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

[mmmears]

Welcome! We are all over planners and we love it!

So glad to hear I'm not the only one...

 

[tksbaskets]

So glad to hear I'm not the only one...

I'm right there with you!

 

[purplern]

I'm right there with you!

Me too!

 

[goslingl]

Me too!

I am Leisha and am an ODP (obsessive Disney Planner) We are going on the Western DCL in October. I will be in full planning mode for Alaska in Nov. Any research already done would be greatly appreciated. i love the first post with all of the information.

 

[poohj80]

No problem. Went to DL a couple of years ago. Took the Victoria Clipper from Victoria to Seattle. Hadn't looked into any options - as we literally went spur of the moment. So, got a taxi outside the building, lots waiting - it was about $40 from downtown to the airport. It's a nice city - no issues to really worry about. There will most likely be taxis waiting outside the train station and definitely available from the airport.

Thanks for the info! We will be a party of 5 plus luggage so wasn't sure one taxi would be big enough.

 

[purplern]

I am Leisha and am an ODP (obsessive Disney Planner) We are going on the Western DCL in October. I will be in full planning mode for Alaska in Nov. Any research already done would be greatly appreciated. i love the first post with all of the information.

Hi Leisha! I'm Vicki and I just an OP-obsessive planner. But really love to plan Disney!! I'm planning our Oct trip to Disney then nothing but the cruise!!!

 

[goslingl]

Hi Leisha! I'm Vicki and I just an OP-obsessive planner. But really love to plan Disney!! I'm planning our Oct trip to Disney then nothing but the cruise!!!

When are you going to be ther in Oct? Where are you staying? We were there in March and April and had a great time.

 

[purplern]

When are you going to be ther in Oct? Where are you staying? We were there in March and April and had a great time.

We are going Oct-11 thru 17th. We are staying at our home Saratoga Springs

 

[goslingl]

We are going Oct-11 thru 17th. We are staying at our home Saratoga Springs

We stayed at SS in April and loved it. It was the first time we have stayed there. We loved the fact that we could walk to Earl of Sandwich.

We are going on the 10/16 cruise. We are going to downtown Disney on 10/15 to pick up a few things. We will be grandparents in Nov so we have to do baby shopping then.

 

[purplern]

We stayed at SS in April and loved it. It was the first time we have stayed there. We loved the fact that we could walk to Earl of Sandwich.

We are going on the 10/16 cruise. We are going to downtown Disney on 10/15 to pick up a few things. We will be grandparents in Nov so we have to do baby shopping then.

Cool! Nothing better than Disney shopping!!! This will be our first stay "at home" and hopefully we'll get to eat at Earl of sandwich. Never eaten there.

 

[RedSox68]

We're on the 8/23 Alaska Cruise and are also thinking of flying into Seattle and taking the train up to Vancouver. It's not that expensive and the views are supposedly wonderful. Anyone else thinking of doing this?

What's great about taking Southwest to Seattle -- no costs for bags And from the train website, looks like they allow three bags per person.

Anyone done this who thinks it's a bad idea to take the train from Seattle to Vancouver day of cruise?

 

[nemofans]

Okay. I just found this thread today & haven't read past the 1st page yet. I will, but I need some advice.
We are taking a West Carib cruise (our 1st cruise ever) next year. If we like cruising, then we will book another onboard for 2012. For the 2012 cruise, I am thinking of doing the Alaskan cruise.
I understand flying into Seattle is cheaper & SWA flies there direct which we love, then take the train or bus to Vancouver. The train sounds nice, but i'm not sure the 4 hr bus ride will go well w/my kids.
My question is do we want to do all this w/kids? Our boys will be 7 & 3.5 yrs old then. We could stay a few days in Vancouver b4 the cruise to help ease all the traveling, but I don't see us staying extra after the cruise.
What do you think? It's a 4 hr flight to Seattle, then 4 hr drive to Vancouver. Do you break it into 2 days of traveling?
I just started looking into this cruise & I guess I am trying to wrap my head around this.

 

[tanyaewa]

Just an FYI for those flying into other airports like SEA. There are many hotels in the vancouver area that have stay & park rates for cruises/airtravel.
You stay at the hotel for one night (or more) and get a week free parking.

I live in Whistler & do that when we fly out of Vancouver - and will most likely do that when we cruise Van to LA in Sept 2011

http://www.holidayinnvancouverairport.com/specials.aspx

http://www.deltahotels.com/en/hotel...ver-airport/special/bon-voyage-stopover-rate/

 

[goslingl]

Cool! Nothing better than Disney shopping!!! This will be our first stay "at home" and hopefully we'll get to eat at Earl of sandwich. Never eaten there.

It is one of our favorite places.

 

[purplern]

It is one of our favorite places.

 

[goslingl]

Just an FYI for those flying into other airports like SEA. There are many hotels in the vancouver area that have stay & park rates for cruises/airtravel.
You stay at the hotel for one night (or more) and get a week free parking.

I live in Whistler & do that when we fly out of Vancouver - and will most likely do that when we cruise Van to LA in Sept 2011

http://www.holidayinnvancouverairport.com/specials.aspx

http://www.deltahotels.com/en/hotel...ver-airport/special/bon-voyage-stopover-rate/

We do that in FL for the cruises and it works really well. My parents are going to be driving to vancouver from Kentucky so this will be great for them. They are retired and want to see a lot of the country on their way out and back. We are going to decide where to fly into when the flights are posted for next year.

 

[tanyaewa]

It's a 4 hr flight to Seattle, then 4 hr drive to Vancouver. Do you break it into 2 days of traveling?
I just started looking into this cruise & I guess I am trying to wrap my head around this

It would totally depend on the flight times. It's actually mostly a 3hr drive from SeaTac (without evening rushhour traffic) So a days travel is very reasonable unless it was an early or late start to the day

 

[XMom]

We recently took an alaskan cruise. We flew with Air Canada. They do not charge for the first bag per person and had very cool TV/Movie screens in each headrest with free use. It sure made our flight quick. There are many hotels in the Vancouver area and we stayed there for 3 days. You can probably see most of the city in 2 days. It is very walkable...we didn't need a car. Took a few cab rides at night but mostly walked everywhere.

 

[geoffrey]

What's great about taking Southwest to Seattle -- no costs for bags And from the train website, looks like they allow three bags per person.

Anyone done this who thinks it's a bad idea to take the train from Seattle to Vancouver day of cruise?

Right now, you would only have one option. The Cascades leaves Seattle at 7:40am and arrives in Vancouver at 11:40am.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249209330272&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_W32.pdf

It takes a shorter cab ride or a bit of a walk-ride on the sky train-bit more of a walk to get to the cruise terminal.

Might be doable...
Personally, I wouldn't. Would be too much stress for me. I flew into Orlando day of one time, and it was WAAAAY to stressful. But that is just me.

I live in the Seattle area and will be taking an Disney Alaska Cruise next year. I am quite certain that we will go up the night before and get a hotel room. But then again, we really like Vancouver, so who knows, we may go up a few days early and extend the vacation

 

[poohj80]

Right now, you would only have one option. The Cascades leaves Seattle at 7:40am and arrives in Vancouver at 11:40am.

Might be doable...
Personally, I wouldn't. Would be too much stress for me. I flew into Orlando day of one time, and it was WAAAAY to stressful. But that is just me.

Just wondering what you anticipate may go wrong taking the train? To me, it looks like arriving in Vancouver around 11:40 AM gives plenty of time to get to the port. I know we have flown into Orlando arriving later than 11:40 and traveled to Port Canaveral without any issues.