Seattle to Vancouver ?

Folks,

I am looking for someone that has actually done the b2b Seattle to Vancouver 1 day cruise.

Princess has a 1 day to Vancouver on Golden, then a 1 day to Vancouver on Grand the next day.

My 1st question is, What is the best way to get back to Seattle from Vancouver?

The 2nd question is, Is the casino open on this trip?(We have some credits we want to use.)

Any other tips appreciated. :)

This would not be considered a back to back voyage. I do not recall the casino being open since you are pretty close to the shoreline.

Search for threads started by vjmatty. I believe she and her husband posted a thread about doing that.

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We rent a car or take Quick Coach.

We did this trip last year on the Golden and the casino was not open. The ship doesn't go far enough into international waters. I can't say if it is the best way of getting from one place to the other but it's a fun way to do it. We stayed a couple of days in Vancouver and then took the Coral down to LA. It was a great little vacation.

We've done this little trip 2 Saturdays in a row but never 2 days in a row. We've used Quick Coach, a Princess shuttle or Amtrak. Amtrak is by far our favorite. We get off the ship, buy a day pass for the sky train/bus, take the sky train to the Amtrak station and drop off our bags. Then we go explore the city - Granville Island, Stanley Park and Aquarium, Robson Street. We head back to Amtrak later in the afternoon for the evening train, which gets into Seattle around 10:30pm.

The Princess shuttle was our least favorite. We had to be off the ship at 7:30 to go stand in line for the bus. The bus didn't show up for another hour or so. It took something like 2 hours for the bus to clear customs at the border. Don't know why they couldn't seal the bus. It was nice being dropped off right at the Princess parking lot at pier 91. Hey, if you have an RV you could spend the night in the lot and be ready to go the next day!

The Princess shuttle was our least favorite. We had to be off the ship at 7:30 to go stand in line for the bus. The bus didn't show up for another hour or so. It took something like 2 hours for the bus to clear customs at the border. Don't know why they couldn't seal the bus. It was nice being dropped off right at the Princess parking lot at pier 91. Hey, if you have an RV you could spend the night in the lot and be ready to go the next day!

We had the Princess xfer (from a regular Alaska cruise) from Vancouver to SEA.

o We boarded the bus immediately after disembarkation and just about on schedule.

o Spent about 15 minutes at the border. Driver collected all the passports brought them inside for immigreation, returned to the bus and gave back the passports.

I sailed the 1-day Star and Golden Seattle to Vancouver cruises last September; I took the Quick Shuttle bus between Vancouver and Seattle and the ride was fine :). I did the walk-off disembarkation from the Star, went thru customs and walked to where the shuttle buses were--Quick Shuttle had their own waiting area. Once a rep arrived, we got checked in and got on the first bus. We left once the bus got filled (around 8:30am). The bus wasn't sealed so we had to get off the bus at the border but it was no big deal and it didn't take long (maybe 20 to 30 minutes). We got to Seattle in a little under 4 hours. Several of us tried several times in vain to have the driver drop us off at Pier 91 even though he did make an unscheduled stop for someone else earlier in the trip :rolleyes:. We ended up at the official Downtown Seattle stop which is the Best Western Executive Inn. From there I caught a transit bus with another passenger to a stop near the pier and got in line to board the Golden. I got on right before 1:30pm (I missed the MDR lunch :().

I also plan to do the 1-day Golden and Grand cruises this September and will weigh my options but will likely take Quick Shuttle again.

As for your second question, the casinos were closed on both of the 1-day cruises last September. I'm taking a 1-day next month and hoping for better luck then--another thread mentioned the casino being open on a 1-day going from Vancouver to Seattle.

You might be interested 2 HAL voyages this fall. The first is Seattle to Vancouver on the westerdam. That same day the westerdam arrives in vancouver, the Oosterdam does a rare fall Vancouver to Seattle trip. This would remove the need for you to need a train or quick shuttle ride. But the taxes on these voyages are pretty rediculous I noticed.

runner,

I noticed the taxes on these HAL cruises too. What is that all about ? why so high?

makes me think twice. and then again.

You might be interested 2 HAL voyages this fall. The first is Seattle to Vancouver on the westerdam. That same day the westerdam arrives in vancouver, the Oosterdam does a rare fall Vancouver to Seattle trip. This would remove the need for you to need a train or quick shuttle ride. But the taxes on these voyages are pretty rediculous I noticed.

My recollection is that the casinos are not open on these overnights. The best way back to Vancouver IMO is the Amtrak Cascades, then Quick Coach then down the list would be to rent a car and drive.

My recollection is that the casinos are not open on these overnights. The best way back to Vancouver IMO is the Amtrak Cascades, then Quick Coach then down the list would be to rent a car and drive.

Cascades is difficult for a b2b trip given that the train only runs in the early morning and late afternoon.

Trina, not sure why taxes are so high for HAL but if you subtract the quick coach/amtrak cost out of it (since the return voyage is part of the B2b it makes it palatable. I like HAL, but i dont care for the vista class ships. If one of the b2b HAL ships was the amsterdam, i would consider it, love that ship.

Cascades is difficult for a b2b trip given that the train only runs in the early morning and late afternoon.

 

Trina, not sure why taxes are so high for HAL but if you subtract the quick coach/amtrak cost out of it (since the return voyage is part of the B2b it makes it palatable. I like HAL, but i dont care for the vista class ships. If one of the b2b HAL ships was the amsterdam, i would consider it, love that ship.

I agree, on our list the train is a last resort.

Bolt bus, cheaper and easier than quickbus, cost like $17pp

Last may, van to seattle, the casino was open after 9pm

Bolt bus, cheaper and easier than quickbus, cost like $17pp

 

Last may, van to seattle, the casino was open after 9pm

Yes but it can be easier to do quick shuttle as it has select departures from Canada Place. However the drop off location in Seattle is a good walk from downtown transit unfortunately.