Amtrak to Vancouver, hotel in Van., Transportation to from ship.

Hi, New to this section, Thinking about a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska.

Summer (2015)

I live in South Puget Sound area. Taking a train from Tacoma, what hotel is close to pier/train and what about transportation just for 2 people. I would rather do Vancouver than Seattle, taken Amtrak 3 or 4 times but not to Vancouver.

Thanks

There is only one train from Tacoma to Vancouver, 516 which leaves Tacoma at 5:17 pm and gets to Vancouver at 10:50 pm. If you are cruising back to Vancouver and not flying back from Alaska, the only train from Vancouver to Tacoma to return is 513, which leaves Vancouver at 6:40 am and arrives at Tacoma at 12:08 pm. You'd need to get to the Vancouver station by about 6am so you could check in and do US Immigration, so you'd need to stay overnight in Vancouver to catch it.

One note, while the Tacoma Amtrak station has free long term parking, it is not patrolled there is a break-in problem there. A couple of years ago I had my pickup broken into and nearly stolen (screwed the steering column up good trying, though) there.

The Vancouver station is on the eastern edge of downtown Vancouver close to Chinatown so I'd get a cab from there to a hotel closer to the pier in more central Vancouver. Pacific Central Station is right across the street from the Main Street/Science World Skytrain station but with luggage and late at night, I'd just take a cab.

Zephyr covered pretty much everything logistically, and I'd concur that the best location to stay overnight in is downtown (the vast bulk of downtown hotels lie within about 1 mile from both the pier and train station, so your budget/chain loyalty points are much more relevant than location).

There's one passable motel marginally closer to the train station than other hotels, but unless your primary aim while staying in Vancouver is sampling local brews the downtown hotels are more convenient for the bulk of the popular tourist sites - that said, if you did want to while away the day in local breweries there are four within a few hundred yards of the motel, and another should open long before next summer...

Also, if you can arrange convenient transport from your place into Seattle & vice versa, there is a second train available too - the 5:35pm 517 Southbound (arr Seattle King St @ 10pm), and the 7:45am 510 Northbound (arr Vancouver Pacific Central @ 11:45am).

Just stumbled onto this thread. Sorry for the late response! We live near Gig Harbor and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. In August 2013 we did a cruisetour out of Anchorage and ending in Vancouver. We flew from SeaTac to Anchorage and cruised back to Vancouver, spent the night and caught the train the next afternoon returning to downtown Seattle. Getting to the airport and back from the Seattle train station were challenges. With 4 adults & related luggage it involved going to SeaTac the day before to get a full-sized rental car which we returned the next day after dropping the group and the luggage at the departure area. On the way back, we had a town car reservation to pick us all up at the train station and get back home. We also rented a car in Vancouver and enjoyed the extra day in Vancouver and the train back. In July 2014 we sailed Alaska out of Vancouver. This year we were doing 14 days leaving from and returning to Vancouver. We drove to Vancouver the morning to the cruise. Beautiful drive and super easy parking right at Canada Place (but pricey) where you can drop your luggage inside and continue to a parking space without even going back outside (all covered and unaffected by the weather). We left fairly early and were there before they even started boarding passengers. This was a far easier and faster option and it was a pleasant drive back home. We also had our own car from a little sightseeing upon our return. If you don't mind the drive, I would recommend you just drive to Vancouver. That will always be our choice going forward.

Hi, New to this section, Thinking about a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska.

Summer (2015)

I live in South Puget Sound area. Taking a train from Tacoma, what hotel is close to pier/train and what about transportation just for 2 people. I would rather do Vancouver than Seattle, taken Amtrak 3 or 4 times but not to Vancouver.

Thanks

I suggest driving as well but if you prefer not to, my next choice would be by coach as it stops at Canada Place area hotels.

For the flexibilty, I would suggest taking the "Quick Shuttle" coach from SeaTac or any of the stops up to Bellingham airport. It's not that expensive and it runs regularily throughout the day.

http://www.quickcoach.com/