There were two good reasons for booking a debark tour at the conclusion of our 2023 cruise to Alaska on Koningsdam. Firstly, flights back to the UK were late enough that we needed to eat up some time once we’d arrived at Vancouver, and secondly, for me, this would give me a proper chance to say I’d actually visited Canada. We don’t count airports and transfers to and from cruise ports as visiting a country because, well, they’re not, but a few hours actually seeing some sights does. Those are our rules.
Koningsdam wasn’t alone at Vancouver’s cruise port when we opened the curtains in our room and looked out for the last time.
Our debark tour started with a drive along some of Vancouver’s streets with some sights pointed out to us. Probably the most interesting and startling one was the sheer number of homeless people and drug addicts we could see, with many passed out on street corners.
Debark tours don’t tend to cover very much and don’t tend to have many stops because the goal is mostly just to get passengers to the airport by midday or shortly thereafter. Our first stop was in Stanley Park to see the totem poles. We’d seen totem poles in Ketchikan and I will say that those in Vancouver looked more detailed and in better overall condition.
As the totem poles were on the west side of Stanley Park we could look across the water to Canada Place and the cruise port, and of course to our ship and the Princess one also berthed there.
One of the nice things about travelling far and wide is that flora and fauna is different from home and it was nice to see some unusual plants and flowers in the park.
The second and final stop on this short debark tour in Vancouver was to the north eastern part of Stanley Park for views of the Lions Gate Bridge looking along its length and also from Prospect Point scenic viewing area. The bridge opened in 1938 and is one of many bridges you can cruise under if you cruise enough. Our ship would have passed under it early in the morning when we were asleep but we had witnessed the experience when we’d started on the cruise a week before.
And that was the debark tour, short and sweet. From there we were taken to the airport and a few more hours to kill before we could even check our bags in for the flight. It’s worth mentioning here that Vancouver’s airport for international travellers is very attractive with lots of water features as you can see below.
We grabbed a bite to eat and something to drink in the airport and made our way to a quiet area where we bumped into Jill and Jerry, the Canadian cruise bloggers we’d met on the ship. That helped to pass a bit more time until it came time for us all to start on our flights home.
That concludes this Alaskan cruise travelogue series. Our first time in Alaska was a great one with some spectacular sights. Our first experience of cruising with Holland America Line was also very good with excellent staff, food, ship, and entertainment. Its price point is a little higher than we really want to spend, though, so it will likely have to be a very good deal and a great itinerary that attracts us back to them in the future.