How to get to Vancouver?

[pdob]

First time cruising out of Vancouver in about 20 years.... was wondering what the best way to get my family of 4 from the East Coast to Vancouver's cruise terminal is?  Flights look expensive.  Amtrak is confusing at best (looks to arrive in Vancouver at 2:15pm which is cutting it close for a 4pm departure time).  Rental cars are very expensive.  Haven't yet looked at buses.  What are folks doing this summer?

[Ferry_Watcher]

Easiest at this point is to fly directly to Vancouver (and just as a reminder, all would need a passport book).

Amtrak is not yet running from Seattle to Vancouver, BC.  They are substituting buses to get people up there.  (and make sure that you are looking at Vancouver, BC and not Vancouver WA - it can be very confusing)>

You could rent a car and drive over, but with cost of the rental car, and the cost of a Seattle hotel, it might make sense to just fly to Vancouver.

[CruiserBruce]

Agree with @Ferry_Watcher. Just cut out the middle man, sort of, and just fly into Vancouver. If you flight arrives early enough to catch your ship that day (not recommended), you can take the light rail to the port.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I agree. Unless your cruise is offering a bus from Seattle Airport to the Vancouver cruise port, it will be easier to fly into Vancouver. Depending on your home airport, be prepared to change planes. I could find only one direct flight between Newark and Vancouver. None between JFK and Vancouver. 

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, pdob said:

First time cruising out of Vancouver in about 20 years.... was wondering what the best way to get my family of 4 from the East Coast to Vancouver's cruise terminal is?  Flights look expensive.  Amtrak is confusing at best (looks to arrive in Vancouver at 2:15pm which is cutting it close for a 4pm departure time).  Rental cars are very expensive.  Haven't yet looked at buses.  What are folks doing this summer?

I looked at a Friday in mid-July for flights from IAD to YVR and it looks to me as though flying with Air Canada through Toronto or Montreal to Vancouver is your best bet.  Mking your way to SEA may be less expensive but the rest of the trip will be a time consuming PITA.

[CruiserBruce]

12 hours ago, d9704011 said:

I looked at a Friday in mid-July for flights from IAD to YVR and it looks to me as though flying with Air Canada through Toronto or Montreal to Vancouver is your best bet.  Mking your way to SEA may be less expensive but the rest of the trip will be a time consuming PITA.

Air Canada also has one stop flights out of DCA to Vancouver, if DCA is near to the OP. DCA is certainly easier to use than IAD.

 

@3rdGenCunarder, the OP is in Washington DC. Not sure why they would want to fly out of Newark or New York. The Air Canada fares out of DCA were pretty reasonable out of DCA.

[DaveOKC]

13 hours ago, pdob said:

First time cruising out of Vancouver in about 20 years.... was wondering what the best way to get my family of 4 from the East Coast to Vancouver's cruise terminal is?  Flights look expensive.  Amtrak is confusing at best (looks to arrive in Vancouver at 2:15pm which is cutting it close for a 4pm departure time).  Rental cars are very expensive.  Haven't yet looked at buses.  What are folks doing this summer?

One option is to fly into Seattle the day before and catch a bus shuttle to Vancouver that same day.  Stay near the airport (much cheaper) and the next morning catch a taxi or the Skytrain to the pier.  The Skytrain runs from the airport but also has stops near some of the airport hotels (you must be able to handle your luggage, but the Skytrain was designed for this).

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

32 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Air Canada also has one stop flights out of DCA to Vancouver, if DCA is near to the OP. DCA is certainly easier to use than IAD.

 

@3rdGenCunarder, the OP is in Washington DC. Not sure why they would want to fly out of Newark or New York. The Air Canada fares out of DCA were pretty reasonable out of DCA.

 

It was just my experience as an example. I was surprised when two very large airports had only one nonstop to Vancouver, especially when Newark is a hub. I wonder if demand for travel to Vancouver is lower than expected, at least from Newark. I recently received an email with a new seat assignment and saw that they've gone from the wide-body jet they had been selling on my route to a smaller plane. Two months away and still plenty of seats available.

 

OP, if you're looking at Air Canada's website, check to see that you are seeing prices in US dollars, not Canadian. Some websites default to "home" currency. 

[xlxo]

Another vote to fly direct, especially pre-cruise with these ever changing Covid restrictions pending up/down new case counts.  If there are any delays, you don't want to miss your ship.

 

Hotels in YVR airport hotels in Richmond offer savings over downtown hotels.  I like the Raddison Vancouver Airport, which offers a subway that can have you downtown near the cruise terminal for $4 in 20 minutes.

[em-sk]

On 4/23/2022 at 6:38 AM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

It was just my experience as an example. I was surprised when two very large airports had only one nonstop to Vancouver, especially when Newark is a hub. I wonder if demand for travel to Vancouver is lower than expected, at least from Newark. I recently received an email with a new seat assignment and saw that they've gone from the wide-body jet they had been selling on my route to a smaller plane. Two months away and still plenty of seats available.

 

OP, if you're looking at Air Canada's website, check to see that you are seeing prices in US dollars, not Canadian. Some websites default to "home" currency. 

 

The two dominate Canadian airlines (Air Canada and WestJet) both have a good number of slots at Laguardia.  So they tended to route traffic through there and Toronto or Montreal.   

 

There was a fee exception.  Air Canada would run a Newark flight to Vancouver timed to connect with their service to Australia.  That tended to be a widebody.  United also run one flight from Newark during the summer.

 

From JFK it use to be Cathy Pacific as an intermediate stop to/from Hong Kong and Delta.  Today your only option from JFK is jetBlue.

 

 

[taymiss2]

"Time consuming PITA"  describes it perfectly.  What I thought was going to be a great idea to fly to Seattle, then take the train for a scenic trip up the coast to Vancouver has turned into a disaster. 

Train is now a bus.  Direct flight from St Louis to Seattle in the evening after work has been changed by the airline 3 times.  Our flight now leaves at 1215pm instead of 5:45 pm,  has a total travel time of 10 hours 45 minutes and has TWO stops.  I did not notice the change within the  24 hour limit to be able to pick a different flight so am now stuck with it.   I should have just flown straight to Vancouver. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

2 hours ago, taymiss2 said:

"Time consuming PITA"  describes it perfectly.

Not having Amtrak is truly a PITA.  It has certainly made traveling to Canada a little more stressful, and it is not how anyone wants to start their Alaska cruise journey.  I am sorry that this is happening to you.

[taymiss2]

I really was taking everything in stride until I noticed we have two layovers.  That put me over the edge.  lol.  So many more opportunities for a canceled flight, etc.  We have a two day cushion so we will make it to the ship someway, somehow.  

[em-sk]

7 hours ago, taymiss2 said:

"Time consuming PITA"  describes it perfectly.  What I thought was going to be a great idea to fly to Seattle, then take the train for a scenic trip up the coast to Vancouver has turned into a disaster. 

Train is now a bus.  Direct flight from St Louis to Seattle in the evening after work has been changed by the airline 3 times.  Our flight now leaves at 1215pm instead of 5:45 pm,  has a total travel time of 10 hours 45 minutes and has TWO stops.  I did not notice the change within the  24 hour limit to be able to pick a different flight so am now stuck with it.   I should have just flown straight to Vancouver. 

 

Even if it is after some 24 hour limit.  You could try calling the airline and tell them the change messes up your ground transpiration to Vancouver.  The two stops in unacceptable, if they are going to reroute you, can they just do it yo YVR instead.  

 

The train service was stopped due to COVID and boarder controllers.  I have no idea why they have not restarted it.

 

[Dan G]

Amtrak has been running some test runs to Vanc and intend to resume train service later this spring

 

https://curiocity.com/amtrak-cascades-vancouver-spring-2022/

 

I would keep checking

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 4/28/2022 at 7:21 PM, em-sk said:

 

The two dominate Canadian airlines (Air Canada and WestJet) both have a good number of slots at Laguardia.  So they tended to route traffic through there and Toronto or Montreal.   

 

There was a fee exception.  Air Canada would run a Newark flight to Vancouver timed to connect with their service to Australia.  That tended to be a widebody.  United also run one flight from Newark during the summer.

 

From JFK it use to be Cathy Pacific as an intermediate stop to/from Hong Kong and Delta.  Today your only option from JFK is jetBlue.

 

 

 

When I flew Air Canada from Vancouver to Newark 3 years ago, it was a wide-body jet. I checked in asap and got a good offer to upgrade to Frist, with the individual lie-flat seats. Now the flight is a narrow-body jet with ordinary seats.  So I guess demand is less now.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 4/30/2022 at 9:14 PM, Dan G said:

Amtrak has been running some test runs to Vanc and intend to resume train service later this spring

 

https://curiocity.com/amtrak-cascades-vancouver-spring-2022/

 

I would keep checking

 

I check every day, but no luck so far. I did book one of the train/bus combinations just to have something. We're halfway through spring and Amtrak hasn't said anything.  I don't think they'll get the through train running until summer. 

[em-sk]

On 5/4/2022 at 7:13 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

When I flew Air Canada from Vancouver to Newark 3 years ago, it was a wide-body jet. I checked in asap and got a good offer to upgrade to Frist, with the individual lie-flat seats. Now the flight is a narrow-body jet with ordinary seats.  So I guess demand is less now.

 

Canadian business travel is still down.  The New York area is a major business destination form Canada.

 

Also back then the flight from Newark was timed to connect with Air Canada flights to/from Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.  They were getting a good number of connecting passengers to the south pacific. Air Canada has restarted Australia but other than Sydney it is not daily.

 

It will take time before Newark goes back to the widebody.

 

 

[renroc13]

We decided to fly into Seattle as we could get a direct flight and have ten days to play with. I did find some rental cars opening up for one way rentals as the months went by. Everything is in flux now because they have just started cruising. We are not going until Sept. Did book home from VC and decided to stay a day as the flight we were on we would never make. Life is changed and will probably never return to what we had. That happens post pandemics historically.

[arpie05]

On 4/29/2022 at 1:29 PM, taymiss2 said:

"Time consuming PITA"  describes it perfectly.  What I thought was going to be a great idea to fly to Seattle, then take the train for a scenic trip up the coast to Vancouver has turned into a disaster. 

Train is now a bus.  Direct flight from St Louis to Seattle in the evening after work has been changed by the airline 3 times.  Our flight now leaves at 1215pm instead of 5:45 pm,  has a total travel time of 10 hours 45 minutes and has TWO stops.  I did not notice the change within the  24 hour limit to be able to pick a different flight so am now stuck with it.   I should have just flown straight to Vancouver. 

If the airline changes your flight again - make them change the airport. They can do that.  Good luck!

[taymiss2]

4 hours ago, arpie05 said:

If the airline changes your flight again - make them change the airport. They can do that.  Good luck!

I was able to change it. We now have a 5 1/2 hour travel day with a stop in Denver, much better.   Still on the bus though. Lol.   Two more weeks!!!!