Vancouver Lodging

[Vashtie]

Appreciate recommendations for lodging in Vancouver night before our cruise sales in May 2023.  Looking for something reasonable that gets us access to the cruise port.  Is it better to stay near the airport and get transportation to the ship or stay close to the ship?  Appears hotels close to the ship are expensive.    

[martincath]

5 hours ago, Vashtie said:

Appreciate recommendations for lodging in Vancouver night before our cruise sales in May 2023.  Looking for something reasonable that gets us access to the cruise port.  Is it better to stay near the airport and get transportation to the ship or stay close to the ship?  Appears hotels close to the ship are expensive.    

First, I'd recommend asking the mods to move your post if you want more opinions - blind luck I happened to run a Search and found it so soon after posting, no locals will think to browse the 'blogs & websites' board for any port of call questions they might be able to offer help on. West Coast Departures is the best location - an active board and since that's where your cruise is leaving from also right on point.

 

Second, to answer your question - unless you're arriving late the night before and don't have any time for sightseeing before getting to the pier, downtown is always best. The cheapest decent hotel in the region is downtown too - so you can even save money as well, assuming that the YWCA Hotel hasn't already sold out the night before your cruise (it's by far the best deal so it does sell out on precruise nights long in advance).

 

If you're happy to take public transit, then sightseeing from an airport hotel doesn't bump the price up much - a full day riding all possible transit options is well under US$10pp with a Day Pass - but if you're someone who insists on cabs or rideshares, a ride downtown and back is going to add $80+ to your effective room rate, plus of course the wasted time (even hotels right on SkyTrain it takes 25mins ride time each way, plus wait time which can be up to 20mins later in the evening if you dine downtown).

 

If you're a family group rather than a couple, cabs can be better value - bums on all the seats costs the same as a single passenger by law - but airport hotel means your time budget is always going to lose at least an hour per day, more likely 90mins between traffic, transit frequency, having to get from hotel to nearest station etc. For a short visit, I always err on the side of valuing time more than anything else!

[Host Kat]

On 1/31/2023 at 11:38 AM, Vashtie said:

Appreciate recommendations for lodging in Vancouver night before our cruise sales in May 2023.  Looking for something reasonable that gets us access to the cruise port.  Is it better to stay near the airport and get transportation to the ship or stay close to the ship?  Appears hotels close to the ship are expensive.    

 

Howdy @Vashtie 

 

To help you out I have moved your thread to the West Coast Departures forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members sailing from the West Coast frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

Hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!  

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

[Vashtie]

3 hours ago, Host Kat said:

 

Howdy @Vashtie 

 

To help you out I have moved your thread to the West Coast Departures forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members sailing from the West Coast frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

Hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!  

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

Thank you

[Urban trekker]

Just a note - if you are cruising the weekend of May 6 - 7 that is the weekend of the Vancouver International Marathon - there will be close to 20,000 people in the downtown core post race. They will be in the finish area which is about 4 to 5 blocks from the cruise port.

In addition you will have anywhere up to 3 ships in port.

Thankfully with the current course access to Canada Place and the cruise terminal will be fine if you are coming from the airport. Anything, hotels etc. west of Burrard and north of Pender will be either blocked off or difficult to access.

This will also mean that all hotels will be sold out and will be charging an outrageous rate.

Dennis

 

 

[Vashtie]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:45 PM, Urban trekker said:

Just a note - if you are cruising the weekend of May 6 - 7 that is the weekend of the Vancouver International Marathon - there will be close to 20,000 people in the downtown core post race. They will be in the finish area which is about 4 to 5 blocks from the cruise port.

In addition you will have anywhere up to 3 ships in port.

Thankfully with the current course access to Canada Place and the cruise terminal will be fine if you are coming from the airport. Anything, hotels etc. west of Burrard and north of Pender will be either blocked off or difficult to access.

This will also mean that all hotels will be sold out and will be charging an outrageous rate.

Dennis

 

 

Wow...glad we will be there on 2 June.  Appreciate the information. 

 

[luvkruzin]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:45 PM, Urban trekker said:

Just a note - if you are cruising the weekend of May 6 - 7 that is the weekend of the Vancouver International Marathon - there will be close to 20,000 people in the downtown core post race. They will be in the finish area which is about 4 to 5 blocks from the cruise port.

In addition you will have anywhere up to 3 ships in port.

Thankfully with the current course access to Canada Place and the cruise terminal will be fine if you are coming from the airport. Anything, hotels etc. west of Burrard and north of Pender will be either blocked off or difficult to access.

This will also mean that all hotels will be sold out and will be charging an outrageous rate.

Dennis

 

 

We are sailing out on May 8th and are already booked at the Pan Pacific May 6th-May 8th. I didn't know there was a marathon that weekend 😞 We didnt have any specific "sight seeing" plans but this is the 1st time we will be in Vancouver. We were just going to "wing it" But With it being this congested... what are your suggestions so were aren't fighting with transportation getting in and out of the downtown area. 

Thank you!!

[Urban trekker]

In addition to the cruise ships that will be berthing at Canada Place on that week the Convention Center attached to Canada Place will also be the pickup point for the runners to get their race package and there will be be an Expo as well. Over 18,000 runners will take to the streets. The Vancouver Marathon is the largest in Canada and rated one of the best in the world for scenery etc.

I am a long time volunteer for this event so I should be able to answer most of your questions.

The direct area around Canada Place and the Cruise terminal are not directly affected by the street closures etc. so access to the Pan Pacific shouldn't be too bad.

Getting to Stanley Park will be more problematic as several of the roads used to get to the entrance will be blocked off but Georgia Street which leads into the Park will be okay.

The Seawall along the harbour will be okay except of race day when there are restrictions.

Tour companies etc. are well aware of the race - the hop on hop off bus will likely either not operate early or do a modify route.

As you get closer to your cruise and have made some decisions on what to do I will be happy to answer any further questions.

Dennis

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:38 AM, Vashtie said:

Appreciate recommendations for lodging in Vancouver night before our cruise sales in May 2023.  Looking for something reasonable that gets us access to the cruise port.  Is it better to stay near the airport and get transportation to the ship or stay close to the ship?  Appears hotels close to the ship are expensive.    

 

It helps to know what your nightly budget is in Canadian dollars. Currently a hotel that is $475 CD is only $356 USD, and so on. Canada is a great bargain for U.S. travelers.

 

I think paying the extra to stay in Downtown Vancouver is worth it for the nicer environment.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 2/12/2023 at 7:22 AM, luvkruzin said:

We are sailing out on May 8th and are already booked at the Pan Pacific May 6th-May 8th. I didn't know there was a marathon that weekend 😞 We didnt have any specific "sight seeing" plans but this is the 1st time we will be in Vancouver. We were just going to "wing it" But With it being this congested... what are your suggestions so were aren't fighting with transportation getting in and out of the downtown area.

 

It depends on what interests you. I travel to Vancouver a lot on business and pleasure. When I am in Downtown I am content to barely leave since there is so much there to see and do. The exception being heading to the Richmond area for dim sum/Chinese food. Vancouver and LA's San Gabriel Valley are neck and neck for the best Chinese food in North America. San Francisco and New York are distant contenders.

 

I do love the Sea to Sky gondola and the Grouse Mountain Aerial Tram, but those would be a ride outside the city.

[martincath]

On 2/12/2023 at 7:22 AM, luvkruzin said:

We are sailing out on May 8th and are already booked at the Pan Pacific May 6th-May 8th. I didn't know there was a marathon that weekend 😞 We didnt have any specific "sight seeing" plans but this is the 1st time we will be in Vancouver. We were just going to "wing it" But With it being this congested... what are your suggestions so were aren't fighting with transportation getting in and out of the downtown area. 

Thank you!!

Further to Dennis' reply, my wife's a runner and has taken part a few times - we would always book a nice brunch afterward and you need to get your reso made VERY early for that as it's a popular thing for the runners and their friends/family to do; the Saturday night before is also the worst night of the year to try getting into an Italian restaurant - carb loading with pasta remains a classic trope of long distance runners! Any specific questions about the closures, timing etc. downtown definitely follow up with Dennis - but since he's stuck down there volunteering, some info about your other options:

 

All the road closures etc. do wind down by pretty early in the afternoon - there's a minimum 'race pace' so from beginning of the course road blocks are being pulled aside before the slowest runners even get to them. Of course the downtown core with the post-race support tents etc. is the last place to be cleared out - but you can easily be back downtown for Happy Hour and the number of tourists wearing medals will be the only indicator of a race having happened;-)

 

Transit will actually be better than usual for a Sunday morning - extra buses and higher frequency SkyTrain get laid on to help move the runners around - so as long as you avoid the area around the start (Queen Elizabeth Park) until after ~9:30am (Marathon starts 8:30am, Half- an hour earlier, but it takes a long time for the last runners to even get past the start gate!), anywhere else touristy around town that isn't directly on the routes will actually be a bit quieter than normal due to the hefty % of tourists being in town to run or watch the race rather than being in the parks, museums etc. on Sunday morning.

 

Personally I'd consider visiting the North Shore (Grouse Mountain, Lynn Canyon, Capilano Bridge are all reachable by Seabus - no impact on that from the race - then buses or cabs/Uber on the other side); Richmond (as well as Chinese food, the village of Steveston is well worth a visit - lots of twee little Ye Olde Shoppes & houses, whalewatching trips, the superb Gulf of Georgia Cannery Museum) via Canada Line connecting to several buses at Brighouse if you don't mind ~70mins travel time each way, or about half that if driving (take Main Street south and you won't cross either Half or Full marathon courses at all); and if you do consider renting a car then the Gondola mentioned by Scott above, Britannia Beach Mining Museum, and some very impressive waterfalls are all accessible along the Sea to Sky highway witrhin an hour's drive (indeed, this would also be a good day to head all the way up to Whistler if you were interested in seeing that) - there is a shuttle bus, the Squamish Connector, that enables visiting the gondola without a car but it's pricey and infrequent and getting between the gondola and the mine is a real hassle without your own transport.

 

 

[Urban trekker]

Martincath - I too was going to suggest the North Shore as a possible choice for the day - using Sea Bus and then transit to the Cap Bridge and Grouse Mountain etc.

Or perhaps head out to Horseshoe Bay and maybe fish and chips at Trolls.

You could also after getting to Horseshoe Bay head over to Bowen Island - lot's of trails there close to town and a couple of places to get some good eats.

My volunteering for the marathon is package pickup on the Friday and Saturday and if my health permits the bike sweep for the half marathon runners.

 

[martincath]

16 hours ago, Urban trekker said:

You could also after getting to Horseshoe Bay head over to Bowen Island - lot's of trails there close to town and a couple of places to get some good eats.

My volunteering for the marathon is package pickup on the Friday and Saturday and if my health permits the bike sweep for the half marathon runners.

I always forget about Bowen Island, a lovely spot for a quiet day; hope you feel up to biking on the Sunday - I'll wave out the window as the course loops right past our condo on Quebec.

[luvkruzin]

Thank you very much Martincath and Urban trekker!!!! Those are a lot of good tips. I have been trying to read up on Grouse Mtn, Stanley Park (which is prob out now due to the marathon 😞 ), sea to sky highway, Granville Island and Cap bridge area. Just so many choices 🙂 

Im sure the closer it gets, I will prob have more questions. 

Thank you again!!!