Flying into SEA day b4, but driving to Vancouver day of cruise

[annabanana]

Hi again! Thanks to all who answered my post about the train vs. car for Whitepass. We are going to do the train since there will be narration and none of us will have to drive. Maybe on the next Alaska cruise we can rent the car!

 

I have another question...what can we expect if we drive from SEA to vancouver for the day of the cruise? We plan to stay the first night in SEA and leave SEA ~7 or 8am to head cross the border. Will this give us enough time?

 

Thank you!

[PDX2Cruiser]

I assume your ship leaves at around 4:30? So it really assumes when you want to get their. Do a mapquest, it gives you an estimated timeline. I've found these to be reasonably accurate.

 

Warnings: Seattle can have major league traffic jams during morning rush hour. Your advantage is that you're leaving town.

 

You'll also have a wait in line to get across the border. I did this 2 years back, it took me around 30 minutes, but I was their on a light day. Others would know better but I believe that wait to get into Canada can be an hour all by itself!

 

Vancouver can have it's share of traffic jams too. Last time I was driving into Vancouver, we we're thinking how lucky we were to breeze through the border in only 30 minutes only to run into traffic jam south of Vancouver that had us sitting stopped on the highway for an hour!

 

If you haven't driven Seattle to Vancouver it's a beautiful drive.

 

I'd take the time mapquest gives you and assume an extra 2 hours for unexpected traffic jams.

[hcf]

Hi again! Thanks to all who answered my post about the train vs. car for Whitepass. We are going to do the train since there will be narration and none of us will have to drive. Maybe on the next Alaska cruise we can rent the car!

 

I have another question...what can we expect if we drive from SEA to vancouver for the day of the cruise? We plan to stay the first night in SEA and leave SEA ~7 or 8am to head cross the border. Will this give us enough time?

 

Thank you!

 

It depends on what day of the week anm time of day. During a week day recently, it only takes about 3hr, including crossing the boarder, leaving Seattle around 9:30am. However, the cost of drop off the car in Vancouver might be spendy. There are buses from the airport which can take you directly to the Vancouver dock. You can book a hotel by the airport (much cheaper than in Seattle) and take the free hotel shuttle back to the airport in the morning to catch the bus. :)

[relaxedcruiser]

If you start driving out of SEA at around 7/8 AM, you might get morning commute traffic in the vicinity of seattle, if it's a week day..

 

sometimes it takes a while in the border, see the typical wait time online on a same day of week.

 

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/border/

[buzzandjulie]

I am flying into Seattle from the East coast the day before our cruise on Serenade June 12,2005. After looking at all options I think the best one at least for us is to take the quickshuttle from Seattle to Vancouver the day we arrive and then spend the night in Vancouver before boarding ship. I found that the shuttle is about $150.00 each round trip, I was able to get the Hyatt in Vancouver for $95.00 thru hotwire and the shuttle will drop us off at hotel. That way we will be able to relax and get to ship at our leisure on sailing day.

 

When is your cruise. I will be glad to post my impressions upon my return.

[Budget Queen]

Allow 4 hours for the drive. But I always stay in Bellingham- 2 hours north of Seattle, the night before cruising out of Vancouver. With a morning start by 10am, I often beat all the later traffic at Blaine and have a short wait at the boarder. This also allows some sighting in Vancouver, since I am never in a rush to get on the ship. :)

[tetleytea]

One thing we do is, we don't shoot for just boarding the cruise ship on time for departure--we try to board the ship when it first opens up for boarding, around noon. Besides the free food, having those first few hours of the ship to yourselves is fun!

[ute_fan]

Last June we did as Budget Queen suggested and stayed overnight in Bellingham. It worked out well for us -- we didn't land in Seattle until about 8:00 p.m. and we were in Bellingham by 10:03 or so, after claiming the luggage and the rental car, and driving through a big rainstorm.

 

We got up, at breakfast at the hotel's breakfast bar, checked out abot 9:00, stopped to pick up a last few items at Fred Meyer, had an easy border crossing (wait was only about 5 minutes) and were in Vancouver by 11:00 or so to return the rental car. The shuttle took us to the pier, and we were on board the ship (after waiting to clear customs for about 45 minutes) by 12:30 or so.

[annabanana]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience/plans! We have planned to stay at the SEA airport hotel and not rent the car until the next morning (saving a day of rental charges, although probably not alot in the big scheme of things). Since there are 4 of us, we thought a rental was the way to go, rather than 4 roundtrip transfers btwn SEA and Vancouver. Since we are staying in Vancouver for a couple days post-cruise, we rented a weekly rate (+2 days) for $130 and leaving the car parked during the cruise will be ~$85. And we'll have the car to drive around Vancouver for a couple of days before heading back and dropping off back at SEA.

 

Yahoo Maps says 2.5 hours, I guess I should add at least 1.5 hours to that time for the border crossing from what all your responses say THANK YOU!

 

relaxed cruiser, how do you navigate through the website link you posted? It looks really informative, but how do I get to the border crossing time for this particular border?

 

Thanks everyone!!! we are so excited for this first time cruise to Alaska!!

[hcf]

Excellent plan! :)

[Gardyloo]

Starting from the airport on a weekend morning at 7 or 8, you will be at the border lineup in around 2 to 2 1/2 hours. At 10 or 11 on most weekends northbound, the crossing into Canada should take less than 30 min., then the drive into the city a further 30-45 minutes. So allowing 4 to 4 1/2 hours from airport to central Vancouver is about right. A couple of notes: There are two crossings that you can use - the I-5/BC 99 "Peace Arch" crossing, and the "Pacific Highway" or "Truck" crossing, around a half mile east of I-5. Going northbound it seldom makes much of a difference, but it can vary southbound. Fortunately, the BC authorities have recently built big reader boards on the BC99 freeway indicating approximate waiting times at the two options.

 

Between the border and Vancouver, you go through a long tunnel under the Fraser River. There seem to be an abnormally high number of shunts in or approaching this tunnel, and if one occurs the drive into/out of Vancouver from the border can be greatly lengthened. Last week coming from Vancouver to Seattle there was a wreck (9 AM on a Friday morning) and we were stuck in traffic for over an hour.

 

Bottom line, don't cut it too close. Things happen.

[annabanana]

Thanks hcf for the reassurance and Gardyloo for the tips! We are arriving SEA Friday evening and will be headed for the border Sat morning for the cruise. On the southbound border crossing, we are heading back Sun. evening of Mem Day weekend for the Mon a.m. flight home from SEA. that may be a little crazy considering the holiday...hmm..

 

Happy cruising to all!

[Budget Queen]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience/plans! We have planned to stay at the SEA airport hotel and not rent the car until the next morning (saving a day of rental charges, although probably not alot in the big scheme of things). Since there are 4 of us, we thought a rental was the way to go, rather than 4 roundtrip transfers btwn SEA and Vancouver. Since we are staying in Vancouver for a couple days post-cruise, we rented a weekly rate (+2 days) for $130 and leaving the car parked during the cruise will be ~$85. And we'll have the car to drive around Vancouver for a couple of days before heading back and dropping off back at SEA.

 

Yahoo Maps says 2.5 hours, I guess I should add at least 1.5 hours to that time for the border crossing from what all your responses say THANK YOU!

 

relaxed cruiser, how do you navigate through the website link you posted? It looks really informative, but how do I get to the border crossing time for this particular border?

 

Thanks everyone!!! we are so excited for this first time cruise to Alaska!!

 

 

For clairfication - make sure your car can go into Ca. Some rental agencies have restrictions. That is an extremely cheap rate. :)

[annabanana]

ooh. good point BudgetQueen!

 

ok, i checked alamo website:

 

Authorized Driving Areas

 

Alamo permits renters to drive the vehicle only into specific countries based on the original pick up country. Please inquire at time of rental for details.

The rental vehicle must be returned to a location within the country the vehicle was originally rented from.

 

Rentals originating in the United States (USA) can be driven throughout the USA and Canada. Vehicles cannot be driven into Mexico. *Please note: Canadian citizens cannot rent a car in the US and drive it into Canada.

 

GOOD TO KNOW!! DH and his parents are Canadian...looks like I should be primary driver! THANK YOU BQ - I would not have known this otherwise, complicating our trip. I love these boards!!

[annabanana]

oh and yes, it is a great rate. we booked with alamo in january, right after we booked our cruise for May. We don't have the luxury of being flexible with vacation time, so we had to book early knowing that was the only week we could go.

 

So excited!!

[lstone19]

While not relevant for the OP, don't assume you will have to pay a drop charge to take a rental from Seattle to Vancouver or v.v. In the summer, there is lots of demand for one-way rentals in this market so it's easy to for the companies to get the cars back to their home site. We did that four years ago (renting from Avis) and the total charge was in-line with what it would cost for a one-day weekend rental returning to the renting location.

Other points: Most companies consider a day to be a 24-hour period. So there's usually no reason to wait to get the car in the morning. If you pick it up at 6pm one day and return it at 6pm the next day, that's one day. Also, for U.S. citizens renting from one of the majors (which these days I only consider to be Hertz and Avis), there should never be an issue with taking a car rented in the U.S. into Canada.

[calee]

oh and yes, it is a great rate. we booked with alamo in january, right after we booked our cruise for May. We don't have the luxury of being flexible with vacation time, so we had to book early knowing that was the only week we could go.

 

So excited!!

 

Sure is a great rate......I shopped around and settled on National for a full size one day, one way Seattle to Vancouver for $89 including tax.

[relaxedcruiser]

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/border/

 

look for the wait time just below traffic conditions map..

click on the little camera icon on the traffic map, on the right you can see the pic from the live cam.

 

There are 2/3 entry points to canada from washinton. I-5 seems to be better except during the peak hours.

[annabanana]

This is soo neat! Thanks relaxedcruiser!!!

[newbiefromvancouver]

there are 2 border crossings that can be used. the main crossing on I-5 is the Douglas and it is the busiest. The Pacific crossing (also called the truck crossing) is a 5 minute detour off I-5 and 5 minutes to get back on the highway after crossing the border. Easy to see on any map. When you get to Bellingham (approx 25 minutes from the border) tune your radio to 1130AM and they give the traffic updates every 10 minutes (at 1/11/21/31/41 and 51 minutes) If there are any long lines (15+ minutes) they will mention the border waits and you can choose which crossing to go through.