After checking out of our hotel, we took a one-minute walk over to the airline counter to check-in for our flight to Vancouver. Once again, getting through airport security was relatively painless because of TSA Pre Approv. We were fortunate that our flight utilized one of the gates at the terminal that our hotel is connected with so no need to take any of the airport transportation to get between terminals. We waited at the airline club lounge until it was time to walk over to the gate for our flight. We experienced something for the first time when boarding our flight. We were first in the first class line and boarding began. We made our way to the plane and as soon as we got on board the flight attendant said, we are not ready for you. As it turned out the gate agent started the process too soon. We along with about 10 other people made our way back to the foot of the bridge where we waited about ten minutes for the boarding to begin again. We did encounter about one hour flight delay. Initially the delay was because when they did an inspection of the plane there was an issue with one of the exterior latches. Once the repair was made they had to do the necessary paperwork. We then encountered a second delay. The sink in the first class restroom was not working properly as the water would not stop running. They were unable to fix the problem so they closed off the sink and left toilettes for our use. The good news is we made up about twenty of the minutes in the air. Other than these issues, the flight was uneventful. We enjoyed the breakfast and we each had egg strata. Upon arrival we went through Canada immigration, got our luggage and then went through Canadian customs. We then made our way over to the designated private car service area. Based on the advice of others we didn't pre-book a transfer and used a car service company that has exclusive rights at the airport for pickups. We waited about fifteen minutes for the vehicle and then were taken to our hotel in downtown Vancouver. We are staying at the Pan Pacific Hotel located directly at Canada Place where the Passenger Cruise Ship Terminal is located. We stayed at Pan Pacific on two prior cruises almost twenty years ago. There are several hotels near the terminal including one of the Fairmont properties located right across the street from our hotel and another beautiful Fairmont Property down the street. We chose Pan Pacific for its convenience and because of our memories from the two other times we stayed there with our children Jennifer and Eric. The hotel also offers exquisite views of the city and the harbor. We enjoyed an easy check-in at the club floor lounge and the good news was our room was ready for us. We ran into dear friend Ileen at the lounge and learned that she had arrived about thirty minutes before our arrival. Ileen will be on both cruises with us. We dropped off our items in our room which is only a few steps from the lounge and then went back to the lounge for some fruit, water and soft drinks. Two of the three concierges who work the lounge were there and we spoke to them for quite long time. They were very helpful. We want to note that over the past month they also have been very helpful with very quick turn around times for assistance that we needed for three of four restaurant reservations that we made. We took a few photos of our room. It is overcast today with some rain and Keith used his iPhone so the photos came out a little dark but this should still give you a sense of our room. We are in one of their suites with a separate bedroom and a separate living room. After getting settled at the hotel, we took a walk over to Gastown to pick up some wine and to get some fresh air. We had an early dinner since our internal clocks are two hours ahead of Vancouver time and Keith had booked a restaurant just a few minutes from the hotel for the convenience of not having to go to far to dine. We ate at the Cactus Club. The restaurant is more on the modern side. We were placed at a table in a quieter section of the restaurant with a beautiful view. Food was delicious. We each had a salad and a salmon entree. Both were great choices. Afterwards, we took a walk for awhile around the area before walking back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will enjoy the city.
Keith & Anne Marie Comments are closed.
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