And finally ....

Instead of landing at around 2pm London time, we landed around 5pm and we were glad that we had a room booked at the Premier Inn to get our breath back before driving home the next morning.

We knew that there was a free shuttle bus paid for by Transport for London, but with no sign of which bus stand at the airport that it might be we ended up taking the 'Hotel Hopper' which turned out to be a rip off - £6 each of £11.50 for a family of two for a trip of probably less than two miles.

We checked in at the Premier Inn and realised that McDonald's was next door, so off we went.  After a night's sleep - well sort of - we got ready to set off for home.  The original shuttle bus stopped just outside the door so we took that instead of the 'Hopper', but even that wasn't free and we had to pay for our trip.

The really mad thing about that was that we weren't allowed to pay for more than one ticket on a single credit card - WOT??!!

We alighted at the airport then looked for the free shuttle to the Long Stay Car park for Terminal 5.  We found the car, it started OK and we were off home.

Entertainment on Board Ship

One thing I haven't mentioned is the entertainment on board.  Having felt that the entertainment on our P&O cruise in January was 'OK', this cruise reminded us that the entertainment on Cunard is usually a cut above and so it proved.

The ship's company, The Royal Court Theatre Company were excellent both in terms of song and dance, producing some shows of their own and also the musical Top Hat.

The entertainers on the other nights consisted of a variety of acts, ranging from the excellent 

Vancouver and the end of our time in North America

Early Friday morning saw us glide silently into Vancouver Harbour as our cruise came to an end.

But it wasn't quite over yet.  Having disembarked the ship we all had some time to lose before it was time to make our way to the airport for our respective journeys home.

So it was that we had time to enjoy Vancouver Harbour on a bright, warm sunny day.  We left our bags at the left luggage facility next to the ship and made our way outside the terminal. We ambled slowly along the waterside, watching the various sea planes take off and land as they started or ended journeys to and form communities in Alaska and to Seattle in the US.

We spent some time having a bite to eat overlooking the harbour at the Tap and Barrel watering hole and then it was time for Mike and Marion to leave for their flight to Toronto.  We went to the station with them to say goodbye and also to be sure exactly where we would need to go when it was our turn later.

Elizabeth and I then made our way back to the Tap and Barrel where we struck up conversation with an Irishman who was working in Vancouver and who was looking to stay there for the foreseeable future.

Inevitably our own time came to make our way to the station and the airport, only to find that our plane was at least 3 hours late, such that we would be taking off at almost midnight local time instead of just before 9pm.

Our time at the airport ground along slowly but surely and we finally boarded our flight home.

Vancouver Winter Olympics Flame 2010

Selfie tripod - sounds a good idea!