Help Needed Cruise From Vancouver

I am looking at Serenade for the 6/23/07 cruise out of Vancover. Airfare from the NY area to Vancouver is fairly expensive. I was looking into flying into Seattle.My question is is there an easy way to get from Seattle to the cruise port in Vancouver..and vice versa...would probably stay overnight in Seattle at the beginning of the cruise but would need to fly back directly at the end...

Can anyone help

I am also doing the same thing. We are taking the Serenade in August but we are flying to Seattle because it is so much cheaper.

You can rent a car and drive and the prices I have gotten are around 120$ for a minivan ( four of us with luggage) and it is about 4 hour drive. Amtrak from Seattle, which is about 35$ per person each way, and is supposed to be very scenic. Again about 4-5 hours. The train is at around 7:30 am. and then but on the way back the return to Seattle is not until 5:30 at night for the train and then Amtrak uses bused for other runs. Taxi from Amtrak station to port about 20$.

Rccl transportation which is 65 $ each way per person direct from Seattle airport to the port in Vancouver. Buses run from 8 in the morning to 11

Don't book return flight home before 2 or 3 in the afternoon to allow for the ride back to seattle

I don't know where in NY you are but Southwest airlines is running historically about 99$ each way to Seattle from Islip airport on Long Island and they have an early am direct flight.

Hope all this makes sense, I have been looking into this for a couple of months.

Sue

this helps a lot thanks...unfortunately ISLIP to far for us...

Jetblue also has good prices from JFk to Seattle, you might want to look into them

A more flexible option is the Quick Coach from Seatac to downtown Vancouver. There are a number of departures each day to choose from, and it will take about four hours each way. The fare is about $75 round trip, and they have childrens fares. We have caught the bus after retrieving our bags at the Seattle airport. The trip although somewhat long was interesting as you see some of the cities and the country side. http://www.quickcoach.com should get you there if you are interested.

petert

In July of 2005 we sailed on the Serenade out of Vancouver. We were shocked/frightened by the $700 to $800 per person coach fares to get us from NYC to YVR, so we flew to Seattle, rented a car, and drove to Vancouver. (We stayed in a hotel in Seattle and then in Vancouver.)

I will never do that again. It was a long drive, most of which was NOT scenic. The wait at the border was almost intolerable. People were getting out of their parked cars on the freeway and playing with the children on the grass divider....traffic congestion was at a crawl. There was nothing to recommend this option. Please remember that this journey will be repeated on the way home--easily tarnishing the nice feeling one has after a beautiful Alaskan cruise on the Serenade.

Never again, and we will be doing this cruise again---it was beautiful and the Serenade and her staff are the best on the high seas.

Leslie

PS---My first cruise was on the Amerikanis!!

Hi there! Amtrak has a regular service between Seattle and Vancouver for $28 US each way.

Another thing to consider is Air Canada. Currently Air Canada has a seat sale between JFK and Vancouver for the dates that you are travelling from $274 CAD each way (works out to be about $235 US each way). I am looking at your dates and there are still flights available at this price but I wouldn't wait too long or they'll be gone. When I checked again it looks like the seat sales is on for flights between Vancouver and the other NY airports (LGA and EWR) as well.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Air Canada but sometimes the price talks.:p:D On the low priced seat sales the restrictions are pretty tight in regards to changes and also don't allow same day standby if looking to change your flight.....other than that I have never had a problem with Air Canada. My problem is that if anyone is going to miss a flight because of running late it is ME!:o I tend to always be running behind schedule no matter how hard I try not to so I like airlines that allow you to do same day standby.

I just bought air fare with Air Canada between Kelowna, BC and FLL for under $600 CAD (about $505 US) all taxes in. Right after I bought my tickets the price went up to $932 CAD so I must have bought the last seats available at the low fares.

Good luck and happy cruising!:)

Sandie

Hi there! Amtrak has a regular service between Seattle and Vancouver for $28 US each way.

 

Good luck and happy cruising!:)

 

Sandie

Just be aware that much of the Amtrak regular service between Seattle and Vancouver is on buses not trains, and the wait at the border can, as someone has already posted, seem interminable. Vancouver is a beautiful city and anytime we have been on a cruise that began or ended there, we have arranged to spend a few extra days taking in the attractions. I realize that the price difference to fly from the US to Vancouver can be substantial, it can be worth it, especially if you arrive a day or two before your cruise and don't have a hassle getting to the pier on the day you sail. On our last Alaska cruise we flew from Boston to Anchorage via Salt Lake City, did a landtour into the interior of Alaska (Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks) and stayed in Vancouver for a couple of days when the cruise ended. We took a full day excursion to Victoria and on our last day, took Quick Coach to Seattle and flew home.:)

Thanks for all the advice...but to be honest the we will be on a tight budget and we I would love to avoid fying to Vancouver...simply because of the price..

Ive looked at the train and that seems doable at least going...

Would it be better to stay one night in vancouver (on the return) and then return to Seattle the next day ? The bus would be great but the long wait at the border would not appeal to me (plus that fact my 10 year old will be with us)...

Continental has a 3:00 flight to Newark from Seattle and that would be the one I would liketo take (fare is somewhat reasonable)...

Otherwise we may just do the Vision cruise out of Seattle...on the 6/22/07 to save on the hassle..

Depending on what time your flight home from Seattle is, that might be a good solution and would give you at least one full day to explore Vancouver. Hotels are available in all price ranges in Vancouver, and while the exchange rate between the Canadian and US dollars has narrowed considerably recently, you may still find it more advantageous to book a hotel in Canada rather than the US. The city of Vancouver has a very good website that I used prior to our past visits to the city and you might want to check it out. If you have a day in Vancouver, you and your ten year old might really enjoy checking out the Capilano Suspension bridge, and a tour of the city that takes you to Stanley and Queen Elizabeth parks, Gastown, Chinatown, and Granville Market is very enjoyable. On both of our cruises that ended in Vancouver, the cruiseline treated us to a city tour so that we had something to do before our hotels were ready to check us in.:)

Generally the train is early morning leaving Seattle going to Vancouver and then early evening from Vancouver going to Seattle with bus service throughout the day. The border lines are not always busy but tend to be more so on weekends or holiday weekends. I have driven across the border many many times and have not had any wait at all! It all depends on the time of day and time of year. Looking at the date of your cruise you may run into lines heading back to Seattle since July 1st (Canada Day) is a holiday here.

If you don't do the train and decide to rent a car then you can always go through the border at the Abbotsford (Sumas) crossing and avoid the long lines. The Peace Arch border crossing is one of the busiest and most frequently used by tourists. Another option is the truck crossing(Pacific Highway) which is the exit before the Peace Arch crossing. You can also go to the Government web site to see the wait times at each border crossing and it is updated every 10 or 15 minutes.

Sandie

All these helpful suggestions...I think we are set in that we will arrive in Seattle on the 22 Stay overnight take the Amtrak train to Vancouver...

On the return, overnite in Vancouver probably will not work, so we will probably book the 10:35 PM flight on Continental (is there any chance we will miss that flight ?) and take the bus back...if we get to SeaTac earlier enough maybe we can switch to the 3:00 flight...

By the way Continental r/t was about 1100 for 3 people I though this was pretty good...

Thanks for everything and any if anyone still has thoughts I would appreciate it...

Depending on how many are in your party the cheapest way will be to rent a car and drive from SEA to Vancouver. Get a 1 way each way and drop at the dock most of the major companies have offices at Canada Place. However if you are on RCCL you may be docked at Ballantyne Pier instead of Canada Place.

The drive from SEA to VAncouver is very easy just get on the I 5 and head north to Vancouver. Once you cross the border the I 5 becomes the 99 but still a 4 lane divided highway until you get into the city. Again just keep going straight along and you will find you are on Oak Street. Somewhere you need to take a left and go over to Granville Street where you will turn right and follow Granville Street to the end and you are at the dock. You will have to detour off Granville Street in the downtown core due to construction so just move over a block and parallel Granville to the harbour. Allow yourself 3.5 hours driving time assuming the lineup at the border is not too long.

Your other cheap alternative is to use the direct bus service called Quick "Shuttle from SEA to Vancouver. It will drop you off right at the dock. Allow 3.5 hours and the cost will be around $50 CA each way. Quick Shuttle operaties 5 scheduled runs each day. We use them often when flying out of SEA to save $$$.

For other cruise related info for VAncouver check out the following web site

www3.telus.net/cruise_watch/info.htm

If you decide to rent a car, make sure there are no drop off fees, or at least factor them into your cost comparisons. I don't foresee your missing a 10pm flight home from Seattle, assuming you budget your time in Vancouver carefully and allow sufficient time to get from Vancouver to Sea-Tac by 8pm or so. I am assuming from your comments about an overnight stay in Vancouver not working, that you are on a tight schedule and have to get back home as soon as possible after the cruise ends, otherwise I would still recommend delaying your return a day in order to more fully appreciate what Vancouver has to offer. Enjoy your cruise and have a safe trip both from and to home.:)

I am assuming from your comments about an overnight stay in Vancouver not working, that you are on a tight schedule and have to get back home as soon as possible after the cruise ends, otherwise I would still recommend delaying your return a day in order to more fully appreciate what Vancouver has to offer. Enjoy your cruise and have a safe trip both from and to home.:)

You assume correctly, If I understand these posts correcly I still have to a lot 4 hours or more to get from Van to Seattle which means a late afternoon flight on Sunday...which would get us very late on Sunday...if not for that we would definitely stay overnight in Vancouver...