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Friday – Disembarkation

All Ashore - 10:00 AM

We Want to Stay

We woke up to the Vancouver skyline.  A pretty, but sad sight.  The cruise was over way too early for us and we would have really enjoyed another week on board.

Since HAL only required we place our bags outside our cabin before we retire as opposed to a specific time, we had only a small amount of clothes to carry.  We went to the Rotterdam for a nice quiet sit down breakfast.  Breakfast was good but service seemed just a tad off - not bad, just not as good as usual.  Our flight was scheduled for 1:00 PM so we figured we had plenty of time. 

We found a Cruise Log slipped under our door which gave us details about our trip.

We had just finished breakfast for about 10 minutes when our number for the bus was called.  We hadn't even left our table yet.  We took our carry on bags and headed down to the bus.  The line to disembark was very short.  When we arrived at the bus they asked us for our bags to place in the luggage hold.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Back on Shore

The bus ride was not too bad through Vancouver.  The driver gave us some brief information about the sights that we passed.  When we reached the airport they took a few minutes to explain the process.  We had to wait on the bus while the baggage handlers unload the bus.  Bad news, as they took my duffle bag filled with cameras and computer equipment and tossed it onto the sidewalk.  It was dropped from a height of at least 18 inches.  Needless to say I was far from happy.  I hand carried this bag everywhere to avoid this kind of treatment.  We we got off the bus I told them that I was not happy with how the bag was handled.  I then had to check all my equipment.  The clothes on the bottom seemed to have cushioned the fall, but I still need to find out if the optics in the lens were mis-aligned by the fall.   Next time, nobody gets my bag.

We were told that we were required to be on the same bus with our bags.  As it turns out, this is not true, as our bags were not on the bus.  It turns out they were shipped by truck and arrived about 45 minutes after we did.  While we waited we went ahead and paid our airport fee at one of the vending machines.  When our luggage had arrived there was quite the crowd.  We waited about 15 minutes and the crowd had thinned and then we got our bags.  We still had to wait to check-in as they will not even let you line up until two hours prior to your flight.  Time came and the line was only about 5 minutes.

Then it was off to customs.  The line was long and you had to keep your eyes open.  Part way through the process there is a place to pay the airport fee, but since you will already have your coupons, you can skip this long line.  I have to give credit to the guy running the line at US customs.  He was moving people as fast as possible.  If someone was slow, he had people go around them.  He was great and really helped the process.

Once you passed customs you gave them your bags and then it was airport security.  This line was also very short.  They were set-up for long lines, but we must have gotten lucky.  All in all, it was probably only 30-40 minutes from getting in line for check-in to reaching our gate.  I've spent longer time in lines for a one-hour flight.

On the plane and home to rest until next time.

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My Portrait Photography
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