North to Alaska!

We have started our next adventure, a Viking cruise from Vancouver to Hong Kong, by way of Alaska, Japan, and, hopefully, Taiwan.

It was not the best of starts.  Darrell set an alarm for 4:28 since we were being picked up at 5:15.  He woke up at 4:40.  The alarm was set for PM, not AM.  We had to scurry, but I had the bags (3 suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 2 backpacks and my purse) downstairs in the garage by 5:08, to find our ride already waiting for us.

The flights to Houston and Vancouver were uneventful, except that the “gangway” from the plane to the terminal in Houston was at least 3 blocks long, all at a 45-degree angle uphill (or at least that is how it seemed to me.)

We boarded a bus in Vancouver for a long ride to the dock area.  Vancouver has certainly changed since we were last there.  The first part of the ride was through residential areas.  At least I think there were houses behind all those hedges.  Many of the hedges were some kinds of evergreens, planted about 2 feet apart so they made a continuous solid “fence” about 10 feet tall.  Others had various kinds of shrubs, planted closely and trimmed with a flat side facing the street, also about 10 feet tall.  It was a six-lane highway through a green valley.

When we approached the commercial area, the buildings started getting taller.  For the last 20-30 minutes of the drive, we were surrounded by buildings of 20 to 40 stories.  Many looked like residential buildings with odd shapes and balconies on all the units.  None were straight rectangular buildings.  It was an architect’s dream-land.

Check in went smoothly.  Then began the long wait.  Vancouver is a very busy tourist port, but it only has 3 piers for cruise ships.  Use of these piers is based on seniority.  The cruise lines which have been sailing from Vancouver the longest get first priority for docking.  Some of these lines have been around for many years.  Viking Ocean Cruises began in 2015, and did not immediately sail out of Vancouver, so we had to wait for 3 very large cruise ships to load their thousands of passengers and all that was needed before our ship, the Viking Orion could dock.  It had been waiting, probably not patiently, out in the bay.  We had a holding room in a hotel across from the pier where we had access to a “snack.”  They had 2 lines of food and round tables for us to sit while we waited for over 4 hours.  The food was good but a bit unusual.  They served pickled zucchini, pickled eggplant, pickled cauliflower, the usual crudities, fruit plates, wedges of naan, cookies and 2 kinds of muffins.  At the end, after the cookies, were some kind of sandwiches, about 3 inches thick.  Coffee was at separate tables.  The room held round tables seating about 500 people.  Since there were over 600 passengers, some of the people sat in chairs out in the lobby.

At check-in, we were given a number (11) which told us our group boarding number.  I do not know how many groups there were.  When they finally started calling group 1, a cheer went up.

Now we could get onto the ship! (or at least after the first 10 groups.)  Finally, they called number 11. We walked across the street only to be led down the pier. Now it was time for another line snaking back and forth to get to the “customs” machine.  Did I mention that we had gone through the machines before?  You enter your passport and press down on it in the machine.  It did not work.  Try again.  Still no luck.  The official came over and tried.  No go.  She tried again, this time leaning down on the passport.  It worked!  A few more questions from the machine and it spit out a paper.  Now it was Darrell’s turn, with the same results (also after a few tries.) We walked across the room and gave the papers to an official. 

Next, we came to a room with row after row of chairs.  This was our home for another half hour.   We were dismissed, one row at a time to walk down toward the waiting ship. Our guide led us down the long pier to an escalator.  Our guide saw that the escalator might be difficult with backpacks, carry-ons and, in Darrell’s case, a cane, so she offered to have us use an elevator.  OK, we now walked halfway back the pier to the elevator, went down 1 level and walked halfway back the pier to the structure that had been erected to bridge the space between the pier and the ship.

Boarding the ship went smoothly.  Scan your room card, be greeted with a glass of champaign or punch, and look for your room.  One of our 3 suitcases was there.  By now, we were well past our 6:00 reservation for the Chef’s Table.  We went down anyway and had a delicious California Cuisine meal. 

Our last bag arrived in our room after we got back from dinner.  We were both a bit tired and went to bed!