Today is the day we get on our ship, the Viking Orion. It accommodates 930 guests which is very small compared to the other three ships docked at the port this morning. The three ships that were taking up all the dock space each could hold 2900, 1900 and 1800 guests. Not that we expected anything different but it was a whole lot of hurry up and wait. We left the AirBnB at 11 AM and we were part of the wave of AirBnB-ers that were all leaving at the same time. We were some of the first people to drop off out luggage and so we were the fist folks to get to board the ship. Of course there was a six hour difference between those two activities. We took that time to meet up with Mike and Deb and grab a bit of lunch and a cuppa tea. This was provided by Viking at the nearby Fairmont Hotel. We then headed off to the Vancouver Lookout. The lookout is a typical 70's rotating restaurant type of observation tower. I liked it better than newer types of observatory, as it is not so tall. Being closer to the ground allowed us the chance to see the buildings and structures in more detail. Plus it looked over the water where we could see our ship off in the distance. We spent a few hours there talking with Mike and Deb and watching the world go about its business. Around 4 PM we wandered back down to the Fairmont to see what the status was with regard to boarding. It was not great news. The new boarding time was now 6 to 6:30. But there was still some uncertainty so we stayed in the area. Folks were getting tired and many were sitting anywhere they could find a seat. Finally at 6 PM we were some of the first to go through customs and immigration and get to our cabin. And what a nice cabin it was!
The early bird get the Luggage in first. This location is inside the fabric spires we had been watching these past few days
Checking in for the cruise
A ballroom was set up with food and open bars to keep everybody loose while waiting.
We ate some lunch and then were off to wander Vancouver
Here is the cruise port from a closer point of view
From on top of the Vancouver Lookout, we can see the masses of containers
Our favorite building!
The tiny white blob, in the center, off in the distance, is our ship
Zooming in
Here is is, the Orion
Elevator picture, in the reflection behind us you can see the cityscape
Large and in charge
One of the giant ships that blocked our ship
We have arrived!
A great ambassador for Viking, Lasro.
