Vancouver Info if needed

[swe9742]

We are taking the 6:40 am train to Seattle from Vancouver next May and will need to stay overnight in Vancouver the night before. Any suggestions on hotels, maybe near the train station unless it's in a bad part of town (like ours are). Also, we will have the day we get off our cruise ship to spend in the area. We took a city tour last time we were in Vancouver. Not sure what to do this time, we are thinking maybe we will rent a car and drive up to Whistler. Is that doable?

 

Thanks

[Putterdude]

We are taking the 6:40 am train to Seattle from Vancouver next May and will need to stay overnight in Vancouver the night before. Any suggestions on hotels, maybe near the train station unless it's in a bad part of town (like ours are). Also, we will have the day we get off our cruise ship to spend in the area. We took a city tour last time we were in Vancouver. Not sure what to do this time, we are thinking maybe we will rent a car and drive up to Whistler. Is that doable?

 

Thanks

 

There are no hotels in the area of the train station that you want to stay in....trust me. I would recommend bidding on Priceline or using Hotwire for a hotel in the downtown area. There have been some pretty good deals on Hotwire for both the Sutton Place hotel and the Sheraton at Wall Centre this season. By all means renting a car and driving to Whistler and back for the day is an excellent investment of your time.

[swe9742]

There are no hotels in the area of the train station that you want to stay in....trust me. I would recommend bidding on Priceline or using Hotwire for a hotel in the downtown area. There have been some pretty good deals on Hotwire for both the Sutton Place hotel and the Sheraton at Wall Centre this season. By all means renting a car and driving to Whistler and back for the day is an excellent investment of your time.

Thanks for the good advice, we will trust you about it! We got Sutton Place last time we were in town for $95 on Hotwire so I'll keep looking there and on Priceline. We are looking forward to visiting your lovely city again.

[Putterdude]

This is a shameless bump of a thread that does contain a lot in information re Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region of BC. Hey, it is raining here in AZ right now and I am feeling quite at home.

[Urban trekker]

Except the sun shone brightly here today - the fall colors as I cycled around the seawall were very bright - October was the driest in the past five years - perhaps you headed south too early.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[pizzalady1]

We will be self-disembarking (hopefully in Canada Place??--scheduled for 8am) from our NCL Pearl Pacific Coastal on May 6, and will be taking the Amtrak Cascades to Seattle. We would like to get to the Amtrak Station around 4:00pm.

 

Between disembarking and getting to the Amtrak station, we would like to off-load our luggage (at Canada Place?? or Amtrak??) go to the Roundhouse to see Engine 374 then spend some time at Granville Island. What would be the easiest way of getting to the places we want to go (does not need to be the cheapest) and the best place to store our luggage for the day?

 

Thanks for you help. We really appreciated the help this thread provided when we spent several days in your city prior to our Alaska cruise.

[pizzalady1]

We will be self-disembarking (hopefully in Canada Place??--scheduled for 8am) from our NCL Pearl Pacific Coastal on May 6, and will be taking the Amtrak Cascades to Seattle. We would like to get to the Amtrak Station around 4:00pm.

 

Between disembarking and getting to the Amtrak station, we would like to off-load our luggage (at Canada Place?? or Amtrak??) go to the Roundhouse to see Engine 374 then spend some time at Granville Island. What would be the easiest way of getting to the places we want to go (does not need to be the cheapest) and the best place to store our luggage for the day?

 

Thanks for you help. We really appreciated the help this thread provided when we spent several days in your city prior to our Alaska cruise.

[trophy_23]

You have a few options depending whether you want to take transit (skytrain) with your luggage. First you could take the skytrain over to main street and check your luggage at the Amtrak terminal. Then either cab to the roundhouse or train back to waterfront and get a canada line train to roundhouse/yaletown, check out the engine, then walk a couple blocks down to the yaletown ferry dock (http://www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca/find_us.htm) for a quick trip across to Granville Island. From there a cab ride back to the amtrak station (or take the ferry back across and cab from that side).

[pizzalady1]

You have a few options depending whether you want to take transit (skytrain) with your luggage. First you could take the skytrain over to main street and check your luggage at the Amtrak terminal.

 

We definately don't want to lug the luggage on the skytrain.

[Putterdude]

You can check your luggage at Canada Place at Priority Baggage or even at the bell desk of the Pan Pacific or the Fairmont Waterfront. From there you could catch the Canada Line to the Roundhouse station. After you have seen the train you could walk to the False Creek Ferry terminal and enjoy a mini-cruise to Granville Is. Your options for the return would be to reverse the procedure, take a transit bus or a taxi, a taxi will run you about $20 incl tip from the Island to Canada Place.

The cruise ship docking sked will be available sometime in January/February and here is a link.

 

http://www.prioritybaggage.ca/

http://www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca/find_us.htm

http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/en/about/cruiseandtourism/cruiselineschedules.aspx

[scottbee]

We definately don't want to lug the luggage on the skytrain.

 

You say this like it's difficult, it's not. The trains are set up as roll-on roll-off. I always take Skytrain to the port, it's just so darn easy.

[pizzalady1]

You say this like it's difficult, it's not. The trains are set up as roll-on roll-off. I always take Skytrain to the port, it's just so darn easy.

 

You don't know how I pack!!:o:)

 

We took the skytrain from the station near the Sears? store to the station near the Amtrak Station and it seemed that there were at least 1000 steps down to the sidewalk. We never found an elevator, but we were in a hurry and maybe did not look as hard as we could have.

 

If we took our luggage on the Skytrain, it would be with us all day, schlepping it around Granville Island--not fun. :eek:

 

Is there a train from Canada Place to Amtrak? We could dump the luggage there then move on to the fun stuff. At lease we would not have to backtrack backtrack to Canada Place and get in the embarkation crowd.

[Putterdude]

Is there a train from Canada Place to Amtrak? We could dump the luggage there then move on to the fun stuff. At lease we would not have to backtrack backtrack to Canada Place and get in the embarkation crowd.

 

Skytrain is not for everyone but yes you can catch either the Expo line or the Millennium line from Waterfront Station to Main Street Station...and yes there is an elevator there....honest. You walk across the street to the Pacific Central Station where you can check your luggage with Amtrak and away you go to do the fun things. However if you were to come back to Canada Place the embarkation crowd will be pretty much be aboard.

[pizzalady1]

Thank you all!

[Susie51]

Is the Days Inn a good reasonably-priced hotel or should we book something else?

[Putterdude]

The Days Inn at 921 W.Pender is the old Abbotsford Hotel which is next door to where I got my first real job...some 45 years ago and it was an old hotel then. The location is just fine, I am aware of people from these forums who have stayed there and thought is was OK and for one night it is likely just fine. If you are paying their rack rate then you can do better on Priceline or Hotwire.

[Susie51]

Putterdude, which hotel do you recommend that is close to Canada Place, but not too expensive?

 

Also, we want to do the HOHO trolley and take the Sky Train to Granville Island. The bus to the Pitch & Putt for my husband will be just fine, but I was hoping the trolley would be narrated with info for the rest of us. Is there a pass that includes the bus and the sky train?

 

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer my questions.

[Putterdude]

Putterdude, which hotel do you recommend that is close to Canada Place, but not too expensive?

 

Also, we want to do the HOHO trolley and take the Sky Train to Granville Island. The bus to the Pitch & Putt for my husband will be just fine, but I was hoping the trolley would be narrated with info for the rest of us. Is there a pass that includes the bus and the sky train?

 

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer my questions.

 

It's a bit hard for me to recommend a hotel as it is very subjective and of course budget sensitive. What I can tell you is that during the cruise season decent hotels in downtown are on average about $200 p/n. The downtown area is quite compact and very few hotels are very far from the pier, from some you can walk to Canada Place and most are not more than a $10 cab ride.

Now if you want a deal try Hotwire, people have been picking up the Sheraton at the Wall Centre and Sutton Place for under $135. I often use Priceline and bid for a room. If you go to their bidding screen, click on Vancouver-Downtown West, choose 3+* and begin bidding at say $90, you will likely end up with a great hotel for <$135.

The Vancouver Trolley has live narration. You have to go to Granville Island via bus, SkyTrain will not work for you. You can purchase an all day pass for Transit at many convenience stores for $9 and this can be used on transit buses, SkyTrain and the SeaBus.

www.translink.ca/

 

[scottbee]

You don't know how I pack!!:o:)

 

We took the skytrain from the station near the Sears? store to the station near the Amtrak Station and it seemed that there were at least 1000 steps down to the sidewalk. We never found an elevator, but we were in a hurry and maybe did not look as hard as we could have.

 

If we took our luggage on the Skytrain, it would be with us all day, schlepping it around Granville Island--not fun. :eek:

 

Is there a train from Canada Place to Amtrak? We could dump the luggage there then move on to the fun stuff. At lease we would not have to backtrack backtrack to Canada Place and get in the embarkation crowd.

 

That station (GRANVILLE STATION) you're talking about has only one elevator access, and that's from Dunsmuir street; and you're right, it's a long way down, as it's the deepest station in the whole system. It does help to know the system, so if you have specific questions, let me know.

 

From Canada Place to Expo/Millenium Skytrain there are two options, based on whether you insist on an elevator or not. Using escalators/stairs down, take the escalators down which are 1/2 block from canada place (on Howe Street), but there's about 10 steps down to the platform once you're off the escalator. If you want truly no step access you need to walk about 3 blocks (1 ahead, two to your left as you exit Canada Place) to enter the main station complex.

 

I know some people are biased against local transit, but I really think we have a great system here in Vancouver; and a visitor taking advantage of it can save a bundle versus taxis and HOHO buses.

[Susie51]

Thank you so much for your help. Is it possible to purchase the Day Pass at the airport?

 

Mom wants to visit her friend who lives in White Rock. Does the bus go from the airport to White Rock? How much time would it take? Are there a lot of transfers involved getting there? Sorry for so many questions. The map was hard for me to read.

[Susie51]

Putterdude, I went back to the link and I think I have the website figured out now. Thank you for your patience with me.

[Putterdude]

Yes the all day passes can be purchased at the 7-11 and the Pharmasave at the airport. I am going to attach a link to Translink's Travel Planner as the south Surrey/White Rock area is quite large and you can plug in addresses for where you need to go...but yes you can get to White Rock from YVR by bus.

 

http://tripplanning.translink.ca/

[Putterdude]

Putterdude, I went back to the link and I think I have the website figured out now. Thank you for your patience with me.

 

 

You are welcome, have a great time in Vancouver and a wonderful cruise.:)

[scottbee]

Thank you so much for your help. Is it possible to purchase the Day Pass at the airport?

 

Mom wants to visit her friend who lives in White Rock. Does the bus go from the airport to White Rock? How much time would it take? Are there a lot of transfers involved getting there? Sorry for so many questions. The map was hard for me to read.

 

WhiteRock is about 40km (25 miles) SE of YVR; and there's nothing direct from the airport, but it looks as if the 351, 352 & 354 go from Bridgeport Station to WhiteRock; and that would probably work for you, it would be $8.75 (a 2 zone ticket), or just buy a day pass for $9.00 at the 7-11

 

There's a trip planner on the translink.ca website which you'd probably want for a specific address in WhiteRock

 

In a nutshell, board the Skytrain at YVR and head toward downtown. After just a few stops you get off at Bridgeport Station, which is a big bus interchange, where you change to one of the buses I listed above.

 

You know, if your mum's friend is willing to pick her up, your mum could even fly into the Bellingham, WA (USA) airport, which is about the same distance from White Rock as YVR.

[Susie51]

Putterdude, I am up to $100.00 on Priceline now. Still not accepted. I checked the box for 3 rooms. Does this mean we will be guaranteed to be at the same hotel? Once we are accepted is it possible to ask for a room with two double beds instead of one bed?

 

Scottbee, thank you for the bus info. Ideally, my mom's friend's family will pick mom up at the airport and bring mom back to the hotel. Both ladies will be 89 at the time of our cruise. How much is a taxi?

Edited November 11, 2011 by Susie51