Vancouver on Aug 2nd Sea to Sky tour booked

[travgurl]

We are disembarking on Aug 2, 2015 and have 2 post days in Vancouver.

We had reserved a city tour with Land Sea Tours but due to the Pride Festival Parade on that day they had to cancel all city tours for the day. Also the HOHO trolley is not recommended to use due to street closures for the day. After getting off the ship we have decided to take the Sea to Sky tour instead. Anyone ever go on this tour before?

[xlxo]

OMG.... I see you are staying at the Blue Horizon from another post.... the parade route encircles the hotel. Hope the tour is taking your luggage from the cruise..... If you need to drop your luggage at the hotel first..... Once you drop off your cruise luggage.... GET OUT OF THERE!

 

The parade closures may be an impact too if you get off the boat later. The parade runs from noon to 3pm. I expect traffic chaos from 10am to 6pm from the closures and congestion.

 

Another option is spend the day at Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension bridge once your luggage is secured. Once on the North Shore, there is no parade impacts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txO8VK4LaLQ

 

For those not familar with the family Pride festivities...

Edited February 23, 2015 by xlxo

[travgurl]

Thanks xlxo after seeing on your thread about Aug 2nd I did my homework.

I changed our tour since it was canceled with Land Seas to their Sea to Sky tour. This company will pick us up right near the cruise ship dock in the morning after we get off the ship, luggage and all. It stays with us all day! Then we will be dropped off at the Blue Horizon not until like 5 or so. I am hoping that the festivities have ended. Do you know if there will be that many people in the city on Aug 3rd or is the parade the end of the festival? I need to find that out so we can decide what to do on that day. Thanks again!

[xlxo]

fyi.... I expect crowds to be high both days.

• You are arriving at a holiday long weekend.
  
• There are many Pride travellers in town.
  
• There is a massive fireworks competition ending the Saturday before your arrival
  
• I think that long weekend is one of the biggest day for travellers. Expect it to be busy with all tourist attractions.
  
• there are 2 cruise ships in on Sunday, there are 2 cruise ships in on Monday.
  

Edited February 23, 2015 by xlxo

[martincath]

I agree - both days will be busy (but no road closures to worry about on Monday, or by the time you get back from Whistler on Sunday afternoon).

 

The last event of Pride is technically the Sunday beach party which runs all day until 6pm (then there's cleanup). The parade finishes next to the beach, so people tend to flow through downtown to there after the parade has passed by the part they're standing in to watch. By the time you're back in town, all the road closures should be done but there will still be a very large number of folks around the English Bay/Davie Street areas of town especially (I don't know what proportion of the estimated 650,000 visitors hit the beach but it's going to be a lot more than on most weekends!)

 

On Sunday evening, I would strongly recommend booking a restaurant in advance - Blue Horizon and close-by Listel are both official Pride Sponsor hotels so there will be a lot of rooms booked by attendees. Expect the restaurants nearby to be very, very busy as well as anything with a patio, view, or both (e.g. Cactus Clubs at English Bay and Convention Centre, both Tap & Barrels and Mahoneys pubs).

 

Monday night will be less of an issue as a lot of attendees will be traveling home during the day - most of the easterners will be on planes well before dinnertime.

 

In terms of impact on your touring Monday, I'd suggest taking any actual tours, especially HOHOs, as early as possible. The 'partied all night' crowd will be hungover and not want to do anything early next morning;-)