Train from Vancouver to Seattle post cruise

[misguy]

Has anybody taken Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle?  We are traveling out of Seattle on our return home, and it looks like Amtrak from Vancouver might be a good option, I am looking for what others have found.

[ColinIllinois]

You may want to also ask this on the Canada/Pacific forum.   Here is the link for you:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/23-canada-alaskapacific-coastal/

[BlueLadyBlue]

15 minutes ago, misguy said:

Has anybody taken Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle?  We are traveling out of Seattle on our return home, and it looks like Amtrak from Vancouver might be a good option, I am looking for what others have found.

We did Seattle to Vancouver. It is supposed to be a very beautiful trip. Unfortunately our train was hours late so our entire trip was in darkness. Other then that,  easy and relaxing 

[www3traveler]

I would have a couple of questions for you:

   (1) Will you be staying a day or two in Seattle before you return home?  Then it would be a great option.

 

  (2) If you are flying right right away, maybe not.  A late evening flight might work.

 

The King Street Station in Seattle is still a long way from SeaTac Airport.  SeaTac Airport sometimes has very long lines going through TSA checkpoints.

 

Enjoy your cruise on The Jewel.  She is a wonderful ship with a great staff.

[casofilia]

Stay in Vancouver a day or two and then get the morning train.  We did the trip a few years ago, lovely journey.   Then stay a day or two in Seattle before flying home.

Great end to a cruise.

[YVRBassElectric]

Freight has priority on the rails - we were delayed almost 2 hours in Sept.

 

We did this trip in 2000 for the start of our honeymoon, lovely 3 hour trip, planned to do it again but it took 18 years.

In 2018, the ride wasn't as smooth, food was limited (both items and quantity) trip took over 5 hours, development has taken away some of the nice views.

 

Vancouver has a really nice airport

[memoak]

Took train from Seattle to Vancouver in 2001 - beautiful trip but very likely to be delayed, come in a day early to be safe

[don't-use-real-name]

39 minutes ago, YVRBassElectric said:

Freight has priority on the rails - we were delayed almost 2 hours in Sept.

 

We did this trip in 2000 for the start of our honeymoon, lovely 3 hour trip, planned to do it again but it took 18 years.

In 2018, the ride wasn't as smooth, food was limited (both items and quantity) trip took over 5 hours, development has taken away some of the nice views.

 

Vancouver has a really nice airport

 

Freight has priority on the rails -

 

True to a point but Amtrak has a contract with the host railroad that if Amtrak is operating on schedule then it

has the priority - a 20 car train unit does not take as much time to clear the tracks as a 115 car modular train.

It is those modular trains (the ones with the semis piggy-backed on flat cars) that bump everything else.

The Amtrak service (Empire Builder) from Seattle to Chicago is the one with the frequent route interruption

because of upgrading the track in the Dakotas and eastern Montana.

With the reduction of the coal and oil trains the traffic problem is getting manageable.

Seasonally the grain trains have been a problem.

The only thing wrong with the Amtrak service to Vancouver from Seattle and v-v is the timing - it is not user

friendly in conjunction with cruise ship scheduling and requires an overnight stay - this almost presents a

situation of arriving an extra day early to take a cruise if using the train.

 

BEWARE not all service is on the railroad -

Amtrak contracts with motor coach (buses) for the travel between the cities several times during the day.

For those guests coming up from California - similar connection problems with Amtraks Coast Starlight

train has its own set of problems.

 

The railroads however offer scenic travel that the airlines can't compete with - At Skagway the White Pass

& Yukon RR and in Alaska the Land Tour Packages and independent travel on Alaska Railroad.

If taking the train forget the on time scheduling - enjoy the scenery and the ride - highly recommend the

Rocky Mountaineer for this even though that service is tied with Holland-America cruise lines - it still can

be used in conjunction with NCL.

   

[misguy]

I am aware of the bus/train schedule, we are planning on the evening train to Seattle, then we will overnight near the airport.  We leave about 11:00 AM on Tuesday.  I priced Vancouver, and on Delta, it was much cheaper to travel round trip to Seattle.  We are actually changing from Delta to Alaska Air for the run from Seattle to Anchorage and then the train from Anchorage to Seward.  I thought train rides both sides of the cruise would make a good transition.  

Found a really good deal, by getting an Alaska Air credit card, you can get 30K miles, which covers one ticket SEA to ANC.  You also get a free companion ticket, just pay taxes.  It looks three of us can travel for one ticket plus taxes.  The card also is good for 1 checked bag a piece.

[martincath]

Edit - dang, just saw your follow-up OP when I posted the note below. You having booked flights already, and the timing, does make some of this reply redundant - I'd guess that flight change fees would make any change to flying out of YVR far too expensive to consider now. I'll leave my note as it was though, in case it helps others considering what you are who have not pulled the trigger on bookings!

 

Already answered re: the train on the other board, since it seems you took Colin's advice and I saw that post first! I'll throw in a bit of comparative info on the other options here, since the wording here implies a bit more doubt whether you'll take the train or another option. To other posters - OP mentioned on the other thread that they do plan to overnight before flying from SEA next day, so some things mentioned above become redundant, and you may feel like you want to alter your opinions based on that new info;-)

 

First, and simplest, is to change your flight to YVR - sometimes this means you effectively fly to Seattle to then get on the flight you would have already booked! While SEA is usually cheaper - and sometimes more than enough cheaper to be worth the hassle and time and cost of getting there from here - that's not always true. So before booking the train/bus/car/whatever, make sure you do actually compare the total travel time and cost if you did fly from YVR - often, if you value your time at even minimum wage, it's worthwhile to pay more to fly from YVR...

 

Bus - Bolt is the nicest choice, being both the cheapest (as low as $1pp, but most often more like $20), the fastest, and the most comfortable (newest fleet, a row fewer seats than most others so more legroom, and ALL buses have WiFi). Downside - tickets only get released a couple of months in advance at most. QuickShuttle are only sensible if you are going same day straight to Seatac - they overcharge compared to others for that convenience! They pick up at the pier here, and drop at piers and airport in Seattle as well as downtown - but unless you do need to get to pier or airport, they charge much more than others. Most daily buses, but all except the morning express stop at what seems like every second lamp post en route - takes hours longer than Bolt. Greyhound are in-between in pricing and timing, as are Cantrail, and Amtrak buses just plain suck (more expensive than the train and you might end up on the crappiest bus you'll ever experience, stopping at every single train station en route. Blech).

 

Car - if you're a solo, almost certainly the most expensive option. But if you are 2+ people, can be very comparable - fill all the seats and it's pretty much guaranteed to be the cheapest option! Routing is entirely up to you - there are pretty things to go see in the PNW which none of the other options allow. Booked far in advance, one--way rentals across the border can be really pricey - but enough folks go Seattle-Vancouver in both directions in cruise season that as your dates approach the pricing gets much keener. Every major rental company wants their fleets to end up back where they started, and it's cheaper to offer a good price for someone to drive it home than to pay a driver/stick it on a truck. So book refundably, and keep checking - Costco is great as their rates are usually lowest and you can see all the major companies at once to compare.

 

Both Seattle and Vancouver have tons of stuff to see and do, so the flight next day means a choice of where to spend time - makes most sense to ask yourself what YOU want to do OP, and thus whether more time here or in Seattle makes sense to you. Plus, with an overnight stay somewhere in the equation that also means you need to rework your flight pricing - YVR does have very limited non-stop options to the east coast of US especially, but if you stayed here and flew out of YVR next day that opens about twice as many flights...

 

Due to distance/time zones, we tend to see a bunch of eastbound flights early morning then another bunch late evening, with midday options MUCH pricier or very indirect. A flight you could not safely book on disembarkation day - anything before 10am is madness, and depending how many ships/if you have a Global Entry/NEXUS card even flights before noon can be challenging to make - can easily be booked the next morning. We pretty much always end up flying between 6am and 8am eastbound, as this offers consistently better pricing and same day arrival.

Edited January 31, 2019 by martincath

[misguy]

I am traveling on Delta frequent flier miles, and YVR is international and SEA is domestic and it makes a huge difference in required miles.  Time is not an issue, and I like trains.  Actually taking train from ANC to Seward.

[Kilo November]

 

We did the morning Amtrak trip into Seattle and absolutely loved it! We got off at King Street Station, walked to the Light Rail and took that to the SEA/TAC stop where we then walked to the Airport Hilton. Made it super easy for our flight the next morning. We would absolutely do it again!

[misguy]

Amtrak has fares BOGO.  For 3 of us, the fare Vancouver to Seattle is 105.60 on June 3rd.