Vancouver pre-cruise for solo woman

[Need-a-vacation]

I'm trying to evaluate options for Vancouver hotel before cruise. 

 

Are there any areas of the core downtown Vancouver area to avoid? I'd like to be where I can walk to simple food, maybe some shopping  and sightseeing,  access to public transit or easy Uber to core areas. And preferably not a creepy ghost town after 5pm on a Tuesday.  I'm basically reviewing the area between Gastown and  Stanley Park, possibly as far south as the Greenville Bridge.

 

 

Any thoughts on any of these options: 

Quality Inn & Suites on Greenville

Grand Park hotel on Granville 

Days Inn at Pender and Hornby

Sandman Suites on Davie

Sandman hotel downtown (near BC Place)

Times square suites on Denman.

 

I'm also intrigued by some of the places near English Beach, but I worry that services or transit could be sparse. 

 

Thanks!

[Milhouse]

Quickly jotting down some thoughts before I head to the airport to start my cruise vacay!  🤓

 

I don’t feel there’s any place in Vancouver that is unsafe per se (like I know I'm going to get mugged).  The only place I’d really recommend avoiding is just outside the downtown core around Hastings Street by Chinatown and the eastern edges of Gastown which is complete street disorder.  Gastown can get occasionally sketchy (eg I was waiting for some take-out when some guy walked by screaming his head off) but there are lots of people around.

Beyond that, there are supportive housing and supervised usage sites here and there that can lead to pockets of sketchiness and disorder here and there.  One pocket is near south Granville by Helmcken.  Another is near Pender and Richards.  Again, not unsafe per se IMO but can feel a bit sketchy.  

 

My thoughts on your list (location-wise, not quality of stay):
Quality Inn on Granville:  You’re kind of on the corner of Granville and Davie, both which overall have a lot of retail and eateries.  But this area is not my favourite.  There’s a supportive housing building down the block.  The 7Eleven two blocks away apparently has to lock its refrigerators due to theft.
Grand Park on Granville:  Similar thoughts to the Quality Inn but you are a little further south on Granville.  You’re closer to the bridge.  It’s a bit quieter for pedestrian traffic.  
Days Inn at Pender & Hornby:  It’s likely going to be fairly quiet at night in the immediate vicinity.  However, you can walk a few blocks north along Burrard to Canada Place/seawall which is typically hopping with tourists (and locals if there’s an event happening or south along Burrard to get to Robson street which will be livelier.
Sandman on Davie:  Davie street is fairly lively with a lot of eateries.  You can walk a few blocks south through residential to the beach/seawall or you can walk west along Davie to get to English Bay and Denman.  
Sandman near BC Place:  The area is fine.  You’ve got a few restaurants in the vicinity.  Easy access to the eastern end of Robson street which you can use to launch deeper west into the downtown core.  Somewhat easy access to the seawall along False Creek.  Generally quieter at night (particularly on Georgia street) unless there’s some event happening at the arena or stadium but it’s lively as you get further west on Robson.  Note also:  @martincath usually recommends the YWCA around the corner.  
Time Square on Denman:  Very good location.  It’s behind/above the Starbucks I frequently go to for walks in the morning.  Easy access to Stanley Park.  Easy access to retail/eateries on both Robson and Denman.  Quiet in the morning but a fairly busy area later in the day.

English Bay:  The area is nice.  Easy access to retail and eateries on Denman and Davie.  

[martincath]

14 hours ago, Need-a-vacation said:

I'm trying to evaluate options for Vancouver hotel before cruise. ...

Thanks for tagging me in @Milhouse - your summary above doesn't seem to need any further input from me!

 

For all solo travelers especially I do indeed recommend the YWCA Hotel - it's virtually the only hotel with single rooms, so odds are even better than normal that the price will be lower, and it's  a significantly-better hotel than any other budget option in shiny-newness, facilities, and reviews. Despite the name, it's a real hotel not a hostel - no dorms, but they do have big shared kitchens and laundries, and if you're the kind of person who likes to chat to fellow travelers you might meet a potential buddy or two in the shared spaces to hang out with while in town. The only noise issue there is from BC Place - which has tight limits on how late shows run, so even worst case of a bit concert the last of the crowd will have left the stadium before midnight, and if it's any kind of Sportsball event much earlier than that.

 

I'd also recommend contacting Stroll Buddy - no guarantee that anyone will be available on your date, but if they are you get a free (no tips expected even) local guide to show you around town, which should help get you comfortable with navigating the city.

 

If you'd feel more comfortable wandering with another person or group, posting on your cruise roll call to see if perhaps there are any other folks pre-cruising that you get a decent vibe from and might want to hang out with might be a good option too - although as a solo you will find it easier to get into most 'hot ticket' restos as a walk-in so sometimes it's good to be on your own!

[Need-a-vacation]

@Milhouse @martincath  Thank you both for such detailed responses!  That's exactly the kind of information I wanted.  I was suspicious that the area on south Granville might be possibly less desireable since the rates were noticeably lower than others.

 

I'm intrigued by the YWCA option - does it normally serve cruise travelers?

 

I think I need to settle my mind on if I'm going to try and intentionally have a day in Vancouver and pay for another hotel night (which means a careful balance between price and convenience), or if I'm just going to arrive sometime the afternoon before and kill time until I need to go to Canada Place (which means anyplace safe and access to a meal and an uber will do).

 

Thanks again for so much help!

[martincath]

39 minutes ago, Need-a-vacation said:

@Milhouse @martincath  Thank you both for such detailed responses!  ...

 

I'm intrigued by the YWCA option - does it normally serve cruise travelers?

The Y operates like any other hotel, no restriction on type of traveler - their regular double en suite rooms sell out consistently on summer nights.

 

The only other place I can think of that might be cheaper for a solo would be the Panda Pod hotel out in Richmond, where rates even in summer can be <$100 per night (I just checked a last-minute booking for 2 nights this weekend - total incl tax just under CAD$200). You do get a locker for one big suitcase included in the rates as well as your 'bed in a box' for sleeping - and can pay $5 per extra big bag per night.

 

If you're someone who plans to be on the go your whole trip and literally just sleep in your hotel it could be ideal, although each trip downtown & back would be about 40mins (hotel is ~600yds from Richmond-Brighouse, then a close to 30min ride to Waterfront) if a train is waiting, up to an extra 20mins if you just miss a train late in the evening when frequency is low.

[Need-a-vacation]

Thank you @martincath .  I would fully expect they'll accept anyone -- more wondered if I'd be some glaring misfit as a middle-aged woman going on a cruise!

 

Quick check shows the YWCA would be about $225 (US) + tax for the nights I need. 

 

I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest option, just wanting to be prudent and spend the money how and where I'll appreciate it.  Which is best definitely depends on if I want to explore Vancouver, or if I just need a decent place to sleep and get a meal for 18 hours before heading to port. For the latter, I'd probably just find an airport hotel and get a cab in the morning.

[sfaaa]

Granville street and Chinatown are a zoo full of homeless and pass out junkies on the sidewalks. Stay away. 

[martincath]

23 minutes ago, Need-a-vacation said:

I would fully expect they'll accept anyone -- more wondered if I'd be some glaring misfit as a middle-aged woman going on a cruise!

Haha, no, you'll be fine; the last couple I met there to take on a Stroll (I'm one of the local Buddies) were recently-retired folks staying before a cruise, and when I walked into the lobby they were neither the oldest nor the most cruise-y looking people in the room (I held the door for a multi-generational family group leaving, who had already put their cruise tags on their suitcases!)

 

The YWCA Hotel always has a decent spread of ages, lots of kids as they have some of the very few good family rooms in the city too (the closest thing to a dorm they have are 5 single bed rooms, and their paired 'Jack and Jill' 2 person rooms sharing one bathroom are ideal for families), it's really just the actual hostels in town that run young - although even then there are exceptions, I have a friend in his 70s who still prefers to stay in 'youth' hostels whenever he travels!

[Need-a-vacation]

@martincath

On a map, the YWCA looks like it's really close to Chinatown.  Is that a concern at all since Chinatown has been mentioned a couple times as a sketchy area. 

 

Thank you.

[Need-a-vacation]

I went ahead and booked 2 nights at the YWCA hotel. That will give me one full day in Vancouver to do some sort of sight seeing.  I'm likely to just try one of the HoHo buses.  

 

The site mentions a 48-hour cancellation policy. I'm guessing that's 48 hours before arrival?

[torringtonwyo]

my wife and i are also arriving early due to the cancellation of the prior 2 day cruise so we arrive on the 8th and plan to see Vancouver .. we are staying at the pinnacle at the harbor .. we have found a couple of tours for the first days then we will wander I'm sure others will be going in precruise maybe we could form a tour group??

[martincath]

19 hours ago, Need-a-vacation said:

@martincath

On a map, the YWCA looks like it's really close to Chinatown.  Is that a concern at all since Chinatown has been mentioned a couple times as a sketchy area. 

 

Thank you.

Close is relative - compared to most cruise ports, everything in Vancouver is close! However, despite the name of the SkyTrain station up the street from the Y, it and everything else west of the stadium feels strongly isolated from Chinatown because of the viaducts. It's not much of a vertical drop, but unless you go down toward the coastal edges of the little peninsula that the downtown core sits on, you only have Georgia and Dunsmuir which both run across a bunch of greenspace (although the grass is all fake on the Sportsball fields, there's a fair bunch of real trees).

 

Chinatown is well east and below the Y, even the lower part of the SkyTrain station is in Crosstown, but our stations named after a neighbourhood rather than the street they are on tend to be a bit woolly; the Olympic Village station on the Canada Line is not only not in the village, it's further away from it than the pre-existing Main St/Scienceworld station is! Stadium/Chinatown is better - it nails the Stadium part, but arguably Main St is yet again closer to the core of Chinatown (which is centred on Keefer & Main).

 

I see you already booked the Y - so yes, 48hr cancellation means do so at least that much time before your planned arrival and you should not be charged, in case you find a better deal.

[Need-a-vacation]

Thank you @martincath for all your detailed information on Vancouver. It's been so helpful. 

 

The cancellation would more likely come into play if I decide to change what day I arrive.

 

Am I close to estimate between 60-90 minutes from the time my flight lands until I would arrive at hotel?  I'm a US citizen flying in from the US.

 

 

[martincath]

5 minutes ago, Need-a-vacation said:

Thank you @martincath for all your detailed information on Vancouver. It's been so helpful. 

 

The cancellation would more likely come into play if I decide to change what day I arrive.

 

Am I close to estimate between 60-90 minutes from the time my flight lands until I would arrive at hotel?  I'm a US citizen flying in from the US.

No worries; in terms of timing the biggest variable is how many other folks land about the same time as you do but a ballpark time of an hour to get through customs/immigration after landing (it can be quite a long walk from some gates!), then 30-45mins to downtown, is a pretty reasonable estimate most of the time.

 

SkyTrain doesn't worry about traffic so is very consistently ~24mins (and the <10min walk from Vancouver City Centre station, the closest to the Y, is slightly downhill along well-populated sidewalks so should feel safe even if you arrive in the evening) while cabs mean door-to-door convenience but unless it's a late evening flight some traffic delay so they're probably a wash in timing, but much pricier for a solo (fixed rate CAD$37 to the Y, Uberlyft might save $5 if no Surge) compared to at most CAD$9.65 (weekday arrival, before 6:30pm - weekends/evenings a Senior 65+ pays only $7.15).

[Need-a-vacation]

On 8/26/2024 at 10:38 AM, martincath said:

Vancouver City Centre station, the closest to the Y, is slightly downhill along well-populated sidewalks so should feel safe even if you arrive in the evening)

So I took a look and it seems like it's about a half mile from the metro station to the YWCA hotel. Does that seem about right?  That could be a long ways dragging any luggage.   I'll be arriving late morning. 

[martincath]

2 hours ago, Need-a-vacation said:

So I took a look and it seems like it's about a half mile from the metro station to the YWCA hotel. Does that seem about right?  That could be a long ways dragging any luggage.   I'll be arriving late morning. 

I think you must have correctly input the relevant station, because I get 700metres walk on Google maps (which by the time you actually leave the platform to get up to street level, is going to be pretty much bang on a half mile). You know you, your suitcase(s), how heavily you pack 'em, and how good the wheels are so you'll have to decide whether the extra cost of a cab door-to-door, or maybe trying to flag a cab/call an uberlyft from the station for the short ride to the Y, is worth the extra expense/time compared to just walking from SkyTrain.

 

Unless you get a porter at YVR, you'll likely cover at least a quarter mile from baggage carousel to the taxi queue or SkyTrain - and many airports are bigger than YVR, so you may already be used to schlepping your bags further than you think! It is an easy walk as walks with luggage go, wide sidewalks in good condition, slightly downhill - I'm a big fat fatty in far from great shape and I have walked from my place (just shy of 1.5miles) to the ship or vice versa multiple times, sometimes dragging two suitcases on the way home as my missus has managed to go straight to work off a cruise a few times...

 

Certainly any daytime arrival, even fairly late evening, there should be plenty of folks out and about - if your flight gets delayed until after dark, Robson will likely feel most comfortable to walk along - plenty restos right along it to the Beaty end, so more pedestrian activity and eyes on the street - but even Georgia should have folks around to make it feel like a perfectly safe walk even as a solo, so it really is just factoring in whether more money but less effort for a cab wins over less money and some leg-stretching by SkyTraining downtown.

[Musigurl]

I've stayed at the YWCA twice and I'm about to make it a third time. Great location -- walking distance to restaurants and very close to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre where you can catch a touring production of a Broadway show. The hotel is clean, staff are very friendly.

[Need-a-vacation]

Well I'm here, checked in at the YWCA Hotel.  Lovely view of some sports arena for the WhiteCaps. 🤪. The person who helped me at the desk was very lovely and helpful and is an avid cruiser.  The room is basic, but clean and functional.

 

I forgot about the no room safe thing, so I'm trying to decide if I need to so something about that, or if my stuff will be safe in the room. I'm mostly concerned about protecting my passport, ID, and backup credit card

[firefly333]

I gave in yesterday and booked the repo on radiance late sept 2025 to Calif then thru the Panama canal, leaves from Montreal.  So just starting to look. I cant yet see my date on priceline for hotel or flights but can see august and I see several hotels with shuttles and breakfast most near the airport.

 

I have a tracfone I'm worried if I can call uber. Or maybe I need to add a international card, but just for the one call to uber? I'm also a solo female, maybe past middle aged lol. Travelling alone. Just for myself not interested in anything fancy, but would like a airport shuttle at least to get me to the hotel. I read I can take some sub thing from maybe I have to go back to the airport for $6 that goes to the port. I've read thru all the posts here I saw for Montreal got that from one. 

 

Once I'm out of Montreal I can use uber on wifi or my cell phone. Just need to get to a hotel so I'm only booking for one with a airport shuttle. And of course safe. 

[oakridger]

On 9/27/2024 at 8:17 AM, firefly333 said:

leaves from Montreal

 

Do you mean Vancouver?

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

Do you mean Vancouver?

Hahahaha yes. Ooops. You can tell I've never been there le gone out of canada. 

[martincath]

15 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Hahahaha yes. Ooops. You can tell I've never been there le gone out of canada. 

Well, abandon thoughts of Uber unless you upgrade your phone - it's an App based system, no actual voice call available as far as I know! Same for Lyft and the other Not A Taxi outfits.

 

At YVR you have the option of a fixed-rate cab to anywhere around Vancouver and Richmond (where the airport, and all-but-two 'airport' hotels live). If you can trundle or carry your own luggage around at an airport - i.e. you don't use a porter, need a wheelchair etc. - then you are physically capable of using the SkyTrain. You'll walk further inside Canada Place when boarding than you do to get to or from the stations at each end! So for a solo, especially a Senior 65+, the pricing of SkyTrain is unbeatable - and if where you are going is ~10mins walk or less from the nearest station, it's also virtually always the fastest way to travel as our lack of highways anywhere in Vancouver means often-brutal traffic delays on roads unless you're on a very late or very early flight.

 

I'll reiterate the same advice I gave above - stay downtown in the YWCA Hotel, as that puts you close to most everything that tourists want to do, a cheap (<$10) cab ride to the pier if you don't feel up to walking a mile with bags, and as virtually the only hotel with solo rooms pretty much guaranteed to be the cheapest hotel around as well as one of the best rated at any price-point.

 

I'll also advise that you budget for extra nights on both ends (as many as you can afford the time and money for, we have tonnes of stuff to do here!) - but at the very least an extra night will help you recover from the time difference on the way here as well as give sensible padding to your schedule in case of flight delays, and also give you the best possible flight options on the way home. We've got a good friend in Gainesville so we've done the 'top left to bottom right' thing quite a bit - if you book a flight early the next day it's usually significantly cheaper than an early afternoon flight to the same place precisely because there are several thousand extra pax fighting for those later-in-the-day flights!

 

If your budget is seriously tight, I'd still do the extra nights - for a solo, the Panda Pod hotel in Richmond can be under a hundred bucks a night even in summer, so while it's nowhere near as convenient for touristy stuff as the Y, odds are you can save enough on an early AM flight to pay for your stay.

[firefly333]

18 minutes ago, martincath said:

Well, abandon thoughts of Uber unless you upgrade your phone - it's an App based system, no actual voice call available as far as I know! Same for Lyft and the other Not A Taxi outfits.

 

At YVR you have the option of a fixed-rate cab to anywhere around Vancouver and Richmond (where the airport, and all-but-two 'airport' hotels live). If you can trundle or carry your own luggage around at an airport - i.e. you don't use a porter, need a wheelchair etc. - then you are physically capable of using the SkyTrain. You'll walk further inside Canada Place when boarding than you do to get to or from the stations at each end! So for a solo, especially a Senior 65+, the pricing of SkyTrain is unbeatable - and if where you are going is ~10mins walk or less from the nearest station, it's also virtually always the fastest way to travel as our lack of highways anywhere in Vancouver means often-brutal traffic delays on roads unless you're on a very late or very early flight.

 

I'll reiterate the same advice I gave above - stay downtown in the YWCA Hotel, as that puts you close to most everything that tourists want to do, a cheap (<$10) cab ride to the pier if you don't feel up to walking a mile with bags, and as virtually the only hotel with solo rooms pretty much guaranteed to be the cheapest hotel around as well as one of the best rated at any price-point.

 

I'll also advise that you budget for extra nights on both ends (as many as you can afford the time and money for, we have tonnes of stuff to do here!) - but at the very least an extra night will help you recover from the time difference on the way here as well as give sensible padding to your schedule in case of flight delays, and also give you the best possible flight options on the way home. We've got a good friend in Gainesville so we've done the 'top left to bottom right' thing quite a bit - if you book a flight early the next day it's usually significantly cheaper than an early afternoon flight to the same place precisely because there are several thousand extra pax fighting for those later-in-the-day flights!

 

If your budget is seriously tight, I'd still do the extra nights - for a solo, the Panda Pod hotel in Richmond can be under a hundred bucks a night even in summer, so while it's nowhere near as convenient for touristy stuff as the Y, odds are you can save enough on an early AM flight to pay for your stay.

I'll be with a carry on only, travelling light. I do get free laundry onboard.  It's a one way. No flight home. Radiance does Vancouver to San Diego, and then san diego to ft Lauderdale. I'm up near PC, port Canaveral.. though several are now saying why fly all the way to Vancouver and not do the last sept 19 alaska cruise and make it a b3b. So far I'm a no. Lol. I've done alaska and not convinced but right now I'm not srriving until Thursday sept 25. Late in the season. I was hoping a Thursday might be cheaper or maybe I'm looking at the calendar wrong, as it seems off for the last alaska cruise to end on a thursday in vancouver.

 

I'm waiting on flights to populate in the next month to decide on a hotel. The best deal I see so far is Aubergo Vancouver Hotel. My issue is my plane lands at 6:20 going by flights I see in august. I am NOT taking a 7 am flight, so I'd be getting in light and might be getting dark and never took this metrorsil or been to Vancouver before but it says imcannget there in the monorail and wouldn't need to use my phone that right now doesnt work in canada.  I will be 4 weeks in harmony and when I get back I'll book a flight and hotel then. By then flights will be showing for sept 25. Lol by the time i get in after a long flight I'll just want to eat and crash and not enjoy the hotel. I got a month to decide and think on it. It is a long flight., and I'm not that young or energetic. A nice hotel seems wasted but doesnt need me to change over my phone to get there it tells me. Has a question and answer dialogue I asked last night. Says I can arrive by monorail. No phone call needed. 

Edited 7 hours ago by firefly333

[firefly333]

43 minutes ago, martincath said:

Well, abandon thoughts of Uber unless you upgrade your phone - it's an App based system, no actual voice call available as far as I know! Same for Lyft and the other Not A Taxi outfits.

 

At YVR you have the option of a fixed-rate cab to anywhere around Vancouver and Richmond (where the airport, and all-but-two 'airport' hotels live). If you can trundle or carry your own luggage around at an airport - i.e. you don't use a porter, need a wheelchair etc. - then you are physically capable of using the SkyTrain. You'll walk further inside Canada Place when boarding than you do to get to or from the stations at each end! So for a solo, especially a Senior 65+, the pricing of SkyTrain is unbeatable - and if where you are going is ~10mins walk or less from the nearest station, it's also virtually always the fastest way to travel as our lack of highways anywhere in Vancouver means often-brutal traffic delays on roads unless you're on a very late or very early flight.

 

I'll reiterate the same advice I gave above - stay downtown in the YWCA Hotel, as that puts you close to most everything that tourists want to do, a cheap (<$10) cab ride to the pier if you don't feel up to walking a mile with bags, and as virtually the only hotel with solo rooms pretty much guaranteed to be the cheapest hotel around as well as one of the best rated at any price-point.

 

I'll also advise that you budget for extra nights on both ends (as many as you can afford the time and money for, we have tonnes of stuff to do here!) - but at the very least an extra night will help you recover from the time difference on the way here as well as give sensible padding to your schedule in case of flight delays, and also give you the best possible flight options on the way home. We've got a good friend in Gainesville so we've done the 'top left to bottom right' thing quite a bit - if you book a flight early the next day it's usually significantly cheaper than an early afternoon flight to the same place precisely because there are several thousand extra pax fighting for those later-in-the-day flights!

 

If your budget is seriously tight, I'd still do the extra nights - for a solo, the Panda Pod hotel in Richmond can be under a hundred bucks a night even in summer, so while it's nowhere near as convenient for touristy stuff as the Y, odds are you can save enough on an early AM flight to pay for your stay.

This was originally just a Panama transit cruise. Calif to florida. ..royal sweetened the deal for all solos 150 % for those with 340 loyalty pts 125% solo supplement. For ta to and transit. So both Vancouver to calif and calif to florida are 125% solo supplements are very good deals. Then some said we are getting on in Vancouver and doing the coast cruise. I saidmok andnjust added it. Lol now some say we should do b2b and do the last alaska cruise. It's not a repositioning so 150% but still pretty cheap. I'm holding out still on the alaska b3b, just added the coastal cruise from Vancouver. My hotel in vancouver will cost half what the whole cruise costs lol. But I've never done a full Panama transit ... it just happens to start in Vancouver..that's why it's a one way flight. Solo. It's a great deal for solos. I was under $100 a day in a balcony on the 16 day panama transit then royal announced a couple months ago even sweeter deals on ta tp or transits. So here I am dealing with flying into Vancouver at the end of the season.

[martincath]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'll be with a carry on only, travelling light. I do get free laundry onboard.  It's a one way. No flight home.

 

...I was hoping a Thursday might be cheaper or maybe I'm looking at the calendar wrong, as it seems off for the last alaska cruise to end on a thursday in vancouver.

 

I'm waiting on flights to populate in the next month to decide on a hotel. The best deal I see so far is Aubergo Vancouver Hotel.

 

...I got a month to decide and think on it. It is a long flight., and I'm not that young or energetic. A nice hotel seems wasted but doesnt need me to change over my phone to get there it tells me. Has a question and answer dialogue I asked last night. Says I can arrive by monorail. No phone call needed. 

Sorry, your first post did say you were looking at a Repo cruise, so no point me mentioning the return flights!

 

Yes, Auberge can be easily SkyTrained to (regular light rail with two rails, not a monorail, although if you ask random Vancouverites to direct you to the monorail you have a pretty good chance they'll known what you mean - and perhaps give a rendition of the Simpson's classic song, I know I always do!) but if you wait until ~25 Oct you'll see more hotels - many don't give bookings more than 11 months ahead. If Auberge is showing as your best priced hotel, then you're missing about 75% of the hotels downtown because while it's a bargain compared to Pan Pacific or Fairmonts, it's still up there in swankfactor! It's part of one of the fanciest members-only clubs in Canada, so even if you're staying there you won't be allowed into all of the dining options - but the Lion's Pub is public, and has a pretty wide menu if you're hungry on arrival.

 

The walk from the Granville St exit of Waterfront station is only about 250yards - it's one of the most convenient hotels for SkyTrain from YVR, as long as you pay attention inside the station as to which exit you are taking (most of the crowd will go the opposite way you want to, to get into the above-ground station proper where they can transfer to Seabus, the other SkyTrain line, helicopters and float plane airports, heavy rail to the tricities, or any of the hotels at the pier - it's our biggest transit hub!)

 

I'll still recommend extra days in Vancouver since you've never been, just all precruise now(!), because we are an excellent city - hands down the cleanest, safest, and nicest of any of your stops on a coastal repo (unless you're also stopping in Victoria) and likely cheaper than any other big city stops because of the currency exchange rate... In all seriousness, you can easily spend a week here visiting multiple attractions daily without getting bored - and that's without any of the 'go hike up a mountain' energetic people stuff!

 

But if you're unable to squeeze any more free time to extend your trip, so your hotel is simply to sleep in the night before boarding, then all the more reason to book the Y or the Panda Pod - both should save you serious coin compared to Auberge, enough to pay cab fare and then some if you are too wiped on arrival to consider SkyTraining (current fare CAD$37 to the Y - payable by MC/Visa, although cabbies often also take US greenbacks at a terrible exchange rate).

 

Oh, I think you also mentioned your Tracfone has WiFi - so you will be able to use that all over Vancouver, there's a free city-run network that broadcasts as #YVRWiFi, as well as the airport, the pier, SkyTrain and various other public cafes, libraries etc. The city one even operates in chunks of Stanley Park, so you can find your way around with a live map most of the time - and Google not only sent bikes and guys with backpack cameras around a lot of our non-car pathways, but they actually power our local transit system's routing so their local info is bang up to date with transit timetables, and usually pretty accurate about bike and pedestrian routes too.