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

[cryssi]

We are hoping to get early dining, so I know that if we do, our breakfast will be at like 6 or something and we will probably be off the boat by 7:45

 

[smeecanada]

Ok, well, we have a 1:30 flight, so we'll just plan to have breakfast at Topsiders and plan to leave as early as we can.

Your major areas of concern will be whether the ship is cleared on time, and security / customs at the airport. Traffic should be okay as you are heading out of town.

 

[Ginamarie]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone think that a 1:15 flight out vancouver a good idea?

You should be fine. I called DCL about this issue and they said anything after 12 pm is feasible. Our flight is right around noon and I'm not concerned.

 

[ClaireinTN]

Officially booked today for a cruise in MAY!! Feeling overwhelmed with all that has to be arranged . . . My current plan for getting us all (two adults, four teens) from here to the ship is:

1. Flight to Seattle on Sunday before the cruise. About $250 per person cheaper than into vancouver.

2. Rent a van at the Seattle airport.

3. Spend Sunday (and maybe Monday?) night in Seattle. Flights arrive late into Seattle, so I am thinking we might want to sleep in Monday, do a little sight-seeing, spend the night in the same hotel Monday night, and then drive up to Vancouver on Tuesday (the day of the cruise). Is this a bad idea? Mapquest says the drive is 3 hrs 8 mins / 141.19 miles via I-5 N. We have never sailed Disney before but I do not think we will need to be one of those people waiting to get on the boat at the first possible moment . . . Or will we? If we arrive at the ship around 2 pm, what will we be missing?

4. Post-cruise we plan to spend 3 days in Vancouver, then drive back to Seattle for the flight home.

I would really appreciate any comments or feedback, especially pointing out where my plan is likely to go awry. Thanks!

Claire

 

[smb6]

Officially booked today for a cruise in MAY!! Feeling overwhelmed with all that has to be arranged . . . My current plan for getting us all (two adults, four teens) from here to the ship is:

1. Flight to Seattle on Sunday before the cruise. About $250 per person cheaper than into vancouver.

2. Rent a van at the Seattle airport.

3. Spend Sunday (and maybe Monday?) night in Seattle. Flights arrive late into Seattle, so I am thinking we might want to sleep in Monday, do a little sight-seeing, spend the night in the same hotel Monday night, and then drive up to Vancouver on Tuesday (the day of the cruise). Is this a bad idea? Mapquest says the drive is 3 hrs 8 mins / 141.19 miles via I-5 N. We have never sailed Disney before but I do not think we will need to be one of those people waiting to get on the boat at the first possible moment . . . Or will we? If we arrive at the ship around 2 pm, what will we be missing?

4. Post-cruise we plan to spend 3 days in Vancouver, then drive back to Seattle for the flight home.

I would really appreciate any comments or feedback, especially pointing out where my plan is likely to go awry. Thanks!

Claire

I would probably still want to head into Vancouver Monday night...... From Seattle, you will be crossing the border and I have heard horror stories of customs getting backed up for hours..... I know it is not the norm, but I would not want to risk it- JMHO

 

[docbrown]

Officially booked today for a cruise in MAY!! Feeling overwhelmed with all that has to be arranged . . . My current plan for getting us all (two adults, four teens) from here to the ship is:

1. Flight to Seattle on Sunday before the cruise. About $250 per person cheaper than into vancouver.

2. Rent a van at the Seattle airport.

3. Spend Sunday (and maybe Monday?) night in Seattle. Flights arrive late into Seattle, so I am thinking we might want to sleep in Monday, do a little sight-seeing, spend the night in the same hotel Monday night, and then drive up to Vancouver on Tuesday (the day of the cruise). Is this a bad idea? Mapquest says the drive is 3 hrs 8 mins / 141.19 miles via I-5 N. We have never sailed Disney before but I do not think we will need to be one of those people waiting to get on the boat at the first possible moment . . . Or will we? If we arrive at the ship around 2 pm, what will we be missing?

4. Post-cruise we plan to spend 3 days in Vancouver, then drive back to Seattle for the flight home.

I would really appreciate any comments or feedback, especially pointing out where my plan is likely to go awry. Thanks!

Claire

We are doing the opposite: pre cruise in Vancouver and post cruise Seattle.
Fly to SEA on Saturday, drive to Vancouver that night or Sun morning, spend Sun-Mon in Vancouver, TUE week after drive our way back to Seattle at our leisure for a flight on Sat, spending Fri night in an hotel by the airport.
Can you say we don't want to miss our cruise? LOL

 

[ClaireinTN]

I would probably still want to head into Vancouver Monday night...... From Seattle, you will be crossing the border and I have heard horror stories of customs getting backed up for hours..... I know it is not the norm, but I would not want to risk it- JMHO

That is a really good point. Another thing to do might be to find a hotel fairly near the port in Vancouver where we could stay Monday night and then leave the car, rather than parking the car at the port, and thus perhaps saving a few bucks on parking. Unless parking at the hotel would cost more than parking at the port.

Does anyone know what hotel(s) Disney is using in Vancouver?

I am beginning to see why people pay for Disney transfers!

 

[ClaireinTN]

We are doing the opposite: pre cruise in Vancouver and post cruise Seattle.
Fly to SEA on Saturday, drive to Vancouver that night or Sun morning, spend Sun-Mon in Vancouver, TUE week after drive our way back to Seattle at our leisure for a flight on Sat, spending Fri night in an hotel by the airport.
Can you say we don't want to miss our cruise? LOL

Seattle post-cruise is an interesting idea. I was trying to minimize packing and unpacking in different hotels, and the flight I am looking at arrives in Seattle at 10 pm, so our first night will for sure be in Seattle. Also, I thought it might be better to see Seattle first because so far it seems like we will have more things we want to do in Vancouver. And I am not sure how jet-lagged and cranky we all will be (it is only a two-hour time difference--but with teens, lack of sleep can be a big deal). Better that they sleep through Seattle than Vancouver, I am thinking . . . Oddly, there is no direct flight to Seattle on Saturday, so that affects things too . . .

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

You should be fine. I called DCL about this issue and they said anything after 12 pm is feasible. Our flight is right around noon and I'm not concerned.

Yeah. Ours is 1pm and I'm not worried. Sounds like if we took the transit we'd make it in 15min or so? So taxi or whatnot shouldn't be much longer, if any. Not worried.

 

[jilljill]

That is a really good point. Another thing to do might be to find a hotel fairly near the port in Vancouver where we could stay Monday night and then leave the car, rather than parking the car at the port, and thus perhaps saving a few bucks on parking. Unless parking at the hotel would cost more than parking at the port.

Does anyone know what hotel(s) Disney is using in Vancouver?

I am beginning to see why people pay for Disney transfers!

When searching hotels in Vancouver I've noticed that many of them had stay/park packages. I don't remember specifically which ones since we don't need a car, but doing a google search for hotels near Canada Place will bring up a bunch of them and then you can look on their website for parking packages.

 

[jilljill]

Yeah. Ours is 1pm and I'm not worried. Sounds like if we took the transit we'd make it in 15min or so? So taxi or whatnot shouldn't be much longer, if any. Not worried.

Everyone has said on this thread the airport is about an hour's drive from Canada Place.

 

[smeecanada]

Officially booked today for a cruise in MAY!! Feeling overwhelmed with all that has to be arranged . . . My current plan for getting us all (two adults, four teens) from here to the ship is:

1. Flight to Seattle on Sunday before the cruise. About $250 per person cheaper than into vancouver.

2. Rent a van at the Seattle airport.

3. Spend Sunday (and maybe Monday?) night in Seattle. Flights arrive late into Seattle, so I am thinking we might want to sleep in Monday, do a little sight-seeing, spend the night in the same hotel Monday night, and then drive up to Vancouver on Tuesday (the day of the cruise). Is this a bad idea? Mapquest says the drive is 3 hrs 8 mins / 141.19 miles via I-5 N. We have never sailed Disney before but I do not think we will need to be one of those people waiting to get on the boat at the first possible moment . . . Or will we? If we arrive at the ship around 2 pm, what will we be missing?

4. Post-cruise we plan to spend 3 days in Vancouver, then drive back to Seattle for the flight home.

I would really appreciate any comments or feedback, especially pointing out where my plan is likely to go awry. Thanks!

Claire

I personally would go to Vancouver on Monday. The border crossing is notorious for delays.

 

[ClaireinTN]

Thanks to the sage advice here, I have realized that if we fly to Seattle, we want to head up to Vancouver on Monday.

But I am obsessing about the Seattle versus Vancouver question. In favor of Seattle is the money (about $250 per person less) and a direct flight (versus one stop to Vancouver). In favor of Vancouver is less hassle plus at least one fewer nights in a hotel.

I keep going back and forth on this--with six people it is really hard to justify the extra cost to fly into Vancouver. On the other hand, I need to really think about the extra expense of a hotel room plus food plus shuttle to Vancouver . . .

I think also counting against Seattle is that I am not sure whether we want to spend any time seeing sights there or not. Most of the things I've read about (aquarium, science center) seem like they would appeal most to kids younger than mine. Anyone with Seattle advice for teens?

 

[Mineu]

We decided to fly directly into Vancouver and then fly home via Seattle-saved us quite a bit of $$ and allows us to see both cities!

 

[mellers]

Thanks to the sage advice here, I have realized that if we fly to Seattle, we want to head up to Vancouver on Monday.

But I am obsessing about the Seattle versus Vancouver question. In favor of Seattle is the money (about $250 per person less) and a direct flight (versus one stop to Vancouver). In favor of Vancouver is less hassle plus at least one fewer nights in a hotel.

I keep going back and forth on this--with six people it is really hard to justify the extra cost to fly into Vancouver. On the other hand, I need to really think about the extra expense of a hotel room plus food plus shuttle to Vancouver . . .

I think also counting against Seattle is that I am not sure whether we want to spend any time seeing sights there or not. Most of the things I've read about (aquarium, science center) seem like they would appeal most to kids younger than mine. Anyone with Seattle advice for teens?

According to my 14-year-old Seattle area teenager:

For teen shoppers, downtown Bellevue (My teen is much of a shopper, but this is very much where the upscale shopping is.)
http://www.bellevuecollection.com/

For teen video game aficianados, Gameworks has games from around the world that you can't find anywhere else:

http://www.gameworks.com

For teen musicians and sci-fi fans, this is a must:

http://www.empsfm.org/

For airplane-loving teens, this is a must:

http://www.museumofflight.org/

For culture buffs, or those who love nature trails:

http://www.tillicumvillage.com/

If you like Duck Tours (my teen does):

http://ridetheducksofseattle.com/

If you want to go whale watching (NOT guaranteed like in Alaska, just to warn you)

http://www.clippervacations.com/whalewatching/

If you like fishing, you can get a license:

http://www.takemefishing.org/state/...content=Washington&utm_campaign=State_Fishing

Scuba diving and Kayaking:

http://www.exoticaquaticsscuba.com/


As well as the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, innumerable hiking and biking trails, the art museum, the various dinner/sightseeing cruises

If I've missed your teens' interests, let me know what they are and I'll ask around.

 

[ClaireinTN]

Mellers: Thanks for that list. I didn't realize there was a Duck boat in Seattle--we have done a few of those in other places so that would be fun. Fishing and kayaking would also appeal--we live surrounded by land so being on the sea is a thrill.

 

[mellers]

Mellers: Thanks for that list. I didn't realize there was a Duck boat in Seattle--we have done a few of those in other places so that would be fun. Fishing and kayaking would also appeal--we live surrounded by land so being on the sea is a thrill.

You're very welcome!

I also found a website for fishing charters in Seattle, if you want to fish on a boat and not off the dock:

http://www.fishingseattle.com/

We like Duck Tours too--if you don't have plans for Ketchikan, this might also be worth a look: http://www.akduck.com/

 

[mellers]

That is a really good point. Another thing to do might be to find a hotel fairly near the port in Vancouver where we could stay Monday night and then leave the car, rather than parking the car at the port, and thus perhaps saving a few bucks on parking. Unless parking at the hotel would cost more than parking at the port.

Does anyone know what hotel(s) Disney is using in Vancouver?

I am beginning to see why people pay for Disney transfers!

The Pan Pacific (http://www.panpacific.com/Vancouver/Overview.html
) is your best bet, if you can find an affordable deal. It is actually located at Canada Place, so you wouldn't need transportation. I believe Disney is using the various Fairmont Hotels (http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/packages/walt-disney-world-resort-cruise/ )

 

[Hygiene99]

The port is one hour from the airport?

What does Disney charge for transportation to and from airport?

 

[gduvall]

$25/per person each way