Canada and Vancouver day

[cusematt4]

Hi all,

 

We are excited for our first ever trip to Alaska in June.  It goes from Alaska to Vancouver.

 

When we disembark in Vancouver, we will have a full day as our flight isn’t until 10pm.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a full day in Vancouver?  We are open to anything, whether a tour or spending some time in some of the best areas.

 

So far we have been looking into the hop on and hop off tour.  If we book with Princess it’ll be $150pp and they’ll take our luggage to the airport vs $50pp if we book direct without the ability to have bags taken to and stored at the airport.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on spending a day in Vancouver for first timers?

 

Has anyone done the hop on hop off tour?  If so how was it?  It looks like the bus run from 9-5 which would allow us to spend some time at a few of the stops after the tour itself.

 

If we don’t book hop on hop off with the cruise line, does anyone know what we could do with our bags?  It seems like a lot to pay an extra $100pp for the same tour except for the ability to have bags taken to and stored at the airport.

 

Thanks so much.

[1025cruise]

You might wish to ask either on the West Coast Departures board, or the Canada/Northwest Ports board. Vancouver is on the west coast of Canada, not the east.

[martincath]

Looks like the mods moved it over to West Coast already OP, so you should get plenty of eyes on it now and a few more replies.

 

Personally I think the HOHO is a good idea - and in terms of your bags, simply store them downtown yourself for a fraction of the cost of the cruiseline HOHO excursion! Even if you don't book in advance, you can use the Pan Pacific hotel bell desk to store your bags all day, for less than the official pier storage ($10 per bag vs. up to $15 this year for the official one!); while you do get a discount on storage by booking a tour with West Coast - who run the HOHO as well as various other tours - their hours are useless to you, as you have to come back by 4:30pm to retrieve the bags before they close!

 

Much better to use literally any other service, whether the PP or a prebooked other location (many hotels and stores have signed up with the likes of Bounce, Luggage Hero etc.), so you can do whatever you like all day, have dinner downtown, and only have to get your bags before you head out to YVR in the evening.

 

NB: even if you are very nervous travelers, and headed to the US, it is utterly pointless arriving at YVR more than two hours early - there is no preclearance step for late flights (CBP stop work at 8:30pm) so you only have to drop your bags at check-in like a normal flight, get through Security (which you can prebook for free to avoid queuing, even though this late there's rarely more than a few minutes wait anyway), and most of the restos are shut by 8 or 9pm so there's very little to do post-security to kill time. You do want to be at least a full hour early - bag check has a hard cap of 60mins preflight for every airline I'm aware of flying int'l - but for redeyes anything much more than an hour is gravy.

 

Do pad your timing to get to YVR a little if you plan to take a cab - limited routes, a key bridge or two, roadworks every summer and of course the chance of an accident - can make the 35ish minute drive 15+ mins longer easily enough. But SkyTrain - even with luggage - is always the cheapest (evenings any day are all One Zone, so barely over CAD$3pp!), almost always the fastest, definitely the most consistent in timing (26mins end to end, automated trains, no traffic possible means that time rarely varies by more than seconds), and easy to handle a good amount of baggage per person with (big case and carryon each, no problem).

[libtrek]

 Bless you Martincath, always a huge help. We are arriving at Vancouver airport and going to Sutton Place Hotel. Was thinking about the train but wonder if it would be too much for 2 seniors, 1big suitcase, 1 carryon, and 1 of us using a rolling walker. Alternative would be a taxi. No rush since we don’t criuse for 2 days.

[martincath]

2 hours ago, libtrek said:

 Bless you Martincath, always a huge help. We are arriving at Vancouver airport and going to Sutton Place Hotel. Was thinking about the train but wonder if it would be too much for 2 seniors, 1big suitcase, 1 carryon, and 1 of us using a rolling walker. Alternative would be a taxi. No rush since we don’t criuse for 2 days.

As long as you're comfortable with all the walking distances involved (could be several hundred yards from gate to bag claim; maybe 500 yards or so from bag claim to SkyTrain now carrying the big case; then about 600 yards from City Centre Station to hotel; on embarkation day almost 3/4ths of a mile to bag drop, then several hundred yards more in shorter chunks to actually board) then you'd be fine with the train - platform to train tolerances are very tight, so little suitcase wheels clunk a little but roll on without getting stuck, which means your rollator wheels won't have a problem. Boarding at a terminus means nobody to fight with for a seat - and obvious walking aid users won't have a problem scoring sideways seats.

 

At CAD$8.10pp (daytime weekdays; ~$2 less evenings & weekend; use a ticjet vending machine to get your Senior Concession rate!) you would pay less than half the price of a cab, but still only ~US$20 total difference so it really comes down to how far you can comfortably walk with your suitcases... If you're used to navigating large airports by yourselves, without asking for a golf cart/wheelchair and pusher or porter for bags, you'll probably be OK - personally though I'd be taking a fixed-price cab in from YVR (CAD$37 + tip as you would at home) and probably also a metered cab from hotel to pier (without any traffic, maybe $6 - with typical slow-as-molasses bottleneck at the pier I'd assume $10) so that at least you only have to schlep bags around at the airport where you can use a luggage cart.

 

As long as the Rollator folds you won't be restricted in any transport method while sightseeing (HOHOs do not accept big bags or wheelchairs, but do take folding strollers and the like; not all coaches for tours can handle big chairs, but their fleets do have at least one vehicle with a lift so if you book in advance they should accommodate even a fixed frame; most taxis are Prius, so if it's a rigid frame you'd be best to call and ask for an Accessible van which make up about 17% of local cab fleets; none of the rideshare fleets have any accessible vehicles - users instead pay an extra fee to make up for them for not adhering to transportation legislation, but again if it folds you'll fit fine in the assorted Teslas and even sportscars some local Uber drivers use(!); all transit vehicles handle large scooters & wheelchairs so no worries with a walking frame).