20230916 AAAA Trip - Off to Vancouver

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 1/105 - We leave for Vancouver

Ahh, the joy of packing

And so we begin again.  Today marks the beginning of yet another journey for the Kolbs on the Road.  In keeping with our habit of somewhat epic travel, this trip will take us through two cruises, three hotel stays, three continents, and 15 countries over 105 days.  OK, truth be told, it might be 106.  Why, you ask? We don't have our air reservations to fly home yet.  That comes at the end of the second cruise and the cruise line hasn't booked it yet since we're more than 45 days from sailing.  The return trip will likely take more than 24 hours, so depending on when we leave, we might get home a day later.  So, 105 or 106 - I should know in about a month.

So, what are we doing?  I started typing this during our layover in Seattle.  We were up well before the crack of dawn this morning.  The car was coming at 6 a.m. and we needed to do the final prep.

We tape over sink drains so the traps don't dry out and let sewer gas into the house.

Taping off sink drains drains

You have to remember the overflow as well

Next up was covering the toilets in plastic, again, to stop the bowl and trap from going dry.

We got the bags all outside and ready before the driver got there.  Arlona is managing in one large bag and a carry-on.  I've got two bags and a carry-on.  Arlona's clothes fold up sooooooo much smaller than mine. My backpack is there for the laptop, chargers, cables, and more do-dads.

The ride to the airport was the best kind - uneventful.

We arrived at Orlando International Airport only about 30 minutes before boarding

On board for Seattle

Let's get into where we're going. Tonight, we'll be in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  We have a hotel tonight.  Tomorrow, we'll make our way to the Canada Place cruise port and board the Viking Orion.  That will be our home for the next 78 nights. 

We will make our way through Alaska, all the way to Dutch Harbor Unalaska, Alaska in the western Aleutian Islands.  From there, we sail to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia, disembarking in Sydney.  We will stay in Sydney for a week.  Since this is our third attempt to see Australia, we decided to stay for a week.  The first attempt was in March of 2020 when our 56-day, three-cruise trip was halted after 12 days.  The second was our 2021-2022 world cruise where Australia was removed from the itinerary after we booked.  We’re hoping #3 is a winner.

After a week in Sydney, we’ll board a 14-hour flight and head to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

We will spend a week in Dubai, taking in the sights before boarding our first Oceania ship, the Riviera for a 10-day cruise around the Arabian Peninsula. 

We will make stops in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain before disembarking in the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi.  We will then make the 24-hour or better trip back to Orlando, and The Villages.  For those that were keeping track, the three continents will be North America, Asia, and Australia/Oceania.

We were able to catch some nice views of the Grand Tetons as we jetted to Seattle.

You sure don't see anything like this in Florida

With three hours to kill, we wandered a bit and found a place for a bite to eat.  Then we settled into our gate and I got this blog started.

Let me say this about Sea-Tac airport.  It sucks.  It's old, outdated, and did I mention old?  There are very few places to eat or browse.  Oh yeah, it's old.  Case in point:

We settled into our gate - D23.  It was weird because none of the gates around us, ours included, had jet bridges. In fact, they had buses.  You see, in the D gate area, you don't get on an aircraft when you board.  You get on a bus and the bus takes you to where your aircraft is.

Here's the really stupid thing.  They board the bus just like they board the plane.  People who need assistance or additional time board first, followed by active military, then first class, and so on.  This bus is a typical airport bus with very limited seating.  By the time they loaded everyone, we were close to shoulder-to-shoulder for the several-minute ride to our aircraft.  Here's where it breaks down. Who are the last people off the bus, and therefore, the last people to board the aircraft?  People who need assistance or additional time, active military, and first class.  By then, the limited overhead storage was almost gone.  It was just a backward process from start to finish.  Note to self: avoid Sea-Tac. 

Next up, we had to sit on the tarmac for about ten minutes as there was contention in Vancouver.  Not much you can do about that but wait as the flight is almost over before it starts.  It is a seriously quick flight listed as 68 minutes, but it takes much less.

The flight was uneventful and there was some nice scenery as we approached Vancouver.

Luggage collection and clear Customs in Canada was smooth and we were outside waiting for our hotel shuttle in short order. The weather was beautiful with sunny skies, low humidity, and temps in the mid-70s.  I can't remember a day like that in Florida for several months now.

Our crash pad this evening is the Quality Hotel Airport (South) operated by Choice Hotels.  It's clean, not spectacular, but is adequate for one night.  It also comes with a free breakfast so that will help out tomorrow morning.  The TV in the room didn't work.  The desk said to try it again in a few minutes.  It still didn't work.  Hotel rooms are crazy-expensive in Vancouver, and this one came in as the most budget-friendly at $US253.19 for the night.  I wonder what a room with a working TV goes for...

None of that mattered because we had a highlight this evening, dinner with our world cruise friends, Rose and Ted Brooks.

They are currently between travels and staying with kids in the area, so meeting up with them was a treat that worked out great. We met at a restaurant that was a quick four-minute walk from our hotel. It was fun catching up with each other's travels and planned travels and sharing a meal.  

Tomorrow will be another long-ish day.  Viking let us know a while back that due to congestion in port, our embarkation is delayed until 6:30PM tomorrow.  Viking, in typical Viking style, is hosting a hospitality at a hotel across from the cruise port.  We will be able to head there in the morning for refreshments including lunch while we wait to board the Orion.

But now, it is just after 9 p.m. Pacific time, or midnight East Coast time.  We've been up since 4:30 a.m., so it's time to call it a night.

Tomorrow, we sail!