Oh Heather thats another amazing idea!!  was getting very close to booking the train back down to LA, sooner we do it the cheaper the rooms are. Have noticed the train fare is fairly consistant but the price of rooms is very different depending on the date.

We don't get back into port untill the 23rd so  I would  need to find out what time the Statendam  sails  on the 23rd  for it to be an option but sailing back down is certainally worth thinking about.Though we would have to remember we were no longer on an Olivia cruise and behave ourselves   lol !  

Not that I know of.  In the cruise Spring season they do have one and two day trips Seattle to Vancouver.  In September it would be the other way around....Vancouver to Seattle and then to California.  Maybe you could continue on back to California on one of the Holland America ships.  Statendam leaves on the 23rd to go to San Diego, and it looks really inexpensive.

 h

Looking forward to the visit Jayne and Oz Company.  It's not the easiest or cheapest to get over here from Vancouver.  Maybe take a look at the foot ferry from Seattle to Victoria and then from there to Vancouver on BC Ferries.  It would be an alternative to the train from Seattle and would get you on the Island.  H & G

www.clippervacations.com

Thanks Heather and Georgette for the info on Seattle. We may spoil ourselves occasionally, wine tasting and nibbles sound great but as we are in the States for a month, I think  our only fine dinning experiences  will be on the cruise. Rest of the time it will  proberbley be back packer ,all you can eat type restaurants!!  On our last visit  we found a great gay B and B in San Fran and are staying there again this time. Hope to find somthing similar in Seattle.

We will definately have sometime in Vancover before the cruise, we all want to see Vancover Island and meet you two before we sail.

Jayne and the gang from OZ  

Oh Dear this is really a tough one, because the food variety in Vancouver is from the JapaDog carts on the street to one of the top chef in Canada at the Rosewood Hotel and everything in between.

There are a lot of hole in the wall spots and lots of Asian fare.  The vegetarian and vegan crowd will have no problem here.  There are the regular chains and some BC locals like Milestones and Moxies.  I am going to ask some of my gay friends who live right downtown for some "hole in the wall" recommendations.  For the rest, the concierge/front desk at the hotel is going to be a good source.  Tell them what you want, how much you want to pay and how far you want to go and they won't steer you wrong.

The thing about Vancouver food is that it is always changing.  I just looked up two of my favourite places and they are both CLOSED.  Sigh!!!

 More to come over the months.  H & G

One place I would recommend to you........on the wine thing.........is a place right downtown, the Sixth Avenue Wine Cellar

http://www.sixthavenuewineseller.com/

You can get flights of wine and good nibbles to go with them.  It would be a good chance for you to sample some of the really good Washington and Oregon wines.  It is in a downtown mall called Pacific Place.

Another recommend for West Coast Seafood would be Elliott Oyster house.  http://www.elliottsoysterhouse.com/#13219868332501&true

The most advertised is Ivar's, but to me it's the Macdonalds of West Coast Seafood.

Also there is a great Asian place called Wild Ginger.  Highly recommended

http://www.wildginger.net/

I have a good friend who is a Manager of a 5 Diamond restaurant and every time we travel with them he picks out the restaurants.  So these come from that experience and were great.

Now don't forget to save some time for Vancouver.  it is a fabulous place to eat, drink and visit.    But then again I'm a bit of a homer. 

Cheers,  H & G

Thanks sleddog for that infomation. We were  already planning  on getting the train from Vancover to Seattle after the cruise ,wanted to avoid having to catch the thu way bus at 5 30 in the morning!!

Looks like we may have a few days in Seattle on our way up and down the coast so any info on things to do  and where to stay would be great.  Thanks Jayne

Jayne...the bus from Seattle to Vancouver is no fun...take the 7:40 am. train if at all possible.

one place or the other you'll still have to pay to stay somewhere

Thanks Steph for all your great infomation, not just on this thread  but about other travel destinations on other cruise forums. 

We are exploring catching the train from San Fran to Vancover rather than flying. We really enjoyed our train trip from Orlando to NY after the Sun Cruise and if the train trip from  San Fran was direct would have no hesitation ,as even with a sleeper room  it is less expensive than flying and must admitt we found your domestic airports quite scary last time we where in  the States. So if we can avoid them it's a bonus! 

Acording to the Amtrax website, we would need to get a  thuway bus from San Fran to connect with the train and then get off the train at Seatle and onto another thuway  bus again to get to Vancover. I know there  is a train from Seatle to Vancover   but it  can't connect with the train from San Fran.  Would be a little more expensive to terminate at Seatle , have a few days there and  then get the train to Vancover  and wondering if this would be worth doing.  

Would we enjoy Seatle ? what is the price off accom  there like compared with Vancover? we are on a budget, costs a lot to get to the Sates from OZ to start with !! 

Thanks for any info Jayne 

That is wonderful information, and just what I needed to know. I'm a food and wine writer, so I really appreciate the restaurant suggestions too.Thank you so much!

I think I will wait a bit to book the flights. I have registered on several sites to send me a text when prices drop. I am just so excited about going that I want to do it all right now :-)