Need some advice post Alaska cruise ends in Vancouver

[cruiselvr04]

We are doing a cruise tour in July starting in Fairbanks and we end in Vancouver.  I need some advice from experienced Canadians.  
The DH has been to Vancouver several times on business so has experience with hotels and restaurants but didn’t do much sightseeing.  I’ve been to Victoria once 25 years ago for a few hours ( from Seattle on the clipper) and have always wanted to go back for a longer visit.  
 

We only have Friday from the time we get off the ship until a flight sometime Sunday as the DH has to get back to work.

Do we go to Victoria or stay in Vancouver downtown.  Is going to Victoria too ambitious for about 24 hours?  
 

We would take the ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria, stay one night in Victoria then take the Clipper Saturday night to Seattle.  We’d probably actually save some money as 2 nights in Vancouver is looking like about 1k for a hotel. Even the cab to ferry, ferry to Victoria, hotel in Victoria, Clipper to Seattle and Seattle Airport hotel is not quite that much.  We’d have 2 checked bags plus 2 roller carryons because of the length of the Cruisetour.  Flights from SeaTac are cheaper too.  It’s not all about money but it’s a consideration.  
 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[*Miss G*]

34 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We would take the ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria, stay one night in Victoria then take the Clipper Saturday night to Seattle.  We’d probably actually save some money as 2 nights in Vancouver is looking like about 1k for a hotel. Even the cab to ferry, ferry to Victoria, hotel in Victoria, Clipper to Seattle and Seattle Airport hotel is not quite that much.  We’d have 2 checked bags plus 2 roller carryons because of the length of the Cruisetour.  Flights from SeaTac are cheaper too.  It’s not all about money but it’s a consideration.  

 

You’re looking at an hour’s drive from Vancouver cruise port to Tsawwassen, then another half hour after you arrive in Sidney (Swartz Bay) for the drive to Victoria.  

 

If you don’t have a lot of luggage, I would take a HARBOUR AIR flight.  They are right next to the cruise port and you disembark in the Inner Harbour Victoria, right across from the Empress Hotel.  Can’t get anymore convenient than that.  It’s also an amazing experience with fantastic views.  Read the T&C for each ticket class so you know what to expect with regard to luggage.  

[christraveller]

IMHO that seems rushed and stressful.
 

My advice: Enjoy Vancouver: Stanley Park, Granville Island, great walks. Art gallery, Canadian shopping.  Lots to enjoy. 
 

 

[em-sk]

12 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We are doing a cruise tour in July starting in Fairbanks and we end in Vancouver.  I need some advice from experienced Canadians.  
The DH has been to Vancouver several times on business so has experience with hotels and restaurants but didn’t do much sightseeing.  I’ve been to Victoria once 25 years ago for a few hours ( from Seattle on the clipper) and have always wanted to go back for a longer visit.  
 

We only have Friday from the time we get off the ship until a flight sometime Sunday as the DH has to get back to work.

Do we go to Victoria or stay in Vancouver downtown.  Is going to Victoria too ambitious for about 24 hours?  
 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

My advise is find a hotel in downtown Vancouver, explore Vancouver and then catch Amtrak on Saturday from Vancouver to Seattle.  Spend some time in Seattle and gab your flight on Sunday.

 

If you don't want to spend time in Seattle there are shuttle buses from Vancouver direct to the airport in Seattle.   However the train is a much more comfortable experience.

 

Save Victoria for a future trip.  

 

 

[kitcrazy]

I disagree with previous posters who think your plan will be too rushed.  As someone who lives in Victoria and goes back and forth between Vancouver and Victoria all the time, I say that your plan is very do-able. 

 

If you are off the ship early Friday morning, make your way to the Tsawwassen terminal using Uber or a cab.  You will walk on the ferry, which means you don't need a reservation.  In the summer, the ferries usually run every hour, so you will likely be off the ferry at the Victoria Swartz Bay terminal latest by noon.  Catch a cab to downtown Victoria to your hotel of choice, and grab a late lunch.  You'll have the rest of the evening and all day Saturday to enjoy Victoria.  You'll even have most of the day on Sunday because the two ferries from Victoria to Seattle leave at 5:30 pm (arrives in Seattle at 8:15 PM) or 8:15 pm (arrives in Seattle at 11 PM).  Then you can Uber it from Pier 69 in downtown Seattle to a SeaTac airport hotel. 

 

If you have specific questions, please ask.

 

Enjoy Victoria!  It's amazing here all year, but particularly in the summer!!

Edited January 16, 2023 by kitcrazy
Clarified

[martincath]

With the very limited time-frame I'd normally suggest flying - but with that much luggage you run into a problem, as no matter which Harbour Air ticket you buy you are NOT guaranteed to have luggage over 50lbs total flown with you! With 2 bags each, a big and a small, plus probably at least one purse or camera bag (they weigh ALL your bags, split passengers by gender when buying tickets, and may even weigh pax at check-in) I'd guess you're looking at 60-70lbs per person. It's not the cost of the extra weight - you'd have to hope that everyone else flying with you is going for business with minimal baggage as load balancing on floatplanes is absolutely crucial for safety. Booking a Twin Otter flight early in the day maximises your chance of their being room for your bags - those have the most luggage room and best power/weight ratio, but even then you'd need some luck.

 

If you're really keen to see Victoria and would consider the ferry ride a worthwhile part of the trip, I'd advise taking the BC Ferry Connector coach when traveling with a fair chunk of luggage if you do not want to drive yourselves - CAD$78 for adults, $70 for seniors and the 9:30am departure gets into downtown Victoria at 1:25pm. Don't buy the transfer from the pier to the bus depot though - the extra $15 per person would cover ride and tip from pier to Pacific Central station, so with 2 of you just cab it for ~$15 total.

 

The best alternative though is a rental car if you can find an acceptable price - if you want to visit Butchart that's a lot easier by car, frankly even some of the best things around Victoria are annoyingly slow to get to by transit from downtown hotels (Fisguard lighthouse, Fort Rodd, Hatley Castle for example) and travel time is the enemy on a short trip like this. Adding a car to the ferry costs CAD$62 on top of the $18pp fee - the BCFC coach is pretty much priced at the same as one person + a car, so for 2+ people it's definitely cheaper to drive your own vehicle. Plus, it's more efficient to head to Butchart right from the ferry - saves over 20km of backtracking.

 

With a car I'd personally schedule a slightly later ferry to avoid tunnel woes, as well as leverage your car to see some suburban Vancouver spots on the way. Even stopping at just Queen Elizabeth Park, right on the way, for an hour or so ensures that the morning rush traffic and contraflow will be finished - after 10am is fine, so an 11am or later ferry.

 

But honestly I'd stick to Vancouver - take the Sunday morning train (it restarts in March - unlike the evening train it begins here, no other Amtrak dependencies to worry about delaying it, so it almost always left on-time) if you have flights in the afternoon/evening available Sunday from SEA (if you can only get good morning flights, assemble a nice picnic for the evening train Saturday and get a cheap hotel near SEA). You'd get all day Friday and at least most of Saturday, enough time to put a decent dent into local attractions, and since DH hasn't seen much of the city he can feel smug about taking you out to a fancy dinner or two at places he knows from the business trips, but you both get to see the sites for the first time together.

 

[Sarnia 432]

We always used the bc connector, you can get on straight from the cruise terminal, but you do need to book in advance.

[Kamloops50]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:28 AM, cruiselvr04 said:

We are doing a cruise tour in July starting in Fairbanks and we end in Vancouver.  I need some advice from experienced Canadians.  
The DH has been to Vancouver several times on business so has experience with hotels and restaurants but didn’t do much sightseeing.  I’ve been to Victoria once 25 years ago for a few hours ( from Seattle on the clipper) and have always wanted to go back for a longer visit.  
 

We only have Friday from the time we get off the ship until a flight sometime Sunday as the DH has to get back to work.

Do we go to Victoria or stay in Vancouver downtown.  Is going to Victoria too ambitious for about 24 hours?  
 

We would take the ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria, stay one night in Victoria then take the Clipper Saturday night to Seattle.  We’d probably actually save some money as 2 nights in Vancouver is looking like about 1k for a hotel. Even the cab to ferry, ferry to Victoria, hotel in Victoria, Clipper to Seattle and Seattle Airport hotel is not quite that much.  We’d have 2 checked bags plus 2 roller carryons because of the length of the Cruisetour.  Flights from SeaTac are cheaper too.  It’s not all about money but it’s a consideration.  
 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Forget Victoria . You'll do a lot travel and not see a lot. You have to count on almost a full day to get there from Vancouver by car and ferry. The same coming back.

[*Miss G*]

29 minutes ago, Kamloops50 said:

Forget Victoria . You'll do a lot travel and not see a lot. You have to count on almost a full day to get there from Vancouver by car and ferry. The same coming back.

 

Agree that it’s a long day to take car and ferry to the island but the OP intends to take the Victoria Clipper back to Seattle, which is really convenient.

[cruiselvr04]

Thanks for all your input.

 

We have decided to take the BC connector bus/ ferry to Victoria when we get off the ship Friday morning. We will have over 48 hours to explore.  It was actually less expensive to fly from Victoria to Dallas rather than from Vancouver late Sunday afternoon with Alaska Air.  Seattle would have less of course but this way we get to spend more time in Victoria.  

[kitcrazy]

4 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Thanks for all your input.

 

We have decided to take the BC connector bus/ ferry to Victoria when we get off the ship Friday morning. We will have over 48 hours to explore.  It was actually less expensive to fly from Victoria to Dallas rather than from Vancouver late Sunday afternoon with Alaska Air.  Seattle would have less of course but this way we get to spend more time in Victoria.  

Good decision!

[Oscar13]

Book the BC Connector ahead of time.  It leaves from Canada Place, you don't need to go to the bus depot.  We use it all the time when cruising out of Vancouver.

 

K2

[cruiselvr04]

19 hours ago, Oscar13 said:

Book the BC Connector ahead of time.  It leaves from Canada Place, you don't need to go to the bus depot.  We use it all the time when cruising out of Vancouver.

 

K2

We booked it yesterday to make sure we had our space.  It’s quite the journey with all the stops.  We are going to look at it as an adventure.  Our trip to Alaska involves planes, trains, buses, ship and a ferry.    

[RogueMonk]

Stay in Vancouver. So much to do -- beautiful city.

[pink845]

Stay in Vancouver, or better yet, rent a car and drive up the Coast to Whistler.  Even in summer, it is a nice drive up the coast.  Spend the night at the Fairmont there.  Rent some bikes up there.  We have done this many times in the summer and of course snowboarded in the winter too.    Victoria the city is pretty but the entire island of Vancouver needs a lot more than a day (more like a couple of weeks).