HELP!!! Cruise Parking in Vancouver, BC

[Urban trekker]

The Accent Inn runs their shuttle to Bridgeport Station so no surcharge getting on there.

Dennis

[CruisinMissMolly]

On 8/8/2023 at 10:47 AM, martincath said:

I'm a bit late to the party here @CruisinMissMolly but I'll add a couple of tidbits and reinforce some of the already-mentioned opinions!

 

First - yes, coming up the day before is wise. Border fluctuations this year have been wild - 2023 may in theory be 'normal' for travel, with numbers up of flyers and drivers, hotel bookings etc. etc. but there is a distinct lack of consistency. This year has been a mess - with NEXUS we have still sailed past the border queues, but unless ALL of you in the car have that you can't use those lanes so your border crossing time is really variable, and CBP/CBSA staffing still seems to be problematic as until the traveler patterns stabilize they can't staff up booths very accurately, so Really Long Waits/Almost No Wait seem to be happening much more often, with the former often down to the fact that half the booths are closed (i.e. border agencies did not expect this many cars at this time).

 

Depending exactly where in Oregon you're coming from therefore how many hours on paper that drive is, how many potential drivers are in the car, whether you have friends/family who would be happy to e.g. drop you off/pick you up again in Portland, you may find that the train or a coach may end up cheaper than even long-term airport parking plus gas - you'll have to do the math on that yourself! But assuming that driving does remain your preferred option... 

 

Parking at Templeton is great value, but the SkyTrain inbound is not so much for a group - on a Friday you'd be looking at ~US$7pp inbound, compared to a per-cab price of ~$US29, as there's an extra CAD$5pp fee for all travelers leaving Sea Island where YVR lives. You can however ride for free all over Sea Island - there's a big mall as well as the airport and parking - so you can take SkyTrain to the airport (only one stop, so even if standing room only not much of a hassle) if you want to hop into the fixed price cabs.

 

There's also the issue that this station isn't the end of the line, so getting a seat for everyone may not happen depending how many folks fill up the train at YVR station, and you'll have far less time to get organized as station stops are short. Unless the train is mostly empty, I'd suggest actually riding it backwards even if you want to take it all the way downtown - go to YVR station, where everyone onboard will get off and it will sit for a few minutes which gives you plenty time to secure seats together and slide your big suitcases underneath them. Waterfront is the other terminus, so again everyone piles off and you can take a bit more time getting organized.

 

The other thing to consider is driving right to the pier to drop off all the bags and most of the people - no fee to enter just for a drop-off, in theory now only the driver needs to pay to get back to the pier from YVR parking so the cost drops, so it just comes down to the value of your time and hassle factor... even on the Canada Line, which does have plenty of room under seats for bags, it's easier to travel unencumbered! Ballpark a half hour drive into town, the same out again, for an hour round trip if you avoid rush hour commuter traffic - but only a single ~$7 train ticket for the driver compared to one for each party member.

 

Whether you do this or not, when heading back out to the airport after the cruise everyone can pile onto the train - no AddFare going this direction so approx. $3pp! - and get off at Templeton if you're driving straight home after the cruise.

 

For minimum possible hotel price, I'd compare Bellingham area hotels with suburban metro Vancouver (Richmond, Surrey, Burnaby) to see who's doing the best pricing - chances are you are too late to score room(s) in the YWCA Hotel downtown here, generally the best value option in the region especially if you arrive early enough to do some sightseeing. But you might get lucky, it's worth checking to see if they have availability - the family rooms (5 single beds) are unique downtown, and if you're adults+kids or even two couples traveling, a pair of 'Jack & Jill' rooms sharing one bathroom between them are cheaper than the full en suites but a bit pricier than the 'shared bathrooms along the corridor' rooms. It is a real hotel, not a hostel, and one of the shiniest (new wing only opened ~2 years, old wing renovated this very year) as well as cheapest, and unlike any other bargains you get full mod cons like AC and elevators!

 

But with a car needing parked, the 'park & stay' specials at a handful of hotels mostly near the airport might be just what you want - local chain Accent Inns used to offer a 'park & cruise' package at both their airport and Burnaby locations, with included shuttle to the port and a week of parking in the rates, and they don't often show up on big booking sites. I'd actually go old-school and call them to ask about the available packages - a local 'milk run' shuttle runs about $18pp to take you from airport area hotels to the pier, but unless you're a solo a cab is going to be better value and more flexible in timing, and while you would need to use the hotel shuttle to get back to YVR if you want a fixed-price cab those only operate inbound, so from the pier all fares are metered and you may as well go directly to the hotel.

I so appreciate the time it took you to respond. That is incredibly helpful.  

[2BYUFans]

Thanks for posting this. We found ourselves in the same situation. We settled with the Accent Inn and parking there for the length of the cruise.