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

[Anjelica]

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

For car rentals is there any in particular or restrictions with driving across border? I have not driven across Canadian border before - only flown.

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.

We won't need a car in Vancouver since we are only staying the night before. I was concerned about getting around Seattle from Airport to Hotel then Hotel to Amtrak station. How is public transporation, taxis, etc. in Seattle? We would be flying into SeaTac then most likely staying in Downtown Seattle for the two nights then if taking the Amtrak Cascades we would leave the Monday morning before the cruise (I know its a 740AM train so we want to make sure we get there on time).

 

[mrsmoore]

For car rentals is there any in particular or restrictions with driving across border? I have not driven across Canadian border before - only flown.



We won't need a car in Vancouver since we are only staying the night before. I was concerned about getting around Seattle from Airport to Hotel then Hotel to Amtrak station. How is public transporation, taxis, etc. in Seattle? We would be flying into SeaTac then most likely staying in Downtown Seattle for the two nights then if taking the Amtrak Cascades we would leave the Monday morning before the cruise (I know its a 740AM train so we want to make sure we get there on time).

http://shuttleexpress.com/default.aspx

Shuttle Express is a pretty good company, I have never used them, but they are the primary shuttle company in Seattle. I don't know a whole lot about taxi service in Seattle. You said you had someone with you in a wheel chair? That might not be great for the light rail, but they just opened the leg to the airport. The local news channel said there is a short walk from the light rail to the terminals, but it takes it right down to downtown. Here is the link to Sound Transit:
http://www.soundtransit.org/



On the rental car issue, I will share an experience I had. I got sick while in Vancouver, and we needed to drive home instead of taking Amtrak back. To rent the car in Canada and drop it off in the US, there was a $200 or $300 fee. That was the same as what it cost to have a town car take us home.

 

[smeecanada]

We won't need a car in Vancouver since we are only staying the night before. I was concerned about getting around Seattle from Airport to Hotel then Hotel to Amtrak station. How is public transporation, taxis, etc. in Seattle? We would be flying into SeaTac then most likely staying in Downtown Seattle for the two nights then if taking the Amtrak Cascades we would leave the Monday morning before the cruise (I know its a 740AM train so we want to make sure we get there on time).

Taxi from the airport to downtown is roughly $30 - $40US. Some hotels have shuttles, but not sure if that applies to Downtown ones.

 

[smeecanada]

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.
Jodie

Another option you might want to think about Jodie. Is to take the Victoria Clipper from downtown Seattle to downtown Victoria. It takes about 2 1/2 hours. Then you can rent a car in Victoria and drop it off in Vancouver. A drop fee will most likely apply. From Victoria you could drive up the island a bit (1 1/2 hour drive without stopping) to Nanaimo and take the ferry from there across to Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver, then head up to Whistler. Saves you driving thru downtown Vancouver, but you'll miss the beautiful ferry ride thru the Gulf Islands.

 

[Anjelica]

Thanks everyone for their suggestions and help. This definetly gives me some ideas on how to handle our trip up there. I'm sure these won't be my last questions. I really do appreciate all the help from folks who have been there, etc.

 

[hockeymom944]

[QUOTE="Got Disney";33778148]Same here....the flight prices are and I live in SanDiego.....for each of us to fly it is $550 and look how close we are. Not just that but it will take us 6 hrs to get there. When on a one way that is like way so much more 2.5 hrs.

It is cheaper fro us to fly to Florida or N.J not to mention cheaper....$350 with a flight time of 6hr 40 minutes to fly to Florida....go figure

Heres to hoping for a price war[/QUOTE]

I am surprised that airfare from San Diego is that much. We are going on the one way cruise to Vancouver in April 2011, so I only need to fly home. We will fly from Vancouver into Ontario, CA. It will probably cost $600 for four of us. (I am keeping my fingers crossed that airfare rates don't get out of control before now and then!)

 

[smb6]

Wow! This is great information! I'm so glad I found this! I have a couple of questions that I hope you can help me with.....

1- Can I rent a vehicle at the Vancouver airport and drop it off at the cruise port (Canada Place)? This would be ideal as we plan to fly up the Sunday night before the cruise leaves Tuesday.

2- We were planning to fly to Vancouver, but after reading all this information I'm realizing Seattle would definately be cheaper. But would it really be worth the hassle? And would we still need passports if we fly into Seattle and take a bus to Vancouver rather than fly directly into Vancouver? (I know we need them to fly into Canada for sure)

Thanks in advance!

 

[jilljill]

Wow! This is great information! I'm so glad I found this! I have a couple of questions that I hope you can help me with.....

1- Can I rent a vehicle at the Vancouver airport and drop it off at the cruise port (Canada Place)? This would be ideal as we plan to fly up the Sunday night before the cruise leaves Tuesday.

2- We were planning to fly to Vancouver, but after reading all this information I'm realizing Seattle would definately be cheaper. But would it really be worth the hassle? And would we still need passports if we fly into Seattle and take a bus to Vancouver rather than fly directly into Vancouver? (I know we need them to fly into Canada for sure)

Thanks in advance!

You will still need a passport if you fly to Seattle and drive up to Vancouver since you will need the passport to cruise with.

 

[smeecanada]

Wow! This is great information! I'm so glad I found this! I have a couple of questions that I hope you can help me with.....

1- Can I rent a vehicle at the Vancouver airport and drop it off at the cruise port (Canada Place)? This would be ideal as we plan to fly up the Sunday night before the cruise leaves Tuesday.

2- We were planning to fly to Vancouver, but after reading all this information I'm realizing Seattle would definately be cheaper. But would it really be worth the hassle? And would we still need passports if we fly into Seattle and take a bus to Vancouver rather than fly directly into Vancouver? (I know we need them to fly into Canada for sure)

Thanks in advance!

You need a passport no matter which way you go now, to get into Canada and also onto the Wonder.

Should be no problem dropping a car off in downtown Vancouver somewhere. There is no car rental right at the cruise terminal that I'm aware of - could be wrong. Maybe someone who has done it before can chime in. We've never needed a rental car in Vancouver, so not sure all the ins and outs - other than you'll definitely be able to drop a car in downtown Vancouver from the airport.

Think about what you want to do in Vancouver on Monday - you might not need a vehicle. The new light rail is very quick and efficient.

 

[Rachael Q]

Several people have asked about renting cars in Seattle and driving to Vancouver. Please note that many of the car rental companies will not let you take their cars across the border. Those that do will add a one way drop off fee of $300 to $500. So you will need to factor this into your airfare. Yes it's much cheaper to fly to Seattle or Bellingham, but the difficulties with the rental car, might make Vancouver a better choice.

Rather than a rental car, I would use Amtrak, Quickshuttle or Greyhound.

 

[smb6]

Several people have asked about renting cars in Seattle and driving to Vancouver. Please note that many of the car rental companies will not let you take their cars across the border. Those that do will add a one way drop off fee of $300 to $500. So you will need to factor this into your airfare. Yes it's much cheaper to fly to Seattle or Bellingham, but the difficulties with the rental car, might make Vancouver a better choice.

Rather than a rental car, I would use Amtrak, Quickshuttle or Greyhound.

Thanks. I was only talking about renting the car if we fly into Vancouver. This whole time I'd been planning to fly into Vancouver until reading this thread. I think I'm going to stick with my initial plan, I'm worried the inconvenience will be too great for us - especially coming back home.
But because we are planning to fly in Sunday night, I was hoping to rent a van and was hoping the port would have a rental drop off; but it doesn't sound like that's the case.
I guess we will rent the van and one adult will have to drop us off at the port w/ luggage and then drive back to airport to turn in van and take taxi to port. And then I guess we could either take van taxi or Disney transport after the cruise is over. Does this sound like the best/easiest/cost effecient plan??

 

[2bundles]

Most of the car rental companies have city drop off points. You could drop one of your party with bags at the port, then drop the vehicle off. Thrifty definately has an office within a couple of blocks of Canada Place. Not sure about the others. Generally there is no one way charge given it is the same city.

 

[smeecanada]

But because we are planning to fly in Sunday night, I was hoping to rent a van and was hoping the port would have a rental drop off; but it doesn't sound like that's the case.
I guess we will rent the van and one adult will have to drop us off at the port w/ luggage and then drive back to airport to turn in van and take taxi to port. And then I guess we could either take van taxi or Disney transport after the cruise is over. Does this sound like the best/easiest/cost effecient plan??

The cruise port is basically right in downtown Vancouver. It's in a well built up area. There will be drop off points in downtown Vancouver, no need to go all the way back to the airport. I'll have a bit of a look around and see what I can find with the major rental companies and report back.

 

[smeecanada]

Found this while trying to find about car rental locations.

Great map of where the hotels are in downtown Vancouver. The cruise terminal is where #1 is. That is if we are leaving from Canada Place. There is a chance we might leave from Ballantyne Pier.

http://www.blockwalk.com/vancouver/hotels/ Click on Downtown Vancouver Map - in the text in the center.

 

[BLTOH]

anyone know approximately how long of a drive it is from Seattle (downtown) to Vancouver (Canada Place)? also if we was to leave like early hours (5-6am) for canada how is the border crossing at the early hours of the day? would be a week day.

also what kind of time frame is it from Blaine,Wa to Vancouver?

 

[GrtWtNorth]

anyone know approximately how long of a drive it is from Seattle (downtown) to Vancouver (Canada Place)? also if we was to leave like early hours (5-6am) for canada how is the border crossing at the early hours of the day? would be a week day.

also what kind of time frame is it from Blaine,Wa to Vancouver?

While the drive time should be only 2.5 hours, you have to allow contingency times:
* up to 30 minutes to navigate through any traffic or accidents in Seattle. If you had to leave later, I'd double this contingency to 60 minutes.
* up to 60 minutes at the border. (Double that for weekends.) Leaving at 5:00 am, you're still arriving at 7:00 am and typical weekday traffic is flowing across the border. Random car searches easily add 30 minutes to the process.
* up to 60 minutes to navigate Vancouver traffic and accidents. Morning rush hour is typically 7:00 to 9:30. But mid-day traffic in and out of downtown is still significant.

In other words, under typical driving conditions your journey could take anywhere from 2.5 to 5.0 hours.

From Blaine to downtown Vancouver, drive time is approximately 45 minutes. But you can never predict how messed up Vancouver traffic can be. Give yourself plenty of time to get here safely.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Old Spaghetti Factory in the Gastown tourist district, 53 Water Street
(While the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant in Gastown is the original, the brand has been successfully copied and applied to a dozen other restaurants, including one in Whistler.)

This family-friendly pasta restaurants is excellent for tourists and locals. The prices are competitive and include bread, soup or salad, ice cream, and coffee or tea (milk or pop for kids). The food is hot, fresh and fast. They are very good at serving large crowds.

The restaurants are tastefully themed with antiques and artifacts. No tacky Italian stereotypes here.

 

[cindy18]

Several people have asked about renting cars in Seattle and driving to Vancouver. Please note that many of the car rental companies will not let you take their cars across the border. Those that do will add a one way drop off fee of $300 to $500. So you will need to factor this into your airfare. Yes it's much cheaper to fly to Seattle or Bellingham, but the difficulties with the rental car, might make Vancouver a better choice.

Rather than a rental car, I would use Amtrak, Quickshuttle or Greyhound.

This post made me anxious since we are planning to drive up from Portland, so I went onto Hertz's website and checked out prices for a one-day, one-way rental from Portland to Vancouver. I didn't see a surcharge for crossing the border. It's not really cheap, but for an SUV the one-day charge was about $140, which I think we'll probably do. Of course I tested it for this August rather than next August, and I guess things could change, but for right now, that looks like our plan.

 

[smeecanada]

This post made me anxious since we are planning to drive up from Portland, so I went onto Hertz's website and checked out prices for a one-day, one-way rental from Portland to Vancouver. I didn't see a surcharge for crossing the border. It's not really cheap, but for an SUV the one-day charge was about $140, which I think we'll probably do. Of course I tested it for this August rather than next August, and I guess things could change, but for right now, that looks like our plan.

Not saying you are wrong, but I'd go back and double check that you inputted Vancouver, BC and not WA. It was a common mistake when people were booking hotels for the Olympics. The other Vancouver is just across the river from Portland.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Now that I'm home from the EBTA it's time to start the LA-Vancouver repo/1st Alaska planning.

Here's my first (and I'm serious here) question:

Do you think we will be able to exit the ship from the repo and go get a Japadog? We have several people interested in this non-DCL excursion!

.