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

[Lollipop's Mom]

Please give us some pointers for using hotwire/priceline...please, please please....

Ok...I am going to do a big update tomorrow!

 

[aimay73]

Ok...I am going to do a big update tomorrow!

Yay!!!

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Only take a cab if you are prepared to pay an arm and a leg - it's close to an hour's drive away.

It's not an hour drive away. Usually it's less than 30 minutes, with an extra 10-15 minutes during rush hour. I've taken cabs from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to offices downtown, adjacent to the cruise ship terminal. I've never paid more than $40, including tip. But don't take my word for it -- according to www.YVR.ca, "The approximate fare to downtown Vancouver is between $28 - $32 (taxes included)."

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Just added some airport hotel stuff to the first post. Going to add a few more things tonight too.

 

[aimay73]

Just added some airport hotel stuff to the first post. Going to add a few more things tonight too.

Thanks! I've been keeping an eye out for updates!

Aimee

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Just did the hotwire/priceline area stuff....
Off to do more!

 

[aimay73]

Just did the hotwire/priceline area stuff....
Off to do more!

Lollipop's Mom,

So, if I want to try and book the Westin Grand through Priceline, is the only thing I can do is select a hotel in the "Downtown Entertainment District",
and hope I get the Westin Grand? That's my real question.. How do you try to book the hotel you want on Priceline without knowing the hotel
information through priceline until after you've booked?

Thanks!

Aimee

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Your best bet is to go to www.betterbidding.com and look at that site for assistance with bidding. You would have to figure out the star level and hope for the best. I know I have gotten that hotel on hotwire many times and it always has a kitchen icon and is in the entertainment district.
It is probably waaaaay too soon to book anything yet, so go do lots of reading on that website and get a feel for it.

Also - just updated some shopping info.

 

[aimay73]

Your best bet is to go to www.betterbidding.com and look at that site for assistance with bidding. You would have to figure out the star level and hope for the best. I know I have gotten that hotel on hotwire many times and it always has a kitchen icon and is in the entertainment district.
It is probably waaaaay too soon to book anything yet, so go do lots of reading on that website and get a feel for it.

Also - just updated some shopping info.

Thanks. I'm sure it's way too soon to bid too. I'm just trying to get as much info about the websites, and the hotel locations so I know what I'm doing when it's time to book.

Aimee

 

[BLTOH]

Those that live in vancouver or have stayed at either one of these places. can you give me your view point of either one of these?

Club Intrawest- vancouver at 1001 hornby st.

Worldmark vancouver at 1080 hornby st.


i am leaning towards the worldmark right now but courious if anyone has any viewpoints. and what is the distance between them. they seem like they are very close together. which one would be closer to the pier and skytrains?
thank you to all those that help us in traveling modes. it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Those that live in vancouver or have stayed at either one of these places. can you give me your view point of either one of these?

Club Intrawest- vancouver at 1001 hornby st.

Worldmark vancouver at 1080 hornby st.


i am leaning towards the worldmark right now but courious if anyone has any viewpoints. and what is the distance between them. they seem like they are very close together. which one would be closer to the pier and skytrains?
thank you to all those that help us in traveling modes. it is greatly appreciated.

I don't know a lot about those hotels, but tripadvisor can probably help you out there. As for location they are only a block away from each other, and about the same distance to the port/skytrain. They are both still a fair walk to the skytrain, maybe 15-20mins depending on how fast you walk to it. Vancouver city blocks are larger than most city blocks btw.
http://maps.google.com/?q=1080 hornby st,vancouver

 

[GrtWtNorth]

One of the many in-room babysitting service providers is Nanies On Call. http://www.nanniesoncall.com/index.html

My inlaws own a winery and often visit Vancouver to meet with wine buyers and brokers, as well as for family vacations. When they need to meet a client, sometimes over dinner, they will call and get a nannie to look after their boys in the hotel room. They love the service.

 

[smiley_face2]

Well this is terribly exciting... Such a wonderfully informative thread...Thankyou!!
We have never been on a cruise before, but hubby has talked about doing a cruise to Alaska. For me...any and all holiday time/money is saved for Disney!! so this combining of the 2 is magic for us!!
We live on the outskirts of Vancouver, a short ferry ride and 20 min. drive to be exact. We are about 3 blocks from the beach and often go down in the evening in summer, and watch the cruise ships going by! We were just down at the cruise ship terminal about 4 weeks ago, because the government building we go to renew passports is a 2 minute walk away from it, and that's where the easiest parking (NOT cheapest...!) is. It really is a beautiful area, and it was a sunny fall day, and the city was at it's finest we commented to each other, how people coming here from other parts of the world must be amazed at how beautiful it is!
Because we live so close, and hubby getting time off work is quite flexible, rather than book now, we are going to wait to see if any good prices come up. Often if you can book at the last minute, rather than have rooms/flights/cabins go empty they will offer them at a good rate. Although, considering the season will only be 4 months long, and who knows if they will return in 2012...... I may just have to tell hubby this will be my 2011 birthday present and book a cruise for that August...they have a departure right near my birthday...
I can't wait to eventually see everyone's pictures, and read trip reports in 2011! hopefully I'll have my own too!!
Someone mentioned about the high cost of food in Vancouver, and yes at one time the price of groceries compared to the US and especially California was rediculously higher! but on our last several trips to California (we always drive down and always do some grocery shopping) we have been really shocked to see the prices, down there at least, pretty much on par with up here.
Now the only way all of this could get any better...is if, eventually they have the new Dreams ship do this route!!
I wanted to mention too.... because the 2010 Olympic winter games are in Vancouver/Whistler, I'm betting checking hotel prices until they are over will result in some higher prices, even if it's not during the Olympics. I'm thinking, checking prices after the Olympics are over, say March-April 2010 the prices will be better.

 

[BLTOH]

I don't know a lot about those hotels, but tripadvisor can probably help you out there. As for location they are only a block away from each other, and about the same distance to the port/skytrain. They are both still a fair walk to the skytrain, maybe 15-20mins depending on how fast you walk to it. Vancouver city blocks are larger than most city blocks btw.
http://maps.google.com/?q=1080 hornby st,vancouver

ok that helps alot just to know the city blocks are larger. and knowing my daughter will be 8yr old then and shes a pokey walker i can see it being a 30 min walk for us..lol

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Local Food

Sushi restaurants litter downtown Vancouver. They are more common than Starbucks and McDonalds combined. Sushi is very popular fast food for locals. Vancouver sushi restaurants serve a variety of traditional Japanese-style sushi and sashimi (salmon, tuna, shrimp, etc.), as well as Western-style sushi (California rolls, dynamite rolls, avocado rolls, etc.). Most also serve hot food such as tempura (deep fried shrimp and/or veggies), terriaki (salmon, chicken and/or beef plus vegetables and rice), as well as soup. The restaurants range from counter service ($4-$7 per entre) to fine dining ($20-$40 per entre), and a few offer all-you-can-eat options ($10-$15 per person).

 

[boardom]

Thank you for posting all this fantastic info, I'm so excited to do some days in Vancouver before our cruise now. Also thanks to whomever mentioned Westjet - had never heard of them, and the "equivalent" days in 2010 are currently $650pp from EWR to YVR, I will definitely be checking them when it's time to book airfare!

 

[smiley_face2]

Vancouver just got voted by Conde Naste magazine the best Chinese food in the world! Even better than Hong Kong or San Francisco.

 

[Anjelica]

Again - thanks for this VERY informative thread.

I had some time last night to start looking into how we are going to plan our May 31st cruise - husband, myself, DD who will be 7 turning 8 on our trip, DS 4 and my brother who lost his leg in Iraq therefore he uses a wheelchair alot (I bring this up as it adds a little complexity in trying to figure out the best way to get around town, etc. so if anyone has some advice please definetly shoot it my way - I would GREATLY appreciate it).

I think we are going to fly into Seattle the Saturday before our Tuesday cruise and stay a few nights. We are flying from St. Louis and my brother from DC so we figured we would get in a few nights before the trip. I was then thinking about either renting a car to drive from Seattle to Vancouver OR taking Amtrak Cascades (if anyone has experience doing either please let me know your thoughts).

I then am looking at staying the night before the cruise in the Pan Pacific hotel above Canada Pier just to make sure we are there and don't have to rely on transportation the morning/day of to get to the port.

All in all I know we are still over a year away but for me since we have two semi-small children and my brother's handicap to think about its good to get an idea of how we are going to handle, etc.

 

[pillow]

Again - thanks for this VERY informative thread.

I had some time last night to start looking into how we are going to plan our May 31st cruise - husband, myself, DD who will be 7 turning 8 on our trip, DS 4 and my brother who lost his leg in Iraq therefore he uses a wheelchair alot (I bring this up as it adds a little complexity in trying to figure out the best way to get around town, etc. so if anyone has some advice please definetly shoot it my way - I would GREATLY appreciate it).

I think we are going to fly into Seattle the Saturday before our Tuesday cruise and stay a few nights. We are flying from St. Louis and my brother from DC so we figured we would get in a few nights before the trip. I was then thinking about either renting a car to drive from Seattle to Vancouver OR taking Amtrak Cascades (if anyone has experience doing either please let me know your thoughts).

I then am looking at staying the night before the cruise in the Pan Pacific hotel above Canada Pier just to make sure we are there and don't have to rely on transportation the morning/day of to get to the port.

All in all I know we are still over a year away but for me since we have two semi-small children and my brother's handicap to think about its good to get an idea of how we are going to handle, etc.

Hi Angelica. We are planning to fly into Seattle and rent a car as well, but mainly because I want to drive to Whistler for a few nights before the cruise and then to Victoria as well via the ferry. It makes sense to have a car if you're going to travel around a bit beforehand. Just keep in mind that the port charges a lot to keep your car there while cruising ($20 per day I think someone said). Plus your hotel in Vancouver will charge you for parking as well. The car rental thing gets expensive, but its nice to have the flexiblity to go where you want when you want.

I heard the Amtrak trip from Seattle to Vancouver is very nice - beautiful views.

Jodie

 

[mrsmoore]

Again - thanks for this VERY informative thread.

I had some time last night to start looking into how we are going to plan our May 31st cruise - husband, myself, DD who will be 7 turning 8 on our trip, DS 4 and my brother who lost his leg in Iraq therefore he uses a wheelchair alot (I bring this up as it adds a little complexity in trying to figure out the best way to get around town, etc. so if anyone has some advice please definetly shoot it my way - I would GREATLY appreciate it).

I think we are going to fly into Seattle the Saturday before our Tuesday cruise and stay a few nights. We are flying from St. Louis and my brother from DC so we figured we would get in a few nights before the trip. I was then thinking about either renting a car to drive from Seattle to Vancouver OR taking Amtrak Cascades (if anyone has experience doing either please let me know your thoughts).

I then am looking at staying the night before the cruise in the Pan Pacific hotel above Canada Pier just to make sure we are there and don't have to rely on transportation the morning/day of to get to the port.

All in all I know we are still over a year away but for me since we have two semi-small children and my brother's handicap to think about its good to get an idea of how we are going to handle, etc.

We live just outside of Seattle and did the train to Vancouver once, it is a beautiful ride. A lot of it is along the water and just beautiful! I would suggest that, especially if you don't need a car once in Vancouver.