My quick Vancouver Itinerary, thoughts?

We arrive in Vancouver on Friday night at almost 11pm. We are going to the Marriott Pinnacle and sleeping. It will be a long travel day for us.

My plan for Saturday morning is to leave the hotel at 8am, have breakfast at Cafe Crepe on Robson (we are walking from the hotel). Hope to be finished with breakfast quickly.

We are going to walk to Blue Horizon and pick up the shuttle to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, hoping to be there by 10:30. Stay until noon or so, catch the shuttle to the Hyatt, walk to the hotel and take a cab to the Pier.

My questions are:

Is Cafe Crepe a good option? If not, suggestions are welcome. There are 6 of us.

Is an hour or so enough time? I would like to leave for the pier no later than 12:30 or 1.

Thanks in advance!

Plans sounds doable... Thoughts...

• have you consider Cafe Crepe post cruise to give you more time for the Bridge and pre-cruise events?
  
• not sure how busy the shuttles are.... boarding at the cruise terminal will guarantee seating
  
• July 11th? Absolute skip Grouse. Expect traffic congestion with KneeKnacker run that morning in the area...
  http://www.kneeknacker.com/
  
• if the shuttle's are busy.... have Yellow cab and North shore taxi dispatch on your speed dial!
  
• an hour on the bridge? To enjoy the Treetop and Cliffwalk.... I prefer 90 minutes... especially if there is a tour bus dump.
  
• 11pm at airport.... 1am bedtime... do you have enough sleep before 8am breakfast?
  
• have you planned enough time for luggage transfer to cruise ship?
  

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In addition to xlxos Qs above, I'll add on these:

1) why Cafe Crepe? Aside from their cheap bottled beer there's not a lot to recommend - it's not a pseudo-Parisian dining experience, more of a 'minimum wage teens doling out thin pancakes' experience (think McDs but with crepes and a liquor license...)

2) why are you spending extra time getting breakfast anywhere sit-down when your priority sounds like it is getting to Cap and getting back to the pier when you have limited time?

Personally I'd either suck up the in-hotel extra cost of breakfast and motor to the Canada Place start of the shuttle route (as xlxo mentioned, if the shuttle is full they can't add anyone at Blue Horizon - and there will be plenty of people disembarking in time to join the queue for the first 9am shuttle already...) or (even better) head straight for the pier and grab a to-go breakfast at McDs or Timmies right across from the shuttle stop if you don't absolutely have to have a full sit-down brekky.

If you really, really have to sit down to eat but cannot tolerate the Marriott breakfast costs, then Scoozis would be my recco - less than a block out of your way and sitdown brekkies for $12 or less (chalkboard specials sometimes even cheaper) - or if pancakes absolutely must be had, the De Dutch location at the Convention Centre is almost directly en route and has much more substantial offerings.

If you can even get on the 9:30am shuttle you'll be there not much after 10am, can stay for a couple of hours and get back to the pier before 1pm.

Plans sounds doable... Thoughts...

• have you consider Cafe Crepe post cruise to give you more time for the Bridge and pre-cruise events?
  
• not sure how busy the shuttles are.... boarding at the cruise terminal will guarantee seating
  
• July 11th? Absolute skip Grouse. Expect traffic congestion with KneeKnacker run that morning in the area...
  http://www.kneeknacker.com/
  
• if the shuttle's are busy.... have Yellow cab and North shore taxi dispatch on your speed dial!
  
• an hour on the bridge? To enjoy the Treetop and Cliffwalk.... I prefer 90 minutes... especially if there is a tour bus dump.
  
• 11pm at airport.... 1am bedtime... do you have enough sleep before 8am breakfast?
  
• have you planned enough time for luggage transfer to cruise ship?
  

 

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Unfortunately we won't be in Vancouver post cruise.

Didn't think about there not being any room on the shuttle :(

We are arriving by train, not airport. We are coming from Missouri and the time difference really messes with me so I will be up by 6, no matter how late I go to bed.

Not sure if I've planned enough time to get to the cruise with luggage or not, that's a concern.

In addition to xlxos Qs above, I'll add on these:

 

1) why Cafe Crepe? Aside from their cheap bottled beer there's not a lot to recommend - it's not a pseudo-Parisian dining experience, more of a 'minimum wage teens doling out thin pancakes' experience (think McDs but with crepes and a liquor license...)

 

2) why are you spending extra time getting breakfast anywhere sit-down when your priority sounds like it is getting to Cap and getting back to the pier when you have limited time?

 

Personally I'd either suck up the in-hotel extra cost of breakfast and motor to the Canada Place start of the shuttle route (as xlxo mentioned, if the shuttle is full they can't add anyone at Blue Horizon - and there will be plenty of people disembarking in time to join the queue for the first 9am shuttle already...) or (even better) head straight for the pier and grab a to-go breakfast at McDs or Timmies right across from the shuttle stop if you don't absolutely have to have a full sit-down brekky.

 

If you really, really have to sit down to eat but cannot tolerate the Marriott breakfast costs, then Scoozis would be my recco - less than a block out of your way and sitdown brekkies for $12 or less (chalkboard specials sometimes even cheaper) - or if pancakes absolutely must be had, the De Dutch location at the Convention Centre is almost directly en route and has much more substantial offerings.

 

If you can even get on the 9:30am shuttle you'll be there not much after 10am, can stay for a couple of hours and get back to the pier before 1pm.

Cafe Crepe just because I'm trying to make everyone happy. We are eating "dinner" in Seattle at 4pm on Friday, then taking the train to Van. I figure we will be starving. I was looking for a place to eat close to the route. I didn't think about there not being room on the shuttle. That's a concern.

The price of the Marriott breakfast has nothing to do with why I chose not to eat there, just trying to get out of the hotel. I think we are going with one of your options or eating there and heading straight to pier. I didn't think about the people disembarking either. This is why I asked about all of this.:o

Thank you for your input!

My advice....

• get up early and eat at the hotel restaurant.
  
• walk over to the pier at 8:10 for the 8:30am shuttle
  
• hit the bridge when it opens at 9am
  
• 10:30 is the first return shuttle downtown. Otherwise get a cab! I think one way cab rides are around $30 to $40 each.
  
• 11am arrive at your hotel to grab luggage. Might want to cab it if you have lots of stuff. I assume it's $10.
  
• 11:30am arrive at pier for the 2hr luggage, weapons, body, hand and cavity searches for boarding.
  

Things to research....

• what time do you need to vacate the room? 11am? noon? You can leave your luggage in the room if check out is noon.
  
• what time does the lunch trough closes? 1:30pm? 2pm? Can't miss what you paid for.
  

If time is short.... consider a couple of taxi's to get around quickly. Might be worth it to save time and minimize stress with full shuttles.

The itinerary has been edited with your suggestions. Thank you so much for your input!

I am jumping on this with a Capilano shuttle question. We are arriving at 11:40AM on August 6. We will head to our hotel, St. Regis, check in and drop luggage and then plan on doing Capilano. I had planned to walk over to The Hyatt since it seemed like the closest stop. Originally I had thought Blue Horizon but Hyatt looked closer. Would it be better for us to walk the further distance to Canada Place to avoid the bus being full?

If the shuttle buses are full think about using public transit

In Vancouver take bus to Waterfront station - here board Seabus to cross the harbor - then board a Capilano Road bus for the ride to Capilano Suspension Bridge... ask driver to tell you when to get off. Bus stops right in front! If you buy an all day pass you can ride the public transit system as many times as you want for the rest of the day... that includes buses, Skytrain, SeaBus....

Early afternoon you're probably less likely to find the shuttle full - cruisers have all long since disembarked, anyone yet to board that day should be on their way back to the pier, so it's just regular tourists you're fighting for a seat with, but frankly for the sake of a couple of extra minutes on foot I'd always recommend going to the start of any transport route.

As BCHG said, transit is easy (and clean and safe!) to use and if you're unsure the bus drivers - and frankly almost all of your fellow passengers - will be happy to help point you to the correct bus bays etc. The short cruise across to Lonsdale Quay is also quite pleasant if you avoid commuter rushhours (~7-9am, 4-6pm ish) and the system is totally integrated so a single ticket gets you on both bus and Seabus.

I'd say it's worth doing one way by transit, even if the shuttle isn't full, just to see the views across to Vancouver as you're at Lonsdale/on the Seabus.

By the time you get to the St. Regis it is going to be 1pm at least so I would be very inclined to walk down to Canada Place and pick up the free shuttle there. If there is a long line then walk back to Waterfront Station and take the SeaBus once at Lonsdale Quay you transfer to a #236 bus which will take you to the front door of the CSB. You then can take the free shuttle back or reverse the process on transit. Round trip on transit it is going to cost you $8 CAD only vs a day pass cost of $9.75. I don't disagree that the trip on the SeaBus is pretty on a nice day but so is the drive thru the Stanley Park causeway and over the Lions Gate Bridge.

Couple more questions, sorry!

First, do any of the cabs hold 6 people?

Second, if we take a cab from the hotel, how difficult is it to get one from the bridge back to the hotel?

Thanks,

Couple more questions, sorry!

 

First, do any of the cabs hold 6 people?

 

Second, if we take a cab from the hotel, how difficult is it to get one from the bridge back to the hotel?

 

Thanks,

No, the cabs are Prius in size augmented with some mini-vans that sometimes can handle 5 with a flipper seat. Getting a cab back would not be difficult but you would be into a 2 cab scenario again and coming back into heavy rush hour traffic over the Lions Gate Bridge which only has 1 lane open southbound during the rush hour. Without traffic I would estimate that a cab is going to run you about $30/$35 per cab. I wouldn't even begin to guess what it would cost southbound in traffic.

No, the cabs are Prius in size augmented with some mini-vans that sometimes can handle 5 with a flipper seat. Getting a cab back would not be difficult but you would be into a 2 cab scenario again and coming back into heavy rush hour traffic over the Lions Gate Bridge which only has 1 lane open southbound during the rush hour. Without traffic I would estimate that a cab is going to run you about $30/$35 per cab. I wouldn't even begin to guess what it would cost southbound in traffic.

11am on a Saturday, I'm assuming no rush hour? :o

I am jumping on this with a Capilano shuttle question. We are arriving at 11:40AM on August 6. We will head to our hotel, St. Regis, check in and drop luggage and then plan on doing Capilano. I had planned to walk over to The Hyatt since it seemed like the closest stop. Originally I had thought Blue Horizon but Hyatt looked closer. Would it be better for us to walk the further distance to Canada Place to avoid the bus being full?

• 11:40 YVR arrival
  
• 1pm hotel check in
  
• 1:15pm available for Cap transpo
  
• I vote to walk to Canada Place.... if it's a multi-hour wait.
  
  • public transit is preferred with the Seabus ($4 each)
    
  • taxi's are $30 for the carload and they load next door at the hotels. Cost goes down if you can find some other impatient Cap visitors willing to split the fare with you for the carload. Budget $9 each.
    
  • catch the free shuttle on the return.
    

Then again... I recommend hitting Grouse at that time in the afternoon. Request the Grouse shuttle for a Capilano bridge drop off. It's the summer and Capilano closes at 8pm.

Couple more questions, sorry!

 

First, do any of the cabs hold 6 people?

 

Second, if we take a cab from the hotel, how difficult is it to get one from the bridge back to the hotel?

 

Thanks,

http://northshoretaxi.com/

Give them a call now for advice on 6 passenger vehicle availability.

11am on a Saturday, I'm assuming no rush hour? :o

There is not a rush hour on the weekend, however the Lions Gate Bridge and the Stanley Park causeway has only 3 lanes and the center lane does get switch back and forth depending on traffic volumes .... so yes, you can get into heavy traffic southbound any day of the week....of course that applies equally to going northbound to the CSB.

As you can see here the centre lane on Lions Gate has a very wide window of when it flips from South- to North-bound. I used to drive over on Saturday late morning quite often to buy haggis in West Van (until Blacks butchers closed - booo!) and found it basically random whether I would still have 2 lanes available southbound on the way back or not any time between 11:30am and 2pm - it literally didn't matter what time I left at as the bridge staff have total discretion between the hours of 9am and 3pm which way the centre lane goes.

If you take the 236 bus from Cap to Lonsdale Quay it will consistently take within a minute or two of the scheduled 19 minutes as it doesn't have to go over a bridge. Factor in 10 minutes for walking to & from bus stops, 15 mins to ride the Seabus, and 0-15 more (you might have just missed a Seabus, or get right on one) and you'll be back downtown in 44mins to an hour at most if you just miss the prior Seabus.

Total cost is only $2.75pp cash fare on a Saturday, or $1.75 if you're 65+ with proof of age, and as a bonus you'll get a different view of downtown Vancouver on the Seabus (Lonsdale Quay also has a Saturday farmers market, as well as the various permanent stalls inside, so it's a good option for lunch if you choose).