Help with Alaskan cruise please!!!

[brookmey]

We are going on an Alaskan cruise in August with my parents. I have read many posts on the Alaska thread, but I just cannot read through 100+ pages to find the info that I need. Plus, I have some very specific questions and would really appreciate any help.

1. The top excursions we want are whale watching for all of us (4 adults, 2 kids ages 10 & 7) and DH wants to go fishing. From what I read on the Alaska thread, it sounds like a lot of people do not book their own fishing and whale watching through Disney. What companies at which ports do you recommend to use instead?

2. We plan to fly into Seattle, rent a car and drive to Vancouver. We want to spend a couple days pre-cruise in Vancouver. Is there a hotel downtown or not, (not Pan Pacific) that anyone recommends? We'll have a car, so we don't mind driving if we have to.

3. Any must-do activities in Vancouver? My dad can't walk for long lengths of time, so whatever we do has to be a mix of driving or riding and walking.

4. Post-cruise we will spend a couple days in Seattle. Any hotel recommendations there?

And lastly, please help me calm my mom down. My parents' accountant has been on 11 Alaskan cruises. He told them that because of traffic, it can take up to 8 hours to drive back to Seattle on disembarkation day. This has my mom completely freaking out and ready to book flights for all of us on this tiny little commuter plane, which I do NOT want to do. Has anyone experienced this kind of traffic ?

Thank you so much for any help!

 

[scrapycruiser]

For whale watching Harv and Marv is the best. Highly rated. Just google them.
We are on the Aug 4 Alaskan cruise ( 12 of us ). We're from Houston but my sister lives in Seattle so we're taking the Amtrak to Vancouver. Not sure where we're staying in Vancouver. My sister made the reservations.
My best resource for hotels is tripadvisor.com.

Happy Cruising !!

 

[JOANNEL]

We also did Harv & Marv! Highlight of our trip.

We stayed at the Coastal Coal Harbor. It's a block off the water but you can still see the water. Walking distance to Canada place. Very clean, great staff and cheaper than the water front.

 

[JOANNEL]

Take the hop on hop off bus, Stanley park is a must. We rented bikes. We went over to the suspension bridge. Took a bus over and a boat back. There is a lot of walking in the park, but it is very pretty.

 

[brookmey]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll be sure to check them out.

For whale watching Harv and Marv is the best. Highly rated. Just google them. We are on the Aug 4 Alaskan cruise ( 12 of us ). We're from Houston but my sister lives in Seattle so we're taking the Amtrak to Vancouver. Not sure where we're staying in Vancouver. My sister made the reservations. My best resource for hotels is tripadvisor.com. Happy Cruising !!

We'll be on the same cruise and we're also from Houston!

 

[lbgraves]

Why not Pan Pacific? You can get better prices for it on Hotwire and it is central to the area and couldn't be easier for boarding the ship.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We are going on an Alaskan cruise in August with my parents. I have read many posts on the Alaska thread, but I just cannot read through 100+ pages to find the info that I need. Plus, I have some very specific questions and would really appreciate any help.



1. The top excursions we want are whale watching for all of us (4 adults, 2 kids ages 10 & 7) and DH wants to go fishing. From what I read on the Alaska thread, it sounds like a lot of people do not book their own fishing and whale watching through Disney. What companies at which ports do you recommend to use instead?


We saw a lot from the ship so did other trips with our time.

We did a heck of a lot private tours in each port see link below for details.

2. We plan to fly into Seattle, rent a car and drive to Vancouver. We want to spend a couple days pre-cruise in Vancouver. Is there a hotel downtown or not, (not Pan Pacific) that anyone recommends? We'll have a car, so we don't mind driving if we have to.


Well we stayed Pan Pacific as Central


3. Any must-do activities in Vancouver? My dad can't walk for long lengths of time, so whatever we do has to be a mix of driving or riding and walking.

Grouse mountain, fly over Canada Callipino suspension bridge, Stanley park.

4. Post-cruise we will spend a couple days in Seattle. Any hotel recommendations there?

And lastly, please help me calm my mom down. My parents' accountant has been on 11 Alaskan cruises. He told them that because of traffic, it can take up to 8 hours to drive back to Seattle on disembarkation day. This has my mom completely freaking out and ready to book flights for all of us on this tiny little commuter plane, which I do NOT want to do. Has anyone experienced this kind of traffic ?

Thank you so much for any help!

See my link below for navigators and links and photos.

 

[Rat-a-too-ee]

You will really enjoy Alaska, it's been my favorite cruise so far.

We stayed at the Best Western in Vancouver. I would NOT recommend it, it was quite expensive $189/night and run down. The only upside was free parking. We had a rental car in Vancouver that we picked up and dropped off from a downtown location. It was perfect because it was about 4 blocks from the Cruise terminal so we dropped off the car and walked pulling our luggage behind to the cruise terminal. You could also drop off everyone and their luggage at the terminal and return an empty car yourself and walk to.

All of the activities we did were walking-intensive (Grouse, Capilano, Granville Island, Japanese Gardens).

On the cruise, we didn't do Harv + Marv, but everyone of our ship mates who did was RAVING about it - book it!!!

Any of the Kimpton Hotels in Seattle are wonderful. Beautiful, quirky place within walking distance to many things. They have great sales too, so sign up for the mailing list. A few years back we stayed at the Hotel Monaco for $89/night.

https://www.kimptonhotels.com/hotels/hotels-seattle.aspx

We also check Tripadvisor for the best hotels, then sort 3 and 4 stars for price to get within our budget.


As for getting back to Seattle, you can also take the Amtrak Cascades (which is supposed to be scenic) -- check that out too.

Have a great trip... with Alaska, no matter what you do in terms of excursions, it's all wonderful!!!

 

[traveln4fun]

We've stayed at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver on Burrard a few times. Nice hotel connected to Mc Donald's and Tim Hortons and a shopping mall with a drug/convenience store for last minute purchases.
The hopon/hopoff bus stops right outside the hotel and recommend this for your father. It takes you to Chinatown, Stanley Park, Gastown, Vancouver Lookout, Granville marketplace, can't remember other stops. We disembarked early (have to carry luggage) and were back in the U.S. within 1 hr. I recommend if possible. Happy cruising!

 

[quickcat]

Thanks for posting this- we are also thinking about Alaska (for 2015) and curious about the amount of time it takes to drive to Vancouver from Seattle.
Hopefully someone will chime in on that question. It seems to be the easiest for us to rent a car (6 people will be going so we would rent a mini van) and just drive there ourselves. Airfare to Seattle for us is much cheaper than Vancouver.
We have read conflicting reports on cruise critic. Some say its so easy and a great drive, about 5 hours and others say its horrific and takes way too long.
I am really starting to think its just the time of day people are crossing the border is where the problem is.
Have fun with your planning

 

[travisx4]

Last August we flew into Portland and then drove to Seattle and stayed overnight in Redwoods at the Courtyard. It was a quick drive into Seattle from there. We stayed until early afternoon and then drove up to Vancouver. It is a very scenic and easy drive, I would plan 3 hours but you may want to add an additional hour for the border. As far as downtown Vancouver we stayed at the Hyatt on Burrard and loved it, would highly recommend.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

There's a massive Vancouver FAQ thread here that has answers to most of your questions, especially about accommodation in Vancouver and transportation between Seattle and Vancouver.

As for whale watching, what species are you interested in observing? Between Vancouver and Seattle, there are several resident pods of orcas. Whale watching excursions in this vicinity are virtually guaranteed to spot whales. http://www.islandmariner.com/ I'm not sure if the whale watching excursions in Alaska offer the same dependability as the this unique location in the pacific northwest. Since you're driving right past anyway, you might want to consider doing whale sight-seeing here, leaving you more time to enjoy other excursions (or more whale-watching) on your cruise. The Alaska whale-watching excursions are more likely to spot humpback and species of whale besides orcas.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Why not Pan Pacific? You can get better prices for it on Hotwire and it is central to the area and couldn't be easier for boarding the ship.

I agree - why not the Pan Pacific? I know there are ways to save and this is a great suggestion above. I mention this because honestly, it was a complete highlight of our two nights in Vancouver prior to the cruise - especially harbor view room - LOVED IT!!

We did lots of research before ours and for us (3 of us) it was easier and in the long run cheaper to just fly into Vancouver. If I were going the Seattle route, I'd take the Amtrak train which I understand is about 4 hours. Have you considered all the costs from staying in Seattle and transportation to Vancouver vs. flying directly into Vancouver? I'm sure you probably have but I was surprised how fast the extras added up. I had read beforehand not to miss out on Vancouver and people were so right - it's an awesome and amazing place. Seattle is awesome too, but there is something a little more magical about Vancouver.

Heather

 

[GrtWtNorth]

He told them that because of traffic, it can take up to 8 hours to drive back to Seattle on disembarkation day. This has my mom completely freaking out and ready to book flights for all of us on this tiny little commuter plane, which I do NOT want to do. Has anyone experienced this kind of traffic?

Vancouver can have significant rush-hour traffic starting around 3 pm. It could take up to two hours to reach the border in bad traffic.

The border is another story. It can be busy, especially on weekends in the summer, and if there's any kind of incident (something that increases the terrorism threat level). I have waited +75 minutes to cross the border here, and it can take longer. But on a weekday (2014 cruises arrive and depart on Mondays - not sure about 2015), this line will not likely exceed 30 minutes.

Seattle traffic is nasty, but like Vancouver, it is worst during the evening rush hour. Remember that the SEATAC airport is between Seattle and Tacoma, so you have to cross the entire Seattle metro area.

The good news is that during the summer, both Vancouver and Seattle have the luxury of near-perfect flying weather. Flying in small planes in good weather is a rather pleasant experience, and you would get a spectacular view of the mountains that surround Vancouver and Seattle. In fact, there are regular flights from the port of Vancouver (right beside the cruise ship) into downtown Seattle. I would not hesitate to take her up on her offer, especially if she's paying.

 

[brookmey]

There's a massive Vancouver FAQ thread here that has answers to most of your questions, especially about accommodation in Vancouver and transportation between Seattle and Vancouver. As for whale watching, what species are you interested in observing? Between Vancouver and Seattle, there are several resident pods of orcas. Whale watching excursions in this vicinity are virtually guaranteed to spot whales. http://www.islandmariner.com/ I'm not sure if the whale watching excursions in Alaska offer the same dependability as the this unique location in the pacific northwest. Since you're driving right past anyway, you might want to consider doing whale sight-seeing here, leaving you more time to enjoy other excursions (or more whale-watching) on your cruise. The Alaska whale-watching excursions are more likely to spot humpback and species of whale besides orcas.

I've tried reading that thread, but because it's so long it's taking me forever to get through it without getting buggy eyed. LOL

Thanks for the suggestion of whale watching between Seattle and Vancouver. I never thought about it, but it's a good idea to look into.

 

[brookmey]

I agree - why not the Pan Pacific? I know there are ways to save and this is a great suggestion above. I mention this because honestly, it was a complete highlight of our two nights in Vancouver prior to the cruise - especially harbor view room - LOVED IT!! We did lots of research before ours and for us (3 of us) it was easier and in the long run cheaper to just fly into Vancouver. If I were going the Seattle route, I'd take the Amtrak train which I understand is about 4 hours. Have you considered all the costs from staying in Seattle and transportation to Vancouver vs. flying directly into Vancouver? I'm sure you probably have but I was surprised how fast the extras added up. I had read beforehand not to miss out on Vancouver and people were so right - it's an awesome and amazing place. Seattle is awesome too, but there is something a little more magical about Vancouver. Heather

My parents' accountant says it is way overpriced and not worth the convenience, even if a cheaper price is found on Hotwire or somewhere else. I wish that guy would stop giving my mom "advice" because it's really messing up our plans. But he has helped my mom with some really tricky tax issues surrounding an inheritance, she thinks whatever he says is golden. It's very frustrating to say the least, but not worth the battle with her.

We have thought about all the extra costs, but DH really wants to spend a few days in Seattle, so flying into Seattle works best for us. Plus, he's really looking forward to the drive between the 2 cities.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We cruised in August 2013 and drove from the Port to Seattle for a couple days pos-cruise. I'd say we were off the ship around 8 (we had early breakfast seating) and checking into the hotel in Seattle before 1 p.m. That was on a Monday. Crossing the border took around an hour maybe.
We stayed at a Fairmont in Seattle - nice, but nothing I can rave about. It was very pretty, had a pool, but was a little uppity for our family. I think it was geared more toward the business travelers. We got a good deal on it.

Personally I thought Vancouver's traffic was worse than Seattle. It seemed to take forever to get to our hotel (the one attached to the Port - is that Pan Pacific? Gosh, I should remember!).

 

[Tenkawa]

Vancouver does not have a highway through the middle of the city, this means that getting to the core can take longer (and the port is in the core core).

Seattle traffic is just horrible during rush hour, the 405 especially. If you are going through Seattle, the express lanes get you around most of it, however Everett at rush hour is cruddy, and down in Tacoma is downright scary.

While Vancouver suffers from a lack of high speed highway, it does not have the congestion that Seattle can have on the major routes.

 

[jrabbit]

Regarding driving between Seattle and Vancouver....

We did this a few years ago
Getting into Canada was easy and quick - less than 15 minute wait
Going from Canada to the USA was at least a 2 hour wait at the border. Frankly the "lines" to get to each of the stations where to boarder "guards" are looked like we were back in Cairo (hey look at the "drawings" on the pavement - wonder what they are for )

 

[Chilly]

Any of the Kimpton Hotels in Seattle are wonderful. Beautiful, quirky place within walking distance to many things. They have great sales too, so sign up for the mailing list. A few years back we stayed at the Hotel Monaco for $89/night.

https://www.kimptonhotels.com/hotels/hotels-seattle.aspx

That's where we stayed in Seattle. In Vancouver we stayed at the Blue Horizon which has a stop outside for the hop on hop off bus and shuttle up to the suspension bridge and grouse mountain.