pre and post cruise decision, help needed please

We are cruising out of Vancouver next June on the Serenade on a Sunday. (I'm not even sure of which pier this ship will sail from next summer.) There will be 3 adults and a 12 year old. So far the best flight I can find is a round trip into and out of Seattle. We would like to fly in on a Wednesday and spend two nights in Seattle. Then rent a car on Friday and drive toward Vancouver. We will overnight two nights at a friend's house halfway between SEA and YVR. Then Sunday morning drive to the cruise ship. The ship returns on the following Sunday morning. Here's where I'm split and need help deciding:

Option A: Rent the car one way at a substantial penalty. (The one way rental rate for two days is $304.) Spend day one post cruise in Vancouver. (Don't know what we'll do with our luggage! Any ideas?) Overnight there in city. The next day take the Quick Shuttle ($120) to Seattle. Spend the afternoon/evening in Seattle. (Again don't know what we'll do with our luggage!) Take a taxi to the airport. Plane leaves at midnight Monday.

Option B: Rent the car for 10 days for $397 plus 8 days of parking at $96. Spend day one post cruise touring Vancouver. Drive out of town later in the afternoon/ evening. Overnight anywhere between YVR and SEA, preferably somewhere clean and cheap and a lot less $$ than the city hotels. (We're not 4 star folks here! Looking for something under $65.) We can then spend Monday taking our time driving back to Seattle (any ideas?) or use the time to see some things in Seattle that we didn't have time to pre-cruise. Plane leaves at midnight Monday.

Other considerations: We are on a strict budget. It seems to me that both of the above options come out fairly close in price with the more expensive one, option B, giving us more flexibility. We can't do Priceline for hotels because there are 4 of us. We want to see a little bit of Vancouver, but are more interested in spending our time in Seattle. We probably will go into Vancouver or maybe Victoria pre-cruise while we're visiting with our friend. The luggage issues are really bothering me. I don't know how we can tour around with 12 (OK I exagerate) pieces of luggage. With option A we'd probably drop off our luggage at the Vancouver hotel, but don't know what we could do with it when we return to Seattle. I do not want to spend my afternoon/evening at the Seattle airport!

Thanks for any help and ideas.

We are cruising out of Vancouver next June on the Serenade on a Sunday. (I'm not even sure of which pier this ship will sail from next summer.) There will be 3 adults and a 12 year old. So far the best flight I can find is a round trip into and out of Seattle. We would like to fly in on a Wednesday and spend two nights in Seattle. Then rent a car on Friday and drive toward Vancouver. We will overnight two nights at a friend's house halfway between SEA and YVR. Then Sunday morning drive to the cruise ship. The ship returns on the following Sunday morning. Here's where I'm split and need help deciding:

 

Option A: Rent the car one way at a substantial penalty. (The one way rental rate for two days is $304.) Spend day one post cruise in Vancouver. (Don't know what we'll do with our luggage! Any ideas?) Overnight there in city. The next day take the Quick Shuttle ($120) to Seattle. Spend the afternoon/evening in Seattle. (Again don't know what we'll do with our luggage!) Take a taxi to the airport. Plane leaves at midnight Monday.

 

Option B: Rent the car for 10 days for $397 plus 8 days of parking at $96. Spend day one post cruise touring Vancouver. Drive out of town later in the afternoon/ evening. Overnight anywhere between YVR and SEA, preferably somewhere clean and cheap and a lot less $$ than the city hotels. (We're not 4 star folks here! Looking for something under $65.) We can then spend Monday taking our time driving back to Seattle (any ideas?) or use the time to see some things in Seattle that we didn't have time to pre-cruise. Plane leaves at midnight Monday.

 

Other considerations: We are on a strict budget. It seems to me that both of the above options come out fairly close in price with the more expensive one, option B, giving us more flexibility. We can't do Priceline for hotels because there are 4 of us. We want to see a little bit of Vancouver, but are more interested in spending our time in Seattle. We probably will go into Vancouver or maybe Victoria pre-cruise while we're visiting with our friend. The luggage issues are really bothering me. I don't know how we can tour around with 12 (OK I exagerate) pieces of luggage. With option A we'd probably drop off our luggage at the Vancouver hotel, but don't know what we could do with it when we return to Seattle. I do not want to spend my afternoon/evening at the Seattle airport!

 

Thanks for any help and ideas.

If you're on a budget, maybe you could consider one or more of what we did....

We just stayed at the Doubletree airport for $35 night. The room was good size, clean and very comfortable beds. No problem getting two double beds. The pool was heated and nice. The staff was very friendly. Free airport shuttle. We were also able to check in at 12:00 noon (no hassle), which was great because we had a place for our bags. The room was a little far from the lobby, which was not a problem for us.

We wanted to spend the day in DT Seattle so we walked back to the airport to catch the bus into downtown. It is a very short walk. You can get an all you can ride pass for around $5 pp a day. They have a website where you can get all the info you need, and you can also order passes ahead of time. These passes also include a ferry to West Seattle and the trolley.

If you decide to rent a car, like you mentioned, it would be very convenient to just walk over to the airport. This hotel does charge $12 day parking.

We got the rooms through Priceline. If you're interested, I'll give you more info.

This may not fit into your plan, but we took Amtrak up to Vancouver. It was around $100 for the four of us - business class. We loved it! We got a limo from hotel to Amtrak for $35. Customs was extremely quick and it was no hassle at all. Then took taxi to ship.

We also struggled with what to do post-cruise...with all the bags. We decided to rent a car one-way through Hertz and stay once again at the Doubletree in Seattle. The car for the day was just over $100. On the way back we decided to stop at a couple places...White Rock and then took ferry to Friday Harbor - San Juan Islands. Got to the hotel late and flew out the next day.

A lot of moving around, but it worked out great.

I just wanted to stay clear of Priceline because this past month we have had two negative experiences with Priceline (after multiple calls to the hotel and being assured we would get a double non-smoking, we were given a king smoking.) It wouldn't be such a big deal if we were travelling with children, but we will be three adults and a child, so rollaways and sofabeds aren't an option. i've found some pretty cheap rooms in little towns along the way, but of course that will require us having the car. What size car did you get? I don't know where everyone's getting these cheap prices on cars. Hertz told me that a one day one way rental on a full size vehicle would be $150 with tax. Maybe others are using a smaller car, but I just don't see how we could with four people and lots of luggage. Packing light is not my forte!

I just wanted to stay clear of Priceline because this past month we have had two negative experiences with Priceline (after multiple calls to the hotel and being assured we would get a double non-smoking, we were given a king smoking.) It wouldn't be such a big deal if we were travelling with children, but we will be three adults and a child, so rollaways and sofabeds aren't an option. i've found some pretty cheap rooms in little towns along the way, but of course that will require us having the car. What size car did you get? I don't know where everyone's getting these cheap prices on cars. Hertz told me that a one day one way rental on a full size vehicle would be $150 with tax. Maybe others are using a smaller car, but I just don't see how we could with four people and lots of luggage. Packing light is not my forte!

I understand your frustration with Priceline...we've had one negative experience, but we've used them a couple dozen times. There are all kinds of discounts for car rentals, including Sams Club, AAA, etc. I believe I used AAA, and booked through the website. Reserved a full size car, but ended up getting an Explorer at no extra charge. You would need to book Hertz - Seymour. You would take a taxi from the ship to Hertz, and they will reimburse cost of taxi. The quote you are getting is in Canadian dollars.