Vancouver transfers

[jennypenny]

@Pixie--You don't say where you are flying in from. Our local airport (Philly) didn't have great prices or direct flights to vancouver. We ended up flying out of Newark NJ on a direct flight on Air Canada (through Continental) that was almost the same as Seattle out of Phillly. What we had decided was that we would rather travel on this end (we were willing to go as far as DC) because we are much more familiar with this end. For us, after the six hour flight, we were very glad we were in Vancouver. For some reason, traveling after that flight seemed horrible to us, especially when we didn't know the area.

Do you have bigger airports you could drive to for a better deal into Vancouver?

[m4travel]

We (2) were sailing from Vancouver south (Pacific Coastal) and then b2b on the first Mexican Riviera of the season last year. Flew into Vancouver and had booked a town car through a referral on the Disboards (one company has the concession for the airport). It was an interesting ride across town and our driver was full of information to share about the sights. The train sounded interesting, but we didn't want to haul our own luggage aboard a commuter train. Used to commute on the train in Los Angeles and remembered the limited space available.

We also stayed at the Pan Pacific. Right on the wharf; an elevator ride away from the entrance for boarding. Although we booked an inexpensive room at the PP online, we were given a room that had a glass wall so we could watch the Wonder as it made its way to the pier from drydock across the bay. Splendid!

[*pixie*]

Disney Dreams, thank you so much! That was a great post, with all the detailed info from getting from point A to B that I have been trying to figure out in my head. I do need to just take a breath. We always fly Southwest, so I don't have any miles for United. I had pretty much settled on just forking over the money to fly into Vancouver, but when I told my parents, they were pretty disappointed about not getting to drive from Seattle to Vancouver.

jennypenny, we are flying out of Denver, so I don't think we really have any better options airport-wise.

[OrcaPotter]

Originally Posted by Disney Dreams

... In the end you have to list the plusses for each and the minuses. Add up the costs and figure out where those lie in relation to the plusses and minuses. Then, go with what your gut tells you to do. For DH and I, it was very simple: What makes it 100% certain that we do not miss that ship? That was the only answer that mattered when it all came down to it. There is zero benefit to saving money or time if you see the Disney Wonder sailing away with you not on it.

Hope this helps, everyone!

- Dreams

Thanks so much for the tips. However, flying up from Orlando, the cost difference in airfare between flying in to Seattle vs Vancouver is over $800. With some of the sketchy budgeting I've done so far in cost of overnight hotel and train fare, it's still a little less than half that difference. Normally I'd be the first to say I'd rather pay for the peace of mind, but that is a significant price for convenience. I haven't booked anything other than the cruise yet, so I'm hoping some deals for Vancouver flights pop soon.

Has anyone used AAA to book their hotels and were they better deals than Hotwire?

[tajz90]

Originally Posted by OrcaPotter

Thanks so much for the tips. However, flying up from Orlando, the cost difference in airfare between flying in to Seattle vs Vancouver is over $800. With some of the sketchy budgeting I've done so far in cost of overnight hotel and train fare, it's still a little less than half that difference. Normally I'd be the first to say I'd rather pay for the peace of mind, but that is a significant price for convenience. I haven't booked anything other than the cruise yet, so I'm hoping some deals for Vancouver flights pop soon.

Has anyone used AAA to book their hotels and were they better deals than Hotwire?

We split our arrival and departure. We had very little time before the cruise so we flew directly into Vancouver. We took train to Seattle for our departure. Saved quite a bit.

We signed up for the specials on the Pan Pacific site and got a good deal on our stay.

[*pixie*]

Originally Posted by OrcaPotter

Thanks so much for the tips. However, flying up from Orlando, the cost difference in airfare between flying in to Seattle vs Vancouver is over $800. With some of the sketchy budgeting I've done so far in cost of overnight hotel and train fare, it's still a little less than half that difference. Normally I'd be the first to say I'd rather pay for the peace of mind, but that is a significant price for convenience. I haven't booked anything other than the cruise yet, so I'm hoping some deals for Vancouver flights pop soon.

Has anyone used AAA to book their hotels and were they better deals than Hotwire?

This is where we are at regarding flights. To fly directly to Vancouver on United is $2500 for the 4 of us. We have enough points to fly into Seattle on Southwest at no cost to us, and then based on the current schedule with Frontier into May, flights out of Seattle back to Denver would be around $500. If I can find a way to make this work without adding in extra nights, it seems like we would save a lot of money.

[OrcaPotter]

Originally Posted by tajz90

We split our arrival and departure. We had very little time before the cruise so we flew directly into Vancouver. We took train to Seattle for our departure. Saved quite a bit.

We signed up for the specials on the Pan Pacific site and got a good deal on our stay.

Nice--where on the site do you sign up? I can't seem to find a link.

[kendzee94]

Last year we used the Disney transfer and booked directly through them per and post cruise. We stayed pre cruise at the Fairmont Pacific Rim and were picked up in a limo. Post cruise we stayed at the Fairmount Waterfront. For the $20 difference I would not stay at the Water front again!!!! We were picked up in a 10 passenger van ( we were a party of 5 ) and shared with a party of 4. Our luggage barely fit and they loaded the other people's luggage first so the men had to schlep all the luggage out and repack it!!!! The Waterfront is the equivalent of a Radisson. The PacificRim was top of the line. Pacific rim transferred our luggage and we walked the 1/2 block to the port.

[luv2sleep]

Originally Posted by OrcaPotter

Nice--where on the site do you sign up? I can't seem to find a link.

If you go to the pan pacific Vancouver website (google), you'll find the link for "Latest Offers" at the bottom right of the home page. I just signed up.

[OrcaPotter]

Originally Posted by luv2sleep

If you go to the pan pacific Vancouver website (google), you'll find the link for "Latest Offers" at the bottom right of the home page. I just signed up.

Awesome--found it. Thanks!

[Spart02]

I just booked the Pan Pacific in Vancouver for $224 per night using my Entertainment book for our June 2013 trip. I called rather than using their online system. That seems like a good deal to me considering it's $274 online at it's cheapest, and that's if you prepay. I have a 24 hour cancellation notice on my reservation, which I much prefer. I just need to remember to pack our Entertainment cards!

[lbgraves]

We stayed at the Pan and took the train. Next time we will take a taxi. That's what we did to get from the Pan to the airport after the cruise and it was about the same cost for the four of us. It would be much easier since we had to get off the train and walk a couple of blocks [the blocks there are big city blocks BTW] and it was challenging since we stayed at the Sheraton Wall the first night, which is uphill from the train stop. We had too much luggage to do that with the kids.

ETA: I booked the Pan about 4 months out through Hotwire for $135/145 a night.