Princess Transfers Seattle to Vancouver

[MI-DI]

Has anyone used this? They say it leavesSeattle at 11:00 and the ship leaves at 4:30 - does this leave enough time for any unforeseen problem? Seems like they are cutting it close.

[Coracii]

They are cutting it close and that is exactly why I didn't use it when boarding the Diamond last week. As it turns out, the ship was more than an hour and a half late leaving port in Vancouver for two reasons, one was a group of people late arriving on the Princess transfer and the second was a safety test that the crew was unable to complete on time. I'd be willing to bet if their transfer is late arriving the ship will stay in port as long as possible and make up the time on the trip up to Ketchikan whenever possible.

[ceilidh1]

If you are on a Princess transfer and it is late, the ship will not leave until you arrive. I work at the pier for Princess in Vancouver and, contrary to popular belief, the ship does not leave if there are a number of passengers not onboard. Now, if we were talking one or two passengers then it would not wait, but on a Princess transfer you would be looking at around 40 or more - it won't sail without you!

[Colo Cruiser]

If it is a Princess transfer it does not matter what time the ship leaves, it will wait for you.

[2206]

How much is a Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver?

[Coracii]

How much is a Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver?

 

I believe it was somewhere along the lines of $54 per person when I looked into it about 7 months ago.

[Zubsin]

We bought the transfer from Seattle to Vancouver and it was a great way to travel. It seems to me it was about $47 per person. We met a great group of people on the bus! I recommend it! The pass through the border was a piece of cake. Cruise On! Donna

[ggprincess2004]

I am a fan of the Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver and back. The bus has never been crowded, is comfortable for a bus (and I basically hate busses), and it makes going through the border crossing easy.

 

Princess will wait for you if the bus is late getting to the pier, but it's never been "late" for us.

 

In addition, most drivers provide commentary on the scenery - some are more enterrtaining than others. And, if you are trying to nap, it does interfere. On the other hand, on a non-rainy day, it makes a pretty drive.

 

Enjoy Alaska!

[kathiatkins]

Has anyone used this? They say it leavesSeattle at 11:00 and the ship leaves at 4:30 - does this leave enough time for any unforeseen problem? Seems like they are cutting it close.

 

The train works well too. It leaves at 7:30 AM and arrives in Vancouver at 11:30 AM. We have done this twice, and then we take the Skytrain from the Amtrak station for $2.00 to Canada Place where the cruise ship leaves from. The train is $25.00 one way. It leave Vancouver back to Seattle at around 5:00 PM and arrives here close to 10:00 PM, and is about the same price to get back. It is easy, inexpensive and a nice ride.

[idahospud]

We took this transfer last week. In fact, we were one of those folks arriving late to the ship. We were at the Vancouver port by 3:00, but when we arrived they had closed security because of a back-up at immigration, so it was almost 4:30 by the time we got on the ship. :(

 

Something important to know if you take this transfer - the earlier you get to Seattle and check in, the earlier you leave for the ship. When you check in you are assigned a group number (ours was 8) that corresponds to a bus. We checked in at the airport for the transfer at 9:45, but they did not put us on one until 11:00 (because of earlier group #s going ahead of us and busses late showing up).

 

So if you're not comfortable with cutting it close, show up much earlier than 9:45!

[jfurness]

I've been embarrassed to ask but since many of you have taken the Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver - is there a rest room on board? The travel docs say it takes about 4 hours and there will be "no smoke or rest breaks". Don't care about smoking, but I'm sure I'll need a "rest". Can someone help?:confused:

[idahospud]

There's a restroom in the back of the bus. There are no stops made.

 

If you think you might want something to eat or drink, you'll need to bring your own. But a word of caution - you can't bring fresh fruits or vegetables with you (Canadian customs). They only allow you to take those things you can eat up before getting to the border. And those folks bringing fruits with pits had to toss them before we left Seattle.

[kathiatkins]

There's a restroom in the back of the bus. There are no stops made.

 

If you think you might want something to eat or drink, you'll need to bring your own. But a word of caution - you can't bring fresh fruits or vegetables with you (Canadian customs). They only allow you to take those things you can eat up before getting to the border. And those folks bringing fruits with pits had to toss them before we left Seattle.

 

The train has many restrooms, you get TONS of legroom, you can walk around, it has a dining car, and you can bring your own food on board. It makes a couple of stops along the way, but the whole trip is only a little over 4 hours, and you are at the ship by 1:00 PM at the latest. Both times I have taken the train it was full of cruisers. The last time, the only people sitting around us were going on cruises. It is much cheaper, and I think the only way to travel.

[Gimer]

MI-DI, We just return Saturday from a B2B Alaskan Cruise. We did use the Princess bus transfer. It worked out fine. We flew out of Oakland on May 30 at 7:50 am, arriving in SeaTac at 9:50 am. Turned in our luggage and were tagged, then issued a bus #10 boarding pass. Waited in the holding area and ate a sandwich. At 11:45 am we boarded the bus. It took 3 1/2 hour to get to the Canada Place Cruise Pier in Vancouver. The embarkation/check-in only took 5 minutes and we were on board Sapphire. Bus #11 was the last bus and it arrived at 3:40 pm, just in time for the 4 pm departure. Our return on the 13th was even easier. Princess issued us colored coded luggage tags corresponding to our airline flight times. We departed Sapphire Princess at 7:40 am and boarded bus marked Gold #3 for scheduled flights departing before 4 pm out of SeaTac. Arrived at noon, so we had a Fish & Chip lunch . Waited till 3:30 pm and boarded SWA for our flight home. Everything went very smooth and Canadian Custom only took 10 minutes to clear. Gimer

[ggprincess2004]

The benefit of the Princess bus transfer, as opposed to the train is the luggage handling, put it next to the bus, watch as it is loaded, and then see it again in your stateroom.

You don't have to manage it from the train to the connection to the pier, and through Canada Place.

[MI-DI]

Feel better now..Thanks to all !!!!!!!!!!!

[catmand]

I used this service last month.....$49.00 per person each way.

[FLACRUISER99]

There's a restroom in the back of the bus. There are no stops made.

I took the Xfers twice, northbound they had a rest stop but southbound They did not stop due to the fact the that the bus was sealed by US Customs.

[jagsfan]

I've been embarrassed to ask but since many of you have taken the Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver - is there a rest room on board? The travel docs say it takes about 4 hours and there will be "no smoke or rest breaks". Don't care about smoking, but I'm sure I'll need a "rest". Can someone help?:confused:

 

I can tell you to use the restroom before boarding the bus to limit your need to use it

on the way. By the time 3 or 4 people use it, you won't want to.

Also, don't sit too close to it.

I don't usually post negatives, but one time coming back to Seattle I was miserable.

My fault for not going before I boarded.

Other than that, it's a great way to transfer. We were running late one time, and the

driver said not to worry if we saw the ship pulling away. He said it would leave the dock

and stop and wait.....we'd be tendered. Luckily it didn't happen, but I was never through

the check in process so fast.

[beauxdammit]

We have taken this trip once, not on Princess but Celebrity.(they used the same bus company) In contrast to the glowing reports above, we had a miserable experience, both ways. The bus was late going up, was in poor condition, and in fact I wasn't sure if we would make it at all. In addition, it was uncomfortable. Agreed that passing customs was a breeze; that is the only good thing I could say about it. but the advice about the rest room is more than valid.

 

We will not ever do this again.

[Colo Cruiser]

I've been embarrassed to ask but since many of you have taken the Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver - is there a rest room on board? The travel docs say it takes about 4 hours and there will be "no smoke or rest breaks". Don't care about smoking, but I'm sure I'll need a "rest". Can someone help?:confused:

 

 

Not a clean option. :(

 

They do stop at a gas station briefly.

[J18ktleo]

We're actually flying in the day before from So Cal to make sure we're there on time and I was really dismayed to see how late we get to the ship (always like to be on there before lunch/noon.)

If we were to take the train...how would we get there and do we need reservations?