Our two flights from Oakland to Vancouver were uneventful except for a delay. We didn't arrive until 3:30. Ladies from our new travel agency, Cruise Specialists, were at the airport to greet us and lead the way to the hotel shuttle. First I wanted to see the large sculpture by artist Bill Reid which we had heard about on our last trip to Vancouver but hadn't had a chance to see. Reid is a national treasure for Canada, his art is on their $20 bill. The large bronze is spectacular. Tried to post a picture with no success. Hope that won't be the story for the entire cruise!
Cruise Specialists provided our one night stay in Vancouver and had a nice cocktail party for all their clients as well as a dinner. There were 120 of us, a few whom we had met on other cruises. The food was very good for banquet food. We were staying at the airport Sheraton.
The most important item to pack when traveling, the one item which you can't just go out and buy, are your prescription meds. I went to take mine before going to bed only to discover the bottles I had thought were them were really meds I carry "just in case" on long trips. Not good. Spent most of the night worrying about how I would get my meds before leaving across the Pacific. I was also a bit worried about the one bag I had shipped ahead to Vancouver. It was still showing as being in customs on the DHL website. Two things to worry about, oh joy!
First thing in the morning we headed to the local pharmacy to see if prescriptions can be transferred from a US pharmacy, no. Plan B, we called our daughter, Brigitte, to have her go to the house and Fed Ex them to LA, our first port. Once at the house she called me for instructions and I also got to talk to Piper, our 2 1/2 yr old granddaughter. While at the house she found 2 long lost binkys and told me she had a new outfit for gymnastics. Nice to hear. Holly, from Cruise Specialists, found the best address of where to ship the package for me and even emailed it to Brigitte so we could board the bus for the ship. She had also begun to see where my missing bag might be. As we were waiting in the lobby, Mel noticed our carry on luggage passing by, including my purse! We were to have left our checked luggage by the door, anything else in the back of the room so it would not be taken. Whoops! Good thing we had been sitting there to see it as there were no Holland America tags on any of them. Holly was very apologetic, things happen in 3's, and from now until the end of the cruise, no more incidents! Let's hope that is true.
After boarding the ship and having lunch, we got off the ship to go to an attraction we had heard about called "Flying Over Canada". It is just like DCA's Soaring Over California, with a lot more motion and water. It takes you from the east to west coast of Canada and is very well done. After that we walked to Gastown to visit the Coastal People's Gallery which we had visited the last time we were there. Beautiful art.
Back at the pier, they asked for our passports to go thru customs. HAL had taken them when we checked in earlier. They said we could not get back on the ship without them. Great. They finally decided that one of us could board to get the passports while the other waited in customs. I boarded, leaving Mel on his own. Of course there were 5 people in line at the front desk with only 2 people working. I asked if they would mind my cutting in line as my husband was being held hostage. I had a moment of thinking this was my chance to ditch him, but figured I would never find another companion as fun and compatible, so retrieved the passports and headed back off the ship. All the running around on and off the ship amounted to over 6 miles by the end of the day. I got in my exercise. When we arrived back at our cabin, the missing suitcase was waiting for us.
We unpacked the little luggage that we had, went to the mandatory emergency drill, then dinner. We are sitting with the lovely couple of retired professors with whom we sat during the World Cruise 4 years ago. Great to see them and nice to be sharing a table again. No show tonight, so we had a leisurely evening. Best news of the day, once our issues were taken care of, my Nespresso machine works onboard! I won't have to spend 75 days with bad coffee!
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