**** Vancouver FAQ Thread **** A few updates in main post!

[Freesia123]

The cars are very small! You
Might not get two big suitcases in. If you've got lots of luggage it is only slightly more to take a limo.

 

[allbets]

We'll also have six and we're getting a limo from airport to Granville island (staying two nights before cruise). We'll have to take two taxis probably from hotel to cruise port.
And then after cruise we're staying at pan pacific one night and leaving early on Tuesday instead of staying hem at 2:00am Monday night.

I imagine your flight options are similar to ours...leave at noon and get home around 1:00am or leave at 8:00am on Tuesday and get home by dinner.

 

[elvisdiddy808]

We were able to fit 6 people in two taxis from the terminal last September. I don't know if it was a special company or not but it was the standard little Priuses. We just went to the taxi stand. We also used two from the hotel (Delta Suites) to the terminal. My mom has knee problems and they let her sit in the front without a problem both times.

Is the cruise terminal far away from Delta Suites? We were planning on trying to walk it if it wasn't too far.

 

[ILovePixieDust]

I took a look at Aerocar, it seems cheaper than Ridebooker for 5 passengers.

Anybody have experience with Aerocar? How are they--are they reliable/reputable/clean for city/port to airport? It seems they have the concession for YVR->city/port limo services;

I have used Aerocar many many times since i live in Vancouver. Always reliable, always prompt. Great service and I would highly recommend.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I have used Aerocar many many times since i live in Vancouver. Always reliable, always prompt. Great service and I would highly recommend.

Great to hear. We are planning on using their curbside van service when we arrive at YVR next month.

 

[jetskigrl]

5. I have seen some tips on getting good Pan Pacific rates on Hotwire. Is there any way to book a harbor-view room using Hotwire or other discount site? (Wishful thinking here...)

Thanks in advance!

I know I am answering an older post but just in case the OP is still watching.....

When you book the Pan Pacific on Hotwire, you are given a Standard City View room. Once you have completed the booking however, you can contact Pan Pacific directly and ask if upgrades are availible. If they are, they will quote you the price difference. I was able to upgrade my standard hotwire-booked room to a Premier corner room for an extra $60 a night (Harbor View was much cheaper but there are none available for the nights we are staying there).

I have not stayed there yet but I do have an email confirmation from the hotel indicating that the upgrade has been added and the balance will be due when I check in.

 

[MaxiMax]

Is there a car rental return at the port? Thanks!!

 

[Tenkawa]

Is there a car rental return at the port? Thanks!!

Only National has a booth there (and even then I think you need to pre-arrange it).

There are other car rental drop-off spots downtown, but not at the port (If you have never been to vancouver, the "Port" is literally in the heart of downtown.

 

[Keyser]

This is the amenity set from when I booked it a couple of months ago:

Vancouver Downtown - Coal Harbour - Stanley Park Area
Hotwire - 85% recommended (273 reviews), overall statisfaction 4 1/2
Tripadvisor - 4.5 out of 5

Amenities included:
Pet Friendly
Fitness Center
Pool(s)
Restaurant(s)
Business Center
Self-service Laundry
Internet Access
Spa Services

Accesibility - Accessible for the deaf.

The first thing you do after selecting Vancouver and your dates is limit it to only 5-star hotes. You will only get one entry. Verify that the amenity set matches what is listed above.

The number of reviews is up to around 395 now. If you get an entry that looks almost like this but includes "indoor pool" then it is probably the Four Seasons rather than the Pan.

Please keep in mind that there is always a chance that they will add different hotels to the list at any time. But hopefully this helps up the odds for getting the Pan Pacific for you. At worst case, you will still end up with a 5-star hotel for a great price.

Yes, thanks from me, also! I just booked and got the Pan Pacific for $190/night before tax, $235.60 after tax. Some notes on slight differences: the amenity list was just what you said, but "resort" was listed as the first "amenity". There were several more ratings (I think it was over 470 now) and the recommend rate was up to 90%. All the scores were 4 1/2 except location, which was 5.

I am pretty sure I saw the same hotel pop up on a separate search a couple of days ago for $5/night cheaper. So, I don't know if rates went up, or Hotwire realized that I was interested and raised the rates a bit on my second visit (I know some websites do that, I don't know if Hotwire is one)...

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Is the cruise terminal far away from Delta Suites? We were planning on trying to walk it if it wasn't too far.

It is a relatively short distance (550 m, which is slightly less than the distance from Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary Resort). Google maps says it is an 8 minute walk. However, that part of the city is not entirely flat. I would suggest walking it first without your bags before deciding to make the treck with your luggage and family in tow.

 

[stampinot]

I cannot find the info on this thread
Is there a city bus or hop on hop off bus that will take us around the city and to the Grouse Mountain?
Thanks
JUlie

 

[Tenkawa]

I cannot find the info on this thread
Is there a city bus or hop on hop off bus that will take us around the city and to the Grouse Mountain?
Thanks
JUlie

And, no. or, yes.

http://bigbus.ca/home/ That is a hop on and off bus.

For grouse mountain, public transportation is the BEST way as it gives you a number of things. From the port, just walk around the corner to the Seabus terminal (Part of the bus network) which takes you across the harbour (awesome views) to Lonsdale Quay (neat little market) and bus loop. There is a bus that leaves from there directly for Grouse Mountain. head over to the Translink web site, there is a lot of great public transit information http://www.translink.ca. It is one of the best transit sites out there (Visit the Trip Planning section and you can put in your start and end, it will give you various route options)

 

[Jrsy Boy]

It is a relatively short distance (550 m, which is slightly less than the distance from Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary Resort). Google maps says it is an 8 minute walk. However, that part of the city is not entirely flat. I would suggest walking it first without your bags before deciding to make the treck with your luggage and family in tow.

We did this and found the route was mostly downhill and didn't take very long. Of course, all of our luggage is on wheels so, if you still have bags that aren't on wheels (and maybe still use a rotary phone?), you may not find it as easy. Checking the route beforehand also gave us the opportunity to explore Canada Place as well as to figure out exactly where we needed to be the day we'd be leaving.

 

[Ellester]

We did this and found the route was mostly downhill and didn't take very long. Of course, all of our luggage is on wheels so, if you still have bags that aren't on wheels (and maybe still use a rotary phone?), you may not find it as easy. Checking the route beforehand also gave us the opportunity to explore Canada Place as well as to figure out exactly where we needed to be the day we'd be leaving.

Yes, it is a short walk. We were planning on walking with all the luggage but it was raining the morning we embarked. We didn't want the luggage to get wet and it was a bit slippery so we just got a cab. We were traveling with my elderly mother and four kids and it was just too much to handle our 8 pieces of luggage, carry-ons, and umbrellas! We just did it for simplicity on the way back to the hotel after the cruise. It was uphill back and my mom's knees were really bothering her. With not a bunch of luggage and nice weather, it would be an easy walk. We thought the Delta Suites was a great location!

 

[GrtWtNorth]

We did this and found the route was mostly downhill and didn't take very long. Of course, all of our luggage is on wheels so, if you still have bags that aren't on wheels (and maybe still use a rotary phone?), you may not find it as easy. Checking the route beforehand also gave us the opportunity to explore Canada Place as well as to figure out exactly where we needed to be the day we'd be leaving.

I have stayed in that hotel before. I remember having to be cautious with our stroller because of the slope of the street. After looking at it again using Google Street View, I see that the slope is continuous, but not as steep as other locations downtown. However, if I had walk this distance with a family, I would limit children and/or grandparents to only 2-wheeled luggage - if they let go, the luggage will stop rolling. But 4-wheeled luggage and strollers not handled responsibly could run away and down into the street below. (Call me paranoid!)

 

[basketrn]

Can someone give me the dummy guide to getting around Capilano Bridge to Grouse and back.

From what I understand...take the free bus from Canada Place to Capilano. Then bus 236 from Capilano to Grouse (which costs around 2.75pp/cash only). Then how do we get back to Canada Place? We are staying at Pan Pacific so will be right there.

TIA!

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Can someone give me the dummy guide to getting around Capilano Bridge to Grouse and back.

From what I understand...take the free bus from Canada Place to Capilano. Then bus 236 from Capilano to Grouse (which costs around 2.75pp/cash only). Then how do we get back to Canada Place? We are staying at Pan Pacific so will be right there.

TIA!

Grouse Mountain has a free shuttle from Canada Place (summer only), but TransLink buses work good too. https://www.grousemountain.com/location-hours

Capilano Suspension Bridge offers a similar service. http://www.capbridge.com/visit/shuttle-service/

But these two tourist attractions are competitors and do not promote shuttle services directly between each other. (Just like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida.)

To connect between them, you can use TransLink (public bus). In fact, it may be faster to use Translink to get to these locations directly, rather than taking their shuttle service. I also like taking the Sea Bus for a unique view of the harbour and to see the cruise ships up close.

Note: Vancouver's hop-on-hop-off bus services do not serve the north shore where Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain are located. In fact, the Vancouver Trolley Company sells ticket packages that include their hop-on-hop-off bus services, admission to these attractions, and detailed instructions on how to use the free shuttle services and the TransLink bus that connects them.

In my opinion, Translink, the local public transit service is the best option, and the free shuttles are only valuable if you want to avoid riding across the harbour in a Sea Bus. Getting a day-pass for Translink will allow you also to ride the Sea Bus and SkyTrain as well as the buses that go from Lonsdale Quay to Grouse Mountain (via Capilano Suspension Bridge). $9.75 per day, which you can buy at any SkyTrain or Sea Bus station, including Waterfront Station at the Port of Vancouver.

Hop-on-hop off buses operate throughout tourist destinations in Vancouver, but they don't go to North Vancouver, where Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge are Located.
http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/ $40 for one day, $45 for two days.
http://bigbus.ca/home/ $40 for one day, $45 for two days.
Vancouver Trolley company is the larger operation, with more frequent service.

In general, the hop-on-hop-off bus services only serve the City of Vancouver (yellow on the map), while mountain tourist attractions in the City of North Vancouver and the international airport in the City of Richmond are in the red areas. (Green areas in the east are other cities in the metro Vancouver area.)

Comparing Hop-on-hop-off buses with Translink options
* Translink offers most frequent service and service to more locations
* Translink views from the SkyTrain and Sea Bus are better than the other services
* Vancouver Trolley Company and Big Bus have Hop-on-hop-off buses around Stanley Park while TransLink has only one central bus stop. Vancouver Trolley Company has a $10 hop-on-hop-off service that only serves Stanley Park, for those that want to avoid the full city $40 hop-on-hop-off fare.
* Translink is the only bus service directly between Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. This same connecting bus also connects with the Sea Bus in Lonsdale Quay. The Sea Bus connects Lonsdale Quay with Waterfront station / cruise ship terminal / Pan Pacific hotel.
* All of the bus services connect with locations where Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain offer free shuttle services.

 

[Tenkawa]

Hi Basketrn, see my post about Transit. visit http://www.translink.ca

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Here are links to information on the #236 route map, showing the bus that connects Lonsdale Quay, Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Grouse Mountain. This bus runs very frequently (at least every 15 minutes) throughout the day all year round.

Route Map: http://infomaps.translink.ca/Route_Diagrams/96/r236.pdf
Full Schedule: http://infomaps.translink.ca/Public_Timetables/96/tt236.pdf

Fare to ride this bus only: $2.75 / $1.75
Fare to ride this bus plus the Sea Bus to Waterfront Station / cruise ship terminal: $4 $2.75 before 6:30 pm, $2.75 / $1.75 after 6:30 pm
Full day pass on all Translink buses, Sea Bus and Skytrain: $9.75 / $7.50
The discounted "concession fare" applies to children (age 5-13) and seniors (age 65+).

 

[basketrn]

Hi Basketrn, see my post about Transit. visit http://www.translink.ca

Yes! I saw it after I posted my question. Thanks for everyone's response! I am going to def use the public transpo after everyone suggestions. Where can I purchase the all day passes? Looks like I can't do it online prior to trip.

Thanks again everyone!!!