Transportation from Canada Place to Seattle - help

[cruise wizard]

We will be cruising in May on the Eclipse out of Vancouver and will need to get to Seattle for flying home. I am looking at using the Quick Shuttle bus that goes directly from Canada Place to SeaTac. They have 2 departure time - one at 9 AM and the other at 10 AM. The ship is scheduled at the pier at 7 AM. We are in a Concierge category cabin and with the RCCL reciprocal loyalty status (we are Pinnacle) we would be Elite on "X". Our flight isn't until the next day but we would like the earlier bus since it is about a total of 45 minutes less of a trip and it would give us a bit more time in Seattle.

 

My questions are:

(1) Does Celebrity have a priority disembarkation besides a walk off with carrying your own luggage?

(2) Do you think that we could make the 9 AM bus if there isn't a priority disembarkation

 

Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[martincath]

I'd be concerned unless you KNOW that your status will get you into the earliest 'not self disembarkation' group. Even then, since your cruise comes back on a 3 ship day and all three ships are scheduled for 7am at this point in time (schedule is here), this means that ALL of the self-disembarkers from all three ships are potentially getting off before you. As long as you are off the ship by about 8:15 it's very unlikely you'd miss the 9am bus, but all it would take is a brief delay of disembarkation starting and e.g. an 8am disembark slot could end up bumped to later than that.

 

Finding your bags hopefully won't take too long, but it's still another delay. Canadian customs is usually very quick for non-Canadian residents, but since this is RT Vancouver you do also have a potential extra Immigration delay - you don't hit Victoria like the Seattle RTs do so all the immigration & customs stuff has to happen here at disembarkation. If you're US citizens it's pretty much a token formality - they already let you into Canada the week before, so as long as you didn't commit any new crimes in Alaska they should let you back in no problem!!! - but others ahead of you could be taking longer to process.

 

I'd take self-disembarkation to avoid all the potential delays. Yes, it's a little extra work - but if you cannot manage to schlep your own bags around you need to cancel Quickshuttle anyway! Despite what some of their fanbois report, they get the same treatment at the border as all other buses - which means you should expect to have to pick up your own bags from the curb and move them inside for inspection by CBP, then bring them back out to the curb again afterward. No porters, and CBP even get picky about other folks helping with bags - drivers MAY sometimes move bags for you, and if you get really lucky you may not even have to take them off the bus, but standard practice is that all pax must move their own bags.

 

If you can handle your bags, then self-disembarking is quite feasible for you. You'll probably then end up an hour early for the bus, but on the good news front if enough folks have bought tickets that they're running two or more coaches as soon as one fills it will leave early. If you really can't handle your bags, then your only viable options are to use cruise transfers (either to Seatac if offered, or to YVR then a flight) or take the evening Amtrak - there are porters at the pier, airport, and railway station and cabbies will lift your bags in and out of the taxi.

[cruise wizard]

5 hours ago, martincath said:

I'd be concerned unless you KNOW that your status will get you into the earliest 'not self disembarkation' group. Even then, since your cruise comes back on a 3 ship day and all three ships are scheduled for 7am at this point in time (schedule is here), this means that ALL of the self-disembarkers from all three ships are potentially getting off before you. As long as you are off the ship by about 8:15 it's very unlikely you'd miss the 9am bus, but all it would take is a brief delay of disembarkation starting and e.g. an 8am disembark slot could end up bumped to later than that.

 

Finding your bags hopefully won't take too long, but it's still another delay. Canadian customs is usually very quick for non-Canadian residents, but since this is RT Vancouver you do also have a potential extra Immigration delay - you don't hit Victoria like the Seattle RTs do so all the immigration & customs stuff has to happen here at disembarkation. If you're US citizens it's pretty much a token formality - they already let you into Canada the week before, so as long as you didn't commit any new crimes in Alaska they should let you back in no problem!!! - but others ahead of you could be taking longer to process.

 

I'd take self-disembarkation to avoid all the potential delays. Yes, it's a little extra work - but if you cannot manage to schlep your own bags around you need to cancel Quickshuttle anyway! Despite what some of their fanbois report, they get the same treatment at the border as all other buses - which means you should expect to have to pick up your own bags from the curb and move them inside for inspection by CBP, then bring them back out to the curb again afterward. No porters, and CBP even get picky about other folks helping with bags - drivers MAY sometimes move bags for you, and if you get really lucky you may not even have to take them off the bus, but standard practice is that all pax must move their own bags.

 

If you can handle your bags, then self-disembarking is quite feasible for you. You'll probably then end up an hour early for the bus, but on the good news front if enough folks have bought tickets that they're running two or more coaches as soon as one fills it will leave early. If you really can't handle your bags, then your only viable options are to use cruise transfers (either to Seatac if offered, or to YVR then a flight) or take the evening Amtrak - there are porters at the pier, airport, and railway station and cabbies will lift your bags in and out of the taxi.

 

Thank you for your advise - looks like taking the later bus will be the best bet. I checked with Celebrity and they don't offer transfers to Seattle - so you are on your own.

[alwaysonaship]

There is also a train from Vancouver to Seattle

[twodjs]

You mentioned the bus takes you directly to Seatac. Where is your hotel? If it is near the airport in Seatac, you'll need to take the Link Light Rail (very clean and inexpensive) or other transportation back into Seattle. The train from Vancouver does leave later but ends in downtown Seattle and you don't need to do the suitcase shuffle at the border. Both are good options.

[varoo]

21 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

 

My questions are:

(1) Does Celebrity have a priority disembarkation besides a walk off with carrying your own luggage?

(2) Do you think that we could make the 9 AM bus if there isn't a priority disembarkation

 

Under normal conditions you should not have a problem.

We made the 9 AM express bus very easily when we did this a few years ago.

The ship assigns luggage tag priority numbers to passengers  in the order necessary for catching your flight, bus, train.....whatever.

 

My suggestion is to speak with Guest Relations a couple of days before the end of your cruise about needing to catch the 9 o'clock bus, and they will assign you a low luggage tag number that will get called fairly early.

When you pick up your luggage, I would suggest using a porter to get you and your luggage through the lines and out the door to the location where you wait for the bus.

 

While the train ride is more scenic, the Quick Shuttle is more convenient as it takes you directly from the cruise dock to SEA airport, so no bother with needing to take taxis  to and from train stations.

They had wi-fi available on the bus.

 

As for taking luggage off the bus at the border crossing, if your luggage has wheels, it should not be a problem.  They unload the luggage off the bus for you, and then reload it for you when you return. 

All we needed to do was roll it inside for the border inspection, and then roll it back out to the bus.  I don't know what is involved for other nationalities, but for Americans it was really quick and easy, not much of an inspection - more just a routine formality, easier than going through airport security.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by varoo

[twodjs]

There are also many flights from Vancouver airport to Seatac. Vancouver's sky train goes from a block from Canada Place (couple of blocks if you need to use an elevator) directly to the Vancouver airport. The flight is about 40 minutes. 

[cruise wizard]

Thank you varoo and twodjs for you insights..............it is much appreciated. Our hotel is the Hilton Airport and Convention Center on International Boulevard - very close to the airport.