Slow Boat to Vancouver

[kevin_standlee]

This afternoon we got value from our transit passes. (Single ride C$2.50, Two or more rides $5.00) The other days of this trip, we have never taken more than two trips; today it was three. That's because besides the bus to UVic, we left the conference and took a but to a place were we transferred to the Route 70 semi-express (much better than the stops-ever-two-blocks Route 72 on which we traveled south on Thursday) up to Swartz Bay ferry terminal.

The route 70 bus was not that busy, which was nice because it made carrying the heavy luggage easier. I had used the Maps app on my phone to route us back to the hotel in Vancouver. However, this proved to be a slight mistake.



The waiting area at the ferry terminal was pretty quiet. We wondered what had happened to the 4 PM sailing Maps said we should be taking. It turns out that there is no 4 PM sailing on Sunday. Maps doesn't know that. So we had an extra hour to wait. That's a pity; had we known we did not need to rush off, we could have hung around and socialized with people for an extra hour at UVic.



Worse, the 5 PM sailing was delayed more than 30 minutes. We eventually boarded the MV Spirit of British Columbia, and by then the terminal was very crowded. The ferry was not completely full, but by the time we got on board, the queue for the restaurant was so long that I figured the people at the end of the line would not be served by the end of the 90-minute voyage ended. That was annoying because all we had had to eat were some coffee and some breakfast pastries. I ended up buying chips, salmon jerky, and Coke Zero from the vending machines.



I was too tired to go out and walk around the ship, and my feet hurt anyway. Eventually, we got to Tsawwassen (Vancouver) terminal after an uneventful but crowded voyage.

Thanks to the ferry delays, the scheduled 620 express bus to Vancouver (Richmond/Bridgeport transit centre) had left, and the queue for the next one was so long that I didn't think we would be able to get onto it. so instead, we sprung for a C$75 (including tip) taxi ride to the hotel. I think it is possible that we got to the Holiday Inn Express Bridgeport Rd/Richmond before the next 620 bus arrived at Tsawwassen. In any event it was after 8 PM, not the 6:30 PM that the Maps transit planner had projected we'd be there when I first looked up the trip.

We almost had a travel disaster. When I tried to check in, they had nothing. I handed them the printout. It turns out that I'd made the reservation for March 31, not today! Fortunately, they had availability, and they honored the original reservation at the booked rate. No suite upgrade (they apparently only have that one suite that we got the other direction anyway), but I was grateful that we got a room at all and did not end up with a wasted reservation.

I know my airline reservation for tomorrow is correct, because Alaska Airlines was pinging me about while we were at Swartz Bay, and they only do that around 24 hours before departure. While waiting there, I was able to provide my passport information and pay for my checked bag, so that should be okay tomorrow.

Instead of going out to dinner, we ordered in pizza. Besides some soda ordered with the pizza, when I went downstairs to get some paper plates and napkins, I found that they had Sparkling Ice, which is my currently favorite carbonated beverage. Paying C$4.99/bottle versus the US$0.79 for which I buy it at Grocery Outlet was painful, but I was very thirsty.

The pizza came very quickly and was at least twice the diameter we expected, so we had a lot left over. But at least we finally got fed.

I unpacked and repacked my luggage (having been rather sloppy about it this morning) and I hope everything should be okay. Despite having bought and been given around six books this weekend, my luggage still weighs less than 23 kg, so we should be ready to go tomorrow morning on the 9:50 AM hotel shuttle to Vancouver Airport.

Comments

[wild_patience]

Were they still accepting American money? I read that may be changing (or perhaps up to a shop owner's decision).

[kevin_standlee]

I have no idea; the only things I paid for in cash were tips to the housekeeper. Everything else was by credit cards in CAD. It does appear to be down to the individual merchant

[scott_sanford]

When I tried to check in, they had nothing. I handed them the printout. It turns out that I'd made the reservation for March 31, not today!

Kevin knows this but for everyone else: If this happens to you, don't immediately panic. The person at the hotel desk has seen this happen before. They'll walk you through whatever adaption their hotel does, and they'll do what they can for you.

[kevin_standlee]

Yep. And if they had been full, there were other nearby hotels, like a Hampton Inn, where we probably could have gotten a room.

[scott_sanford]

Not that long ago I got to sit through a three person freak out (Dramatic Presentation, Short Form - but not Hugo material) that was made possible only by all three of them refusing to settle down and listen to things as complicated as "You're gonna want to go online and cancel that" and "I'm going to need your debit card."