Note: This is the 4th of 16 posts about our 21-day trip that included a 17-dat (16-night) cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship SPIRIT from Vancouver, British Columbia to Honolulu, Oahu. This post consists of 13 photos with captions and some narrative. Photos taken by me (Bruce) with SONY alpha 6400 and Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated. (Photos by Linda taken with Google Pixel 6.)
WEDNESDAY 30 August 2023 — (T4,C1) NCL SPIRIT Embarkation & Sail-Away, Le Bistro French Restaurant
Today was the fourth day of our trip, and the first day of our “Ice & Fire” cruise on the NCL cruise ship SPIRIT. Embarkation was at the cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver, which we had visited during the last couple of days to make sure we knew where it was and how to get in as pedestrians. Given that it was only ~0.5 miles from our hotel, which did not have a shuttle service, we walked to the cruise port with our roller bag suitcases rather than take a cab or Uber. I’ve mentioned previously that central/downtown Vancouver is a very walkable city, at least in nice weather.
Embarkation was relatively easy. We checked our larger bags, and took our smaller ones on-board with us rather than leave them for the porters to deliver. We had to wait for a while to gain access to our stateroom but once we did, we dropped off our bags and explored the ship. We would naturally do this anyway, as there isn’t much else to (other than drink or swim) while all of the guests are being embarked, but we have also discovered that this is one of the “tips” that is widely shared on Youtube cruising channels.
We made an assumption that the scenery going up the inside passage might be better on the starboard (mainland) side of the ship, so we booked a balcony cabin on that side (the right when facing forward towards the bow). We chose a room on Deck 9 near the fore-aft center of the ship. This deck was high enough to have a good view and a near optimal location to minimize the effect of the ship’s movement by being near the ships center of gravity. This minimizes both roll (side-to-side, worse the higher up you are) and pitch (fore-to-aft, worse the closer you are to the bow or the stern). (The most movement is felt high up at either end of a ship.)
I hold two “cards” that our 4-year-old grand-daughter made. We tried to photograph them each place that we visited and share the photos with her. This photo was taken around 10 AM local time near the bow as the ship was docked “bow in” such that the bow was close to shore and the buildings of central downtown Vancouver, BC. (Photo by Linda)
After getting to our room, we explored the ship for a bit and then had some lunch in the café (buffet).
This photo was taken from the forward lounge (the bow of the ship is visible). The “sails” to the right of the ship are on the roof the terminal, which also houses Canada Place. The upper deck by the sails is publicly accessible and affords a great, close-up view of docked cruise ships.
This photo is a view of the rear of the ship with the small swimming pool surrounded by lounge chairs arranged on stadium tiers. The land in the background is North Vancouver on the other side of the harbor.
A rare photo of me on an upper/rear deck above the rear swimming pool looking towards the exit from the harbor and the bridge to North Vancouver. (Photo by Linda)
Departure was scheduled for mid-late afternoon local time, and the ship started to move away from the dock around 3 PM, ABIR (and as evidenced by my photos). We had a lovely cruise out of the Vancouver harbor, with lots of seaplane activity, something we don’t see much at home. We watched the scenery go by for quite a while, but eventually went to dinner.
The ship has left the dock, and is making a backing turn. This and the next three (3) photos were taken from the upper forward lounge though large plate glass windows. This resulted in reflections and a heavy blue cast to the images, which I tried to correct. Notice how the cruise terminal juts out like the bow of a ship, which was the architectural intent.
Another view of the Port of Vancouver Cruise Terminal. The ship-like appearance is even more apparent here, with the “sails” flying above the building.
The ship is bringing the bow around towards the harbor entrance with the Vancouver skyline visible to port (left).
From Wikipedia: “The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipalities of the District of North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and West Vancouver.”
The entrance/exit from the harbor is underneath a bridge (center of the frame) that connects Vancouver (left) and to the North Shores municipalities (right).
The ship is about to pass under the Lion’s Gate Bridge that connects Vancouver (left) to the North Shores municipalities (right). The bridge marks (symbolically) the boundary of Vancouver harbor with the larger Pacific ocean.
Once the ship was out of the harbor and underway we eventually went to dinner. Dining on NCL ships is “freestyle,” which means we did not have an assigned dining room, time, or table. This is not true with all cruise lines, but it’s something we like and will look for on future cruises, regardless of the cruise line. On this occasion, however, we had booked a table at Le Bistro, the specialty French restaurant. I think we got two specialty restaurant meals as part of our cruise fare, and Linda thought it would be nice to use one of for our embarkation dinner, and she was right (of course). We booked a 7:45 PM seating. The setting was lovely and the food was amazing.
Linda models our table at Le Bistro, with lots of glasses waiting to be filled.
Our salad. I think it had artichokes, but whatever it was, it was amazing.
I pose with what I presume was the main course. Whatever it was, it was also amazing, because our recollection is that everything about this meal was amazing. (Photo by Linda)
The Le Bistro dinner menu for this evening. The reality of cruise ship dining is that we have to become vegetarians (or pescatarians) as true vegan options are very limited to non-existent, unless we only eat salad from the café/buffet venue. (Photo by Linda)
Sometime during the day, and certainly before we went to sleep for the night, we unpacked our suitcases and found a storage place for everything. We appreciated that the empty suitcases fit neatly under the bed and did not take up valuable closet or floor space. Had they been a few inches thicker, they might not have fit. Something to keep in mind for future cruises.
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