Ground transfer/transportation from Canada Place to SEA

[SiliconCruiser]

I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations for ground transportation options from Canada Place to SeaTac or that general area, other than Princess transfers.

 

[rsato]

We sailed on the Discovery Princess last cruise of the season which left us at Vancouver. We took the Quick Shuttle from Canada Place to Seattle. It stops at several places in Seattle.

 

www.quickcoach.com

[Arizona Wildcat]

Discussed at length in great detail in the ports section.

[Cruise Raider]

32 minutes ago, rsato said:

We sailed on the Discovery Princess last cruise of the season which left us at Vancouver. We took the Quick Shuttle from Canada Place to Seattle. It stops at several places in Seattle.

 

www.quickcoach.com

 

I am also a fan of quick shuttle.  I've used it many times and have been happy with the service and prices.  However, I've only taken it to or from Bellingham to or from Vancouver.  

The busses are timely, clean and even have a clean restroom onboard.  

 

[martincath]

If you want to head straight to Seatac, cruiseline transfers are probably cheaper than QS and have no stops except at the border.  Hard to say since QS moved to a new pricing model, with extra fees for every suitcase but slightly reduced base fares, but for typical cruiser with a big bag or two it's more expensive than it used to be (which was US$59pp in TheBeforeTimes).

 

If you have a lot of people, a rental car - despite troubles restocking fleet levels, possible drop fees for one-way trips - is unparalleled in flexibility and since the price is divided by all the folks in it can still be the cheapest option around.

 

If you are flexible in timing, then the most pleasant method is available again - Amtrak train. The afternoon train gets into downtown Seattle around 10pm, so it's rarely feasible for same-day flights even redeyes, but if you can fit an overnight into your schedule it's comfy, with nice views, by far the best legroom of any mode of travel, and even tolerable food and drink onboard at not-too-gougy prices with CAD cash accepted if you have a little left and don't think you're returning soon to use it. Prices have literally doubled since they returned - Saver tix now $68pp instead of $34 - but that's still very comparable, even cheaper if you have a lot of bags, than QS and it's by far the least annoying border crossing (precleared in Vancouver, so never need to schlep bags off for inspection unlike with bus services).

 

There's also Cantrail and Greyhound buses, or if you get lucky and your date has service Flixbus is the newest kid on the block and the cheapest - all of these go downtown to downtown like Amtrak, so you do need to factor transit or cabs on each end, but they are even cheaper than the train.

[SiliconCruiser]

22 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Discussed at length in great detail in the ports section.

I gave up on the Vancouver page after 8 pages of posts going back to 2019, and not finding anything on the subject.

[iamaqt2]

There is also a new discount bus service that is operating under Greyhound called FlixBus.  I believe it used to previously be called BoltBus.  It leaves from the Pacific Central Station in Vancouver ( which is easily accessible on the EXPO line right from Canada Place across the street) and ends in the International District in Seattle.  It makes roughly 4 stops on the way back including at the border.  Cost was about 28 dollars 1 way. There is Wi-Fi and a bathroom on board. As previously mentioned bags come off and must clear customs then get back on bus.  Great budget way to travel between Seattle and Vancouver for the able bodied.  Mobility impaired travelers would find this bus difficult to navigate.

[SiliconCruiser]

19 hours ago, martincath said:

If you want to head straight to Seatac, cruiseline transfers are probably cheaper than QS and have no stops except at the border.  Hard to say since QS moved to a new pricing model, with extra fees for every suitcase but slightly reduced base fares, but for typical cruiser with a big bag or two it's more expensive than it used to be (which was US$59pp in TheBeforeTimes).

 

 

It wasn't so much the price, just too many horror stories of how unreliable some of the Princess transfers can be (they're all contracted with local companies.  And the other thought was that we might want to spend a few days in Seattle before going home.  Though most of the hotels near SeaTac have shuttles to/from the airport, it would offer more flexibility if the bus were to have other stops.

[iamaqt2]

7 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

It wasn't so much the price, just too many horror stories of how unreliable some of the Princess transfers can be (they're all contracted with local companies.  And the other thought was that we might want to spend a few days in Seattle before going home.  Though most of the hotels near SeaTac have shuttles to/from the airport, it would offer more flexibility if the bus were to have other stops.

If you're wanting to stay in Seattle for a few days after the cruise and you don't want to spend a lot of time in traffic or commuting you don't want to stay near the airport.  It's at least a 30-40 min drive from Downtown Seattle.  On the other side of that coin, the light rail is cheap and reliable to get to downtown from the airport and the airport hotels are a 1/3 of the price.  It just eats up a lot of time getting back and forth and the light rail goes through some sketchier parts of town.

[SiliconCruiser]

1 hour ago, iamaqt2 said:

If you're wanting to stay in Seattle for a few days after the cruise and you don't want to spend a lot of time in traffic or commuting you don't want to stay near the airport.  It's at least a 30-40 min drive from Downtown Seattle.  On the other side of that coin, the light rail is cheap and reliable to get to downtown from the airport and the airport hotels are a 1/3 of the price.  It just eats up a lot of time getting back and forth and the light rail goes through some sketchier parts of town.

Thanks, we had planned on using public transportation.  I'm from the Bay Area and BART is sketchy on all of it's routes.We've even taken buses in Seattle.

 

 

[iamaqt2]

7 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Thanks, we had planned on using public transportation.  I'm from the Bay Area and BART is sketchy on all of it's routes.We've even taken buses in Seattle.

 

 

You're braver than me, and I live here LOL.  I haven't ridden Joe Metro (old school slang for the bus) in years.  And I rode the light rail once to go downtown for the Seahawks SuperBowl win parade.  I still  have PTSD from that ride.

[SiliconCruiser]

11 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

You're braver than me, and I live here LOL.  I haven't ridden Joe Metro (old school slang for the bus) in years.  And I rode the light rail once to go downtown for the Seahawks SuperBowl win parade.  I still  have PTSD from that ride.

Mike Holmgren and I went to jr. high and high school together.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by SiliconCruiser

[iamaqt2]

5 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Mike Holmgren and I went to jr. high and high school together.

 

 

Wow!  That's pretty cool.  I'm not a huge football fan, but promised my son and his friends I'd take them to the parade that day.  I remember Mike as stomping around looking pissed at the players a lot.