Vancouver suggestions-post cruise /pre flight

[atlasali]

After our cruise, we have a late flight (11pm on a Friday) out of Vancouver. I booked the Royal Caribbean 9:00am Vancouver city tour with airport drop-off. We will be at the airport about 1:00pm. That leaves a long time to "hang out" at the airport.

 

Does anyone have suggestions as to what we could do from 2:00pm until 8:00pm? Would we be able to check-in, store, or unload our luggage?

[fisherguy]

You can store your luggage here:

 

http://www.yvr.ca/guide/todo/rps_details.asp?id=10002

 

As for what to do for the whole afternoon, you could take a taxi from the airport to Steveston in Richmond. A nice little fishing village that you could spend an hour or two at. Be sure to have some fish and chips there.

[Hogladyrider]

We had redeye flights like you. We did Vancouver on our own and it worked out great.

 

We got off the ship, stored our luggage right at the port $15 for the entire day. We walked outside of Canada Place, paid for a ticket for the HO HO Trolley (Hop On Hop Off) which had a red line and blue line 2+ hour tour of Vancouver and off we went. It was fabulous. We LOVED Stanley Park, got off several times.

 

We returned to Canada Place, picked up our luggage, walked right outside the cruise terminal and grabbed a cab that was dropping off passengers for their cruise! Cab to the airport with a nice tip was $40.

 

Once we got thru Customs and the security, we grabbed some coffee and people watched..........oh my gosh security was crazy in Vancouver, they were searching more people head to toe and all their luggage and laptops, it was over the top!

 

Something to consider if you want to change your plans.

[atlasali]

Thank you both for the information. I am delighted there is a way to store my bags.

[ellbon]

Vancouver BC Vacation Sightseeing & City Tours - British Columbia, Canada

 

I would use this compnay instead of RCI. I did the north shore one from 2 to 5 pm. maybe there is a way to do both a city and the north shore tours in one day and see it all.

 

their buses only ohld 25 people so it makes it nice. they can drop you off where your bags are.

 

another idea is chinatown for lunch and then gastown or grandville island.

[Putterdude]

I would be very inclined to cancel the ships excursion, check my luggage at CDS Baggage Services (who will transfer your luggage to YVR for an additional fee) or take a cab with your luggage to Canada Place and check it with one of the hotels ....with a nice tip and think in terms of one of the HOHOs or perhaps a tour offered by Vancouver tours. This should occupy a huge part of your day and when finished just take a cab out to the airport.

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/

http://www.bigbus.ca/

http://www.vancouvertours.com/

[danilynn17]

After our cruise, we have a late flight (11pm on a Friday) out of Vancouver. I booked the Royal Caribbean 9:00am Vancouver city tour with airport drop-off. We will be at the airport about 1:00pm. That leaves a long time to "hang out" at the airport.

 

Does anyone have suggestions as to what we could do from 2:00pm until 8:00pm? Would we be able to check-in, store, or unload our luggage?

 

We just had to do the same thing. Our flight was at 11:30pm last Saturday.

 

If you're sailing Royal Caribbean, you will be leaving from Ballentine pier, NOT Canada Place. This makes a difference because Canada Place is downtown, and the pier Royal Carribbean leaves from is not.

 

We did the tour through the ship. It was okay. We really liked Stanley Park and the marketplace (forget what it is called, but it was fabulous). But we thought the tour/stops in Chinatown and Gastown were pointless. Chinatown was pretty run down, and we only stopped for 15 minutes in Gastown. It was a good value, because it got us to the airport and entertained us for awhile. I would've spent more money shopping ;)

 

But, we ended up at the airport a little before 2. While the tour did keep us busy for a few hours, that was still a lot of time to kill at the airport.

 

We were also in the domestic area of the airport, because we were flying home to Pittsburgh via Toronto. The domestic part of the airport isn't particularly great. 2 restaurants and none of the nice shopping. I believe the US and International sections are much nicer.

 

In hindsight, we would've planned something better. 8 1/2 hours at the airport is a ton of time to kill, especially right before a red-eye home.

 

Good luck!

[Hogladyrider]

Putterdude is a wealth of great info/knowledge. We were able to utilize many of his suggestions that saved us $$ and more time in Vancouver.

 

We really enjoyed the HO HO, the narration was great and the options to get off and on when we wanted was a bonus.

 

Another option for you is to take a cab over the Capilano Suspension bridge, we did this the day our cruise departed and if you are into the outdoors and scenery, it is stunning. Admission was under $30 and we had a $3 off coupon. We were there right when they opened and we spent a good 3 hours climbing and exploring.

 

If you would like to view photos of Vancouver and Alaska, click on the link in my signature, I took over 400 photos in Alaska! But then I am a nature gal!

[atlasali]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

 

I will need to google the Ballantyne Pier.

[JerseyJaguar]

My recommendation for anyone who will be in Vancouver is to go to the Aquarium. On June 7th a new Beluga was born, and what a cutie!!! Also, there is another youngster who was born a year ago.

 

They also have sea otters and other water mammals, as well as lots of fish.

[charliemonk]

A great day for those with kids is, as you say, the aquarium.

or hop on one of the dinky ickle "False creek ferries" to Granville Island where there is a fantastic market with a special kids market. Then back onto the ferry passing the Ice hockey stadium (home of the Cannuks) to "Science World".

Its not as geeky as it sounds its really great fun, with loads of interactive things to do.

Even if you dont go inside there is an amazing "kinetic sculpture" outside constructed from old pool table mechanisms, balls, xylophones and all manner of things. You can watch that for ages.

[Urban trekker]

And if you happen to be down by Science World this weekend June 20 - 21 - the annual Dragon Boat races - the largest outside of Hong Kong - are taking place and it's FREE - there will be lots of activities from everyone - food fairs, etc.

 

You will find me down by the boats in the morning helping to load and unload the participants.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[fisherguy]

And if you happen to be down by Science World this weekend June 20 - 21 - the annual Dragon Boat races - the largest outside of Hong Kong - are taking place and it's FREE - there will be lots of activities from everyone - food fairs, etc.

 

You will find me down by the boats in the morning helping to load and unload the participants.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

Hey Dennis! I will see you there as I am one of the racers!

[atlasali]

The aquarium is my first choice. A baby Beluga would be wonderful to see. I am singing the song, "Baby Beluga" right now. It has been a long time since I thought of that kid's song. My "baby" is now 24 years old!

[papadave]

Rent a car. There is a great museum at the University of British Columbia (Museum of Anthropology), Grouse Mountain, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Van Dussen Gardens, and many other places that you could see. Have an unforgettable meal. There are many choices. I recommend Richmond (a few minutes away from the airport) for Chinese food, but there are also restaurants in Stanley Park, Kitsilano, and many other places. The day will fly by and you'll probably spend the same amount of money on a car that you would have spent being driven on a bus, but you'll have more flexibility.

[JerseyJaguar]

Some pics of the baby