Wistful dreams come true

We have lived on the coast for 30 plus years now (has it really been that long?) and in all that time I have watched cruise ships plying the waters of Discovery Passage from May to October, on their journeys to and from Alaska.  It got so I knew when they would be passing by, based on the tides.  In the first years when we were here, and living in a duplex on the water, I could lie in bed at night and time the waves hitting the shore.  I learnt that it took 8 minutes from the time the ship passed our place till the first wave crashed on the shore.  Obsessed or what??

It was always my hope, that someday, we would be able to be on one of those ships as it passed by.  But, it always seemed way outside of the reach of our wallets.  To do the trip properly, the stateroom of choice for this trip is most definitely a balcony suite, as the prime purpose for me of this itinerary is too enjoy the scenery.  We have taken the BC ferry trip from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert twice as a teaser.  On a nice day, there is nothing better to do, in my books, then to be gliding up the coast.  Every year, I scan the offerings, but at over $325 per day, per person, it was just unattainable.  Even 4 night "Taster Cruises" were $260 to $280 a night.

Then, on April 4, I found a cruise that was acceptable, price wise.  10 nights on the Celebrity Eclipse, May 9 to 19, Vancouver to Vancouver, in a balcony room for $150 per person per night.  The weather should be reasonable/nice.  No need to fly to another place to catch the cruise.  We don't even have to take a hotel room in Vancouver the night before or afterwards because of the departure and arrival times.  We can easily drive over the morning of departure and drive home the day of arrival. Our only additional expenses would be the ferry cost and vehicle parking.

Being retired has it's advantages.  Seniors discounts on the ferry and the cruise, but mostly, the ability to quickly pounce on short notice offerings at very good prices.  I pounced!

Having just returned from a 6 week stay in Spain, it was not on our radar to be taking another trip so soon.   Thanks to a recent inheritance, though, we are able to do just that.  If I had a bucket list, this would be one thing to tick off it.

Our cruise home for 10 days


The process of embarkation today was a long and arduous one, 2 1/2 hours, mainly because the flow of what you needed to do was not smooth - our luggage and ourselves were processed on 3 different levels of the facility, from baggage drop, to check in, to security and finally to customs before you finally got on the ship.  At every stage you had to walk from one end of the facility to the other to get the process done then return to where you initially started to proceed to the next step - this happened with all 4 stages.  We are by no means experienced cruisers, but it certainly did not seem as smooth as it could have been.  Anyway, matters not now, we are on the ship and bonus is, that because of the long checking process we did not have to wait for our room to be cleaned - everything was ready when we arrived.

Our accomodation for the next 10 days - balcony room with obstructed view.  Average size cruise room, with a decent size bathroom and shower.



Vancouver harbour and our sail away as the journey starts

 Helicopter terminal in the harbour
 Ferry between downtown Vancouver and downtown North Vancouver
 one of several container facilities
 and another one

Second narrows or Ironworkers Memorial bridge and Burnaby to the North
 Burnaby with Mount Baker in Washington state in the background
leaving Canada Place 



 

 Coal Harbour and Stanley Park to the right
 Brockton Point Lighthouse Stanley Park
 views back to the city 
 approaching First Narrows or Lion's Gate Bridge  


 and under we go 
 


Siwash Rock Stanley Park
 cargo ships at anchor in English Bay, awaiting a berth in the harbour

By 5:30 we had cleared the harbour, the pilot boat had left us and we were well on our way north, heading toward the setting sun.


 military plane doing practice flights near Comox with Comox glacier in the background


approaching Campbell River about 9:30 pm, with the hospital on the hill (about 1/3 the way in from the right side) and the fishing pier (bright lights at the water's edge to the right)


And on into the night we went, taking a turn at Seymour Narrows, up Discovery Passage and onto Johnson Strait.














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