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

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

OK, part of me wanted to be the 1000 post on this thread

The other part is wondering if I should change my reservation from the Pacific Rim to the Waterfront....

My brain is spinning!!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I still can't figure out how dcl is charging $19 to go across a street??? Lmao. I think someone has set that up without knowing the distance!!!! Pacific rim is really new and 5*! I would stay there!

 

[docbrown]

I just booked a Hertz rental car from Seattle Tacoma Airport to Vancouver Canada Place pier. We'll be staying three days in Seattle and driving to Vancouver on the morning of the cruise. It's pretty expensive (about $430), but Hertz allows drop-offs at Canada Place. Hertz doesn't have an office there, but apparently will support drop-offs. Has anyone here ever done that?

For the return trip, we need to get back to Seattle for a flight out the next morning. I'm thinking Amtrak, but the morning train leaves too early (like 6:30 am), and the late train gets in pretty late (like 10:30 pm). But all the mid-day options seem to be bus routes and I'd rather take the train. What's the best way to get around Vancouver for a few hours and then to the Amtrak station for an evening train... at reasonable cost?

One way car rental are really really expensive. We rented the car for 2 weeks from Seattle Tacoma Airport for $366, taxes incl., add to that $120-170 for the parking right at Canada place for the week of the cruise and it came out cheaper that the one way Amtrak for our family of 4. Plus we will have the car before and after the cruise.

 

[LocustPoint]

Hey! We are in Havre de Grace! Funny to see other Baltimore-ans heading to the great NorthWest!

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip, including the trip out there from BWI!!

PS, what has airfare been running for you? What are you flying out and are you going to Seattle or Vancouver??

We are flying out of BWI using United and flying into Vancouver. We decided to fly directly into Vancouver for the convenience factor. As for the cost we are adding on a trip to Disneyland so our airfare cost won't help you a bit. I was satisfied with the cost and thought it was reasonable.

 

[PPFQP]

I still can't figure out how dcl is charging $19 to go across a street??? Lmao. I think someone has set that up without knowing the distance!!!! Pacific rim is really new and 5*! I would stay there!

The charge is probably more for the transporting of the luggage than the people.

 

[richmo]

One way car rental are really really expensive. We rented the car for 2 weeks from Seattle Tacoma Airport for $366, taxes incl., add to that $120-170 for the parking right at Canada place for the week of the cruise and it came out cheaper that the one way Amtrak for our family of 4. Plus we will have the car before and after the cruise.

That's what I found too. Renting the car for the whole time at SEA and adding parking in Vancouver is much less expensive than two one way rentals, although I'll keep poking around as we get closer to see if that changes. Just to add a comment from a few weeks ago, parking is available at YVR airport for quite a bit less than around Canada Place...there's coupons for parking at YVR on the official website (www.yvr.ca). Of course, at least one person would have to get to/from Canada Place from YVR, but that's pretty easy with SkyTrain.

 

[bigAWL]

One way car rental are really really expensive. We rented the car for 2 weeks from Seattle Tacoma Airport for $366, taxes incl., add to that $120-170 for the parking right at Canada place for the week of the cruise and it came out cheaper that the one way Amtrak for our family of 4. Plus we will have the car before and after the cruise.

I'd love to have the car both ways. But I just looked at rates for doing that, and for the car I reserved (mid-size SUV), I can't find anything under $800. I could get a full-size car on Hotwire for $480 which is a great deal, but I'm not going to be able to get all our cruise luggage into a full-size car with 5 people.

 

[richmo]

I'd love to have the car both ways. But I just looked at rates for doing that, and for the car I reserved (mid-size SUV), I can't find anything under $800. I could get a full-size car on Hotwire for $480 which is a great deal, but I'm not going to be able to get all our cruise luggage into a full-size car with 5 people.

Car rentals are expensive. Right now I'm at $330 base/$502 total for 12 days at SEA for a standard (that's with Alamo and a Costco discount). I think I booked it back in January, and rates have gone up since then. I do expect once we get inside a month to go (our cruise is late July), the rates should go down..at least I hope so. Of course, minivans are considerably higher...but sometimes I see Alamo and others have minivan specials for $199 a week. However, we're too far out for that.

If you're committed to a rental, I'd go ahead and reserve something, but don't go for a prepaid or anything like that. I'm thinking you'll see some discounts in late May or early June, but its better to have something reserved, just in case that doesn't happen.

 

[docbrown]

That's what I found too. Renting the car for the whole time at SEA and adding parking in Vancouver is much less expensive than two one way rentals, although I'll keep poking around as we get closer to see if that changes. Just to add a comment from a few weeks ago, parking is available at YVR airport for quite a bit less than around Canada Place...there's coupons for parking at YVR on the official website (www.yvr.ca). Of course, at least one person would have to get to/from Canada Place from YVR, but that's pretty easy with SkyTrain.

"although I'll keep poking around" is the executive word here
I had a first rental for $410 and checked it every 2 weeks, recently it went down to $366, I rebooked it and cancelled the original one.

 

[plutojudy]

Need tips from the Vancouver people. We will be in Vancouver (in July) for half of Sunday and all of Monday. We will have a car. What are the "must do/see" things and "don't miss" places to eat? No kids, just two adults. Thanks!!!!

 

[philnphyl]

Sorry if this has been posted before - but where do we rent a car getting off the boat in Vancouver? Is there a place nearby? Thank you!

 

[jlwhitney]

Alamo and National both have locations at Pan Pacific and at Canada Place

 

[cwdefouw]

You can also do Avis. They are supposed to have a shuttle from Canada Place to their Hormby St. location, downtown. You would need to configure your rental to pickup from that location.

 

[philnphyl]

How easy is it to get to the airport from Canada Place? Can we easily take the sky train with all of our luggage and two kids?

 

[richmo]

"although I'll keep poking around" is the executive word here

Absolutely, by "poking around", I mean checking right up to the day of departure.

 

[hockeymom944]

Sorry if this has been posted before - but where do we rent a car getting off the boat in Vancouver? Is there a place nearby? Thank you!

We ending up renting a car from Budget located on W. Georgia. It is a little less than a mile from the pier and they will pick us up. They were about $40 cheaper for a three day rental then anyone else.

 

[tanyaewa]

If you use one of the YVR airport hotels to stay overnight before your cruise, many have *Park & Cruise* or *Park & Fly* rates. The cost of stay & parking can often be the same as just longterm parkin at the airport. We always stay overnight at the Delta Airport Inn and park for up to 2 weeks free wth our overnight stay. A shuttle drops us and picks up at airport for seemless, price concious travel.

Our cruise leaves Vancouver on Sept 20 and then we fly back into YVR on Sept 29- after 5 day repo & 4 nights at DL! We will take cab to Cruise ship and shuttle back to our car after flight - def the best option considering my 45 years of local info

 

[BlackFrank]

How easy is it to get to the airport from Canada Place? Can we easily take the sky train with all of our luggage and two kids?

Yes. There's a SkyTrain terminal essentially at Canada Place (Waterfront). You can catch a SkyTrain directly to the airport from there. If possible, try to avoid the morning/afternoon rush hours (7-10 AM, 3-6 PM), as the Skytrain can get quite crowded.

 

[DenverVal]

We are arriving several days before our cruise in June, and were planning on visiting Grouse Mountain. My family would like to zipline and DH keep making noise about hang gliding, and both are offered there. I was wondering if it's advisable to reserve our spots ahead of time, or are they available if I show up that day? I was hoping someone local to Vancouver might know. Thanks!

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

Pacific rim is really new and 5*! I would stay there!

We are booked at the Fairmont Pacific Rim! We used the American Express New Hotels Program offer to get our 3rd night free! We even splurged and booked a Fairmont Gold room (concierge level). With the 3rd night free it's about the same price as our original club level ressie at Pan Pacific (which we've now cancelled).

So if you have an AmEx card, you might want to check this out if you are gonna be in Vancouver at least 3 nights:

http://www.amexnewhotels.com/canada_fairmont_pacific_rim.php