Cbears

Is this our best option for touring the city? What about if we want to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain?

I would take a look at tripadvisor before deciding to use Big Bus.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g154943-d1503750-Reviews-Big_Bus_Hop_on_Hop_Off-Vancouver_British_Columbia.html

Seems like a good choice only if you have all day with nowhere to go.

We plan to buy a $9 day pass that is good for the Skytrain from the airport to our hotel , then we can use it on city buses and the seabus to get to where we want to go.

Here is what a HAL rep emailed me today. So I guess its offical.

We regard to tell you that Luggage Direct from Vancouver and US Direct is no longer available. We are in processing of removing the information from our website and we are apology for the inconvenience.

Regard,

Nivanh

It would be a real shame if this service is discontinued. We have used it before in several ports but it always saved so much time in Vancouver.

When embarking on a cruise and flying into YVR you would go from your arrival gate to a holding area within the departure level of the airport without going down (in YVR's case) to Customs and Immigration. Your docs would be checked and you would eventually be led to a bus. Once the bus approaches the airport boundry the bus would be sealed. This is nothing more than a paper seal of the exterior door. You would depart the bus at the pier and be led to check in and then onto the ship. Your luggage would be transported separately.

The reverse process works for disembarkation. Your air boarding passes would be provided onboard, usually the evening before disembarkation. You would be required to tag your luggage and set it out the night before disembarkation. There is no provision for self disembarkation with this service. The only luggage you would be permitted to carry off would be your acceptable cabin luggage according to the airline. You would save at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours not having to go through C & I at YVR.

The only caveat is the timing of your flights both inbound and outbound.

The cost was certainly worth it.

The above description is for US Direct, which is no longer available in Vancouver.

Luggage Direct was a separate service when not using US Direct.

jhannah describes Luggage direct in his post above.

HAL offers it in the following ports:

Fort Lauderdale

Los Angeles

Seattle

San Diego

Tampa

Only Vancouver is discontinuing this service.

The cost is $19 per person, maximun of 2 bags each. You still pay the airline baggage fees on top of that, which they charge to your onboard account.

The decision to cancel these two programs must have been made very recently, as no one has noted it on their websites.

We were looking forward to using this service. We used Disneys luggage service out of Port Canaveral and it was wonderful. Leave your checked bags outside your door and don't see them again until you get to your home airport. Very helpful especially if you are disabled.

I called Holland America Ship Services today to ask about Luggage Direct for our cruise out of Vancouver. The HAL website says it is available in Vancouver (on selected dates only). So I asked her if our cruise qualified as a 'selected date'. She was confused at first, had to look at the website and said hers did not say anything about Vancouver being an available port. Then she put me on hold for about 15 minutes while she asked about it.

When she came back on she said both Luggage Direct and US Direct services are no longer available in Vancouver, as of this year. She said 'it wasn't working out well'. Whatever that means.

She said they are looking into it further because I am apparently the only person who noticed that their website is incorrect, and they will be updating it.

Just a note, it's a 2 block walk (underground) to exit the Canada Line Waterfront platform to the front of Waterfront station. To minimize walking take the "Granville street" elevator off the platform which puts you on directly on the street at Granville & W.Hastings. From here you could hail a taxi, or walk the 3 blocks to your hotel.

Thanks Scottbee, great tip for minimizing the walk to street level!

Do you think we would have a hard time finding a cab on a tuesday morning at about 11am at this location?

He may be able to walk to the hotel, depending on how he feels that day, weather, etc., or we might just take a cab from the airport and be done with it, but he wants to try the Skytrain, just for the fun experience of doing it.

DH can't go far without tiring out. Our hotel is only a few blocks away (Hotel Le Soleil) from the Waterfront Station but thats way to far for him to walk. We were just wondering if we decided to take the Skytrain if it would be easy and close to find a cab.

Thanks guys, from looking at the airport map, it seems more complicated than that!

My son should be able to find the Canoe carving with no problem. We'll just sit and wait for him to come to us.

Meeting place .... no problem, a lot folks choose to meet by the jade canoe carved by the late Bill Reid, a world renowned Haida carver. The carving is located in the center of the international area and stands some 12' high and you can't miss it. To catch a cab you will be walking maybe 50 yards. Vancouver's cabs have all been downsized and will only accommodate 3 adults with luggage...however there are some mini-van cabs that will accommodate 4 persons but you may have to wait a few minutes for one.

 

http://www.yvr.ca/en/navigating-YVR/meeting-places.aspx#3

It will be DH and myself at the international terminal and my son arriving at the domestic terminal.

Is it far or difficult to get from the domestic terminal to the international terminal?

We will probably wait for a van cab, even tho its just the 3 of us sharing a cab, DH has problems getting into small cars.

Thanks for your help!

Does anyone know how difficult it would be for someone arriving in YVR from the US to meet up outside with someone arriving from Canada.

Our flights would arrive close to the same time, and we are staying in the same hotel together, so would like to take a cab together.

How far apart would we be when we walk out of our perspective terminals to catch a cab?

The party from the US is less able to walk any distance than the party from Canada.

I looked at the Vancouver airport map, but it isn't clear to me where arrivals from either the US or Canada would go to catch a cab.

Thanks!