Have you ? - San Diego to Vancouver, next day Seattle roundtrip Alaska - how did you get to Seattle from Vancouver

[roxievegas]

We don't want to fly round trip, so we are looking going from San Diego to Vancouver May 2023.  ships arrives in Vancouver May 3 and then the same ship leaves out of Seattle May 4th.  There is no ride along going from Vancouver to Seattle for the one day. - (maritime laws?) 

 

If you have done this trip - how did you get from Vancouver port to Seattle.  Did you stay over in Vancouver and use Holland transfer to Seattle, or did you get to Seattle and then spend the night there.

 

We would then fly home from Seattle.

 

Having a hard time finding information on the transportation options and costs.

[OlsSalt]

I just researched this and it was not easy nor inexpensive - Vancouver to Seattle. There are a number of websites that offer this option: train or bus mainly. Rental car option? - did not explore this - since one would have to cross a border. Connecting to the long-distance busses to Seattle was an issue too -where did they leave from?

 

We first settled on the Amtrak train (or Amtrak bus) leaving from Waterfront station near Canada Place cruise terminal in Vancouver - taking you to the main train station in Seattle.

 

Hotels around the Seattle train station were very expensive - $300-500 a night. Train is much more scenic, but limited departure times. Bus is apparently a long boring four hour road trip. 

 

After finally deciding on the Amtrak bus to Seattle and biting the bullet on the nearby hotel --since we wanted to connect to the Amtrak Coastal Starlight the next morning back to Southern Calif.

 

However, we  finally decided to cancel it all and take the next seven day segment on the Noordam back to San Diego instead!  So now we have a total  21 day cruise,  as our way  out of Vancouver.

 

If HAL offers a transfer and takes all the planning worries away, I would use that. Odd they do not have a connection unless they are selling a one-night cruise between these two cities? 

 

[Susanmaz]

I would do ship’s transfer - most likely to SeaTac

[Gigi1977]

We used the same day transport through HAL Vancouver (Canada Place) to Seattle (SeaTac) and barely made our flight. (6 minutes to spare).  AA changed out flight from 5:30 pm to 3:00 pm.  So had our original flights remained, it would not have been so close.  
 

IF you do this, I highly recommend late flights.  Many factors come into play.  
 

1.  Our HAL bus was LATE leaving Canada Place.  
 

2.  Our ‘sealed’ bus that normally is waved through was stopped and all passengers had to present themselves to US Customs (thank goodness we did not have to unload luggage)  and many of the passengers decided to use the vending machines that required Apple Pay and they had no idea how to use it. 😵‍💫

 

3.  We arrived at SeaTac with only the bus driver to unload luggage…. So my husband and I jumped off (to the chorus of passengers saying ‘y’all aren’t supposed to get off yet!!’) and helped the driver unload the bus and after a bit 2 other men joined us.  We definitely at this point knew we had minutes to spare.  
 

I do not recommend this at all.   Next time we will fly from Vancouver even with all its headaches.  

[loveandpeas]

I would rent a car. It's an easy drive if you can get to Seattle before rush hour. Border crossing should be very easy.

[Roz]

The border crossing is never easy.

[loveandpeas]

4 minutes ago, Roz said:

The border crossing is never easy.

I highly disagree - I cross a couple times a month at least in the lower mainland of B.C. What are your concerns here? For a US citizen to cross the land border from Canada should hardly be a big deal.

[Roz]

I'm not concerned about anything.  I'm just stating a fact based on my personal experience.  I'll be crossing the border twice on my upcoming Alaska cruise.  I wouldn't have booked flights to Seattle for a cruise leaving from Vancouver if I thought there would be issues.  

 

It's generally taken 45-60 min. to cross.  Usually we passed our passports to the front of the bus and an agent collected them.  Next we got off the bus, claimed our bags from the bottom of the bus, and took them inside where they were scanned and we were asked questions.  Reversed the process and we were on our way.  The process can vary as border agents want to keep people guessing.  😄

[Junelovestocruise]

HAL is selling a one day cruise on Eurodam leaving Vancouver on May 3 and arriving in Seattle on May 4. My sister and I just added this to our Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver cruise. 

 

Are you not eligible to do the same thing because you are boarding in San Diego?

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, Junelovestocruise said:

Are you not eligible to do the same thing because you are boarding in San Diego?

Correct.

[loveandpeas]

43 minutes ago, Roz said:

I'm not concerned about anything.  I'm just stating a fact based on my personal experience.  I'll be crossing the border twice on my upcoming Alaska cruise.  I wouldn't have booked flights to Seattle for a cruise leaving from Vancouver if I thought there would be issues.  

 

It's generally taken 45-60 min. to cross.  Usually we passed our passports to the front of the bus and an agent collected them.  Next we got off the bus, claimed our bags from the bottom of the bus, and took them inside where they were scanned and we were asked questions.  Reversed the process and we were on our way.  The process can vary as border agents want to keep people guessing.  😄

Bus sure may be harder than car! I typically go around 9:30 in the morning but any time during the week shouldn't be that long a wait. Rare I have to wait more than 30min which I consider quite reasonable.

[roxievegas]

thank you all for your replies.  since we have a one day delay, I think the train would work, just need to find hotel in seattle.  Will do more research. 

[loveandpeas]

7 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

thank you all for your replies.  since we have a one day delay, I think the train would work, just need to find hotel in seattle.  Will do more research. 

I do NOT recommend the La Quinta near the airport.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

If you take the train, it would be a bit of back and forth, but the Light Rail goes to SEATAC and lots of decent hotels. Then Light Rail back to downtown and a quick cab to the port. I think I'd rent a car though. DH had to do that when we stayed the night before a cruise in Vancouver. We left one bag on the porch so he rented the car, drove back to Seattle, grabbed the bag and headed back to Vancouver. The border officer did question his quick turnaround in a rental car 🤪.

[Copper10-8]

5 hours ago, roxievegas said:

We don't want to fly round trip, so we are looking going from San Diego to Vancouver May 2023.  ships arrives in Vancouver May 3 and then the same ship leaves out of Seattle May 4th.  There is no ride along going from Vancouver to Seattle for the one day. - (maritime laws?) 

 

If you have done this trip - how did you get from Vancouver port to Seattle.  Did you stay over in Vancouver and use Holland transfer to Seattle, or did you get to Seattle and then spend the night there.

 

We would then fly home from Seattle.

 

Having a hard time finding information on the transportation options and costs.

 

Best way to go! 

[RuthC]

When my friends and I did this, we rented a van. Disembarked in Vancouver on a Saturday morning, and picked up the rental on one of the levels below the port. Drove to Seattle, (yes, it took a while to cross the border, but we weren't in a rush), checked into our downtown hotel, and the woman who rented the van brought it to the drop-off location. 
Very easy process. We could pull off for lunch when we wanted, and had the option to make a stop if there was something interesting to see. 

The only difference for us was that we didn't board the next ship until Wednesday, so we had a few (beautiful!) days to explore Seattle. 

[roxievegas]

can you give me cost for renting the car for one day- dropping off in Seattle

 

price for the train going to Sea Tac airport

 

i would have to consider, driving to Seattle and getting hotel downtown and then transportation to cruise ship next day

train to Sea Tac airport, hotel at airport, transportation to cruise ship next morning.

 

hassle, hassle, hassle, need a cruise to relax after all of that.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Just checked the big box warehouse online and a rental car on May 3, 2024 from 10 am and drop off downtown Seattle by 5 pm is approx. $220 US ($283 Canadian). Booking.com has hotels for $150 to $200 and Amtrak (which says connecting bus) leaves at 9 am, arriving at 12:45 pm or 11:30 am, arriving at 3:30 pm for $100 per person. Flights are about $140 per person. (Can you tell who doesn't want to do the dinner dishes?)

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

You can look up car rental costs...there is lots of info on the internet. You can also consider rental car drop offs in downtown Seattle.

 

Guess what, this got moved to the West Coast Departures board!

[Meander Ingwa]

I am slightly confused by your not wanting to round trip to Seattle from San Diego.  Your flying in to Vancouver then driving right back to Seattle means going through immigration twice.

 

One direction car rental particularly across the border will carry a premium charge.

 

Have you considered flying in to Portland Oregon and driving north.  Or consider Alaska airlines in to Paine Field which is in Everett .  You could easily Uber/Lyft to downtown Seattle.

 

Downtown hotels can be had for far lower than 300-500/ night

[Meander Ingwa]

Ok I was confused by what you were trying to accomplish.  I have figured out you are sailing in to Vancouver and want to sail out of Seattle .

 

Quickcoach dot com. Bus coaches from the cruise terminal to Seattle.  Stops in Seattle at convention center, pier 66 and Pier 91

[SusieKIslandGirl]

1 hour ago, Meander Ingwa said:

Ok I was confused by what you were trying to accomplish.  I have figured out you are sailing in to Vancouver and want to sail out of Seattle .

 

Quickcoach dot com. Bus coaches from the cruise terminal to Seattle.  Stops in Seattle at convention center, pier 66 and Pier 91

Me too. You weren’t the only one confused.

[roxievegas]

My attempt is a B2B.

 

Leave out of Los Angeles or San Diego and take a cruise to Vancouver/Seattle.  then take a second Alaska cruise - the one we want is on Holland America out of Seattle.  

 

Unfortunately, we can not go into Seattle for the Pacific Coast cruise, they are go to Vancouver and all the Alaska cruises do not have the stops that we want unless we go out of Seattle.

[Gardyloo]

Personally, I'd opt for a round trip cruise out of Vancouver in early May, since it likely will avoid the bumpy open ocean passage west of Vancouver Island that ships departing Seattle take, vs. sheltered "inside passage" waters east of the island that the Vancouver departures take.  Different strokes, of course

 

I just checked Budget car rental's site and it looks like a one-day rental with pickup at Vancouver airport and drop off in downtown Seattle (May 3 - May 4) will cost C$220 or so, currently US$167.  

 

What I would do in that case would be to take a cab or shuttle from Canada Place to YVR, collect the car (all probably by mid-morning) and hustle across the border.  I'd be surprised if the delay was any longer than 20 or 30 minutes at the border; I'd pay attention to the signs along BC 99 that give wait times for the Peace Arch (BC 99/I-5) crossing vs. the "Pacific Highway" crossing (aka "truck crossing") which is a mile or two east of the Peace Arch.  

 

But if you don't have to turn back the car until the following morning, assuming your Seattle departure is in the afternoon (most go out between 3 and 5 PM) I'd take a scenic non-freeway route south, one that would also possibly avoid the high hotel prices then prevailing in Seattle as the cruise season gets underway.

 

Here's a map showing this route:  https://goo.gl/maps/CFsYU88fqnBRRy9W7

 

After the border, you'd drive south on I-5 to the historic Fairhaven district of Bellingham, WA.  Maybe stop for a coffee at one of the numerous cafes or galleries in the old neighborhood.

 

Then continue south along Chuckanut Drive, aka WA Hwy 11, which runs above the coastline and offers some excellent views out over Puget Sound.  Stick to the coast past Bayview State Park (look for some of the resident eagles) then head west on WA 20 onto Fidalgo Island (bridge) and south to Deception Pass.  

 

Deception Pass is the narrow channel between Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands, and at tide change the rip through the gap can be downright scary.  It's a beautiful park, well worth an hour of your time.

 

Continue south on Whidbey Island, past Oak Harbor (US Navy town due to a big naval air station nearby) to the very picturesque waterfront town of Coupeville.  Explore the town, maybe have lunch someplace (try the local Penn Cove mussels - fab) then continue down the island.  If time allows, stop at Fort Casey State Park a few miles south of Coupeville - pretty lighthouse and very cool coastal defense gun batteries - then on south.  

 

Stop at Langley, another (even cuter) waterfront village, then finally take the Washington State Ferry across to Mukilteo on the mainland.  

 

My recommendation would be to spend the night at the Silver Cloud Hotel, built on piers over the water, two doors down from the Mukilteo ferry terminal.  Silver Cloud is a very well-regarded regional chain, and you'll undoubtedly pay far less for a quality room than you would in most decent hotels in downtown Seattle.  They have free parking onsite.  The savings on the hotel might well negate some of the additional cost of the car vs. buses or trains + taxis and nuisance at both ends.  

 

Have dinner next door at the Mukilteo branch of Ivar's, an iconic regional seafood restaurant group, then maybe walk a couple hundred yards to Mukilteo's adorable little lighthouse.  Sit on one of the driftwood logs at the adjacent beach and watch the sun set behind the Olympic mountains.  

 

The next morning, have the (included) breakfast at the hotel, then into the car and into Seattle.  As you leave Mukilteo, take WA 526, the "Boeing freeway" past the Boeing Everett Assembly plant, home of the big jets and the biggest building in the world.  It's around 30 minutes into downtown Seattle.  Drop the car, cab or Uber to Pier 91 for the cruise, badda bing.  

 

Home - Mukilteo Waterfront (silvercloud.com)

Mukilteo Landing — Ivar's (ivars.com)

 

Deception Pass

 

 

Mukilteo lighthouse

 

[Glaciers]

We’ve taken the train to Seattle after disembarking in Vancouver. Very easy and you’ll be able to explore Vancouver a bit before the evening train. Request seats on the right side for good views along the coast. Embassy Suites is next door to the train station in Seattle since you’d arrive rather late. There are some less expensive hotels but you’d need to take transportation after getting off the train.  Business class train tickets are about $100pp.

 

I may have missed something in the thread but the Amtrak train from Vancouver does not go to the Seattle airport. The King St. Train Station is in the south end of downtown, about 15 miles from the airport.