6/25/02 PM Vancouver

We had to be out of our cabin by 8:00am. We had a leisurely buffet breakfast. All passengers disembarked using a color-coded system, by deck. We knew that we wouldn't leave the ship until after 9:00am.

When our color was called, we (sadly) left the ship. We were greeted by about six Universe Explorer employees at several places along the walk into the pier's terminal. We claimed our luggage and entered Canada.

Friends from our dinner table had their SUV waiting at the pier, and the four of us went to Grouse Mountain. At the top of the tram ride (about 4000 ft) are a movie, lumberjack show, and good outdoor restaurant.

After taking the tram down, we checked into our hotel, and then walked through Chinatown. Vancouver has the largest Asian population of any North American city. There was much fruit, vegetables, and fish on display on tables on the sidewalk in front of stores.

We walked around the historic Gastown district (where Vancouver started) and ate supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We walked to Canada Place, the pier where the cruise ships are. The pier also has a convention center, hotel, and IMAX theater. Vancouver is in the process of spending $73 million to expand the pier. Each cruise ship that uses the pier adds $1 million to the local economy through fees and customer use of hotels, restaurants, and tours.

Our hotel was the Ramada Downtown. It has an excellent location that is convenient to numerous places and the bus lines, and is modestly priced.

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