Alaska cruise. Vancouver to Seattle

[Lacoccinelle]

Will be taking a cruise next summer and wanted to fly into Seattle and do some things there. I’m having a lot of trouble finding a rental car to bring us back on a Monday from Vancouver to Seattle after the cruise, it seems a lot of the rental cars at the port are closed. Has anybody had luck with this type of situation and what do you recommend ?

 

[Sparky47]

In 2017, we rented a 7 passenger van from Alamo (in Seattle and dropped off at the port). And rented from similar vehicle in Vancouver (at the port) to Seattle (if I recall correctly, they were two separate reservations. It was very easy; but re-reading your message I don't recall what day of the week the return rental occurred.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Is it possible that the Monday is a holiday?

You might want to consider renting a car from the airport. You can take the Canada Line from the port down to the airport for something like $4 per person and a 5 min walk. You have to drive in that direction (south) anyway to get to Seattle so it's not far out of the way.

 

[otten]

There aren't a whole lot of car rental places downtown so that might be your problem.

You could always book a rental at the airport and then take Canada Line to the airport from the port or there is also the Quick Shuttle bus that runs from Vancouver to Seattle.

 

[MillauFr]

We took the Quick Shuttle bus. Picked us up at the cruise terminal and dropped us off in downtown Seattle.

 

[darwinsrule]

Any chance it is Monday August 3rd? Provincial holiday in B.C. which would have a bunch of stuff closed.

 

[scgustafson]

Any chance it is Monday August 3rd? Provincial holiday in B.C. which would have a bunch of stuff closed.

We disembarked on Canada Day (July 1st) and had no problem getting a rental car at Canada Place, but there was quite a bit closed out in town. So, I don't think the rental car places are going to give up on that many customers coming off of the ship just because it is a holiday.

 

[otten]

We disembarked on Canada Day (July 1st) and had no problem getting a rental car at Canada Place, but there was quite a bit closed out in town. So, I don't think the rental car places are going to give up on that many customers coming off of the ship just because it is a holiday.

Were you also looking for a one way car rental to go to Seattle? I’m guessing that might be the issue. I don’t know if the rental companies want to or possibly even can rent cars that will cross the border and then not return. In which case I suggest using quick shuttle.

 

[scgustafson]

Were you also looking for a one way car rental to go to Seattle? I’m guessing that might be the issue. I don’t know if the rental companies want to or possibly even can rent cars that will cross the border and then not return. In which case I suggest using quick shuttle.

Yes, both my parents and my family had separate one-way car rentals. My parents went back that day and my family went back 4 days later. We rented through Alamo at Canada Place, and both cars were returned to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. On the way up, we used Hertz since they had a location nearby Canada Place that did Sunday returns.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Were you also looking for a one way car rental to go to Seattle? I’m guessing that might be the issue. I don’t know if the rental companies want to or possibly even can rent cars that will cross the border and then not return. In which case I suggest using quick shuttle.

We did a rental at Sea-Tac and drove up to Vancouver. Dropped the car at the Vancouver airport and took the train to downtown.

No real issues with the one way rental. There was a mix up by the attendant as we checked out with one of the charges which we discovered at drop off. They credited us and added a comp so it ended up being even less than we expected.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, how are you looking for the rentals? Can you jiggle the time to pick up a bit until they open?

I don’t know if the rental companies want to or possibly even can rent cars that will cross the border and then not return.

Yes they can and do. It’s part of car rentals. There will be plenty driving TO Vancouver, too.

 

[bcwife76]

You might be better off taking Canada Line from the port to Vancouver airport and then renting a car one way from the airport to Seattle.