Fly into Seatle, ship leaves from Vancouver

We are taking a costal cruise out of Vancouver in September but thinking about flying into Seattle. I believe it will be cheaper to do this. Plan to fly early in the morning and head to Vancouver for 3 night stay at YWCA before getting on the ship. Can anyone recommend a good way to get to Vancouver? Is renting a car a good option?

We are taking a costal cruise out of Vancouver in September but thinking about flying into Seattle. I believe it will be cheaper to do this. Plan to fly early in the morning and head to Vancouver for 3 night stay at YWCA before getting on the ship. Can anyone recommend a good way to get to Vancouver? Is renting a car a good option?

We always go business class on the Amtrak Cascades. It is very scenic and comfortable and has no hassles (unless you get upset if the train is running behind:(). Since you will be arriving in Vancouver well before the ship sails, you should be fine.

We are also on this cruise. Have you signed up for the connections party and/or come to the roll call https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=52643728#post52643728??

I’ve rented a car in Seattle, driven to Vancouver & then come back. Easy drive , you might have an added fee for returning at a different location but very doable.

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To clarify... which date do you plan to cross the border?

Weekdays should be fine, but weekends (especially long weekends) can be a multi-hour wait. April can be very nasty with the nearby Tulips.

OK, I can see you are crossing mid-September. If on the weekend.... I recommend before 3pm going Northbound.

In addition to driving...

• Amtrak offers two daily trips
  
• there's over a dozen buses with Greyhound, Bolt, Quick Shuttle and Amtrak to get you into Vancouver
  
• There's a Seattle to Vancouver whale watch operation
  
• Some like to ferry from Seattle over to Victoria and after checking out Butchart, continue on a ferry into Vancouver.
  

We are on the island princess Sept 19th. Would cross northbound on Sunday Sept 16th.

Your options are train (2 daily departures, early morning and early evening), bus (several daily,) flights (numerous daily,) or rental car. One-way rentals generally cost around $150 (sometimes much less) for a one-day rental, which for 2 or more people can be competitive with the bus or train options once you add in the cost of taxis at either end (airport to bus/train station, other station to hotel.)

It's also possible to use the rental car option to take a much more scenic route between Seattle and Vancouver, one that includes beautiful Whidbey Island, some picturesque waterfront villages, scenic coastline drives, etc. The train has some scenic stretches, the buses follow the I-5 freeway which isn't especially scenic.

You've got pretty much all the info there is to know above already; the only thing I'll add is that booked lots in advance sometimes rental cars look like bad deals due to drop fees. Book a tolerable refundable rate though, wait until nearer the time, and those drop fees start disappearing - so many cars move one-way between Vancouver & Seattle during cruise season there are always some that are in the wrong city and need returned. As long as you're not picky about which company or exact type of car, it should be easy to get the total rate down to $100 or less.

That said, if there are only two of you, the train is still my favourite option for pleasant travel - with 3 days beforehand the limited schedule isn't an issue, the ease of border crossing compared to any other form of transport is a potentially-major hassle removed, and there's no other way you can get (legally) liquored-up while traveling;-) (if you blew the cash on a flight you'd probably have time for one drink before it's buckle up and time to descend).

Another vote for Amtrak. We've taken a cruise to Alaska every year for the last 13 years. We've tried all the ways to get to Vancouver. The last several years we've done nothing but Amtrak. Best way to go.

I swear by Quick Shuttle. They will drop you right at Canada Place in Vancouver.

Roz