Wonder - Sept 27, 2015 - Oct 1, 2015: Vancouver to San Diego

[xlxo]

If you look at Google Street view...
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=49....fNcb0vZ_mlWcJf89tPBVA&cbp=12,177.91,,0,-19.48

The hotel's surrounding area has residential towers all around it. Its relatively safe for locals to walk around there. However like any foreign town, everyone's comfort level is different.

The nearby Granville Entertainment district will offer night life for adults.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=granville+entertainment+district&tbm=isch

 

[gometros]

We just booked a fairly reasonable rate at Sutton Place. Most of the hotels near Canada Place are over $200-$300 a night. Be forewarned that there are several conventions that week, so rooms will become scarce.

 

[momof3poohlovers]

We were able to book the Pan Pacific for $194 a night on the AAA website. From what I have read on this site, I think that is a good rate.

 

[bcwife76]

Hi everyone, we just booked this cruise last night!!!

Super excited as this is our first Disney cruise AND our first cruise at all!! So we are getting our sea legs on this cruise We usually do all inclusive vacations - we did two to Mexico this year. So for 2015 we can't afford to do as much for vacations (we both have big birthdays in 2016 so saving for a big trip that year).

We live in Vancouver (just outside) so we're leavin' the city behind and enjoying a disney cruise down to San Diego (love it there!!) and flying back to YVR from SD. Can't wait!!!

 

[bcwife76]

Forgot to mention that it will be me, dh and our two daughters, who will be 4 and 7 at the time of the cruise!!

 

[2Geers]

We just booked this cruise as part of our "Honeymoon Part II - 15 years Later" tour. Kids will be 7 and 4 and we've tacked on a trip to Disneyland after. Oh, and my parents (first time DCL cruisers) will be joining us!

Our first cruise ever was the 2014 west-bound Panama Canal. Go big or go home right! This was a nice way to get back on the ship and get to Cali.

If anyone has set up a FE group, I would love to join.

 

[RobDoc]

Cruise Meet threads are doing just fine still managing meet and FE discussions right here on the DIS where FE began years ago.

FE organizers generally need to know how many people (adults/children) are participating in each cabin. Other information you would like to share such as first names, ages of child participants, allergies, favorite characters, etc. is up to you. Other personal information is not really necessary. Those organizing FEs typically ask for the information to be posted in the meet thread or sent to them via PM.

For those posting in this Cruise Meet thread to join a FE, since no one seems to be coming forward to organize a FE for this cruise here on the DIS, please feel free to start the FE right in this thread.

There is certainly plenty of time to plan a FE for this cruise. All it takes is for someone to maintain a list of/for those participating which can easily be done in this thread. Cruise Meet threads have been doing it this way for years now here on the DIS.

DISboards Fish-Extender Basics

Enjoy!


PLEASE review the Cruise Meet Policy regarding Cruise Meet and Fish Extender programs. - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3353477

Links to Cruise Meet discussion/Fish Extenders other than those on the DIS may not be posted or offered by any other means (PM, email, "search" directions, etc.).

 

[abdisneyfam]

We are booking this cruise tomorrow and we are super excited. This will be our third Disney cruise. It will be me, DH and our two kids (DD, 7 and DS, 4). We are also going to head to DL for a few days after the cruise. We would.love to be part of the FE if someone could add me???
Thanks so much, looking forward to September

 

[espana94]

Just booked this cruise for DH and me. This will be our 3rd DCL cruise. Super excited...we are relocating to Las Vegas from Chicago. The cruise is a, "Whew, we made it through the move" and "Happy Anniversary" surprise for DH. Seemed like a fun way to celebrate our move to the pacific time zone.

 

[1timecruiser]

Hi. Booked our cruise a few months backed. My first cruise and real vacation with kiddies. Kids are 6,4 and 22 months. Travelling with my bestie and her family. Kids are 6,5, and 3. Super excited. Haven't seen my bestie in 5.5 years. We live in different parts of the country. We are planning on flying into Vancouver a day before and spending a day or two after, maybe go to the zoo or something. Not sure on where we are staying or transportation around with the 3 kids

 

[BCDISNEYFANFAMILY]

Hi. Booked our cruise a few months backed. My first cruise and real vacation with kiddies. Kids are 6,4 and 22 months. Travelling with my bestie and her family. Kids are 6,5, and 3. Super excited. Haven't seen my bestie in 5.5 years. We live in different parts of the country. We are planning on flying into Vancouver a day before and spending a day or two after, maybe go to the zoo or something. Not sure on where we are staying or transportation around with the 3 kids

I had a heck of a time finding reasonably priced hotel that would sleep 5 without having to book 2 rooms. Finally settled on the Accent Inn in Richmond. They have a fly, stay cruise package with a shuttle to the port, for under $200.

 

[1timecruiser]

Awesome. Thanks BCdisneyfamfamily. I just booked us in. Now to book the airfare to vancouver. Lol. Just waiting for the price to come down a bit more.

 

[halfmonkey]

We just booked a fairly reasonable rate at Sutton Place. Most of the hotels near Canada Place are over $200-$300 a night. Be forewarned that there are several conventions that week, so rooms will become scarce.

We also just booked our room with Sutton Place. We booked a suite to sleep 6 of us. We narrowed it down to Sutton Place, Hotel Le Soleil, and Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre and Sutton Place seemed to work best for us. Never been to Vancouver so we have no previous experience with Sutton Place except for the reviews that we read and it seems like a good place.

We're now looking into flights and a car rental. We plan on picking up at the airport and returning the car to a place in Vancouver downtown close to the hotel. We're also going to be using one of those car seat rental agencies and will start looking into that as well. Once we have the flight, car rental, and car seat rental, we'll be all set. Our passports were just recently done last May for the little ones as we went on the Disney Cruise to Nowhere out of San Diego. I think there's some rule about your passport not expiring 6 months after time of travel and I'm pretty sure the adults are all good but I'll double check the expiration tonight. If anyone can confirm if it is 6 months or the correct number of months, I would appreciate it.

 

[xlxo]

We're now looking into flights and a car rental. We plan on picking up at the airport and returning the car to a place in Vancouver downtown close to the hotel.

Some thoughts...

• Sutton is a great location. Just a block away from Robson shops and restaurants. You can even get a Tesla there!
• When researching flights... check if there are savings travelling on Tuesdays and Wednesdays... you might find savings for additional nights.
• AVIS has the closest location to the Sutton. 3 minute walk... https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...6auaA&oq=sutton+hot&dirflg=w&mra=ltm&t=m&z=19
• pay attention to what vehicle you are renting. 6 people? Dodge Journey is cheap, but there is no space for luggage hauling like a Yukon XL.
• avoid renting when you get off the plane in the first 24hrs. You are subject to a 17.5% tax even if you are NOT renting from the airport.
• Give the Sutton a call to find out who there car rental partnership is
• Also ask the Sutton what they charge for parking. Some places are $30 a day!
• How many days are you staying? If less than two days, you might find the shuttles, Hop On, 2 taxi's and public transit can meet your needs.

 

[halfmonkey]

Some thoughts...

• Sutton is a great location. Just a block away from Robson shops and restaurants. You can even get a Tesla there!
• When researching flights... check if there are savings travelling on Tuesdays and Wednesdays... you might find savings for additional nights.
• AVIS has the closest location to the Sutton. 3 minute walk... https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Avis+Car+Rental,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&daddr=Sutton+Place+Hotel+Vancouver,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&sll=49.284124,-123.121036&sspn=0.003027,0.006115&geocode=FXMA8AIdyFGp-CHFu50DJasuFCnf2heAf3GGVDHFu50DJasuFA;FRkA8AId-Uap-CH6FNWmO6auaClp9mCDx3OGVDH6FNWmO6auaA&oq=sutton+hot&dirflg=w&mra=ltm&t=m&z=19
• pay attention to what vehicle you are renting. 6 people? Dodge Journey is cheap, but there is no space for luggage hauling like a Yukon XL.
• avoid renting when you get off the plane in the first 24hrs. You are subject to a 17.5% tax even if you are NOT renting from the airport.
• Give the Sutton a call to find out who there car rental partnership is
• Also ask the Sutton what they charge for parking. Some places are $30 a day!
• How many days are you staying? If less than two days, you might find the shuttles, Hop On, 2 taxi's and public transit can meet your needs.

Thanks for the tips. I didn't know that about the car rental and 17% tax. That's crazy. As much as I want to avoid that tax, I don't know if we'll be able to because of our party. We'll have three kids ages 8, 6, and 2 and with the luggage that goes along with all of us, I don't think it's going to work out smoothly without having that car. We're planning on getting a mini van and we're prepared for the parking charge. That's a great thought about asking if the Sutton has a car rental partner.

For the car rental, we will need one that is open on Sunday because I plan on dropping everybody off in the morning with the luggage and then taking the car to return at the car rental agency. I think this will help the morning flow a little more smoothly instead of trying to lug all of the luggage and walk the few blocks with an 8, 6, and 2 y/o.

Any other tips? Please let me know.

 

[xlxo]

Here's details on the 17.5% surcharge... http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=a1aeb1ee-0289-4c57-8c3f-6a17b8c5aa07. What I do is take a cab from the airport to my hotel. Wait the 24hours on my plane ticket while I adjust to the timezone by sightseeing with the free shuttles to Grouse and Capilano (or use the hop on services). Then get the vehicle for my third day stay to Whistler or Victoria. By getting the vehicle from the nearby downtown rental agency, I also save money on drop off fees to another location.

Because your children are all under age 9... it's expected they will be in baby seats or boosters. That can add be additional $40 to your daily rental. Taxi and public transit are not required to have children in the those seats. With those additional costs for a multi-day stay. Some bring their seats and others will buy $20 booster seats upon arrival and then donate it.

The other evil is you need two cabs with 2 adults and 3 kids. That will cost you $70 alone between airport and Sutton. Sedans and SUV will keep the family together.... but it's about the same cost as two cabs. Breaking the family into two is preferred as the cab fleet is much larger and can pick you up faster than the sedans.

Some other location things to consider after you work out your child seating arrangements.

• My preferred rentals are done with Alamo and National. They have an office inside the cruise terminal for drop offs. A minivan??? you better book several months early. The cruise terminal fleet is very tiny and it's a quick sell out if you wait weeks before your arrival.
• Avis has a shuttle from their office to the cruise terminal. But they like watching you wait for the shuttle. I hate that.
• Hertz has an office three blocks to the cruise terminal. They like to watch you drag your luggage the three blocks.
• Budget and Thrifty make you take a taxi or walk

 

[halfmonkey]

Here's details on the 17.5% surcharge... http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=a1aeb1ee-0289-4c57-8c3f-6a17b8c5aa07. What I do is take a cab from the airport to my hotel. Wait the 24hours on my plane ticket while I adjust to the timezone by sightseeing with the free shuttles to Grouse and Capilano (or use the hop on services). Then get the vehicle for my third day stay to Whistler or Victoria. By getting the vehicle from the nearby downtown rental agency, I also save money on drop off fees to another location.

Because your children are all under age 9... it's expected they will be in baby seats or boosters. That can add be additional $40 to your daily rental. Taxi and public transit are not required to have children in the those seats. With those additional costs for a multi-day stay. Some bring their seats and others will buy $20 booster seats upon arrival and then donate it.

The other evil is you need two cabs with 2 adults and 3 kids. That will cost you $70 alone between airport and Sutton. Sedans and SUV will keep the family together.... but it's about the same cost as two cabs. Breaking the family into two is preferred as the cab fleet is much larger and can pick you up faster than the sedans.

Some other location things to consider after you work out your child seating arrangements.

• My preferred rentals are done with Alamo and National. They have an office inside the cruise terminal for drop offs. A minivan??? you better book several months early. The cruise terminal fleet is very tiny and it's a quick sell out if you wait weeks before your arrival.
• Avis has a shuttle from their office to the cruise terminal. But they like watching you wait for the shuttle. I hate that.
• Hertz has an office three blocks to the cruise terminal. They like to watch you drag your luggage the three blocks.
• Budget and Thrifty make you take a taxi or walk

Thanks for the information on the 17.5% tax but I don't think we're going to be able to avoid it. Between the 6 of us with 3 of them being young kids and luggage, it might be just a less stressful time to bite the bullet and pay the tax for the convenience of the car.

Thanks for the info on the car rental agencies. I looked into Alamo and National and on their website, they list the location at the terminal but list all days as closed so I assume they closed that location. Hertz was close by as well but they're closed on Sunday and we want to keep the car until Sunday as we leave port on Sunday. I plan to take the rental car and drop everybody off at the terminal in the morning while I take the car and return it and then head back to the terminal. It seems that the only car rental agency that I could find that was open on Sunday was Avis and Thrifty. I couldn't actually confirm if Thrifty was actually open on Sundays because it didn't list their hours of operation on their website. I simply created a mock reservation with the return date on Sunday and it didn't give me an error message so I assumed Thrifty will be open on Sundays. Avis may be the winner because they're open on Sundays and as you mentioned, they have a shuttle.

 

[xlxo]

Alamo/National close that location right now because there are NO cruise ships until May. Call the national reservation lines to see if they will allow reservations at the terminal. Otherwise, wait until May to try again.

 

[halfmonkey]

Alamo/National close that location right now because there are NO cruise ships until May. Call the national reservation lines to see if they will allow reservations at the terminal. Otherwise, wait until May to try again.

I made some dummy reservations for Alamo and National and WOW, those prices are crazy! They were about 3 times as much as Avis, Thrifty, and Budget! I created all of the dummy reservations the same. Picking up at YVR on 9/23 and returning to their respective location closes to the terminal on 9/27 and Alamo and National were about 3 times more expensive. It makes it super convenient to return directly to the terminal but not 3 times for convenient.

 

[xlxo]

Sounds almost like the hotel rooms for cruise convenience. It's the drop charges that are pricey. For me... taxi to hotel from airport. Use free shuttles and tours for day 1. Grab rental day 2 morning and return to same location for cruise a few days later.

Check Alamo price for pickup and drop off at cruise terminal as comparison.