Seattle or Vancouver?

[sametu]

For those of you who have sailed to Alaska, any opinions as to departing from Seattle or Vancouver? Thanks.

[hotmike98]

More of the ships leaving from Seattle are round-trippers. The extra distance to cover limits how far north the ship can sail on a 7 day route. Both Seattle and Vancouver are wonderful cities to visit for pre or post cruise days. I would choose the embarkation city based on which route I want to be aboard.

[tetleytea]

Flight to Vancouver is about $125/pp more expensive, just because it's an international flight. However Seattle cruises seem to be mostly round-trips and don't go as deep into Alaska. Also Vancouver is a more interesting port to tour IMO.

[Gardyloo]

More of the ships leaving from Seattle are round-trippers. The extra distance to cover limits how far north the ship can sail on a 7 day route. Both Seattle and Vancouver are wonderful cities to visit for pre or post cruise days. I would choose the embarkation city based on which route I want to be aboard.

All of the trips originating in Seattle are roundtrips due to cabotage laws. The range of the ship is not the issue. Foreign ships carrying pax between two different US ports (eg Seattle and Seward) can only do so if the trip includes a stop in a "distant foreign" port. Nowhere in Canada qualifies as "distant" foreign (nor Mexico, FWIW) so no go for one-ways btw Seattle and Alaska.

 

Round trips (ie returning to origin point) only require a stop in any foreign port, which is why all the Seattle round trips stop in Victoria or Prince Rupert or some such during their itinerary.

 

One ways, like Seward to Vancouver, are not bound by the "distant" foreign rule. That's why most mainland-to-Hawaii cruises start or end in Ensenada.

 

Norwegian got around this rule in Hawaii by having two foreign-built ships registered in the US and crewed by US (hence higher-priced) crews for their island-hopping Hawaii cruises.

 

Probably more than you wanted to know... ;)

[jstducky]

My preference would be Vancouver.

 

Yes, Seattle may be cheaper in airfare as a general rule, but that doesn't mean that flying to Vancouver is really that expensive. I just booked airfare for my July cruise from LAX to Vancouver for $254 roundtrip. 2 years ago when I went to Alaska and started from Vancouver, I got roundtrip airfare between LAX and Vancouver for only $206.

 

In my opinion, if you start in Seattle you really don't maximize the amount of time spent in Alaska. Since you start off in Seattle, US laws require that the ship make a port stop at a non-US port, therefore you end up stopping for a day in either Victoria, Vancouver, Prince Rupert or some other British Columbia port of call. That is one day being taken away from your trip to Alaska.

 

If you say you want to go on a cruise to Alaska then you want to try and maximize your time in Alaska and you can do so by leaving out of Vancouver. Nothing against Seattle, but most people beleive that Vancouver is the prettiest city in the Pacific Northwest. If you really want to see Seattle, you can do a post or pre cruise trip to Seattle, afterall its only about a 2-3 hour drive from Vancouver.

 

Whatever you choose to do though, just go to Alaska!

[tetleytea]

> but most people beleive that Vancouver is the prettiest city in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Prettier than Victoria?

[Urban trekker]

Most of the seven day trips from Seattle go on the outside or west side of Vancouver Island while all of the sailings from Vancouver go up the inside or east side of the island - the Channel is narrow in places like Campbell River and Alert Bay that you get real close to land - much prettier than the open waters on the west side.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[jstducky]

> but most people beleive that Vancouver is the prettiest city in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Prettier than Victoria?

 

hey I'm just repeating what I hear on TV. if you watch the travel channel or different tv spots, people always tend to say that Vancouver is the most scenic city in the Pacific Northwest.

 

We all have our own opinions...

[tetleytea]

That must be advertisement-motivated. There's just no comparison. Victoria makes Vancouver look like Cinderella's step-sisters.

[emma2u]

I have cruised out of Vancouver five times, the customs line at the airport was looooog, I am trying Seattle this summer. And Victoria is a beautiful Port!

[sametu]

Thank you everyone for your interesting posts.

[Budget Queen]

As mentioned the routing is different with Seattle sailings having more outside passage sailing, and rarely is there any time in Victoria, you certainly aren't going to see much with a 6pm arrival? It's an easy transfer between the two cities, requiring an extra day.

[Balee1]

My wife and I are sailing on the Serenade of the Seas August 7th and because airfare from Ohio to Vancouver was no less than $800, we are flying into Seattle the day before, spending a day in town (where we've never been), and catching the Amtrak train to Vancouver. The train departs from downtown and only cost just over $50 for the both of us. Beautiful ride to Vancouver...gets to Vancouver around 11:30am. Plenty of time for boarding. On the way back, we purchased $20/pp transfers for a busride back to Seattle airport.

[K.T.B.]

I have cruised out of Vancouver five times, the customs line at the airport was looooog, I am trying Seattle this summer. And Victoria is a beautiful Port!

Based on that, how far in advance should one get to the airport then? Let's say you have a noon flight. (Just using that as an example.)

[jstducky]

That must be advertisement-motivated. There's just no comparison. Victoria makes Vancouver look like Cinderella's step-sisters.

 

Like I said we all have our own opinions. I've been to Victoria 3 times, I don't like it half as much as I love Vancouver.

 

To each his own...

[jstducky]

Based on that, how far in advance should one get to the airport then? Let's say you have a noon flight. (Just using that as an example.)

 

I think that it really all depends on when your flight out of Vancouver is. I am sure that between say 10-12 its probably a longer wait, especially if 2 or 3 ships are returning to Vancouver that day. The majority of people head straight for the airport and fly out, causing long delays at customs.

 

Its all timing.

 

When I was leaving out of Vancouver in 2003, I had a 3 pm flight. Arrived at the airport at 1:00, had a quick lunch, and then went through customs in less than 15 minutes. There was only 3 people waiting ahead of us to go through customs.

 

Also, I have heard from other pax that on RCI they offer a program where you can pay $15 and they will take your luggage directly from the ship the night before you arrive in Vancouver, transport it to the airport and put it on your plane for you. So you don't see your luggage again until you land in your destination city. I don't know if NCL offers a similar program or not, but it might be worth looking into. The only downfall is that you're not really certain if your luggage made it or not until you get home and its either there or it isn't there!

 

Have a great trip! I'm jealous that you're leaving soooo soon!

[emilygrace]

tetleytea,

 

I have to agree with you....Victoria is my absolute favorite city to visit. True, Vancouver IS very scenic, but Victoria has such.....charm. I've been there more than several times and always look forward to going again.

 

All that being said, I favor Vancouver over Seattle for an Alaskan cruise. I want to spend as much time as possible seeing Alaska, and this is the beter departure point for that.

[hotmike98]

You will always see more of Alaska if you do a one way trip, and as reported above, those are always out of Vancouver (or southbound from either Seward or Whittier, depending on the cruise line). Whether you choose a land add on, the issue with one ways is the air fare either to or from Anchorage. That is expensive. Air offered by the cruise line is almost always the least expensive, but still not cheap. An alternative would be back to back. You could fly to Seattle, spend a day or two, train up to Vancouver, cruise up and back, tour Vancouver, then make your way back to Seattle (auto rental drop offs were less than I expected, considering it's being dropped off in another country). You could do this scenario with with a week or so in between cruises to explore some of Alaska interior. That's what's great about Alaska. There really are so many choices. You are limited only by the time and the money you have!

[mbisson]

> but most people beleive that Vancouver is the prettiest city in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Prettier than Victoria?

 

You beat me to it. I like Vancouver, I love Victoria.

 

-Monte

[tetleytea]

I did hotmike's cruise-and-back idea last year. It's a good idea, but hindsight 20/20, one way I'd improve on it is I would change cruise lines. It's sure convenient staying on the same ship, but...need more variety.... Particularly on the ports (e.g. switch out Sitka with Skagway). If you've got 3 weeks to burn, what you can do is schedule yourself a 1-week layover/land-tour between sailings (as hm said).

[Budget Queen]

Based on that, how far in advance should one get to the airport then? Let's say you have a noon flight. (Just using that as an example.)

 

 

 

You need at least an hour window in Seatac.

[hotmike98]

I think only an hour at SeaTac is cutting it close. Last summer it took us 45 minutes to get our luggage checked, and another full hour in the line to get to security checkpoint. This airport was really not designed for post 9/11 procedures. I think they do the best they can, but the bottleneck is unavoidable. I would plan to be at SeaTac at least two hours before boarding.

[K.T.B.]

You need at least an hour window in Seatac.

I meant in flying out of Vancouver back to the States. Chicago to be exact. ;) Granted, I have a year ( :eek: ) until my cruise, but never can have too much info.

[Gardyloo]

I think only an hour at SeaTac is cutting it close. Last summer it took us 45 minutes to get our luggage checked, and another full hour in the line to get to security checkpoint. This airport was really not designed for post 9/11 procedures. I think they do the best they can, but the bottleneck is unavoidable. I would plan to be at SeaTac at least two hours before boarding.

The airport has improved somewhat over the last several months but is still understaffed by TSA and for some reason SEA is in the first rank of shoe carnival airports. While I haven't ever found 2 hours to be necessary, some of the times I've only allocated an hour have been touch and go, especially if your flight is out of the N. or S. (thus train) satellites or in the new A concourse (American, some others) which is a significant schlep from the checkpoints.

 

BTW, SEA's new central terminal area (opened this week, "grand" opening in early June) is gorgeous - lots of new food outlets and shops, great views of the runways - so if you do arrive early there will be plenty to see.

[Budget Queen]

I meant in flying out of Vancouver back to the States. Chicago to be exact. ;) Granted, I have a year ( :eek: ) until my cruise, but never can have too much info.

 

 

You need a 2 hour window for international flights. Allow 30 minutes for a cab from the port to the airport.