Transportation from Vancouver port to airport

[sobelixer]

Hi everyone! I've booked a Princess cruise to Alaska that ends in Vancouver port. According to the schedule we will dock at 7:30am. Our flight to LAX is at 12:26pm. Does disembarkation take a long time? What's the fastest way to get to the airport? Should I be worried that we won't make it in time? There are 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 young kids. Any advice is appreciated!

[xlxo]

If there is no long taxi wait... I would get a cab at the cruise terminal for door to door convenience.

 

If the wait is longer than 20 minutes, I would do a luggage drag to the subway (Canada Line) for the 25 minute ride to the airport.

 

Then again, with six of you... you might find you need two cabs.  Subways may be cool for the kids.  Get the front car and they can play engineer with the driverless train.

[sobelixer]

Thanks for the recommendations! If I take the taxi does that mean I need to bring car seats with me? Could I possibly schedule a shuttle to pick us up that day?

 

The kids would love the train. I guess I'm concerned we would run out of time if I take this option because we will have to go through customs (maybe twice during disembarkation and at the airport?) and it will be time consuming.

[xlxo]

Unlike other places.... Vancouver cabs do NOT have car seats, nor are car seats required in cabs as they are treated like public transit.

 

Basically keep your taxi vs subway options open when you debark.

 

What date are you arriving?  We can look up if this is a 3 ship day where you may need to plan for cruise terminal congestion.

Edited May 17, 2019 by xlxo

[martincath]

Assuming you are traveling with car seats for the kids, the cabbies will not turn the meter on while you install them - but they won't help either! 2 cabs is about the same price as one limo (same deal with car seats) and unless both kids are infants and you're going to hold them on your lap you will need 2 cabs - it's VERY rare to have more than 4 passenger seats in a cab. We have a local 'professional driver' exemption so no car seats needed by law - but NB that Alaska does NOT have this exemption so you should be taking appropriate seats for the kids anyway unless you plan all-walking tours on your cruise... even schoolbuses, if they have seatbelts installed, MUST have car seats fitted for kids in AK. Plus, even if you don't have to use them here it's obviously a lot safer for the kids if you do!

 

SkyTrain - if you can handle all your bags from the ship to the street you may actually walk *less* than you already managed to then reach Waterfront Station! As mentioned, unless the cab queue is very short it is faster to ride the train... age 5-13 get Concession rates, <5 are free, so you could be looking at less than $12 total to get you all to YVR using SkyTrain as well as it being a fun ride...

Edited May 17, 2019 by martincath

[sobelixer]

We arrive on 6/26 with two other ships. I was hoping to avoid bringing car seats (kids are 2 & 5) due to their bulkiness but better safe than sorry. I will definitely consider the train since the port will be crowded and cabs may take awhile. Thanks for the tips!

[xlxo]

6/26.... yep the terminal will be kinda busy

• 7am Volendam
• 7:30am Coral Princess
• 8am Seven Seas Mariner

I would try to be one of the first walkoffs.  After exiting the terminal

1. walk to the cab lines, if the wait looks longer than 20 minutes
2. walk up to the street level for the Pan Pacific hotel entrance, if that looks busy
3. walk to the subway entrance on Cordova for the Canada Line

For 12:30pm flight, you want to be at the airport around 9:30am.  It takes about 30 minutes to travel there by train or subway.  As a result, you want to be in a vehicle or subway moving no later than 9am.

 

Not sure which ship you are travelling on, but the first passengers usually get to walk off 25 to 45 minutes after the ship is docked.

 

Again, no car seats are required in taxi's or subway.

 

To clarify... how old are the kids?

Edited May 17, 2019 by xlxo

[mrell345]

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Edited May 19, 2019 by mrell345

[3rdGenCunarder]

Can anyone recommend a car service to use to get to the airport? I'll be staying on Granville Island and I need an early pickup (6:15). I'll be flying on July 1, and I know that's a holiday so I don't want to risk calling a taxi. I'd like to have something confirmed.

 

Is aerocar any good?

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by 3rdGenCunarder

[martincath]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Can anyone recommend a car service to use to get to the airport? I'll be staying on Granville Island and I need an early pickup (6:15). I'll be flying on July 1, and I know that's a holiday so I don't want to risk calling a taxi. I'd like to have something confirmed.

 

Is aerocar any good?

 

I can't in good conscience recommend ANY limo provider except Aerocar on airport routes - fixed rates are only allowed on the airport routes, and only then by Aerocar - every other company is in the same boat, with local bylaws dictating min and max pricing, so the least you can be charged is $90 (1 hour in a towncar) - but Aerocar charge $50 for a prebook 'Meet & Greet' on top of their fixed fares so you'd end up likely paying a hundred bucks-ish regardless of which limo company you went for.

 

You can prebook cabs (no extra charge) by calling them or using their websites; the local Taxi App gives access to all four Vancouver firms in an Uber-esque 'send me the nearest vehicle' way, or (what I'd do) you can simply ask the hotel desk staff to arrange one for you the night before so there's no issue with a cab at all - unless you WANT to use a limo service, just take a taxi.

 

To the airport from GI at that time of day you'll have zero impact from the holiday - probably looking at <$30 on the meter as GI is closer to the airport than the downtown core.

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 minutes ago, martincath said:

I can't in good conscience recommend ANY limo provider except Aerocar on airport routes - fixed rates are only allowed on the airport routes, and only then by Aerocar - every other company is in the same boat, with local bylaws dictating min and max pricing, so the least you can be charged is $90 (1 hour in a towncar) - but Aerocar charge $50 for a prebook 'Meet & Greet' on top of their fixed fares so you'd end up likely paying a hundred bucks-ish regardless of which limo company you went for.

 

You can prebook cabs (no extra charge) by calling them or using their websites; the local Taxi App gives access to all four Vancouver firms in an Uber-esque 'send me the nearest vehicle' way, or (what I'd do) you can simply ask the hotel desk staff to arrange one for you the night before so there's no issue with a cab at all - unless you WANT to use a limo service, just take a taxi.

 

To the airport from GI at that time of day you'll have zero impact from the holiday - probably looking at <$30 on the meter as GI is closer to the airport than the downtown core.

 

Thanks. I'll ask the hotel to set up a taxi.