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

[GrtWtNorth]

If I read the SkyTrain website correctly, it says - After 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and all day Saturday, Sunday and Holidays, discount fares apply and purchasing a one-zone ticket will allow you to travel through all zones. So since we're flying into Vancouver on a Sunday and leaving on Labor Day, we only have to pay for 1 zone, correct?

So for 2 adults and 1 child, it would cost 22.25 from Airport to Waterfront Station and 10.75 from Waterfront Station back to the Airport if I paid per ticket. If I buy a booklet of 10, it would just cost me 21.00, correct?

I think I'm overthinking this and confusing myself.

Thanks!

A book of 10 faresaver tickets is $21.
But there's a flaw in your math for the cash price of tickets purchased at waterfront station.

From waterfront to airport on Sunday:
$2.75 + $2.75 + $1.75 = $7.25 (not $10.75)


From airport to waterfront on Labour Day:
$2.75 + $5 + $2.75 + $5 + $1.75 + $5 = $22.25 (your math was correct)

Even if you were traveling on normal weekdays, using 1-zone faresaver tickets and paying a "add zone" add-fare (at any ticket vending machine in any station) would be better financially than any option where you have to pay the $5 per person airport surcharge.

We are all going to miss those faresaver tickets when they go away (date TBD).

 

[GrtWtNorth]

News today: Vancouver bars and restaurants can finally offer "happy hour" drink specials. But minimum drink prices limit discount potential.
http://www.theprovince.com/touch/story.html?id=9959709

 

[dismiss]

Has anyone stayed or heard about this hotel. It is in Richmond near the
Airport.Trip Advisor has Good and Not so Good ratings.
Anybody have any opinions. Right now I have a 2 bedroom Condo Apartment booked for around $200 a night plus tax
Thanks for any info

 

[Tenkawa]

Has anyone stayed or heard about this hotel. It is in Richmond near the
Airport.Trip Advisor has Good and Not so Good ratings.
Anybody have any opinions. Right now I have a 2 bedroom Condo Apartment booked for around $200 a night plus tax
Thanks for any info

Yes, I've dealt with Executive hotels before.

It is well kept and a nice hotel. It is designed mainly around the business traveller rather than a family, so not a ton of frills, but it is a nice hotel.

 

[sunryzez]

Just an FYI, the PanPacific finally opened up their booking window for next June. Prices were higher then I was expecting but I still booked with them. With my aaa discount it came out to 237.00 a night (usd) with taxes and fees 553.00 for 2 nights. As it gets closer I might do some more research to see if there is anything better at a different hotel ( especially since there is 6 of us so we needed to rooms) which came up to 1100.00 for a two night stay. But, I have heard so many great things about Pan Pacific I will probably just splurge and hopefully all the rave reviews are true =)

 

[wallawallakids]

Has anyone stayed at the L' Hermitage? Thoughts on it? Thank you!

 

[SG101]

Just got back from Vancouver....4 of us stayed at Hyatt Regency...got it for $143 per night off Hotwire. Rooms weren't ready in the morning when we arrived so they held our bags, and we grabbed lunch down the street. Free wifi in the lobby and the starbucks which is in the hotel. McDonalds is right next door --- easy for breakfast with 2 kids.

Since it was a clear day, we hauled all 4 of us with 4 rolling bags down to the Terminal...easy walk with comfortable shoes and a 7 and 10 year old. If I had little ones or with yucky weather, we would have grabbed a cab ($10 at the most one way).

We signed up on the ship for the Vancouver Excursion (there is a minimum of 30....so we had to be on the waitlist until they filled the minimum, then Disney issued tickets and with tags to get off the boat first). It was a chartered bus that held all of our luggage, it took us around the city, then to Stanley Park (very short stay -- 20 min at the most), and then headed to Capilano Suspension Bridge (the price includes admission to the Bridge). We only had 1.5 hours, and I wish we had more time because I loved it and it was really relaxing and calm there --- even with all the tourists. We were at the YVR (Vancouver) airport before 1:30pm and easily made our 4:15pm flight back home. We had just enough time to grab some food and drinks.

 

[peachygreen]

We had a wonderful time in Vancouver precruise.

We flew into Seattle and rented a minivan from Alamo. There were 6 of us luggage and a wheelchair and we made it easily to Vancouver. It took 20-30 minutes to cross the border but other than that there were no problems and we were in no rush.

We stayed at the Pan Pacific. It was a nice hotel and very convenient.

If anyone is interested I ran from the Pan Pacific to Stanley Park and around the seawall and back. It is a beautiful and safe run of about 9-1/4 miles. Its a great way to do some sightseeing and get a good long run in.

After my run we returned the minivan to the Alamo at the Sandman hotel and walked back to the Pan Pacific.

We then took the Big Bus Hop on Hop Off tour stopping at the Aquarium in Stanley Park.

Lovely day. I wish we had longer to spend in Vancouver.

 

[wallawallakids]

We had a wonderful time in Vancouver precruise.

We flew into Seattle and rented a minivan from Alamo. There were 6 of us luggage and a wheelchair and we made it easily to Vancouver. It took 20-30 minutes to cross the border but other than that there were no problems and we were in no rush.

We stayed at the Pan Pacific. It was a nice hotel and very convenient.

If anyone is interested I ran from the Pan Pacific to Stanley Park and around the seawall and back. It is a beautiful and safe run of about 9-1/4 miles. Its a great way to do some sightseeing and get a good long run in.

Thank you for this information. Both on the rental car and the run. Did you have any issues with the rental? Getting it from Seattle and then returning it in Canada? Did you rent again on departure?

If you do not mind me asking, about how much was the rental for the van? There are 6 of us as well and I am trying to determine the most cost effective way for us to get from Maine to Vancouver BC and flying into Seattle or Portland OR may be the best option plus driving up. Thank you!!

 

[richmo]

..If you do not mind me asking, about how much was the rental for the van? There are 6 of us as well and I am trying to determine the most cost effective way for us to get from Maine to Vancouver BC and flying into Seattle or Portland OR may be the best option plus driving up. Thank you!!

These are some of the same issues we dealt with when we came from the east coast (PHL) to Vancouver 3 years ago. My findings at the time were:
- Although less convenient, it was much less expensive flying into Seattle than Vancouver.
- We explored the possibility of flying into Seattle, then taking Amtrak to Vancouver. The cost wasn't bad, but as I remember, the timing of the train wasn't too our liking. I imagine the schedules may be different now.
- We wound up renting a car from Alamo for the entire trip (Seattle to Seattle), meaning we had to park it in Vancouver during the cruise. This was still less expensive than two one way rentals or the train one way and car the other. The other nice benefit of having the car the entire time was that we spent a few days prior to the cruise in Seattle and Whistler, so stuff we didn't need to bring onboard (like laundry) we could just leave in the trunk of the car.
- The above point brings up parking. Parking near the port can be quite expensive, so we drove the car to the airport. The airport often has discounted parking coupons (www.yvr.com)...I just looked and there's one now for $54/week plus taxes. Pretty inexpensive. Then you can just take the SkyTrain from the airport to a short walk from the port. If you wanted to save even more $, you could drop the family and luggage at the port, drive to the airport and SkyTrain back and meet the family at the port. (SkyTrain is fun for the kids though!). I should point out that the walk from the SkyTrain station to the port is about 5 minutes...an easy walk on a nice day, but it would be best if your luggage is easily mobile (on wheels).

 

[wallawallakids]

These are some of the same issues we dealt with when we came from the east coast (PHL) to Vancouver 3 years ago. My findings at the time were:
- Although less convenient, it was much less expensive flying into Seattle than Vancouver.
- We explored the possibility of flying into Seattle, then taking Amtrak to Vancouver. The cost wasn't bad, but as I remember, the timing of the train wasn't too our liking. I imagine the schedules may be different now.
- We wound up renting a car from Alamo for the entire trip (Seattle to Seattle), meaning we had to park it in Vancouver during the cruise. This was still less expensive than two one way rentals or the train one way and car the other. The other nice benefit of having the car the entire time was that we spent a few days prior to the cruise in Seattle and Whistler, so stuff we didn't need to bring onboard (like laundry) we could just leave in the trunk of the car.
- The above point brings up parking. Parking near the port can be quite expensive, so we drove the car to the airport. The airport often has discounted parking coupons (www.yvr.com)...I just looked and there's one now for $54/week plus taxes. Pretty inexpensive. Then you can just take the SkyTrain from the airport to a short walk from the port. If you wanted to save even more $, you could drop the family and luggage at the port, drive to the airport and SkyTrain back and meet the family at the port. (SkyTrain is fun for the kids though!). I should point out that the walk from the SkyTrain station to the port is about 5 minutes...an easy walk on a nice day, but it would be best if your luggage is easily mobile (on wheels).

Thank you so much! This is such helpful information. Thanks!

 

[ahain]

I'm certain this has been posted many times, but I've not been able to locate the info. We will fly out early Tuesday morning after the cruise. What hotel do you recommend staying at that is either AT or VERY near YVR? Many thanks!

 

[LKFan]

oops

 

[Tenkawa]

I'm certain this has been posted many times, but I've not been able to locate the info. We will fly out early Tuesday morning after the cruise. What hotel do you recommend staying at that is either AT or VERY near YVR? Many thanks!

Well I'd recommend starting here: http://www.yvr.ca. It is one of the best airport web sites out there. The Fairmont Vancouver Airport is the only hotel directly attached to the airport, and is very nice (and commensurately expensive).

There are courtesy shuttles from many hotels in Richmond, found here: http://yvr.ca/en/getting-to-from-yvr/courtesy-shuttles.aspx at a lot of different price points.

The airport also happens to be on a Rapid Transit line (Canada Line), so downtown hotels are very doable if you don't have tons and tons of luggage. The first train to the airport leaves downtown at 4:48am (and takes about 20min). More information here: http://www.translink.ca

 

[peachygreen]

We rented from Alamo from Seattle to Vancouver and Avis from Vancouver to Seattle.

The price for the minivan was $195 from Seattle to Vancouver and $235 from Vancouver to Seattle. Gas was less than $100 each way. (both prices are in USD)

We returned the car to the Sandman Hotel in downtown (about 3/4 of a mile from Canada Place). We rented from the Cruise Terminal on the way back. They had a shuttle to take us to the office where we got the car. Avis gave us a 12 Passenger Van on the way back for the price of a minivan because they needed to move it to Seattle. So we had much more room on the way back.

The only problem we ran into was that I rented the vans and my dad wanted to pay. They kept the car in my name until we returned. The only issue was switching cards and that was my dad's CC company because he forgot to tell them he was going to Canada.

Otherwise it was very easy to do.

I have a lot of Southwest rewards points so my husband, girls and I flew to Seattle for free and my parents tickets were about $500 less total for the 2 of them to Seattle instead of Vancouver. We definately made up the travel cost difference by flying in to Seattle even adding an extra hotel night in Seattle.

We could have taken the QuickShuttle for about the same price but this gave us the flexibility to stop for potty and food breaks when we wanted to. The train's schedule was definately not convienent and would have added more travel time to our schedule.

 

[SG101]

Thank you for this information. Both on the rental car and the run. Did you have any issues with the rental? Getting it from Seattle and then returning it in Canada? Did you rent again on departure?

If you do not mind me asking, about how much was the rental for the van? There are 6 of us as well and I am trying to determine the most cost effective way for us to get from Maine to Vancouver BC and flying into Seattle or Portland OR may be the best option plus driving up. Thank you!!

We flew into Seattle, stayed the night, and took the AMTRAK from Seattle to Vancouver. They offer buy an adult, get a child half off, plus AAA discount on top of that. I think we spent less than $100 for all 4 of us one way. We did however fly back from Vancouver because I couldn't stand the thought of doing the QuickShuttle and the possibility of getting stuck at the border --- I am a very impatient person when traveling back home. I spent $315 in airfare per person to and from LAX --- not bad in my opinion.

 

[for my family]

We rented from Alamo from Seattle to Vancouver and Avis from Vancouver to Seattle.

The price for the minivan was $195 from Seattle to Vancouver and $235 from Vancouver to Seattle. Gas was less than $100 each way. (both prices are in USD)

We returned the car to the Sandman Hotel in downtown (about 3/4 of a mile from Canada Place). We rented from the Cruise Terminal on the way back. They had a shuttle to take us to the office where we got the car. Avis gave us a 12 Passenger Van on the way back for the price of a minivan because they needed to move it to Seattle. So we had much more room on the way back.

.

We did something very similar, except we rented from National both ways. Our prices were approximately $140 from Seattle to Vancouver and $100 from Vancouver to Seattle. Gas each way was approximately $40. We renterd minivans, but they gave us a Yukon in Vancouver. It was about the size of our ship.

Picking up our car at Canada Place on the return trip was a pain. I think the people working the National counter were very new.

The drive between both cities is very easy, although we did have a bit of a wait coming back into the US.

 

[scrapycruiser]

Can anyone recommend a good restaurant near Canada Place for families ?
Also, other than Fly Canada, what's there to do at night ?

 

[richmo]

...
The price for the minivan was $195 from Seattle to Vancouver and $235 from Vancouver to Seattle. Gas was less than $100 each way. (both prices are in USD)

I would hope gas was < $100 each way! It's only 150 miles or so.

...The only problem we ran into was that I rented the vans and my dad wanted to pay. They kept the car in my name until we returned. The only issue was switching cards and that was my dad's CC company because he forgot to tell them he was going to Canada.

Which brings up a minor thing that has probably been covered several times in this thread, but there's 170+ pages at this point. Be aware that when you use a credit card in Canada, it is considered an international transaction. Most, but not all, credit cards have some kind of fee for international transactions. I think most are around two or three percent, but some may have a fixed charge for smaller amounts. If you are staying in hotels, renting cars, buying gas,etc., from locations in Canada, that surcharge can add up. If you have sufficient time before you leave, you might want to acquire a credit card that doesn't charge the fee...they do exist. (And a comment on gas: if things haven't changed since I was there, gas in Washington is significantly less expensive than British Columbia)

Also be careful with ATM's. Your financial institution may well have a surcharge for cash obtained in a foreign country.

 

[wallawallakids]

I would hope gas was < $100 each way! It's only 150 miles or so.



Which brings up a minor thing that has probably been covered several times in this thread, but there's 170+ pages at this point. Be aware that when you use a credit card in Canada, it is considered an international transaction. Most, but not all, credit cards have some kind of fee for international transactions. I think most are around two or three percent, but some may have a fixed charge for smaller amounts. If you are staying in hotels, renting cars, buying gas,etc., from locations in Canada, that surcharge can add up. If you have sufficient time before you leave, you might want to acquire a credit card that doesn't charge the fee...they do exist. (And a comment on gas: if things haven't changed since I was there, gas in Washington is significantly less expensive than British Columbia)

Also be careful with ATM's. Your financial institution may well have a surcharge for cash obtained in a foreign country.

Thank you for this tip. Does anyone know how you can find a card that does not charge a fee? Do I call the cards I have. I mostly use AMX but I do remember them charging us a fee on our cruise when we purchased something in Cozumel.