Vancouver to Victoria - new fast ferry service from downtown - Spring 2017

[There are a few places I could put this information, but I'll put it here and if anyone thinks it should be moved to the West Coast Departure port forum, feel free to move it.]

From time to time there have been questions about how to get from Vancouver to Victoria or vice-versa, as part of a pre- or post-cruise stay in Vancouver. There has been some recent coverage in the media about a new service to start this spring (2017) of a direct fast ferry from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria. I only know what information is available from the internet but though I should spread the information to the CruiseCritic world. The website is: https://v2vvacations.com/cruise (or just google V2V vacations if the link doesn't want to work for you.)

I took a quick look around the site - it looks like the service will be available for the Alaska 2017 season. Looks like the ferry will be leaving from near the convention centre (Burrard landing, where the sea planes go from), so next door (10 mins walk/suitcase drag?) to Canada Place (where the cruise ships come in). The website says they will leave Vancouver at 8 a.m. and you should be there 45 mins before - which would make it a little difficult to catch it the same day you disembark the cruise ship - you would probably need an overnight in Vancouver!

The service has been described in the media as "upmarket", so expect them to be quite a bit more pricey than the regular BC Ferry service (which goes from outside of Vancouver at Tsawwassen and does not go directly to downtown Victoria).

If I hear any more information about it, I'll add it. I should also note that it appears that another company (Clipper) is intending to offer downtown Vancouver to Victoria ferry service but not until 2018. (This company already offers a Victoria to Seattle service.)

I pondered on adding it myself WTT - but with the bad timing, ludicrous pre-boarding time (seriously? 45 minutes for a boat, when the planes and choppers only need 15 and they have tighter security requirements?), very steep pricing, and lengthy travel time, it's going to be a very, VERY niche product that really won't be practical for cruisers - or locals!

Cheapest tickets are $120 one-way - which compares very poorly with floatplanes & choppers given the disparate travel times and not even extra free luggage. It's actually VERY possible to leave downtown, get on a regular BC ferry, and beat the new service to Victoria if you have your own car - and you'd pay less! BCFC bus-ferry-bus end-to-end time is hardly any more when you factor in the 45min pre-boarding time. Seats with included food and drink - and windows - run double that or more, with no discount for kids, making them more expensive than Helijet or HarbourAir with an end-to-end time of almost four hours compared to well under one hour.

Frankly I see them being out of business even faster than the last failed attempt. At the initially-planned $60pp rate it made sense - this would be cheaper than a bus-ferry-bus on BCFC even though it's about the same end to end time. The current model, once the novelty wears off, seems to suit only people who hate to fly, have flexible schedules, and feel they're too fancy for BC Ferries. I can't imagine that's a big enough crowd to make for long term survival even if Clipper were not going to start competing with them...

I would have preferred if this one was reintroduced

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-06-02/travel/8502040717_1_washington-state-ferries-victoria-and-vancouver-gulf-islands

I wish the new operator the best of luck....

• I agree pricing yourself to the same range as float planes and helicopters may not be smart
  
• called V2V, it's $120 to $240 one way
  https://v2vvacations.com/cruise/class
  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/victoria-vancouver-ferry-1.3987847
  
• one round trip each day....
  
  • leaves Vancouver 8am and arrives at 11:30am in Victoria. 3.5 hours.
    
  • leaves Victoria at 2pm and arrives at 5:30pm.
    

  [*]one sailing in each direction for a day?

  [*]a previous operator ran into complications with rough waves and passenger motion sickness. Fraser River outflow may cause problems.

  [*]The Wilson's BC Ferries connector offers a cheaper service for $72 with 8:30am departures

  [*]here's details on the 2018 Clipper service.

  http://www.timescolonist.com/business/clipper-plans-victoria-vancouver-ferry-for-2018-obtains-vessel-1.10692406

Here's another segment this time on GlobalBC, the local newscast, we caught a few weeks back describing the new V2V Vacations ferry service.