Transportation to Washington State

[Cruise Raider]

Does anyone know the best option for transportation from Canada Place in Vancouver to airport in Bellingham Washington? I see that transfers are available to the Vancouver airport post cruise, but don't know if there is prearranged buses or other shuttles that pick you up at the cruise terminal and take you across the border into the US. Any help on this is most appreciated.

Also, if we were to rent a car (not our favorite option), does anyone know how long the wait is at the border crossing?

[ell52]

Lots of people use Quick Shuttle. Quick and convenient. You can pre-book online.

 

Renting a car is a hassle and not recommended unless you really need it for some reason other than getting you to the airport.

[LeftcoastBC]

I would alo recommend Quick Shuttle.

 

However IF you can get a free drop at BLI I would certainly consider it. There are two border crossings directly enroute onto I 5 and several more alternatives that can be reached with generally less times.

 

The border can however be 1 1/2hr plus on wekends at the main crossing and holidays worse.

 

The alternative are usually less times ALL the time. They all end up routing you through Bellingham. BLI is just a moment or two off the freeway.

[Cruise Raider]

Thanks for the advice. My sister lives in Bellingham and was going to pick us up, but thought about her wait times at the boarder and what a hassle that might be for her. I think the Super Shuttle sounds like the best option for all. Thanks for the advice.

[Cruise Raider]

Hi...I checked out the quick shuttle and this is fabulous....just what I was looking for....at a very reasonable price. Excellent advice...many thanks.

I do see there are only two shuttles in place...one leaving at 8:30 and another at 10:30. I have never disembarked later than 10:00...and am sure they have the shuttle scheduled to match the disembarkation times. I will go ahead and sign up as this looks like the best option. Don't know if I would have been able to find this on my own so really appreciate the direction in which I was pointed.

[CrusinCousin]

Hi. I'm not sure when you're traveling but when the tourist season is in full swing Quick Shuttle runs several more buses per day.They don't all leave from the Cruise Terminal, however. In the past we've had to catch the Shuttle from a local hotel which isn't quite as easy but works.

 

Our new favorite option is to take the train. Amtrack leaves Vancouver about 6:00 pm and gets into Bellingham at 7:40. Custom agents come onto the train and the train tends to arrive on schedule. The fare is $13/person.There is no luggage car for Bellingham so you have to take your luggage aboard with you.There is a great place to store luggage at the Cruise Terminal for a reasonable fee.

 

Quick Shuttle leaves earlier but they have to sit in the same Border Line as everyone else.You have to get off the bus, take your luggage through customs and then re-board.On our last trip one of the passengers had border issues and the entire bus waited while things were sorted out.

[Cruise Raider]

Good to know what to expect. We are interested in spending the day in Bellingham rather than Vancouver and our flight leaves out of BLI that evening around 7 pm. We would like to get as early of a start as possible, certainly don't want to wait two hours for the next bus to come around if we are allowed to disembark earlier vs later.

 

I am glad to know about getting off the bus to go through customs. It is always better to know these things ahead of time.

 

Do you believe that we would be safe in booking the 8:30 departure from Canada Place? Celebrity didn't have a very clear answer for me on this one and the travel agent suggested booking these transfers about 2 weeks ahead of time and not to wait until the morning of disembarkation. We have been on many cruises before and usually seem to be off by 9 AM --- am I remembering this correctly?

[Cruise Raider]

This is an older post, but wanted to follow up on the advice. So, we are back and used the suggestion that was offered about Quick Shuttle. What a great service that I will probably use again and again!! We booked the early departure through the website but did have a question on what would happen if the ship arrived late or there was a hold up with customs and we missed our bus. They stated they would put us on the second bus out if this happened. So, let me state, they were very polite and accomodating over the phone. So, we were all set with our confirmation in hand to be picked up at Canada Place at 8:30 --- bus to depart at 8:45 AM.

When filling out our disembarkation forms, like on the third day on a 13 night cruise (nothing like trying to get you off before you have even settled in --- ha!), we requested early disembarkation. We received our luggage tags on the second to last full day, both days of which were at sea. We checked at the front desk to see if these were early disembarkation and were told we would need the biege instead of the purple tags, so these were switched out. We inquired the estimated disembarkation time and we were told that we would probably be getting off the ship around 8:30 - 8:45 and noticed the word "Ballentine" in the conversation. Good thing we picked up on that as this ship was previously scheduled to dock at Canada Place. I double checked all of this several times prior to setting sail two weeks prior. The decision had probably been made while we were onboard, unbeknownst to any of the pax --- unless of course it came up in conversation. Since we were at sea and receiving no cell reception, we informed the rep at the purser's desk of our small dilemma. She directed us to the concierge desk where we were allowed to phone Quick Shuttle to see if it was possible to change our reservation. No problem and they switched to pick us up at the Ballentine Pier -- but this bus was to leave at 8:15. Again --- they were very helpful, as was the concierge on the Infinity to make sure all our transportation needs were met. The concierge was interested in where I heard about this service and took down their number and website to assist with others while in Alaska.

So, we needed to arrange to get off the ship even earlier now, if at all possible. We would told that walk off could be an option but we had to carry all our own luggage off and we would be able to disembark at approx. 7:30 AM. The Infinity had this down pat --- they had a separate waiting area in one of the lounges for those of us with luggage. This was so smart on their part. We were allowed to walk off at a little after 7:30 AM, along with about another 20 couples, families. It was extremely organized to have the customs inspection of the passengers conducted on an earlier day. Kudos to Celebrity!! Well, we disembarked and went through all the proper channels and were in line to go through Canadian Customs, just down to one couple ahead of us when a man came up to the counter and told the girl he was just waiting for two more pax. That would be us so he told us where to go as soon as we were cleared. We were on the bus by 8:05 AM and off to Canada Place for additional pick ups.

Now, if you are the first pick up, there are many, many stops to go through before getting to the border --- but all on a very comfortable bus -- with a very personable bus driver. We had about a 1.5 hour delay at US Customs at the border crossing --- however, I believe the private autos had about a 3 hour wait. The bus got us into Bellingham airport about 1 hour later than their approximated time --- mostly due to the delay at customs.

No complaints about any of the service, as the small problems about the last minute changing of the piers was rectified quite graciously. A special thanks to the concierge desk on the Infinity. She mentioned that they use this website often. It was a day of uneventful travel after a wonderful 2 week cruise, made possible by Celebrity and QuickShuttle.

Thanks again for the great advice!! It worked like a charm.

[ell52]

Cruise Raider,

 

So glad QuickShuttle worked out well for you. Thanks also for posting back here and letting everyone know how it went.

 

ell

[emilygrace]

We just used QuickShuttle in May and also had a good experience. After a bit of confusion (QS underestimated the # of passengers and had to get a second bus) we boarded the second bus at Ballentyne and after picking up a few people at Canada Place we set off for the border. The part that takes the longest is getting out of Vancouver! Once on the open road the driver told us what to expect at the border as far as getting off and getting our baggage to take inside, etc. Well, we really lucked out. First of all, our driver went to another border crossing (the wait time posted for autos was 2+ hrs!) and when we got there the first bus was there and all the passengers inside the building with their luggage. A customs agent boarded our bus, asked if we were all US citizens and if we had just gotten off a cruise ship. He then asked us to hold up our open passports. He did a walk through of the bus, looking at them, and then told us to have a nice day! We didn't have to go through any of that stuff!!! So we were on our merry way before the first bus even reloaded everyone and everything! BTW, this was an express bus that only picked up at Ballentyne and Canada Place and only made one stop in downtown Seattle before heading for SeaTac.

[BCHappyGal]

Yes I have often been lucky with the customs & Quick Shuttle wherer the customs officer just boards the bus & checks everyone out right on the bus. Especially true for buses coming from a cruise ship. However that is only luck everyone is actually supposed to go inside to be checked out.