, the government declared Gastown to be a historical site, and it survives today with (tourist-oriented) pubs, restaurants, and shopping that reflect the area’s former status as a community drinking center. A number of restored buildings and a Steam Clock are popular tourist attractions. The bus drove down Water Street, passed by the statue of Gassy Jack, and stopped to let us out for a short break. Chris led us to the steam clock, and we waited just a few minutes for the clock to play Big Ben's song (with steam instead of chimes). Apparently this happens every 15 minutes.
 

 

If there is a down side to Vancouver, Chris was very honest in telling us that it would be the number of homeless people who are attracted to the warmer weather experienced in Vancouver. They seem to be concentrated near to Chinatown.

In summary after our 3½-hour overview tour today, we can say that Vancouver is definitely blessed with a superb natural environment, with beautiful green park lands, views of tall, picturesque mountains (with practically unlimited winter sports nearby), and wonderful waterfront advantages (including miles of beaches, sailing possibilities, sea breezes). It definitely helped that the weather was so pleasant today, after our rainy days in Alaska. However, we are smart enough to know that one of the reasons for all the healthy green grass, gardens, and trees must be that Vancouver lies in a temperate rainforest climate. It must rain a lot; luckily we missed it today.

On board Crystal Serenity, we visited the Prego and Tastes specialty restaurants in the last few nights and also attended two excellent concerts - Gary Arbuthnot (flute-player from Northern Ireland) and Lou Gazzara (singer from Las Vegas). Both shows were in the Stardust Club, as the Galaxy Lounge/Theater stage is being remodeled to accommodate a big stage show to be performed there tomorrow night (May 4).

Today’s visit to Vancouver concludes day 99 of our 102-day World Cruise. We now have two days at sea to pack our suitcases and get ready to leave the ship on Saturday (May 6). Our intention is to send a last blog posting after we get home, but it may take us a few days to take care of anything of immediate importance at home before getting back on the Internet.

Jim & Ginny