Cruise to Alaska from Vancouver

My review is at http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-346626…
1. $472 for 4 days (on hotwire). 2. $20 for the bus from airport to downtown hotels. Bus has no AC and it stops behind the hotel. Taxi for $30CD would have been a better option. Taxi pulls into the hotel entrance where help is available 3. $5CD for taxi to the cruise terminal. 4. Stanley park, Grouse Mnt, Capillano bridge, Graniville island are all close by. 5. No free break fast. 6. Sky train station is almost underneath the hotel. Lots of economy eating places in the mini-mall connected to the station.

21. On disembrakation day, breakfast and other services end when the first group leaves. Need to have early breakfast and get out of the room by 8 am. 22. Tie a piece of yarn to recognize the baggage. 23. Tap water is distilled water. Don't buy expensive bottled water. 24. Consider travel insurance.

1. Spare camcorder battery. 2. Camcorder cassettes. 3. Memory sticks. 4. Spare camera rechargeable batteries 5. Camera and camcorder recharger. 6. Bottles/mugs for kids water and milk. 7. Iron not allowed on cruise 8. Shoe and closet organizer. 9.tooth brushes and paste. 10. One dollar bills for tips. 11. plastic bags for dirty or damp cloths. 12. Binoculars. 13. Sunscreen 14. flash light. 14. beach bag. 15. Germicidal hand cleaner.

1. Organizers - closet organizer, over the door shoe organizer. 3. Formal suit for cruise 4. Stressful mandatory test drill before the ship start. 15 - 20 mins. 5. Luggage is handled by the handlers prior to the security check. $1 per bag tip. 6. Try breakfast and lunch in the formal restaurant (along with the dinner). Order from the menus instead of buffet once in a while. 7. Get to the top deck front of the ship before the ship departs. Grand view from 10 stories high of the departing city. 8.sun screen lotion, must. 9. Swimming pool is straight sea water. 10. Some lower decks have lounge chairs. 11. Checkout the 'after deck' for the ships wake. 12. 'Welcome buffet' the first night. Long lines. 13. Buffets in informal restaurants. No tip for waiters. 15. Outdoor sitting area may be in informal restaurants. 15. Formal restaurant - same table, same company, same server. Attire is enforced. 16. Grand midnight buffets - don't miss even if not hungry 17. Servers walk the ship with snack trays in the middle of the night. 18. Soda and alcohol extra charge 19. Medical services are not included in the price of the cruise. Even first aid needs to be paid. 20. Disembarkation is a painful process and takes 2 hours. Will have to wait out with other passengers.

1. Bigger memory stick. 2. Recharge all AA batteries. 3. Take the recharger 4. Camcorder cassettes 5. Camcorder recharger and the spare battery. 6. Windbreakers 7. Backpacks. 8. Cell phone connectivity is available in US ports. To use in Vancouver, take ATT's North American package. It is $10/mo and will be prorated when cancelled 9. Canadian dollars.

We ended up spending the entire day at Grouse Mountain. We used public transportation (bus from hotel to the sea bus terminal, sea bus, and another bus from terminal to Grouse mountain.) It took a while (an hour) but it was worth the while. Kids enjoyed the tranist and we enjoyed the lifestyle. Grouse mountain has enough to consume the entire day. It was hot at the top. Sunscreen is essential. Along with the regular tram ride, they also had the ski lift running on which our family spent an hour, at least. My review is here: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-280174…