HAL bus from Seattle to pier in Vancouver

[oaktreerb]

HAL has a bus that transports Alaska cruisers from Seattle to the pier in Vancouver on embarkation day. Has anybody taken that bus and do you know what time it arrives at the ship?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We did it a couple of times.

The bus begins at the airport and has pick up at the Sheraton downtown. One time the bus from the airport was overloaded and a second bus had to be brought to us at the hotel.

Both times we did not to the ship Vancouver until 2 PM.

[oaktreerb]

This is really helpful information for my planning. Thanks for the quick answer!

[legalslave]

We took the HAL shuttle from Seattle to Vancouver last May 9. There were supposed to be 2 shuttles. One was to leave around 8:00 am and the 2nd to leave about 11:00 am. Since they only had enough people from all of the flights to fill 1 bus, they decided not to do the 1st one and made everybody wait to go on the later one. Had to wait for people arriving on a flight and the flight was a little late. We were not happy campers as we did not get to the ship until about 3:15 pm. We had to rush onto the ship and rush getting our carryons to the cabin and were late for the muster drill. We were the last ones on the ship.

 

From now on, we are going to get to Vancouver the day before the cruise and avoid going through that scenario again. We are flying into Seattle next Thursday, spending the night in Seattle and taking the early train to Vancouver Friday morning. The ship sails on Saturday.

[Krazy Kruizers]

That sounds like a good plan.

[garydm]

We used the bus service several years ago. It was about the most miserable 4 hours I have ever been subjected to. We had a VERY early flight to get to Seattle and I just wanted to sleep on the bus for the trip. Instead we had a continuous 4 hour dialogue from the driver over a very loud PA system. He never shut up.

 

Hope you have a different driver!

 

Gary

Edited May 2, 2014 by garydm

[ponstad]

Just wondering if there is anyone who can provide an update for 2015. How long should we expect the bus ride from Seattle to the ship in Vancouver to take? Does the driver provide a commentary regarding the scenery?

Thanks so much.

[cruisin'teach]

Since we live near Seattle the bus ride from the airport was perfect for us. As I recall there was some commentary as we drove through the city and past towns heading for the border. The ride itself took about 4 hours - sometimes however there can be delays at the border. We did not arrive to the pier until about 3:30 for a 4PM sailing. We missed the lifeboat drill which didn't upset us. It was a relief to know that the ship would not embark until we arrived because we were on a HAL transfer!!

[drbees]

Done the Seattle to Vancouver round trip 3 times. I rent a car at Seattle airport and turn it in at Canada place where they have luggage carts for free. Do the reverse after disembarking. Cost is about $65 each way. Beautiful drive, and the last two times spent the night in Vancouver. There are no one way fees between the two places. Just my experience. Forgot the price I stated does not include gas.

Edited August 28, 2015 by drbees