Vancouver answers from a Vancouverite (part 2)

Hello to all. I just found this thread and am hopeful someone can steer me in the right direction. My wife and I are flying into Vancouver, (from our home in Fl), on May 14. We will be staying at the Westin Grand, Vancouver for 2 nights before our cruise sets out. It's our hope to schedule a private guided tour of the key sights on Sunday May 15. Over time I had seen comments in favor of a company called Vancouver Private Tours. http://www.vancouverprivatetours.com/index.html. After reaching out to them via email twice and not getting any reply I am thinking I need to find a different company to schedule a tour with. Can anyone make a good suggestion? We prefer to have a guide take us on a tour of about 4 hours to see all the best sights in and around the city in a nice vehicle but not necessarily a limo.

Any advice or direction is very much appreciated.

Hello to all. I just found this thread and am hopeful someone can steer me in the right direction. My wife and I are flying into Vancouver, (from our home in Fl), on May 14. We will be staying at the Westin Grand, Vancouver for 2 nights before our cruise sets out. It's our hope to schedule a private guided tour of the key sights on Sunday May 15. Over time I had seen comments in favor of a company called Vancouver Private Tours. http://www.vancouverprivatetours.com/index.html. After reaching out to them via email twice and not getting any reply I am thinking I need to find a different company to schedule a tour with. Can anyone make a good suggestion? We prefer to have a guide take us on a tour of about 4 hours to see all the best sights in and around the city in a nice vehicle but not necessarily a limo.

 

Any advice or direction is very much appreciated.

This post might help you: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49266595&postcount=149. The person who recommended the tour company and guide is local to the Vancouver area and posted this on our roll call. Good Luck!

OK, from YVR to Delta Vancouver Suites on West Hastings, it looks like a fixed rate of $31 CAD, correct?

My flight from the US arrives about 11:30pm on a Friday. Will I have a hard time finding a taxi?

How much would it be from the hotel to Canada Place the next day?

It looks like a metered fare from Canada Place to YVR is $35 CAD, correct? My flight isn't until the afternoon so I'm not in a rush.

Last question: Today the exchange rate is $1.26 USD to $1 CAD. If I gave the driver $31 USD for a $31 CAD fare, would that be enough the fare and tip? I don't want to offend anyone.

Thanks SO much for all your help! :)

Hello to all. I just found this thread and am hopeful someone can steer me in the right direction. My wife and I are flying into Vancouver, (from our home in Fl), on May 14. We will be staying at the Westin Grand, Vancouver for 2 nights before our cruise sets out. It's our hope to schedule a private guided tour of the key sights on Sunday May 15. Over time I had seen comments in favor of a company called Vancouver Private Tours. http://www.vancouverprivatetours.com/index.html. After reaching out to them via email twice and not getting any reply I am thinking I need to find a different company to schedule a tour with. Can anyone make a good suggestion? We prefer to have a guide take us on a tour of about 4 hours to see all the best sights in and around the city in a nice vehicle but not necessarily a limo.

 

Any advice or direction is very much appreciated.

We used LandSea about 2 years ago, and the vehicle was terrific, and the guide wonderful. (Try to include Queen Elizabeth Park!)

We are trying to arrange a day trip to Victoria with them now, and they responded very fast.

This is the email I've used:

"Landsea Charters & Services Reservations" <groups@vancouvertours.com>

Allison may be the person responding.

We probably didn't leave enough time for a full day tour (arriving late the night before, and then a day, and then board the ship next morning).

We'll be back in Vancouver next year, and allow enough time so we aren't exhausted from a long day after a late flight arrival, etc.

OK, from YVR to Delta Vancouver Suites on West Hastings, it looks like a fixed rate of $31 CAD, correct?

My flight from the US arrives about 11:30pm on a Friday. Will I have a hard time finding a taxi?

How much would it be from the hotel to Canada Place the next day?

It looks like a metered fare from Canada Place to YVR is $35 CAD, correct? My flight isn't until the afternoon so I'm not in a rush.

Last question: Today the exchange rate is $1.26 USD to $1 CAD. If I gave the driver $31 USD for a $31 CAD fare, would that be enough the fare and tip? I don't want to offend anyone.

 

Thanks SO much for all your help! :)

1. No problem finding a taxi. Vancouver is a very large international airport with 24 hour operations.
   
2. From airport to Delta Suites, C$31 (or about US$25). If you gave them US$31 they'd be just fine as that with a tip (a 26% tip). Note you wrote the exchange rate backwards above (it should say US$1 is about CAD$1.26)
   
3. Going back the cab rates aren't fixed, but it should be around $30-35 depending on time of day. Other option is take the subway (Skytrain Canada Line), which is $4/ea. Trains are roll on roll off, really quiet easy.
   

1. No problem finding a taxi. Vancouver is a very large international airport with 24 hour operations.
   
2. From airport to Delta Suites, C$31 (or about US$25). If you gave them US$31 they'd be just fine as that with a tip (a 26% tip). Note you wrote the exchange rate backwards above (it should say US$1 is about CAD$1.26)
   
3. Going back the cab rates aren't fixed, but it should be around $30-35 depending on time of day. Other option is take the subway (Skytrain Canada Line), which is $4/ea. Trains are roll on roll off, really quiet easy.
   

Cab rates from YVR have been fixed for about 2 years. This came about because people started to ask the cabbies how much to given location. Then taking the cheapest. Rates do go up a fixed amount if you need to make a stop.

http://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/transportation/taxis

Click in the link at the bottom of the page .

Taxi from hotel to Canada Place should be about $15 to $20 .

We used LandSea about 2 years ago, and the vehicle was terrific, and the guide wonderful. (Try to include Queen Elizabeth Park!)

 

We are trying to arrange a day trip to Victoria with them now, and they responded very fast.

 

This is the email I've used:

 

"Landsea Charters & Services Reservations" <groups@vancouvertours.com>

 

Allison may be the person responding.

 

We probably didn't leave enough time for a full day tour (arriving late the night before, and then a day, and then board the ship next morning).

We'll be back in Vancouver next year, and allow enough time so we aren't exhausted from a long day after a late flight arrival, etc.

Good catch Geezer; Land/Sea Tours have been around for ages and are an excellent tour company and often recommended on these board. However, I will be the first to admit that I didn't realize that they offered "Private Tours".

OK, from YVR to Delta Vancouver Suites on West Hastings, it looks like a fixed rate of $31 CAD, correct?

My flight from the US arrives about 11:30pm on a Friday. Will I have a hard time finding a taxi?

How much would it be from the hotel to Canada Place the next day?

It looks like a metered fare from Canada Place to YVR is $35 CAD, correct? My flight isn't until the afternoon so I'm not in a rush.

Last question: Today the exchange rate is $1.26 USD to $1 CAD. If I gave the driver $31 USD for a $31 CAD fare, would that be enough the fare and tip? I don't want to offend anyone.

 

Thanks SO much for all your help! :)

The underling issue here is that the USD is not legal tender in Canada and the cabbie is not going to give the official exchange rate, my guess is that it will be closer to 10% only because it is easy to calculate for him. Therefore the $31 USD payment you are suggesting covers the fare only and so if would be appropriate to add a few dollars to that as a tip. Your fare from the Delta Suites to Canada Place is going to be about $10 CAD but its only a couple of blocks and you may care to walk. Your return fare from Canada Place to YVR will run about $35.

If you want to take the exchange issue out of the calculation use a credit card particularly one with no foreign transaction fees or get a $100 CAD from your bank before your leave home. If you do want to use USD then keep your bank notes small as you will likely get your change in CAD.

The underling issue here is that the USD is not legal tender in Canada and the cabbie is not going to give the official exchange rate, my guess is that it will be closer to 10% only because it is easy to calculate for him. Therefore the $31 USD payment you are suggesting covers the fare only and so if would be appropriate to add a few dollars to that as a tip. Your fare from the Delta Suites to Canada Place is going to be about $10 CAD but its only a couple of blocks and you may care to walk. Your return fare from Canada Place to YVR will run about $35.

 

If you want to take the exchange issue out of the calculation use a credit card particularly one with no foreign transaction fees or get a $100 CAD from your bank before your leave home. If you do want to use USD then keep your bank notes small as you will likely get your change in CAD.

The smallest paper bill in Canada is $5 . The $1 (loony) and $2 (Twoony) are coins. Canada doesn't use pennies anymore . The price is either rounded up or rounded down to the nearest nickel. If you use a CC or debit card you'll pay the actual posted price with tax added at the till.

Most US banks will not take our $1 or $2 coins. Use them them up before you board the flight home.

This post might help you: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49266595&postcount=149. The person who recommended the tour company and guide is local to the Vancouver area and posted this on our roll call. Good Luck!

Thanks very much for this reply. I did some quick research and booked a tour with Tours by Locals and will be using Winston. Thanks again for the input.

Thanks very much for this reply. I did some quick research and booked a tour with Tours by Locals and will be using Winston. Thanks again for the input.

Please come back tell us how you made out with him and the type of tour he did for you. We are using a guide in Tallinn, Estonia next month that we also contacted thru Tours by Locals.

Please come back tell us how you made out with him and the type of tour he did for you. We are using a guide in Tallinn, Estonia next month that we also contacted thru Tours by Locals.

 

 

 

I will make a note on my calendar to do just as you asked.

I will make a note on my calendar to do just as you asked.

Thank you, that would be great. Once or twice a year we do read a request like yours and in the spirit of Cruise Critic that would be terrific information to have. I certainly hope that you enjoy my home town.:)

thanks for all the info and tips

1. No problem finding a taxi. Vancouver is a very large international airport with 24 hour operations.
   
2. From airport to Delta Suites, C$31 (or about US$25). If you gave them US$31 they'd be just fine as that with a tip (a 26% tip). Note you wrote the exchange rate backwards above (it should say US$1 is about CAD$1.26)
   
3. Going back the cab rates aren't fixed, but it should be around $30-35 depending on time of day. Other option is take the subway (Skytrain Canada Line), which is $4/ea. Trains are roll on roll off, really quiet easy.
   

Cab rates from YVR have been fixed for about 2 years. This came about because people started to ask the cabbies how much to given location. Then taking the cheapest. Rates do go up a fixed amount if you need to make a stop.

 

http://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/transportation/taxis

 

Click in the link at the bottom of the page .

Taxi from hotel to Canada Place should be about $15 to $20 .

Cab rates FROM the airport are fixed, TO the airport they aren't; which is exactly what I said.

Thanks very much for this reply. I did some quick research and booked a tour with Tours by Locals and will be using Winston. Thanks again for the input.

I'm glad I could help you and happy that you will let us know how it turns out.

Enjoy your visit to a very nice city!

Hi all, we will disembark at Canada place on 5/16 around 8 or 9 AM and our flight to US is 7PM.

We plan to drop off 2 big luggages and a carry on bag at CDS baggage service at cruiseport, take canada line train to richmond bc to a aberdeen centre to eat some good asian food, then get back to cruiseport before 4 to get our bags and take train to airport. This way we have to make sure we be back before CDS closes @ 4.

Another option is to have CDS transfered our bags to airport $40 up to 4 bags, $10 for each carry on bag to their location in airport, then take train to Aberdeen centre to eat some good asian food, then we take Canada line train from Richmond to airport without stopping by cruise port?.

I also found from this forum that taking lugguages on Canada line to airport require some planning what part of train to depart, etc...

We also can take taxi $35 per car from cruise port after get our luggages.

Which way would be best and what way would you do?

Have you used CDS service before? Are they reliable?

Thank you

Hi all, we will disembark at Canada place on 5/16 around 8 or 9 AM and our flight to US is 7PM.

We plan to drop off 2 big luggages and a carry on bag at CDS baggage service at cruiseport, take canada line train to richmond bc to a aberdeen centre to eat some good asian food, then get back to cruiseport before 4 to get our bags and take train to airport. This way we have to make sure we be back before CDS closes @ 4.

 

Another option is to have CDS transfered our bags to airport $40 up to 4 bags, $10 for each carry on bag to their location in airport, then take train to Aberdeen centre to eat some good asian food, then we take Canada line train from Richmond to airport without stopping by cruise port?.

 

I also found from this forum that taking lugguages on Canada line to airport require some planning what part of train to depart, etc...

 

We also can take taxi $35 per car from cruise port after get our luggages.

Which way would be best and what way would you do?

Have you used CDS service before? Are they reliable?

Thank you

• less hassle to drag it around town
  
• no need to race back to the cruise terminal at 4pm
  
• what type of food do you plan to have at Aberdeen? While the food court offers a lot of selection in the afternoon. I recommend Dim Sum for brunch... the award winning Fisherman's Terrace is premium priced, but very popular with long lines. Richmond has other great resto's for Dim Sum along No 3 road.
  
• other than Aberdeen... how else do you plan to fill your time in Vancouver? are you interested in checking out other attractions?
  

Thank you also, because we don't know how long train rides both ways take and how long we need to explore Aberdeen center. we never been take this adventure before ourselves; always booked organized tours, we don't want to be late on our flight. We were in Vancouver before. Does any tour take us to airport by 5 after the tour from cruise port?

Thanks

Hi all, we will disembark at Canada place on 5/16 around 8 or 9 AM and our flight to US is 7PM.

We plan to drop off 2 big luggages and a carry on bag at CDS baggage service at cruiseport, take canada line train to richmond bc to a aberdeen centre to eat some good asian food, then get back to cruiseport before 4 to get our bags and take train to airport. This way we have to make sure we be back before CDS closes @ 4.

 

Another option is to have CDS transfered our bags to airport $40 up to 4 bags, $10 for each carry on bag to their location in airport, then take train to Aberdeen centre to eat some good asian food, then we take Canada line train from Richmond to airport without stopping by cruise port?.

 

I also found from this forum that taking lugguages on Canada line to airport require some planning what part of train to depart, etc...

 

We also can take taxi $35 per car from cruise port after get our luggages.

Which way would be best and what way would you do?

Have you used CDS service before? Are they reliable?

Thank you

I think the CDS transfer service will support a 7 pm flight but I am not positive so you may want to check with them on that. The other alternative is to take your luggage to one of the nearby hotel like the Pan Pacific or Fairmont Waterfront and give the bell desk a nice tip to hold your luggage...however there is no transfer service.

The $35 flat rate applies to YVR to Canada Place not in reverse, however normally a taxi fare from Canada Place to YVR runs about $35.

CDS has operated the luggage check service at YVR and Canada Place for years and I have never read a complaint about them.

Thank you, do you know if we can take a train from aderdeen centre directly to airport if we decide to have CDS transfered our bags to airport? Thanks

Yes, it's the same line that runs from downtown to airport & Richmond. The only issue you'll have is that you do need to backtrack to Bridgeport Station - so head north to there, get off and get back on a YVR train - it will say on the front of the train as well as the station signs whether the train is YVR-bound or not.

Ditto for getting to Aberdeen Centre - make sure the train you get on does NOT say YVR!

While I see the attraction of fishermans terrace or other high-end Chinese restos, I'm less sure on why you want to spend half a day wandering a mall? Yes, it's a very Asian-themed mall in terms of stores, but that's still an awful lot of time to kill shopping - if you enjoy several hours of shopping fair enough, but I'm just checking you actually are aware of what your plans entail, as listed...

Oh - another suggestion that will save some cash, at the cost of not much time. Instead of stashing bags with CDS at the pier, take them to YVR yourself. It will be cheaper to just store than to transfer, and one transit ticket each is more than enough time to go downtown-YVR, drop bags, return to Bridgeport, change trains, and head to Aberdeen Centre. This also alleviates any concern that the transfer runs late, loses your bags etc.

Thank you, do you know if we can take a train from aderdeen centre directly to airport if we decide to have CDS transfered our bags to airport? Thanks

You will take the train from Aberdeen station to Bridgeporte station, which is only one stop, then transfer to the YVR train at Bridgeport station.

Thank you also, because we don't know how long train rides both ways take and how long we need to explore Aberdeen center. we never been take this adventure before ourselves; always booked organized tours, we don't want to be late on our flight. We were in Vancouver before. Does any tour take us to airport by 5 after the tour from cruise port?

Thanks

I agree that you are not likely wanting to spend more than an hour at the mall, unless you are eating there.

I should also mentioned there are TWO Aberdeen malls now. They are side by side.

• Aberdeen Centre is the original Aberdeen mall. http://aberdeencentre.com/en/index.php
  
• Aberdeen Square is a new addition they added last year between Aberdeen Centre and the subway station. Last time I was there, the expanded Square is vacant waiting for tenants. It usually takes a few years for a mall to fill up with tenants. http://www.aberdeensquare.com/
  

Thank you for all answers. I am very greaful.

Ok, So idea of dropping off bags ourselves to airport sound good. The take train to Aberdeen center where 'eat street'..We only want to check out some restaurants from that area, get some fresh fruit, pastries and dimsa. We are not interested on shopping or wondering around those malls. We may spend around 2 hrs there.

Any suggestions what we can do after and get back to airport for our 7pm flight to US?

Hop on hop off bus that that us to aiport? Husband is not a walker and adventure as I am.

What type of pass should we get to cover two of us from cruise port to airport, from airport to Richmond -birdhouse station and bach to cruiset or airport?

I read from Canada line website, it mentions about zones fare.

One more question please. What kind of imported tropical fresh fruits (like mangosteen, longan, rambutan,lychees )are available in May and are they available at Vancouver Chinatown stores?

Thank you very much