Best way to get from SeaTac to Vancouver Cruise Port

[ColoRockiesFan]

I booked my RT flights to Seattle for my Alaska cruise out of Vancouver. The flights were so much cheaper! So, I need to get to Canada Place from Seattle and back again. I know there are many options. What do you prefer?

[john bowtie]

I think it depends on when you arrive and will you spend time in Seattle or Vancouver before the cruise. The cruise line will most likely offer a bus transfer on the day of the cruise between Seattle and Vancouver--the ride is long and the border crossing can take some time, but the cruise should guarantee you will make the ship (as long as you are at the airport for the transfer time) (though you will definitely not be one of the first onboard). A private transfer may be less expensive but with no guarantees. The train ride is most likely a more pleasant and scenic trip, but the timing would require arriving in Vancouver at least one night before the cruise. I always fly in a least one or two days in advance regardless of which city.

[Need-a-vacation]

We tried the "fly home from Seattle instead of Vancouver" plan last year.  With hindsight, I'm not sure if it was worth the money we "saved", but some of that was the decisions we made.

We decided to take the Amtrak Cascades from Vancouver to Seattle the day of disembarkation and fly home from Seattle the next day, partially for cheaper flights and partially to get the added benefit of a scenic train ride and to visit Seattle for the first time. No way to make the morning train on the day of disembarkation, so we booked the afternoon train that departed around 5pm. Which meant we (and our luggage) were basically homeless for about 8 hours.   On a rainy day.  

We took an Uber ($) from the Fairmont waterfront to the Amtrak station, where they do hold bags for a fee ($).  We needed to be back at the station no later than 4 to check in for the train. We killed time at science world (more$) since we didn't know where else to go and be dry. And spent a couple hours just sitting at the station (do not recommend this).

 

Overall, the train ride was a bust for our goals.  The check in process was slow and a lot of line-standing.  The train left over 30 minutes late and was slow getting through town, so we didn't get as much daylight as hoped for seeing scenery. It was delayed multiple times along the way and we arrived in Seattle 2+ hours later than scheduled.  It was after midnight when we finally got to our hotel in Seattle. 

 

In our case, we probably would have been better served to just suck up the airfare and fly home from Vancouver later that day, or stay in Vancouver overnight and get the morning flight back home (which was a lot cheaper than the same-day afternoon flight).  We probably spent nearly as much money overall getting the cheaper flight in Seattle as we would have flying from yvr,  but we paid for it with a lot of time traveling and being in limbo.

 

 

[peety3]

I agree with the sentiments already shared.

 

We've done the cruise bus (on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend) and while it wasted the day, it was nice to know they'd hold the ship for us (and did - we burned an hour in the bus line at the border). We had a bathroom stop shortly before getting to the border, and presumably at the cruise terminal they treat us as though we never entered Canada. We did fly through the line and even made the regularly-scheduled muster drill (for those who remember what those were like...).

 

We've attempted to do the northbound Amtrak and got royally screwed by bad weather (trees across the tracks). We ended up punting and dashing over to the light rail station, going south to the airport, renting a car one-way, driving to our overnight hotel in Vancouver, then waking up and driving away from the cruise terminal to get to YVR to return the car, then taking a cab or Uber back to the cruise terminal for our cruise (and we could have walked from hotel to the cruise terminal had we made it in via Amtrak).

 

We're going to do the southbound Amtrak and it stinks that we have to wait for the afternoon train, though we have a good plan for what to do (and we're coming off a 2-day repositioning cruise so hopefully we'll be just doing backpacks so no need to stow luggage). Frustrating that Amtrak can be so delayed.

[9tee2Sea]

sometimes paying more for convince ( flying into Vancouver) is well worth the extra monies.

[ColoRockiesFan]

Thanks everyone for your experiences. My plane tickets were $1300 cheaper to fly to Seattle. I think I’ll book plane tickets RT for Seattle/Vancouver and avoid the bus & train hassles.  

[Need-a-vacation]

3 hours ago, ColoRockiesFan said:

Thanks everyone for your experiences. My plane tickets were $1300 cheaper to fly to Seattle. I think I’ll book plane tickets RT for Seattle/Vancouver and avoid the bus & train hassles.  

My initial mental response to your post was "just get on another plane at  SeaTac - it's probably less painful" 😄  There are several direct flights daily from SEA to YVR.  Just give yourself tons of connection time in SEA, especially if you're checking bags.  If you're flying on separate tickets, you'll get no help if connections are missed and you'll have to claim and check bags (which likely means going through security, etc)

 

Not sure when your trip is, but watch out for the potential air Canada pilots strike that could occur after September 17.