End of cruise Vancouver Hop On/Hop Off excursion

[513sunflower]

Anyone taken the Vancouver Hop On/Hop Off tour at the end of your cruise before transferring to the airport?  I have a 7:30pm flight out of Vancouver the day the cruise ends.  How does the excursion work?  Does the tour run continuously from the pier as passengers disembark or is there a set time that you have to show up?  What do you do with your luggage while on the tour and how does transportation to the airport work when you are ready to do that?  I already have a voucher for transportation from the pier to the airport, but I read that I can get a credit for that if I do the tour instead.   Any comments appreciated!

[bigbenboys]

We did the Vancouver Hop On/Hop Off last month. We stayed 2 days in Vancouver BC after our cruise. What I like most was Granville Island Public Market.

[martincath]

Celebrity, and all the other lines who offer this, do the following:

• buy you a 1-day ticket for one of the local HOHO companies - exactly the same as if you bought one yourself directly;
• buy you 1 ticket for use on SkyTrain to get out to YVR (a 2 zone fare - but if you do this yourself, on a weekend or after 6:30pm weekdays you actually only need a $3.45 1 zone ticket and Seniors pay even less)
• transfer your bags from the pier to the airport, where they will be held for you until you arrive

 

The last part of the list can no longer be replicated exactly as CDS lost the franchise for luggage storage at the pier so no longer offer bag transfers to the public, but there are many bag storage places downtown that run between $5 and $13 a bag for the day - a metered cab to the airport is approx. $35+tip per vehicle, but SkyTrain handles luggage just fine on the Airport line so if you're mobile you can still ride the rails even with your suitcases.

 

So compare the price of a HOHO day pass ($59pp), SkyTrain ticket ($4.45 or less pp), and bag storage - and remember, this is all in Canadian dollars not USD! - to see how much they are jacking up the price...

 

Also bear in mind that the only convenience aspect is moving your bag for you; but that they are also adding a new risk of somebody involved in the bag move screwing it up - someone posted just last week about their bag being lost while doing this and Celebrity taking zero responsibility for it...

[GottaKnowWhen]

We had a flight the next morning after debarkation. (June 26 ) So, we stored our bags at the pier ($10/smallish bag, $15 for larger bags), bought tickets on the Hop On Hop Off. Hopped on.  Bad choice!  
1. the driver was way more concerned with getting to her rendezvous where she would switch with another driver, she drove too fast.

2. there is a running commentary, taped, on the areas you pass through. “On your right you will see...” Nope. The driver needed to speed up to make it through the yellow almost red stoplight, she was not interested in what we might or might not see.

3. Eventually we got to Granville Island. Spent a pleasant few hours, HoHo back to the pier, got our luggage, cab to our motel near the airport, and off to a very fine nearby restaurant.

4. Stash your luggage, take a cab to Granville, take a cab back to retrieve your stuff, cab to the airport.

5. allow plenty of time at the airport! Three hours prior to flight departure would be good.

Stan

[nasus2]

As an alternative to hoho look at landsea tours. They pick up at terminal and deliver to airport while storing luggage. Went on two of their tours last month and was very impressed