Seattle or Vancouver?

We are thinking of taking a long cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal, up the west coast, and then from there, taking a 7 day cruise to Alaska. Would you sail from Seattle or Vancouver? Thanks in advance.

Vancouver for the inside passage.

Vancouver would be my choice since you take an Inside Passage route to Alaska while Seattle takes the outside route, which can have rougher seas and not as nice scenery.

On the other hand, air travel (to most US locations) is less expensive out of Seattle.

If you are staying in the arrival city after your cruise for a day or two, but cities are nice places to visit, but I prefer Vancouver a bit over Seattle (close call though).

Thanks!

Quick Shuttle for $50 will get you to the Seatle airport.

Vancouver is great for 3 or more days of tourist activities at your bonus port.

With the Jones Act, I think Vancouver is your only choice.

Vancouver offers the South inside passage. Much calmer waters.

We are thinking of taking a long cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal, up the west coast, and then from there, taking a 7 day cruise to Alaska. Would you sail from Seattle or Vancouver? Thanks in advance.

HAL cruises out of Seattle stop in Sitka and cruises out of Vancouver stop in Skagway.

I too prefer Vancouver for the inside passage.

Keith

Vancouver departures take the Inside Passage, which is more scenic and has calmer waters.

Seattle departures stop in Sitka. Nice Alaskan town.

We have done both -- did the 21 day repositioning cruise and then the 7 day Alaskan cruise. And both were great ending in Vancouver and Seattle.

You have to decide what ports are more important to you.

Thanks everyone!

With the Jones Act, I think Vancouver is your only choice.

Not quite sure how this ties in.

Many will espouse the scenery sailing out of Vancouver, but much of close-up scenery passes by during the first night. I like the open seas and a little bit of ocean roll myself.

igraf

We are thinking of taking a long cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal, up the west coast, and then from there, taking a 7 day cruise to Alaska. Would you sail from Seattle or Vancouver? Thanks in advance.

Not quite sure how this ties in.

I agree - not sure what point the poster is trying to make. HAL legally offers Alaskan cruises out of both Seattle and Vancouver.

Roz

One thing all of you forgot to comment on....the insanity of Vancouver Customs @ the Port. Very, very important to address time issues, especially if there is more than one ship in port. We prefer Seattle due to simplicity and ease of transport.

One thing all of you forgot to comment on....the insanity of Vancouver Customs @ the Port. Very, very important to address time issues, especially if there is more than one ship in port.

Please forgive our transgressions.

I've never encountered any insanity in Vancouver. No worse than Fort Lauderdale.

Roz

While CBP at Canada Place can really slow the embarkation process down, it's all about managing expectations and avoiding the busiest time periods. Sailing through the canal first does mean you plan to cruise early in the season OP, so that does mean issues with seasonal staff needing training refreshed/first timers trained from scratch, but to be fair Seattle has the same issues on that front. If you link your cruises directly together, you'll also be processed here as 'in transit' passengers which should be much smoother - you'll leave the ship in a group, see CBSA for entry to Canada then back through CBP to reenter US and you're onboard again (of course, if you get off to go sightseeing then you could be caught up in the 'insanity' again - so steer clear of reboarding between noon and 2pm).

Sounds like you are willing to break your trip up though, or you wouldn't be asking about the different port options here. Personally I'd be inclined to disembark for a few days - Vancouver is a tremendous city to explore and worthy of much more than just a 'port day' to do so. The fact you're considering such a long trip means you must be OK to take lots of vacation time/no longer work, so why not do it right while you're up here!

Seattle doesn't suck either, so making use of the trains/buses/repo cruises to move between the cities and explore both would certainly make for an even more delightful vacation... but if you do have to choose one or t'other, then Vancouver wins hands-down IMO. Don't settle for Seattle;-)

We found that there were many more families out of Seattle than Vancouver.

Not quite sure how this ties in.

Agree...the Jones Act does not apply to cruise ships.

Quick Shuttle for $50 will get you to the Seatle airport.

 

With the Jones Act, I think Vancouver is your only choice.

I think what this poster is referring to is that by departing out of Fort Lauderdale and then catching a Seattle second cruise you might violate some cruising law. I doubt that this would be an issue since the Panama Canal portion should cover the "distant foreign port" requirement, but I do not know for certain and I would advise checking with the TA to be sure.

I know that some Pacific Coastals cannot be combined with some Alaska cruises for example.

Dave,

I'm booked on a Coastal from San Diego to Vancouver, and just added a Vancouver to Vancouver Alaskan cruise to it. I assume it's OK because HAL let me book it.

Roz

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Yes, that is OK. The only issue is USA to USA ports.

igraf

Dave,

 

I'm booked on a Coastal from San Diego to Vancouver, and just added a Vancouver to Vancouver Alaskan cruise to it. I assume it's OK because HAL let me book it.

 

Roz

 

Sent from my SM-S820L using Forums mobile app

For First time to Alaska definitely Vancouver.

Something to keep in mind.......most Alaska cruises out of Vancouver are 7 days whereas you can get 14 day Alaska cruises out of Seattle.

Please forgive our transgressions.

I do agree however that the double "Inside Passage" through the narrow bit is much more scenic than the Outside view west of Vancouver Island. That being said, Vancouver does have a problem when their port gets overwhelmed. a quick search on these boards will verify that fact. You are forgiven. ;p;p