YVR transport to port

[Texansonboard]

We are a party of 8, 3 generations. Want to make this transport from airport hotel to port simple for elders. We are doing a limo for sure, on the return. But, to the port, could we get one taxi for all of us? Or, should we do the limo both ways? I get a fare of 100 each way on limo.

Does the taxi drop curbside at port, or is there alot of walking?

 

Thanks!

[martincath]

No taxis hold more than 6 people, and very, very few of those. Most minivans are set up for disabled transport so have 5 seats only with room for a wheelchair. You could take 2 cabs for less than a limo - CAD$35 fixed rate fare applies to the pier if you're heading straight to the ship, and a large limo for 8 people will run almost double that.

 

Your limo on the way back should be booked directly through Aerocar (they have the exclusive airport limo franchise which comes with one very relevant benefit for you - they are the only company allowed to charge less than the legal minimum time of 1 hour per rental, which means they are always the cheapest company for these transfers). Same prices apply both to and from the pier with them - full details are here, and their biggest vehicles do take 8+ people and luggage. NB: that prices need to have 5% tax and 15% Gratuity added, which means a little under US$100 all-in. At best you can find their services resold with minimal currency conversion padding by the various travel resellers (I'm guessing this is the rate you found if it was US$100 - any other company using the 1 hour minimum pricing would be charging at least an extra $20), but unless your own credit card has an outrageous Foreign Transaction Fee it will be cheaper to just pay them in CAD direct.

 

Personally I would not prebook on the way into town - the extra $50 Meet & Greet fee only includes an hour of waiting, if your flight is more delayed/immigration takes a long time you could exceed that. Just take the walk-up queue whether you decide to take one limo or two cabs. At the pier though, especially if it's a busy day with 2 or 3 ships in, the extra cost to prebook can be well worth it as you avoid lengthy waits in the cab queue (over an hour is quite possible on a busy day) and will still save a fortune compared to 8 cruiseline transfers at US$29 each!

 

Cabs and limos both drop inside the pier, minimal walking - in fact you'd have to walk further if you stayed overnight in the hotel over the pier, as their elevators are further from the luggage drop than the taxi/limo stop zone is!

 

Edit - whoops, just noticed that you did specify airport HOTEL for inbound travel. That means no fixed rate cabs - they are only able to use the fixed rates from the airport itself, not the hotels in the area. Metered rate from most of those hotels actually runs at least $40, possibly as high as $50 depending on traffic. You can always choose to take the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and then get the cabs from there though.

[Seawoff]

you might consider the NCL transfer bus, Eight people is a lot. I think charge$15 a person.

 

We are flying in a day early, hotel shuttle (free) to a cheap airport hotel, then return to air port free via hotel shuttle and meet the NCL guide at the luggage area for transfer by NCL bus to cruise port.

[martincath]

you might consider the NCL transfer bus, Eight people is a lot. I think charge$15 a person.

 

We are flying in a day early, hotel shuttle (free) to a cheap airport hotel, then return to air port free via hotel shuttle and meet the NCL guide at the luggage area for transfer by NCL bus to cruise port.

Unless NCL have slashed their rates in half from last season, this is unfortunately not accurate. They, along with all other lines, consistently charge $29pp each way for transportation - which, since it's in USD, is basically the same as every person taking their own CAD$35 cab! I'd check your paperwork to be sure what you're paying - at $15, that would be a pretty fair rate for two people and a bargain for one who cannot handle using SkyTrain for whatever reason, but I'll be shocked if it's correct. Even if it is correct, 2 people are borderline due to exchange rate, and 3+ people taxis are definitely always cheaper.

 

Not only are cruiseline transfers usually the most expensive way to travel, they are also the slowest as you wait for vehicles to be filled - especially inbound. Maybe you are lucky and enough others arrive before you to almost fill a bus, so when you get on you leave - but you may also be the first folks and have to wait for all the others. At least from the pier everyone is piling off the ship in a short timeframe so filling buses is easier - but it is literally throwing money away for almost certainly a qualitatively worse service to book through your line instead of independently... Every now & again someone posts about the wonderful transfer they got from HAL/NCL/Princess etc, because when they found their rep to ask where the bus was they were instead handed a taxi voucher and put in a cab to their hotel (obviously there were no others coming in remotely close to their flight time, so no way a bus could be filled). Thing is - you can literally just walk out into that same cab anyway, without wasting time finding the rep and getting the voucher, and thus paying less for exactly the same product but getting into it even faster!

 

There's only one situation where cruiseline transfers offer a benefit - when you can travel in a sealed bus, and avoid doing customs/immigration twice by going nonstop from US-controlled airport secure area to US-controlled port secure area. That service is no longer consistently offered though - and for you it's impossible on the way in as you are overnighting (and thus entering Canada). It only ever applies to folks flying in Day Of Embarkation, and even then it's been over 3 years since I recall seeing any mention of it being available at YVR.

[Seawoff]

Unless NCL have slashed their rates in half from last season, this is unfortunately not accurate. They, along with all other lines, consistently charge $29pp each way for transportation - which, since it's in USD, is basically the same as every person taking their own CAD$35 cab! I'd check your paperwork to be sure what you're paying - at $15, that would be a pretty fair rate for two people and a bargain for one who cannot handle using SkyTrain for whatever reason, but I'll be shocked if it's correct. Even if it is correct, 2 people are borderline due to exchange rate, and 3+ people taxis are definitely always cheaper.

 

Not only are cruiseline transfers usually the most expensive way to travel, they are also the slowest as you wait for vehicles to be filled - especially inbound. Maybe you are lucky and enough others arrive before you to almost fill a bus, so when you get on you leave - but you may also be the first folks and have to wait for all the others. At least from the pier everyone is piling off the ship in a short timeframe so filling buses is easier - but it is literally throwing money away for almost certainly a qualitatively worse service to book through your line instead of independently... Every now & again someone posts about the wonderful transfer they got from HAL/NCL/Princess etc, because when they found their rep to ask where the bus was they were instead handed a taxi voucher and put in a cab to their hotel (obviously there were no others coming in remotely close to their flight time, so no way a bus could be filled). Thing is - you can literally just walk out into that same cab anyway, without wasting time finding the rep and getting the voucher, and thus paying less for exactly the same product but getting into it even faster!

 

There's only one situation where cruiseline transfers offer a benefit - when you can travel in a sealed bus, and avoid doing customs/immigration twice by going nonstop from US-controlled airport secure area to US-controlled port secure area. That service is no longer consistently offered though - and for you it's impossible on the way in as you are overnighting (and thus entering Canada). It only ever applies to folks flying in Day Of Embarkation, and even then it's been over 3 years since I recall seeing any mention of it being available at YVR.

 

Thank you for the information. I saw $15 per person posted on the google search. do not know how old the information is however when I am ready to book and I they quoit me $29 per person then I will call a cab thanks for the heads up