Travel from Van Couver to Seattle - Help

[PromoLaine]

We are sailing Alaska RT from Van Couver. When we arrive in Van Couver we thought that we would spend a few days in Seattle before heading back to Florida. Any suggestions on the best way to get from Van Couver to Seattle? There are cars available in the Cruise Port - but they are outrageous in price. We can make the trek to the airport I presume via taxi or shuttle and rent a car at the airport for a little less. Any ideas? Has anyone ever done this? Is it a hassle in a rental car to go from Canada into the U.S.?

[teachatthebeach]

We took the train and really enjoyed it--Amtrak Cascades.

[Paulinda]

Have you thought about taking a bus from Vancouver to Seattle? I think that would be your cheapest and timeliest option. do a search on CC for topics already discussed.

[Budget Queen]

It is Vancouver. I found, this year, renting cars at YVR (airport) was cheaper than the downtown offices. I'm paying about $70 which is a bargain. Not sure what you consider high? I'll be taking the Sky Train to the airport, you must be able to manage your own bags.

 

Options are Amtrak mentioned above, buses- Greyhound and Bolt from the train station, or Quick Shuttle which is the most convenient that picks up at Canada Place.

 

You can get to both train/ bus stations, by light rail/city bus or cabs.

[Kamloops50]

We are sailing Alaska RT from Van Couver. When we arrive in Van Couver we thought that we would spend a few days in Seattle before heading back to Florida. Any suggestions on the best way to get from Van Couver to Seattle? There are cars available in the Cruise Port - but they are outrageous in price. We can make the trek to the airport I presume via taxi or shuttle and rent a car at the airport for a little less. Any ideas? Has anyone ever done this? Is it a hassle in a rental car to go from Canada into the U.S.?

 

One way rentals from Vancouver to Seattle can be expensive . The airport or pier the price will be similar. There are three options

1 - Flying from YVR to Seatac (1 hr)

2 - Bus direct from the pier to Seatac or downtown (approx 3- 4 hours)

3 - Train . twice daily in the morning and once in the evening.( 3 -5 hours)

[Crew News]

We are sailing Alaska RT from Van Couver. When we arrive in Van Couver we thought that we would spend a few days in Seattle before heading back to Florida. Any suggestions on the best way to get from Van Couver to Seattle? There are cars available in the Cruise Port - but they are outrageous in price. We can make the trek to the airport I presume via taxi or shuttle and rent a car at the airport for a little less. Any ideas? Has anyone ever done this? Is it a hassle in a rental car to go from Canada into the U.S.?

 

We take a taxi to the airport from the cruise terminal and rent a car for the trip to Seattle. Note the price will be in Canadian $$ so don't panic with the price. The drive is 150 miles or about four hours if you stop on the way back for lunch. Last year we were given a Dart II with a hemi engine that had some very impressive pickup and another year we were given a van that needed to be returned to Seattle.

 

If you are going to have the rental car more than 24 hours, replace it at the airport before the 24 hours expires with a US-priced car at a lower rate.

 

No problem at the border for us with about 20-minute delays on Saturday mornings post-cruise. Holiday weekends might be longer.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Crew News

[Putterdude]

There are a number of options to get from Vancouver to Seattle they include:

 

- a ship's transfer which is the most convenient and may not be the most expensive.

- Quick Shuttle which does operate from Canada Place during the cruise season.

-Bolt Bus but it does require getting over to the Pacific Central Train station which is about a $10 cab fare.

-Amtrak-Cascades which is a very scenic and relaxing way to go however it does require a cab to the same Pacific Central Station. You can't make the morning train so you need to check your luggage at Canada Place or one of the nearby hotels, enjoy a tour of Vancouver and head over to the station for the late afternoon train.

Rental Car- shop for drop charge rates, they can be a killer. Then you need to decide if you want to take on the I-5 traffic thru Seattle, the drive time is 3-4 hrs but there can be delays crossing the border then can be 2 hrs and 3 hrs on weekends.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Putterdude

[xlxo]

Quick Shuttle is my preferred way to go for $50....

http://www.quickcoach.com/fares.htm

 

• don't need to wait to fit the train schedule. Quick shuttle offers 6 to 7 daily trips.
  
• don't need to pay for a transfer to get to the train station. Picks up at the cruise terminal at 9am. http://www.quickcoach.com/schedule.htm
  

[K.T.B.]

The Amtrak is a great option, but the timing really stinks. It leaves at about 5:30PM and arrives in Seattle at 10:00PM.

 

Your best option is probably Quick Coach, which xlxo posted above. Second best might be the ship's transfer, but they will probably take you to Seattle airport rather than your hotel. Then there's always renting a car one way, but that's probably more stress than you'd want to have.

[cruisingrightalong]

We did QuickCoach and loved it. You do need to tell them which pier you would pick up the coach at or location. It was quite enjoyable and easy. You do have to disembark at the border. You take anything you brought on the bus (nothing from underneath the bus) with you. They go thru it and whoosh back on. Took less than 30 mins for all of us. This saves on the wait at the border....very efficient.

 

Then in Seattle they let off at 2 locations. 1 was the airport where you can catch Hotel shuttles or grab a cab or the rail line easy to do. Or 2 was downtown at a street corner.

 

Lou

[Kamloops50]

We did QuickCoach and loved it. You do need to tell them which pier you would pick up the coach at or location. It was quite enjoyable and easy. You do have to disembark at the border. You take anything you brought on the bus (nothing from underneath the bus) with you. They go thru it and whoosh back on. Took less than 30 mins for all of us. This saves on the wait at the border....very efficient.

 

Then in Seattle they let off at 2 locations. 1 was the airport where you can catch Hotel shuttles or grab a cab or the rail line easy to do. Or 2 was downtown at a street corner.

 

Lou

 

Currently Vancouver has only one cruise pier. The other pier wad closed for security reasons related to the container terminal and truck traffic.

[cruisingrightalong]

We usually ended up at Ballantyne....so hope that is the one that is not used! Canada Place is lovely!

 

I watch the port cams from there. P.S. the QuickCoach was worth every penny we paid.

 

Lou

Edited April 21, 2016 by cruisingrightalong
added

[Putterdude]

We usually ended up at Ballantyne....so hope that is the one that is not used! Canada Place is lovely!

 

I watch the port cams from there. P.S. the QuickCoach was worth every penny we paid.

 

Lou

 

Ballantyne Pier was mothballed about 2 years ago....not sure it was for security as much as the facilities were very old. Canada Place has been extended and all ships will use it this year as they did last year.

[Kamloops50]

Ballantyne Pier was mothballed about 2 years ago....not sure it was for security as much as the facilities were very old. Canada Place has been extended and all ships will use it this year as they did last year.

 

Putterdude

 

The reason I heard was that everyone going to Ballantyne pier had to go thru port security . It made for long lines for at the entrance.

[Putterdude]

Putterdude

 

The reason I heard was that everyone going to Ballantyne pier had to go thru port security . It made for long lines for at the entrance.

 

Everyone needs to go thru security at Canada Place and at times there are some pretty long lines....so I don't know who you heard that from but that is certainly not the reason. The pier was only being used occasionally, the facilities were old, and the Port of Vancouver was gradually adjusting skeds and expanding the piers at Canada Place all with a view of having all cruise ships use Canada Place. Nobody really enjoyed embarking or disembarking at Ballentyne ....it really was a we and they situation.

[Kamloops50]

Everyone needs to go thru security at Canada Place and at times there are some pretty long lines....so I don't know who you heard that from but that is certainly not the reason. The pier was only being used occasionally, the facilities were old, and the Port of Vancouver was gradually adjusting skeds and expanding the piers at Canada Place all with a view of having all cruise ships use Canada Place. Nobody really enjoyed embarking or disembarking at Ballentyne ....it really was a we and they situation.

 

The gate that leads to the pier included the passenger terminal . This security like vehicles use in Port Everglades and San Pedro use security to control access to the drop off area.

[martincath]

Actually Ballantyne's closure is a simple matter of profit - Centerm container terminal needed to expand, and doing so onto the Ballantyne site was the simplest. Containers bring in cash 24/7/365, while cruising only made cash from Ballantyne on a few days a year and keeping it useable for cruisers crimped it's cargo handling capacity. There's plenty of documents on the Port Metro Vancouver sites about the Centerm expansion if anyone is interested in the whys, wherefores and whens.

[Putterdude]

Well undoubtedly the underlying reason for the mothballing of Ballantyne was the expansion of CanTerm, however I don't believe that a final decision was made until quite recently if in fact it has been made....we have to remember this is Vancouver. Clearly the mix of industry, shipping and cruise ship pax was not ideal and the Ballantye facility was old, experienced cruisers dreaded berthing at Ballentyne. On the cost side of the ledger, the Port was paying for two sets of maintenance, security and customs officers (albeit it was being paid by pax in the end) and the list goes on. It obviously made sense to expand Canada Place and consolidate cruise ship operations there...but I would be the first to acknowledge that somewhere in the mix were the Arab owners of CanTerm. The attached makes interesting reading.

 

http://www.portvancouver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/December-8-2015-Presentation-Centerm-Expansion-Project-Overview.pdf

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/port+metro+vancouver+expansion+would+boost+container+capacity+thirds/11714203/story.html