California to Canada: Disney and a Celebrity Summit cruise

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Lucy had been keen to visit Canada, particularly to do the Rocky Mountaineer. I'd been to Montreal and Quebec before, and this was a chance to explore the west coast together. When we spotted an eight-night Celebrity Summit cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver, the route appealed to both of us. We could spend some time in California and tick off another Disney resort along the way.

It was a great deal, with plenty to look forward to: Hollywood and Disneyland, an aircraft carrier in San Diego, two days in San Francisco, then the gardens and forests of British Columbia. We ended up having a really good time exploring it all together.

Los Angeles, with nobody driving#

We felt much more at ease in Los Angeles than we'd expected from what people had told us before the trip. We walked along the Hollywood stars, went out to the coast and headed up to Griffith Observatory. The show at the observatory was really good, and the views made the trip up worthwhile too.

One of my favourite things in LA turned out to be the taxis. We used Waymo about five or six times over the holiday, including a couple of rides later in San Francisco. Nice cars, easy pickup and drop-off, and nobody in the driver's seat. The prices we were getting were roughly half what Uber and Lyft were quoting as well. The novelty didn't wear off.

Santa Monica Pier was lovely. We walked along the beach and past Muscle Beach, and being by the sea was one of our highlights in LA.

The Warner Bros. Studio Tour was excellent. Friends and The Big Bang Theory were obvious highlights, but seeing the Georgie and Mandy material was particularly fun because we were watching it at the time. We got our photos on the Friends sofa and in the Big Bang Theory apartment, then carried on through the Harry Potter displays and Batmobiles. There was plenty to look at beyond the shows we'd gone in most excited about.

Disney, five out of six#

We moved to Anaheim for a day at Disney California Adventure followed by a day at Disneyland. After Paris, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland, this was Disney destination number five. Only Shanghai left.

The Incredicoaster was the best ride by far. Even with the long queues and quite a bit of downtime during our visit, it was the clear winner for me.

I'd put California a little ahead of Hong Kong and Paris, although Tokyo and Florida are still above it for me. We really enjoyed the parks, and another castle photo joined the collection. The matching Tokyo Disney T-shirts came out again too.

The food was good throughout. There was quesabirria at Cocina Cucamonga and chicken at Flo's V8 Café in California Adventure, then barbecue at Hungry Bear and a funnel cake from Stage Door Café in Disneyland.

The prices were a noticeable step up from Tokyo and Hong Kong, and we weren't as taken with the merchandise this time. We still had a really good couple of days, with the Incredicoaster and all that food among our favourite memories of California Disney.

North on Celebrity Summit#

After Disney we went to San Pedro to board Celebrity Summit. We'd booked a Deluxe Oceanview room, with San Diego, an overnight stop in San Francisco and Victoria on the way to Vancouver. There were sea days in between the port stops.

After our Celebrity cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore, it was good to experience another part of the world by ship. Summit was our least favourite of the Celebrity ships we'd been on, partly because of an unpleasant sewage smell around the ship. We still enjoyed the cruise, and loved the route, especially having two days in San Francisco and the chance to sail beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Diego: USS Midway and Balboa Park#

San Diego was a surprisingly good stop. USS Midway was parked right next to Summit, so getting to one of the main things we wanted to see took about three minutes on foot. Very convenient when you only have a day in port.

The aircraft carrier is absolutely huge. We spent ages looking at the aircraft and military equipment and making our way through the different parts of the ship. It was a much more detailed visit than I'd expected. There was plenty to keep us interested beyond the flight deck.

We also wandered through Little Italy and around Balboa Park. The buildings and gardens were really nice, particularly the Botanical Building, and we enjoyed having a walk around before going back to Summit.

San Francisco, up and down the hills#

Sailing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge was one of the big moments of the holiday. It's something you hear other people who enjoy cruising talk about wanting to do, and getting to do it ourselves was pretty special.

Having an overnight stop gave us time to get around San Francisco properly. Working out the cable cars and streetcars was confusing at first, but once we'd figured it out, getting around was easy and a lot of fun. We bought a day pass and made plenty of use of it.

Holding onto the side while going up and down those steep streets felt a bit precarious at times. It was also a very enjoyable way to see the city. We visited the free Cable Car Museum between rides, and used Waymo to get out to the Golden Gate viewpoint. The transport was quite a big part of the fun here.

The sea lions at Pier 39 were another fun stop. There were lots of tourists watching, but some of the sea lions seemed quite happy to pose for everyone. They looked very comfortable sprawled across the docks with an audience taking their pictures.

One was absolutely enormous. It might have been Chonkers, the famous big one, although I couldn't be certain from our photos. It certainly stood out among the others.

Alcatraz before the crowds#

Alcatraz was a real highlight. We enjoyed the boat across and were among the first tour groups to arrive. We walked quickly up the hill to the cellblock before it became busy, and for a little while we almost had the place to ourselves.

The audio guide was really good, especially the stories about the escape attempts. Hearing those accounts while walking around made the visit much more memorable. We explored the rest of the island before taking the boat back, and I was glad we'd had enough time to give it a proper visit.

The Butchart Gardens and Victoria#

Butchart Gardens was one of the highlights of the whole trip. I'd expected nice gardens, but the scale and the standard of everything took me by surprise. They're some of the best we've seen anywhere.

There was so much work going on around us. People were mowing, planting, weeding and maintaining the different areas, and you could see how much effort it took to keep everything looking like that. We spent a lot of time wandering through and taking photos.

We visited Craigdarroch Castle too, although it didn't grab us in the same way as Butchart. The gardens were easily the highlight of our day in Victoria.

Miniature World was a funny surprise. Every time we thought we'd reached the end, there seemed to be another room full of models. It just kept going. The dates on the displays made it feel like seeing someone's hobby grow more ambitious over decades. I kept wondering how much more there could possibly be.

There were some really good models, and far more to see than we'd expected. Between the gardens, castle and all those displays, we'd fitted quite a lot into the day. We also walked around the harbour, Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf, and tried a BeaverTail along the way.

Vancouver, otters and a swaying bridge#

The cruise finished in Vancouver, where we stayed for a night before flying home. It gave us a very different bit of Canada to the Montreal and Quebec trip I'd done before.

I found the aquarium disappointing overall, but we both loved the otters. They were asleep on their backs, floating around with their paws folded up against their chests. Really cute, and easily the best part of our visit.

Capilano was really fun. We crossed the main suspension bridge and explored the treetop walkways and little treehouse platforms. Walking across while the bridge swayed under us was quite an experience. It was lovely being out in the fresh air among all those trees.

We joined the wildlife tour too, and saw an eagle during our visit. We managed to get some photos of it overhead, although it was a long way off. We also made it to the steam clock in Gastown while we were in Vancouver.

Granville Island and the Aquabus#

We really enjoyed the Aquabus. We got a day pass and made a point of getting off at all the stops to explore the different bits of the waterfront. Even the names were fun, with places like Spyglass along the way. Going up and down on the little boats was one of my favourite parts of Vancouver.

Granville Island was a particular highlight, largely because of the doughnuts. We bought a massive box of different ones, and the chocolate custard one dusted with cinnamon was easily the best. We tried a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel too, but it was a bit disappointing by comparison. The doughnuts had set quite a high standard.

Those little boats and a box of doughnuts were a lovely way to finish the holiday. We'd both happily go back to Canada. Lucy is especially keen to see the lakes and mountains next time, and hopefully bears and other wildlife.