Alaskan Cruise- transportation advice

[BigTex1986]

Hi everyone,

My DW and I's last cruise as silver CC members is the Labor day 7 night Alaskan this year! Woot! Our airfare is out of Seattle both ways, because we are spending a couple of nights in Seattle, and driving to Portland one day to visit my Father-in-Law. Since we are going to Portland, we are renting a car. Also, some Disney friends of ours from another part of the country are flying in to Seattle and cruising with us.

Because of the visit to Portland and another couple flying in for the cruise, we talked about keeping the rental car, driving to Vancouver, parking at the terminal, and then driving back the day of debarkation to the airport.

Anyone have any issues with this? Certain rental companies that do not allow crossing the border? Tips or tricks for crossing the border with least amount of hassle?

TIA!

 

[Swimmergirl]

Interested in seeing if anyone else chimes in that has done this! We're doing the 5 night Alaskan this summer, flying into and out of Seattle. My original plan was to take the train at least one way for the views. However, the train only departs around 7am (way before our flight), or 7pm (which gets in so late we'll be toast the next day). I looked into two one-way car rentals since we don't need a car for the day we'll have in Vancouver. Very pricey with the drop fee. So, right now I have a round trip car rental from an Enterprise thats a few minutes from the airport. Renting off airport property was much cheaper, and an uber there should be cheap. Our hotel in Vancouver has free parking while we're there. I plan on leaving the car at the Vancouver airport long term parking lot while we're on the cruise. Their rates were significantly less than the cruise terminal parking. There is a cheap train that runs from near the long term lot to close to Canada Place. Hoping this works!

 

[WaylaLady]

I do not have the answer to the original question, but as far as taking the train, there is also a bus out of the same King St Station in Seattle that has more options for departure times. We're considering using that due to the bad train schedule.

 

[xlxo]

Something to also consider... Bolt bus and the Amtrak Cascades. If the schedules workout... you may want to skip the rental.

• https://www.amtrak.com/cascades-train
• https://www.boltbus.com/where-we-go/

 

[ajo]

We drove to Vancouver for the Alaska cruise last year. We roadtripped-it, so we had our own car. Driving from Bellingham, Washington to Vancouver the morning of the cruise was very easy. We made it through the border checkpoint in about 15 minutes. The return was another story. It took us hours to cross the border. We were literally parked in the line for an hour. Both crossing points had similar waits that morning. Not sure why it was that bad.

 

[GPaLarry]

We live in Portland and drove about 5 1/2 hours to Vancouver a little over a year ago to do the 7 night DCL cruise. Because my son's family (4) was joining us in Seattle (flew in from LA), I needed to rent a minivan to hold all of us and luggage. Enterprise would not let us leave the vehicle in Vancouver the night before the cruise and then rent a new one at the end of the cruise to drive son's crew to airport and us home. We wanted to avoid spending $$ on parking at the terminal (our hotel was right across the street from said terminal). OK, we rented and parked in a lower level under the terminal for the week. There might be as many as three ships/cruise lines boarding off that dock at the same time, so be sure you check in with Disney either through the ground level entry or by car on the second or third level below in the garage. We booked our parking barcoded ticket via internet before driving up. Now, timewise, after the cruise we got off in a reasonable time and the Vancouver airport is maybe 30-40 minutes away. No problem. However, the trip back to Oregon took a while at the US border (1/2 hour) but maybe an hour just to get around Seattle. Don't know if any of this info will help you...good luck!!
P.S. The cruise was great!!!

 

[kickash]

We flew into Seattle last year, spent the weekend there car-less, then picked up our one way rental and drove to Vancouver. Super easy drive, pretty much a straight shot. Border crossing on the way up was a bit shorter than our return trip, maybe 45 min then an hour on the way back. We dropped our bags at the hotel then returned the car at the port. We spent 3 days in Vancouver before our cruise and being car-less was no issue. We rented from Alamo both times.

 

[Distinkt]

We flew into Seattle last year for the cruise (left Labor Day) and rented a car from Alamo and drove to Vancouver. We kept the car the whole time and spent a few days in Vancouver before the cruise. I liked having the car so that we could get to some of the areas that we wanted to see (Capilano Suspension Bridge, Stanley Park, Granville Island) although there are shuttles and buses that you could use easily. For the downtown area we walked everywhere.

At the airport we only showed our US car insurance card and drivers license. Most insurance companies cover you in Canada, but I made sure I googled it on our insurance website before we traveled. At the airport the agent gave us an extra rental agreement to give to the border authorities for info and it was very efficient. At the border they asked about our plans and it was very easy once we got to the booth. However, the line to pass into Canada was long, we waited an hour or a little more. It was Friday of Labor Day weekend, and I think that contributed to the delay. Still no problem, but be prepared. Returning was much shorter.

There is a parking building connected to the port (WestPark) and you are able to reserve your parking spot in advance online. While you pay in advance, you are able to get a refund if you do not use it, but I believe you cannot cancel at the last minute but need to do so somewhat in advance. The parking garage entrance is on the opposite side from the docked cruise ships, and you can get to the embarkation point and luggage drop off from in the garage. When you reserve your spot you get an email with a receipt and barcode for the parking. That little barcode was difficult to use, but there are attendants who were helpful. I can not remember the cost, but it was comparable to an airport parking garage or the Port Canaveral parking. It was super easy to get out after the cruise and we were on the road quickly. The only issue I would point out is that if you are going to spend a few days in Vancouver at a hotel, the parking can be pretty pricey. I would still keep my car, if we were to go again.

Have fun, it was a wonderful cruise. We loved it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Since you wouldn't be letting them know of the Canada part in your Seattle to Seattle rental, I would read every little bit of info while making the reservation that you can. Make SURE there's no restriction on leaving the country.

Our airfare is out of Seattle both ways, because we are spending a couple of nights in Seattle, and driving to Portland one day to visit my Father-in-Law.

Just want to make sure you understand how many hours you'll spend in the car on that day visit. And how NASTY traffic can be until you're south of Olympia. Going through Tacoma (basically where I live) is a rotten awful mess and it's not going to clear up by summer. If your spouse is from the area but hasn't been here for awhile, just know it's not going to be a fun drive. Portland is awesome, but...

I do not have the answer to the original question, but as far as taking the train, there is also a bus out of the same King St Station in Seattle that has more options for departure times. We're considering using that due to the bad train schedule.

In case you wanted the train b/c of views, you're not getting them on the bus. The views from the train are b/c the train hugs the coast for quite a lot of the trip. The bus is going to be on the highway.

 

[TestingH2O]

We flew in and out of Seattle and did one way car rentals back and forth from Vancouver. I'd do a price comparison between that and paying to park all week.

We drove to Vancouver for the Alaska cruise last year. We roadtripped-it, so we had our own car. Driving from Bellingham, Washington to Vancouver the morning of the cruise was very easy. We made it through the border checkpoint in about 15 minutes. The return was another story. It took us hours to cross the border. We were literally parked in the line for an hour. Both crossing points had similar waits that morning. Not sure why it was that bad.

This was our experience as well. The return trip was awful. If the government shuts down again, I can only imagine these issues would intensify.

 

[BigTex1986]

Thank you, everyone, who replied with their experiences! We have the car figured out both ways, but now need to find a hotel (maybe one with a stay, cruise and park rate).

 

[su_A_ve]

Back in '16, we flew to Seattle. We rented a car one way from SEA-TAC dropping off at the Port of Vancouver. Same thing on the way back. Cost with Alamo at the time was about $75 each way (1 day rental).

 

[Davistigers]

When we did our Alaska DCL cruise about 5 years ago, we also flew into Seattle. We took the train to Vancouver and I highly recommend it! It's beautiful and relaxing.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We flew into Seattle then took the train to vancouver. It was a really cool experience and I'm glad we did it! It was fun, a new experience for us and beautiful views the entire way.