Flights to Seattle or Vancouver

[phinz]

Thanks! You're the best!

I'm glad somebody thinks so. My wife would beg to differ.

 

[scrapperkimmydee]

Just a note. We did the Alaska cruise last year and we all said that a highlight of our trip was the train from Seattle to Vancouver. We met a bunch of other families heading up for the cruise. Also, the ride was very scenic. Highly recommended!!!

We are doing an Alaskan cruise next year and have been trying to figure out where to fly into to. I like the idea of the train. May I ask how much it cost?

 

[phinz]

Google "Train from Seattle to Vancouver". You'll get all sorts of answers.

 

[tidefan]

We are doing an Alaskan cruise next year and have been trying to figure out where to fly into to. I like the idea of the train. May I ask how much it cost?

Wasn't much. Maybe $75-$80 for all 3 of us...

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Wasn't much. Maybe $75-$80 for all 3 of us...

It wasn't much and even cheaper if you have a AAA card.

 

[Pooh2]

We did a non-stop flight from Boston to Seattle for $330 round-trip.

We stayed two nights in Seattle doing the touristy stuff then took the Amtrak Cascades to Vancouver the night before the cruise.

Glad we took the train the day before as the locomotive died and we sat on the tracks for 2 hours waiting for a new locomotive. Time was past pleasantly waiting as we were allowed to get out and walk around as well as had lunch in the dining car. There were some stressed passengers whose cruises were leaving that afternoon though.

I think we paid about $80/each way for business class seats on the train. The upgrade was only about $15 per ticket. The advantage to the upgrade was being the first off the train and through customs in Canada.

For the return trip, you go through security at the train station in Canada (did not do this on the way up) and US Border Patrol boards the train and checks everyone's passports at the border. When you get back to Seattle, you are ready to jump into your taxi and go.

If you are going to book Amtrak, book early for the best price.

 

[Melissa_E]

Just a note. We did the Alaska cruise last year and we all said that a highlight of our trip was the train from Seattle to Vancouver. We met a bunch of other families heading up for the cruise. Also, the ride was very scenic. Highly recommended!!!

I agree!

We did a non-stop flight from Boston to Seattle for $330 round-trip.

We stayed two nights in Seattle doing the touristy stuff then took the Amtrak Cascades to Vancouver the night before the cruise.

Glad we took the train the day before as the locomotive died and we sat on the tracks for 2 hours waiting for a new locomotive. Time was past pleasantly waiting as we were allowed to get out and walk around as well as had lunch in the dining car. There were some stressed passengers whose cruises were leaving that afternoon though.

I think we paid about $80/each way for business class seats on the train. The upgrade was only about $15 per ticket. The advantage to the upgrade was being the first off the train and through customs in Canada.

For the return trip, you go through security at the train station in Canada (did not do this on the way up) and US Border Patrol boards the train and checks everyone's passports at the border. When you get back to Seattle, you are ready to jump into your taxi and go.

If you are going to book Amtrak, book early for the best price.

We did business class as well and I highly recommend it. We had assigned seats which were very comfortable. But my daughter and I spent most of our time in the dining car hanging out.

 

[kid-at-heart]

OP, I am glad you asked this question. True you can do your own research through Kayak, google, etc but then you would not have received information about others' experiences with the train, shuttle, etc.

Thank you for asking. I hope folks will keep sharing their travel experiences to Vancouver with you, and with the rest of us.

 

[bumbershoot]

The issue with the train is if you are going into Seattle specifically to save money. Because it almost certainly won't. It adds on at least one more night, because the trains ONLY leave in the very early morning or after the ship has already left Vancouver. So you will have to stay either in Seattle or Vancouver. (take the next day's early train from Seattle after staying overnight there or that day's late train and stay in Vancouver overnight)

 

[anricat]

The issue with the train is if you are going into Seattle specifically to save money. Because it almost certainly won't. It adds on at least one more night, because the trains ONLY leave in the very early morning or after the ship has already left Vancouver. So you will have to stay either in Seattle or Vancouver. (take the next day's early train from Seattle after staying overnight there or that day's late train and stay in Vancouver overnight)

This was our experience. By the time I crunched the numbers and from a "travel time" perspective, it was going to be many more hours of travel plus a lot more money to do the Seattle w/ train option. At the end of the day, we decided we wanted to maximize time in Vancouver instead.

Now, if you've never been to Seattle, it's a great city with a lot of kid-friendly things to do. And, as others have said, the train is lovely (assuming everything is running on time and there are no issues). I wouldn't take the train up the same day as the cruise. I once had a friend who basically spent an entire day trying to take what should have been a 3.5 hour train trip. It wasn't Seattle to Vancouver (it was here in Texas) but due to a series of events (both a mechanical with the train and then a track issue), it literally took her 12 hours. You just never know.

 

[tidefan]

We had Southwest Rapid Rewards points, so that made Seattle much cheaper!

One other airport to consider is Bellingham. We flew to Aulani from there after the cruise for $149...

 

[AquaDame]

Use Kayak.com That's the best way to get an estimate, and it doesn't require everybody else to use Kayak.com to get the answer.

Google "Train from Seattle to Vancouver". You'll get all sorts of answers.

Urge to use Captain Obvious rising...

Telling someone 'do your own work' is correct, but not very nice, you know? I'm glad so many people gave their anecdotes too - hope it was helpful to the OP!

 

[MUN]

Thanks! You're the best!

You're welcome!

 

[bumbershoot]

Urge to use Captain Obvious rising...

Telling someone 'do your own work' is correct, but not very nice, you know? I'm glad so many people gave their anecdotes too - hope it was helpful to the OP!

Ah, but there's a reason LMGTFY was created. When people ask a question that requires lots of other people to google it, when they could google it on their own, it can get irksome.

It also helps people for the future, when responders tell the person HOW they got the info. "Here's the site; if you don't bookmark that, in the future do xyz to find it again." Helps them be better info-finders. Helping people is a nice thing.

And Captain Obvious could just as easily be used in the other way.

 

[phinz]

Ah, but there's a reason LMGTFY was created. When people ask a question that requires lots of other people to google it, when they could google it on their own, it can get irksome.

It also helps people for the future, when responders tell the person HOW they got the info. "Here's the site; if you don't bookmark that, in the future do xyz to find it again." Helps them be better info-finders. Helping people is a nice thing.

This. All this. Google was invented to find answers. It takes less time to type "Seattle to Vancouver Train" into the address bar and pull up about 1,520,000 results in .81 seconds than it does to pull up a forum, open a thread, click reply, type up a question, hit send and wait for other people to answer. Teach a man to fish and all that jazz. I actually had the link for LMGTFY sitting in the "paste" reserves but realized that it was better just to answer with the most obvious pathway without using such a snarky site.

See? I *was* trying to be nice.

 

[AquaDame]

Ah, but there's a reason LMGTFY was created. When people ask a question that requires lots of other people to google it, when they could google it on their own, it can get irksome.

It also helps people for the future, when responders tell the person HOW they got the info. "Here's the site; if you don't bookmark that, in the future do xyz to find it again." Helps them be better info-finders. Helping people is a nice thing.

And Captain Obvious could just as easily be used in the other way.

And a reason many eye rolls are given when that link is posted. I work in IT and I think its silly - an attitude like that would get me fired right quick even if that IS how I fix a lot of things. The comment was reported to us as rude, so I figured just saying something here about being terse would be sufficient. Carry on...