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

[tanyaewa]

Shanny145 - major score for your hotel. It's gorgeous andright in the heart of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver has amazing 4star hotels and hotwire has some GREAT deals!

 

[PE_TCR]

Any locals out there that know the best way to get to Grouse Mountain from downtown? We are staying at the Coastal Coal Harbour Hotel. We get in on the Cascades at 11 am and wanrt to get out to Grouse Mountain for our day in Vancouver. Ideas?
Thanks!

 

[Bookworm Belle]

Hi All,
Does anyone have any information about the Westin Bayshore? This is the hotel that we are hoping to stay at. Any reviews?

 

[mellers]

Any locals out there that know the best way to get to Grouse Mountain from downtown? We are staying at the Coastal Coal Harbour Hotel. We get in on the Cascades at 11 am and wanrt to get out to Grouse Mountain for our day in Vancouver. Ideas?
Thanks!

Try this:

http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

There is an East Side Mario's in North Vancouver but from the Fairmount it is easy to get to without a car. From your hotel, it is about a 5 minute walk to Waterfront Station where the Sea Bus leaves from. The Sea Bus is part of our public transit. The Sea bus goes directly to Lonsdale Quay. It takes about 12 minutes. Lonsdale Quay is a great place to walk around with a market, little stores and restaurants. It is also a nice spot to take pictures of the city from there.

THANK YOU!!! Sounds like we have our plans for when we are in Vancouver!!!

FYI, visiting Lonsdale Quay is a particularly excellent activity if you have little kids. First, you get to ride the Sea Bus to get there. At the market, there's a free ball pit upstairs and a bunch of coin-op rides. You can grab lunch from any of the food stands inside the market. And there are a bunch of tugboats moored outside. DS3 loves this place!

We don't have kids (yet!) Is there stuff for adults too???

Oh, East Side Mario's, we used to have them in the Chicago area and they closed. We are looking forward to eating there again.

We try to get to them when we go up north to see DH's family. Doesn't happen often tho Super excited about going while we are there!

 

[stepknees]

Hi All,
Does anyone have any information about the Westin Bayshore? This is the hotel that we are hoping to stay at. Any reviews?

We stayed there last year over 4th of July weekend. Pretty standard Westin -- no complaints, but nothing really stood out as exceptional. The location is great for walking to Stanley Park.

We don't have kids (yet!) Is there stuff for adults too???

It's a nice public market with food stalls, so it's nice for lunch, but you can get the same thing at Granville Island -- and at Granville there are also a whole bunch of great art/craft/gift type stores. I was going to say that you don't get to take a boat to Granville, but then I remembered that there are actually tiny ferries you can take (AquaBus?).

 

[Atreeves]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long it takes to disembark and clear customs when arriving in Vancouver. Sorry if this has been asked, I tried a search and couldn't find anything.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[mellers]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long it takes to disembark and clear customs when arriving in Vancouver. Sorry if this has been asked, I tried a search and couldn't find anything.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

I don't have any information about how long it takes once you disembark a cruise ship specifically; however, I can say, in general, when it comes to customs in Canada, it is MUCH faster to get through customs by bus or boat than by air. In general, when we take the Victoria Clipper to or from Seattle, it takes us less than 30 minutes to clear customs, and often considerably less, if we arrive early at the terminal, or we're towards the front of the line to disembark. It's 20-30 minutes, on average, on a bus (quite a bit faster than in a car, in general--waits at the border can be long.)

 

[Jen24]

Looking for restaurant recommendation for the 2 night precruise. there will be 11 of us and would love round table so we can all talk:. We are staying close to the port. Thanks!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Depends on what you want, but family friendly and good food and very 'BC' is White Spot! Not far from the port. Everything from burgers to salmon and steaks! Reasonable, but not 'cheap', and you can even sit outside in the nice weather.

 

[mellers]

Depends on what you want, but family friendly and good food and very 'BC' is White Spot! Not far from the port. Everything from burgers to salmon and steaks! Reasonable, but not 'cheap', and you can even sit outside in the nice weather.

I agree--White Spot is great. They even have pirate kids meals.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Hi All,
Does anyone have any information about the Westin Bayshore? This is the hotel that we are hoping to stay at. Any reviews?

Gorgeous hotel! You will love it! I have stayed there and its very nice and right on the water!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Anybody have a ballpark figure for a TAXI from the Pan Pacific to the airport? (about 11AM on a weekday)

Thanks!

 

[mellers]

Anybody have a ballpark figure for a TAXI from the Pan Pacific to the airport? (about 11AM on a weekday)

Thanks!

According to one website I saw, approx. $30-$35 CAD.

 

[ibouncetoo]

According to one website I saw, approx. $30-$35 CAD.

Thanks...with a 3 way split that will be VERY worth it.



note to self....remember...need some Canadian coin!

 

[plutojudy]

We are beginning to second guess our pre-cruise plans.
We are arriving in Vancouver Sunday morning and renting a car at the airport and returning it Tuesday morning and using Disney transfers to and from the airport. We are staying at La Quinta/Airport.
Should we stay near the port/cancel transfers/cancel rental car?

We would appriciate any suggestions and advice. Thanks.

 

[mellers]

Thanks...with a 3 way split that will be VERY worth it.



note to self....remember...need some Canadian coin!

Just saw your "note to self". Don't bother changing Canadian money before you leave. Take your ATM card, head for the nearest ATM at the airport (or the hotel, or the local 7-11---you get the picture) and take out some Canadian money. You'll get a much better exchange rate from the bank.

 

[mellers]

We are beginning to second guess our pre-cruise plans.
We are arriving in Vancouver Sunday morning and renting a car at the airport and returning it Tuesday morning and using Disney transfers to and from the airport. We are staying at La Quinta/Airport.
Should we stay near the port/cancel transfers/cancel rental car?

We would appriciate any suggestions and advice. Thanks.

First off--you'll love the La Quinta airport and the Lansdowne area--we always stay in that area when we're in the Vancouver area. Don't bother staying nearer to the port--it isn't worth the money.

That said, unless you have a big group (and, in that case, I would recommend contacting http://www.ridebooker.com/ for a 10-passenger van from the airport), don't bother taking Disney transportation unless there's only 1 or two of you. Otherwise, you'd be better off taking a taxi from the airport to the port.

Depending upon what you want to do, and your tolerance for public transit, the rental car may not be necessary--there is a SkyTrain station about 1/4-1/2 mile from your hotel. Still, I don't see that you need to cancel it unless you want to.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

We are beginning to second guess our pre-cruise plans.
We are arriving in Vancouver Sunday morning and renting a car at the airport and returning it Tuesday morning and using Disney transfers to and from the airport. We are staying at La Quinta/Airport.
Should we stay near the port/cancel transfers/cancel rental car?

We would appriciate any suggestions and advice. Thanks.

It depends on what you plan on doing from Sunday to Tuesday? You will be a good 30 mins from any tourist stuff, so if you don't mind that, t hen it would work out ok for you. How much are the transfers? Would it be more worth it to skip renting the car and just use that money and the transfer money to pay for a room downtown and be close to stuff? Use public transit around town (very easy) and walk places vs. renting the car/using transfers. Grab a cab into downtown on Sunday and stay downtown - personally that is what I would do, but its ultimately up to you.

 

[plutojudy]

Thank you so much! We are just a couple, no kids (well, they are adults and don't travel with us).