Trip Reports by our Clients:
BOARD BC FERRY "QUEEN OF THE NORTH" TO CONNECT WITH VIA'S "SKEENA" TRAIN IN PRINCE RUPERT
by Judy McFarland
The ride from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert takes just over 15 hours. (7:30 AM - 10:45 PM approx) and when I was traveling it was daylight the whole time. The ferry is not as large as a cruise ship, but it functions like one in some respects. My cabin was on deck 7 and I had a window which looked toward the rear of the ship. It was similar in size to a deluxe bedroom on an Amtrak Superliner, but the bathroom (with shower) was larger. Some cabins do not have showers or windows. Cabins are on decks 6 & 7. The downside to deck 7 is that the elevator only goes to deck 6, so if someone absolutely cannot do stairs, they would have to be on deck 6. The cabin had a couch and a table & chair. You could fold the lower bunk down over the couch. I did not try to open the upper bunk, but directions were posted on the wall.
We were able to put our luggage on a van which was locked and loaded as any other vehicle on the ferry. The main restaurant is on deck 5. It serves breakfast, lunch & dinner as one-price buffets. You can buy a voucher for 3 meals or purchase meals individually. The food wasn't cruise-ship quality, but it was very good - just not gourmet. There was a small bar at the side of the dining room, and before/during dinner there was an entertainer singing along with his keyboard. The snack bar was on the other end of the 5th deck. It was open all the time & served sandwiches, soup, pizza, drinks, desserts, etc cafeteria-style. There was a small gift shop for those who can't resist. They sold a route guide-book for $4CDN which was very helpful. I believe they showed movies on deck 6 near the kids playroom.
The only possibly rough place is when it crosses the strait from Vancouver Island to the Inside Passage about an hour into the voyage. The scenery is primarily trees, rocks, rivers, mountains. Occasionally a lighthouse. Structures were pointed out by announcement. There were not many. There was also very little boat traffic - we saw a couple fishing boats & a tug towing a log string. Very little activity compared to what you see cruising from Alaska toward Vancouver.
There were 3 nature talks given during the day on deck 8. We saw eagles and orca. One person said she saw a humpback whale. The reserved seating lounge was on deck 6 - it had the same kind of seats found elsewhere on the ferry, but they were reserved and you used a keycard to get into the room. On the bus traveling up Vancouver Island the day before I had told my fellow travelers about the cabins & the seats, which they were not aware of. Two couples got a room together just to have their own bathroom. Another couple tried to get reserved seats, but they were sold out the night before the trip.
People wandered around a lot, especially out on deck. There really were not enough chairs outside & if you were lucky enough to snag one, you hated to get up & leave it. If you had a collapsible chair of your own & were not too burdened already with luggage, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring it. The weather ranged from quite cool and damp in the morning (sweater & windbreaker weather) to very hot & sunny in the afternoon. We really had ideal weather & calm seas.
When we got on the ferry, a crew person showed me how to use the elevator from the car deck 3 (we walked on taking turns with the vehicles). On arrival in Prince Rupert, I was offered a ride in the luggage van (with the driver, not back with bags) because it is a long walk to the shore & very narrow (one car -lane wide bridge sort-of).
In Prince Rupert, there was only one taxi. We implored him to call to have more come (there were about 15 of us looking for rides), but it took a long time to get everyone picked up. We ended up sharing cabs just because we were tired & wanted to get to the hotel.
In short, not as luxurious as a cruise, but a lovely trip if you like mountains & forests & just being on the water.
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