Booked (DCL to Alaska) !! Let the obsession ..er ..planning begin!

[Dug720]

If you don't book the hotel pre-paid at a non-refundable rate, you can always keep an eye on the rates and cancel/rebook or just call to have the lower rate applied. It's really not that big of a deal. Hilton makes it SUPER easy to change to a lower rate - again, as long as you didn't pre-pay making it non-refundable/changeable - I've already done it a couple of times on reservations I have.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

@nycdisneygal: To confirm you are on the June 26th sailing. Looking at booking.com for one night USD in Vancouver as a rate baseline the night before for a pre-cruise....

• $122 Days Inn (3 blocks from the cruise terminal). Check reviews for potential issues.
• $127 Greenbrier
• $136 Sylvia
• $182 Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel » I like this place for price and neighborhood. My vote goes to here for budget travelers.
• $189 Blue Horizon » a forum fav for price and neighborhood restaurants
• $204 Residence Inn Marriott
• $210 Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown and Suites
• $215 Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront
• $225 Hampton Inn » fav for Hilton Point collectors
• $227 Century Plaza
• $242 St Regis
• $247 Hotel Blu
• $252 Auberge » 2 blocks to the cruise terminal
• $261 Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center
• $303 Westin Grand
• $308 Delta
• $334 Marriott Pinnacle downtown
• $349 Opus
• $350 Sutton Place
• $364 Hyatt Regency
• $369 Grand Residence Sutton
• $376 Shangri-La
• $380 Trump
• $387 Pan Pacific » above the cruise terminal
• $417 Rosewood
• $455 Westin Bayshore
• $475 Four Seasons
• $486 Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
• $508 Fairmont Waterfront » across the street from the cruise terminal
• $562 Fairmont Pacific Rim

my fav Richmond airport hotel is $197 at the Raddison Hotel Vancouver Airport.

We stayed at the Best Western, about 1 mile from the port, in June, 2014 before and after the cruise. They had free transfers to the port and a White Spot restaurant inside the hotel. It was also about a 5 minute walk to the Canada Line station and we took that to the airport.

 

[nycdisneygal]

I threw the current price list up as baseline/discussion planning tool for common forum hotel choices. I expect prices to change as it gets closer to the June. Some say 2 months is the sweet spot for flights.... I usually see January usually has some flight/hotel promos come out for the summer. Perhaps I'll update the list in January.

.

I will see if I can book something that I can cancel. I get nervous about flights since there are not too many direct options from here...

 

[Dug720]

I will see if I can book something that I can cancel. I get nervous about flights since there are not too many direct options from here...

One option if you'e traveling in a couple of days early is to fly to Seattle and take the train up to Vancouver - just make sure you enter Vancouver CANADA (I have read of someone doing this but booking their train ticket from Seattle to Vancouver, WASHINGTON and it didn't go well for them getting on the ship). Easy-peasy train ride - and pretty scenery.

And I found it MUCH more affordable and with many more options for non-stop flights from NYC.

 

[xlxo]

Things to consider train vs the many buses vs flying direct into Vancouver trying to save money....

• there are two trains a day. One really early and the other forces you to arrive in town very late. $50 Quick shuttle offers 6 to 7 daily trips from SeaTac to meet your flight schedule. There's additional trips departing from downtown Seattle.
• train and buses (not Quick Shuttle) forces you to pay for transfer from Seattle airport to train/bus station. Then again from Vancouver bus terminal to cruise/hotel. Quick Shuttle is one price.
• if you are going for the morning train. They say you need to be there 45 minutes before the train departs. If you want the West water view window... some say you need to get there 2 hours earlier or more if you don't want to pay for business class.
• For the early morning train.... you are likely going to need to pay for a Seattle hotel for the night before... but you won't be using it much as you need to up early the next morning to line up for the train's oceanview windows. That Seattle hotel cuts into the savings for flying into Seattle.
• Depending on how you plan to travel Seattle to Vancouver.... add 3 to 6 hours to your travel time, plus potential Seattle hotel compared to flying direct to Vancouver.
• a variation is to fly into Vancouver and train out to Seattle post-cruise. This gives more time to explore Vancouver.

 

[Dug720]

It all depends on what you look at and what the flight rates into Vancouver are. Even with a hotel (Hampton quality, not sketchy), I found the fly in and out of Seattle and train up and back (the ride is fine even without a "view" - and most people are more than willing to let you lean in to take a picture. I'be even had people who have done it lots of times offer to switch seats with me) cheaper than flying directly into Vancouver.

It all depends on what matters to you.

 

[nycdisneygal]

Thanks.I am just not sure about the effort involved in taking the train up...

 

[Geomom]

Thanks.I am just not sure about the effort involved in taking the train up...

I understand that! We were flying from Boston, so it wasn't worth the extra time/hassle of getting from Seattle to Vancouver after flying all the way across the country and I didn't find it any cheaper to do that from Boston. We flew Air Canada from Boston to Vancouver with a change of planes in Toronto.

It's nice that flying into Seattle and taking a train works for some people though!