Disembarking at Vancouver

We are shortly on the Alaska cruise on Infinity. When we get back to Vancouver on the Sunday morning we need to get to the Hertz rental office in Granville Street. How easy is it to pick up a taxi at the terminal, I guess the earlier we are off the ship the easier it will be. Is it possible to pre-book a taxi ?

We are shortly on the Alaska cruise on Infinity. When we get back to Vancouver on the Sunday morning we need to get to the Hertz rental office in Granville Street. How easy is it to pick up a taxi at the terminal, I guess the earlier we are off the ship the easier it will be. Is it possible to pre-book a taxi ?

Which Sunday are you arriving? There are 3 ships in on the 21st and 2 on the 28th. If you can handle your own luggage, I would do the Express debarkation where you will be among the first off the ship and should not have to wait that long for a taxi at the curb.

Here is a transportation guide that lists phone numbers for different taxis. Maybe you could book one when you arrive in Vancouver prior to your cruise.

https://www.portvancouver.com/cruise/transportation-parking/

we need to get to the Hertz rental office in Granville Street.

No first hand experience but the general rule of thumb is that there's a shortage of taxi's in Vancouver and the line-up for taxi's during cruise season is pretty brutal.

There are a couple of taxi apps you can also use to try to book a taxi. The reviews are also a bit mixed with respect to reliability.

If there's a closer location as xlxo suggests, I'd highly consider it if the same price. If it's at the Pacific Rim, it should be very close.

Thanks for the replies, it is Sunday 28th we will be getting off the ship. Car rental was done through the airline (Air Transat) they were aware we are on a cruise prior to the rental but that is the pick up point they gave us, guess might be worth giving them a ring to see if they can change it.

We are shortly on the Alaska cruise on Infinity. When we get back to Vancouver on the Sunday morning we need to get to the Hertz rental office in Granville Street. How easy is it to pick up a taxi at the terminal, I guess the earlier we are off the ship the easier it will be. Is it possible to pre-book a taxi ?

If you do change the reso, be aware that Hertz Pac Rim doesn't open until 9am Sundays. The one at the train station (very cheap, fast and convenient by SkyTrain) is even later at 10am. Either way, you can't possibly be on the road early. Granville opens at 8am daily, which is about as early as you can realistically manage even if you self-disembark among the first people at 7:15am or so. While YVR location opens at 6am, you couldn't possibly get there before the Granville office opens.

Booking cabs is possible, but not for pickup inside the terminal - there is nowhere for them to wait, everyone joins a single line and gets in next available cab is the only way it works. Scheduling a pickup at a nearby hotel might be possible - and just walking up to the Pan Pacific lobby or across the street to the Fairmont Waterfront does give you access to different cab queues.

If you are in the first few groups off, say 7:30am, you should not have to wait long for a cab whether it's in the terminal or at one of the hotels.

One other possibility - did you check other rental companies? All the major companies have offices at or close to the pier - National/Alamo have cars on-site, Dollar/Thrifty have their downtown office and cars just over 500 yards away, Enterprise have a Pan Pacific desk (not sure where their cars are though).

No first hand experience but the general rule of thumb is that there's a shortage of taxi's in Vancouver and the line-up for taxi's during cruise season is pretty brutal.

There are a couple of taxi apps you can also use to try to book a taxi. The reviews are also a bit mixed with respect to reliability.

 

If there's a closer location as xlxo suggests, I'd highly consider it if the same price. If it's at the Pacific Rim, it should be very close.

I have to agree with above poster re shortage of taxis in Vancouver. When I disembarked from Hawaii cruise, I was staying in Vancouver for five days. I was one of the last ones off the ship. The line-up for taxis was huge (almost like some rides at Disney during peak times). It took me approximately two and half hours to get a taxi. Due to long waits, some people were saying that they would miss their flights, even though they had gotten off the ship in good time (they thought). It was horrendous. The taxi people finally did two lines - one for people needing a van and the other for a taxi only. They then had the taxis come down the 'out' ramp to pick up passengers and vans to the regular 'in' ramp. I am sure it would have been more than 2.5 hours if they did not do this. I have never tried Uber -- but might be worth investigating and seeing if they could pick you up outside the terminal.

sorry - duplicate post

<snip> I have never tried Uber -- but might be worth investigating and seeing if they could pick you up outside the terminal.

No Uber in Vancouver yet; hasn't been approved.

The closest thing is maybe Ripe Rides which bills itself as a level of service between taxis and limos.

I have to agree with above poster re shortage of taxis in Vancouver.

 

might be worth investigating and seeing if they could pick you up outside the terminal.

If the wait is more than 20 minutes long..... I would be taking my luggage to other locations to spread the load trying to get into the cabs. The subway would be another choice.

• Pan Pacific Hotel above the cruise terminal
  
• Waterfront Hotel across the street
  
• Pacific Rim Hotel 3 blocks to the West
  
• Waterfront station 3 blocks to the East
  
• Auberge Hotel 3 blocks to the South
  

We are shortly on the Alaska cruise on Infinity. When we get back to Vancouver on the Sunday morning we need to get to the Hertz rental office in Granville Street. How easy is it to pick up a taxi at the terminal, I guess the earlier we are off the ship the easier it will be. Is it possible to pre-book a taxi ?

We just returned from our Alaska cruise on Infinity last Sunday (August 7th) and reached the taxi terminal at 9:30 am and was able to get a taxi van within 5 minutes. You don't need to pre-book a taxi as there is a long line of taxis waiting their turn to pick up passengers. You should be fine in getting a taxi.

We just returned from our Alaska cruise on Infinity last Sunday (August 7th) and reached the taxi terminal at 9:30 am and was able to get a taxi van within 5 minutes. You don't need to pre-book a taxi as there is a long line of taxis waiting their turn to pick up passengers. You should be fine in getting a taxi.

Hello I love Carbs (I do too!),

How many ships were disembarking when you were there?

Hello I love Carbs (I do too!),

 

How many ships were disembarking when you were there?

In case ILC isn't a frequent visitor, the port schedule confirms three ships at the pier - BUT one of those was Crystal Serenity on the second day of a 2-day-in-port stop, i.e. not everyone onboard was rushing to disembark and it's also a small ship.

Thanks Martin. A big D'OH to me, I could have looked that up, too. Wasn't thinking.