Vancouver Transfers To/From Seattle - Insider Secret

[Glaciers]

It’s all good. We’re on the same page. I think we’re all just a bit confused on the ticket.

[Ferry_Watcher]

If the bus is your easiest and only option, then don't worry about it.  Other than flying directly into Vancouver, the bus will be relaxing (assuming the trains don't restart soon).  As the old Greyhound ads said "Leave the driving to us."

[jsglow]

So I'm going to jump in here as we plan to sail northbound from Vancouver in late August.  Our son lives in Seattle so the plan is to do a 3-4 day visit with him before departing on the cruise.  I think all would agree that's a valuable use of our time.

 

My question.... assuming 'residency' and 'flexibility' in Seattle at his condo, how would you locals plan to get to Vancouver?  I've heard in the past that the early morning train on the day of the cruise was an option. Perhaps that'll be available again by the time we sail.  Anyways, I'll be interested in your feedback at to our best approach from Queen Anne to include mode of transportation and day of vs. day before scheduling.

[Ferry_Watcher]

The train would have been perfect, but it's still not running.  Amtrak should be running buses, so that should make the most sense.

You also might consider arriving in Vancouver the day before, just for peace of mind.  As someone who lives in the Seattle area, I personally will arrive the day before my cruise in Vancouver, even when the train was running.  I won't take the chance of a delay.

[jsglow]

12 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

The train would have been perfect, but it's still not running.  Amtrak should be running buses, so that should make the most sense.

You also might consider arriving in Vancouver the day before, just for peace of mind.  As someone who lives in the Seattle area, I personally will arrive the day before my cruise in Vancouver, even when the train was running.  I won't take the chance of a delay.

Thanks Ferry.  If you'll keep an eye on this a little and refresh this with any developments, I'd appreciate it.

[jsglow]

What we also might do is plan our visit afterwards.  I can envision flying straight to Vancouver and then flying Anchorage to Seattle after our cruise/land tour.

[Ferry_Watcher]

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

What we also might do is plan our visit afterwards.  I can envision flying straight to Vancouver and then flying Anchorage to Seattle after our cruise/land tour.

It that works with your son, I think Plan B (visiting Seattle post cruise) makes more sense.

[cruising cockroach]

FYI, Amtrak service to VAC is currently operated by Cantrail.  No stops in the U.S, just one in Canada (Richmond) before VAC.

 

4x daily service

 

Home | Cantrail - Takes you awayCantrail – Takes you away | Cantrail-Takes you away

Edited April 13, 2022 by cruising cockroach

[taymiss2]

I tried calling Amtrak to try to figure out what the deal is with my ticket but the wait was so long I had to hang up.  I will let you know what I find out eventually.

[Straitlover]

On 3/18/2022 at 5:14 PM, ctkathchick said:

We are hoping to fly into Seattle 4 days early and then take the Cascades train up to Vancouver B.C. but it appears that the train is not running at least so far on or about May 19th. I'm hoping that someone has their crystal ball polished and maybe heard that the trains will start running again sometime in April otherwise we will postpone Seattle for another time. We are ready to book flights and are so disappointed we hear the bus trip is not very scenic.

If you have enough time, you could rent a vehicle and drive to Vancouver. Someone on here posted a great scenic route between Vancouver and Seattle. We did it back in 2018. Got to ride on the car ferry and everything! I will hunt around and see if I can find it.

 

EDIT: couldn't find the post, but I did have the route in Google bookmarked: SeaTac Car Rental to Canada Place Route . Going over Deception Pass was cool, too! Steveson is where they filmed exteriors of the tv show Once Upon a Time. Bought a map that showed you which stores were what in the show. Cute little place.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Straitlover

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, Straitlover said:

If you have enough time, you could rent a vehicle and drive to Vancouver. Someone on here posted a great scenic route between Vancouver and Seattle. We did it back in 2018. Got to ride on the car ferry and everything! I will hunt around and see if I can find it.

 

EDIT: couldn't find the post, but I did have the route in Google bookmarked: SeaTac Car Rental to Canada Place Route . Going over Deception Pass was cool, too! Steveson is where they filmed exteriors of the tv show Once Upon a Time. Bought a map that showed you which stores were what in the show. Cute little place.

Whidbey Island is outstanding. We've done a day trip out there with our son.  

[Straitlover]

1 hour ago, Straitlover said:

If you have enough time, you could rent a vehicle and drive to Vancouver. Someone on here posted a great scenic route between Vancouver and Seattle. We did it back in 2018. Got to ride on the car ferry and everything! I will hunt around and see if I can find it.

 

EDIT: couldn't find the post, but I did have the route in Google bookmarked: SeaTac Car Rental to Canada Place Route . Going over Deception Pass was cool, too! Steveson is where they filmed exteriors of the tv show Once Upon a Time. Bought a map that showed you which stores were what in the show. Cute little place.

Martincath is the person I got the route from! I'm sure he could provide better info than I gave.

[Straitlover]

27 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Whidbey Island is outstanding. We've done a day trip out there with our son.  

We were hoping to stop there for awhile, but we had gotten held up at the border crossing longer than  we hoped, so we only got to drive through. Maybe next time!

[martincath]

46 minutes ago, Straitlover said:

Martincath is the person I got the route from! I'm sure he could provide better info than I gave.

Thanks, but I can't take credit for that route - I might have passed it along but it was most likely one of the regular Seattle locals who came up with it. Happy to help if I can be useful, but so far all I can add to the info supplied already is on the train ticket front - I too have seen Amtrak allow booking of actual train departures this Spring, but those trains then disappeared off the schedule a few days later!

 

So @taymiss2might well have a legitimately-issued train ticket (though personally I'd triple-check it was SEA to VAC rather than VAN - the other Vancouver in WA - just because I've seen several people confused and upset at the stations in Seattle & Portland as they realised too late that their tickets were to the wrong city! If it is for the 516 service though that's definitely the right train - that's the morning one, only goes north from SEA so no chance of buying it to VAN by mistake...). If the tickets were for Business Class then a partial refund should be due if the service remains by bus not train, but since bus tix were always pricier than regular Coach train seats Amtrak might not even give advance warning about it being a bus as they do have the right to move you by alternate means in the small print...

[taymiss2]

15 hours ago, martincath said:

 

 

So @taymiss2might well have a legitimately-issued train ticket (though personally I'd triple-check it was SEA to VAC rather than VAN - the other Vancouver in WA - just because I've seen several people confused and upset at the stations in Seattle & Portland as they realised too late that their tickets were to the wrong city! If it is for the 516 service though that's definitely the right train - that's the morning one, only goes north from SEA so no chance of buying it to VAN by mistake...). If the tickets were for Business Class then a partial refund should be due if the service remains by bus not train, but since bus tix were always pricier than regular Coach train seats Amtrak might not even give advance warning about it being a bus as they do have the right to move you by alternate means in the small print...

My tickets definitely say to B.C. .  I tried to get Business class tickets only so they would be refundable because wasn’t even sure Canada was going to open up for cruising for sure.  But when I went back a few days later to book they were sold out.     So I have regular tickets. 
if I am understanding you correctly you think there is a chance they will just turn my tickets into bus tickets?   At this point I just want to get to Vancouver so I would be fine with that.   We purposely flew into Seattle to do the train ( and we got free flights on Southwest points) but whatever. Just get me to ship. Lol  

(I am wide awake in the middle of the night, I should try Amtrak number now.)

[Ferry_Watcher]

20 hours ago, Straitlover said:

If you have enough time, you could rent a vehicle and drive to Vancouver. Someone on here posted a great scenic route between Vancouver and Seattle. We did it back in 2018. Got to ride on the car ferry and everything! I will hunt around and see if I can find it.

It may have been @Gardyloo

[taymiss2]

We are flying in Wednesday for the 745am train on Thursday to make the ship sailing at 4 pm on Friday.  We definitely have time to drive.  I have not checked the cost for one way drop off fee.   It is an option to rent a car though.   If they swap my train ticket for a bus ticket we will probably just stick with that.

[martincath]

11 hours ago, taymiss2 said:

...if I am understanding you correctly you think there is a chance they will just turn my tickets into bus tickets?   ...

Definitely - they took your money for transportation, if they don't move you they're failing to deliver on the service they sold you.

 

BUT - given the whole 'test trains and apparently test website changes' situation, I'd definitely be paying close attention to Amtrak twitter, facebook etc. in hopes they announce the return of the trains before your travel date, and in the meantime suffer through as long a Hold time as needed to confirm there will be something running in your expected timeslot on that date! Right now, the services listed on the schedule do not include the slots the trains normally take - it's the regular 4-a-day 'connector' bus services, the earliest of which is 10:45am/ETA 2:15pm and that's pushing it extremely close to the wire for a cruise departure!

[Glaciers]

5 hours ago, taymiss2 said:

 If they swap my train ticket for a bus ticket we will probably just stick with that.

Can you cancel your train reservation online and book the bus? Appears they are waiving all change fees.

https://www.amtrak.com/refund-and-cancellation-policy

 

[taymiss2]

13 hours ago, martincath said: - it's the regular 4-a-day 'connector' bus services, the earliest of which is 10:45am/ETA 2:15pm and that's pushing it extremely close to the wire for a cruise departure!

Our train tickets are for the day before the cruise so have a lot of flexibility for timing.

[DaveOKC]

On 4/12/2022 at 3:07 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

The train would have been perfect, but it's still not running.  Amtrak should be running buses, so that should make the most sense.

You also might consider arriving in Vancouver the day before, just for peace of mind.  As someone who lives in the Seattle area, I personally will arrive the day before my cruise in Vancouver, even when the train was running.  I won't take the chance of a delay.

I would also go into Vancouver a day early.  The last time we did this bus route, we had to stop and pickup passengers from the previous bus, which had broken down.  The passengers from that bus were neverous wrecks as they were not sure if they would make the same day sailing (not sure if they made it or not, as we were let off near the airport).   Stuff happens!

[jsglow]

Agreed.  Unless things are WAY closer to normal, we'll plan on getting to Vancouver the night before.  It's not impossible that our best bet might be to spring for a nice hotel room for our son and girlfriend up there and simply get a ride in his car.  Again, much in play.  Eyes open. 

[Roz]

Yesterday I booked a 6-day Coastal cruise on the Noordam from Vancouver to San Diego, leaving from Vancouver on October 2.  My plan was to fly into Seattle on Oct. 1, stay at a SeaTac hotel, and then go back to the airport the next day and take Quick Shuttle to Canada Place.  I even booked my flights - one way from Nashville to Seattle on SW and then one way from SD back to Nashville. 

 

I should have checked the Quick Shuttle schedule before booking my flights......found out they leave SeaTac at 8:30 am and aren't scheduled to get to Canada Place until 2:35 pm.  Yikes!   I can't believe on a cruise day they don't have anything earlier than 8:30 am, and I don't remember it taking 6 hours.  The logical part of my brain tells me to cancel the first flight (easy to do on SW) and book a one way into Vancouver.  The live dangerously part of my brain tells me I can make it.  I understand I need to be onboard by 3 pm for a 4 pm departure.  

 

My reluctance to fly directly to Vancouver has to do with it being an all day affair, and getting in late.  If I change my flight I'll stay at the Vancouver airport overnight and than take a taxi to Canada Place the next day.  

 

Any words of wisdom or advice?  Can anyone confirm that the 8:30 am Quick Shuttle is my only option on cruise day?  Any options out there I'm not considering?

 

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

@Roz Have you looked into flying from Seattle into Vancouver, BC either the same day you arrive from Nashville, or early morning of your cruise?

Edited April 17, 2022 by Ferry_Watcher

[Roz]

31 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

@Roz Have you looked into flying from Seattle into Vancouver, BC either the same day you arrive from Nashville, or early morning of your cruise?

 

No I haven't, but I'll check into that.  Thanks for the idea.