After
being away from home for a couple of weeks visiting family and vacationing in
Hilton Head, I arrived home, retrieved Zoey from our most wonderful pet sitter and
began to unpack. No sooner than I opened
the first suitcase, I was notified by text and email that our September 13
cruise on Celebrity Millennium was cancelled due to mechanical issues. Tell me this isn’t true! I’ve spent a year and a half planning for
this trip! I was so looking forward to
my coveted aft-facing Aqua Class stateroom, dining in Blu, the complimentary beverage
package, free laundry and internet usage
for Elite members, private wine tours, and more. I contacted my Celebrity rep by telephone to
confirm and alas, this is indeed a fact.
The Millennium is currently “stuck” in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Hubby
said, “Well I guess we’ll just to cancel everything” while I’m frantically trying to come up with
something that will work for us so that we can salvage our trip somehow! After spending a day on the internet
researching options we have a revised travel itinerary, aka Limoncello:
September
9 – depart our flight on Delta as planned
Arrive in Seattle and overnight for 2 nights
at Grand Hyatt as planned
September 10 – do the 2 pm Savor Seattle
tour as planned
dinner with Ken's brother & family as planned
September
11 – depart Seattle on Amtrak Cascades train as planned
Arrive in Vancouver and overnight for 2
nights at Hyatt Regency as planned
September
13 – depart Vancouver for Whistler on Rocky Mountaineer Sea to Sky train .
Overnight two nights at Pan Pacific WhistlerMountainside.
September 14 - attend and participate in the inaugural Whistler Village Beer Festival! Me, drink beer? What's up with that? Well, the Pacific Northwest is known for its craft beers so I will be ready to sample and review with the best of them! Of course, I'm really happy that there is no such thing as a "beer snob" so no one will take offense at my lack of expertise with the world of beer.
While in Whistler, I plan to enjoy an early morning highlight of breakfast with the black bears.. i.e., essentially a morning black bear safari! I think they love honey as much as I do so I will leave my honey & maple syrup at the hotel! I'm already thinking that we won't have enough time in Whistler: Alpine hiking, glacier flights, ziplining/ziptrekking, peak to peak gondola rides, and more.
Is there any good food in Whistler? You bet! We get a $30 per night credit from our hotel for the Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub & after reading the reviews I will most definitely be there! They have live entertainment in the evenings, a wonderful breakfast, and great pub fare for lunch & dinner. Evidently a real treat here is the bourbon, bacon & caramel popcorn to accompany a craft beer!
September
15 – train back from Whistler and booked a night back at the Hyatt Regency.
September 16 – Norwegian Sun
for 7 night cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles:
Monday, 9/16 – ship departs Vancouver at 4 pm
Tuesday, 9/17 – Nanaimo 8 am – 5 pm
Wednesday, 9/18 – Victoria 8 am – 5 pm
Thursday, 9/19 – Astoria 8 am – 5 pm
Friday, 9/20 – At Sea
Saturday, 9/21 – San Francisco 8 am – 5 pm
Sunday, 9/22 – At Sea
Monday, 9/23 – Arrive LA at 8 am and
disembark ship
September
23 – depart LAX for our flight home
(Delta charged $150 per ticket change fee & Celebrity will refund up to $200 per person for change fees so we are AOK)
