Columbus Cruise Review

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Port website: www.portvancouver.com

Time zone: GMT - 8 (Pacific Standard Time); (GMT - 7 from first Sunday in April to last Sunday in October).

Currency: Canadian Dollar (C$) = 100 cents.

Language: English and French.

Nearest airport: Vancouver International Airport.

Hotels: Vancouver hotels include the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside and the Metropolitan Hotel.

Sightseeing: Canada’s third largest city, Vancouver, is blessed with one of the most beautiful settings in the world. Ocean and mountains surround the city and expanses of tree-covered parkland fall within its boundaries. Vancouver is also the jumping-off point for exploring the spectacular scenery of British Columbia, from the islands and fjords of the Pacific Coast to the mountains of the interior. It is the commercial and cultural heart of Canada’s West Coast and a major convention and tourist destination. Downtown Vancouver, with its historic Gastown and trendy Yaletown areas, is located on the Burrard Peninsula. It is a compact area full of activity day and night – the focal point is Robson Square, with a series of landscaped terraces, a congress centre and the Vancouver Art Gallery. To the west lie the shops and restaurants of Robson Street, while to the southeast are Yaletown’s renovated warehouses, where trendy shops, galleries and restaurants continue to open up. A view of the mountains to the north of the city can be had from Canada Place, which houses the city’s convention centres and whose striking sail-like roof echoes its role as a cruise ship terminal. Gastown lies to the east of here, as does Chinatown (the third largest in North America), where a variety of ethnic eating places and shops can be found. Beyond that, Commercial Drive offers a more alternative scene, interspersed with the older Italian cafés. Separating downtown from Stanley Park is the West End, which, with its green and tranquil streets, it is hard to believe that it has one of the highest population densities in North America. Denman Street typifies the lifestyle, with shops and cafés and a fantastic sunset view over English Bay. False Creek and Granville Island separate downtown from the rest of Vancouver to the south.

Shopping: Vancouver is a shoppers’ paradise. Chic Robson Street offers fashion boutiques, souvenir and speciality shops and, bizarrely, a fair number of Cuban cigar emporia. Yaletown is the shopping ground of Vancouver’s young and aspirational, with designer fashions, art galleries and trendy home decor shops. Other popular areas include Gastown, Granville Island and Chinatown. Indoor shopping downtown includes the Pacific Centre, Royal Centre and the Sinclair Centre, while Metrotown is a large suburban mall (with 500 shops and food outlets) connected to the SkyTrain station of the same name. When it comes to souvenir shopping, the best objects are Pacific Northwest and Inuit arts and crafts: soapstone sculptures, carved masks, totem poles, pottery, jewellery and prints.

Eating out: Seafood, including King Crab, oysters, shrimp and other shellfish, is popular, as is cod, haddock and salmon (coho, spring, chum, sockeye and pink), smoked, pan-fried, breaded, baked, canned or barbecued, and complemented with local vegetables. Fruits grown in the province include the famous Bing cherries, cranberries and loganberries. Victoria creams, a famous chocolate delicacy derived from a recipe dating back to 1885, are exported worldwide from British Columbia – the original confectioners shop is situated in Victoria on Vancouver Island.