Transportation from Airport to Hotel...

We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 small kids) and will be in Vancouver in May pre and post cruise. I was wondering how accessible the taxis are in Vancouver. Can we arrive at the airport and easily catch a taxi or is there need to pre-arrange transportation before arrival?

Whatever time you arrive at, just follow the signs to ground transportation. There will be both a taxi queue and a limo queue. If the kids only have small bags, you'll all fit in any cab OK - but since most of the local fleets are Prius models, if you have a lot of bags you may have an extra few minute wait for a minivan cab.

Price is the same for all cabs - CAD$35 fixed rate to the pier and hotels immediately around it, CAD$31 to 95% of downtown hotels. Pay by credit card, or USD cash at a less-than-official exchange rate.

Whatever time you arrive at, just follow the signs to ground transportation. There will be both a taxi queue and a limo queue. If the kids only have small bags, you'll all fit in any cab OK - but since most of the local fleets are Prius models, if you have a lot of bags you may have an extra few minute wait for a minivan cab.

 

Price is the same for all cabs - CAD$35 fixed rate to the pier and hotels immediately around it, CAD$31 to 95% of downtown hotels. Pay by credit card, or USD cash at a less-than-official exchange rate.

Thank you for the info! How about a taxi from the Hyatt Regency to port, how much do you think that would cost?

Hyatt is $31 (USD$23) plus tips....

Taxi's are super easy leaving the airport. No need to pre arrange.

Taxi's may be a problem cruise terminal going to the airport depending on which May sailing you are on. On 3 or 4 ship days.... the cab lines may be tougher.

Hyatt is $31 (USD$23) plus tips....

 

Taxi's are super easy leaving the airport. No need to pre arrange.

 

Taxi's may be a problem cruise terminal going to the airport depending on which May sailing you are on. On 3 or 4 ship days.... the cab lines may be tougher.

We will be on the May 29th sailing of the Norwegian Sun.

We will be returning home the day after the ship arrives in Vancouver, do you think it will still be hard catching a taxi to the airport from the hotel at around 6am?

Are uber cars allowed at the airport as well? Is there a difference in cost between a cab and uber?

Uber is not operating in Vancouver at this time.

Sent from my STV100-3 using Forums mobile app

While Uber is not in Vancouver. There are other options.

• eCab app will allow you to dispatch a cab to your location from 4 consolidated companies https://www.e-cab.com/en/vancouver/
  
• Aerocar offers a premium taxi service http://aerocar.ca/
  
• Ripe Rides offer services Vancouver.
  https://www.riperides.ca/
  

We will be on the May 29th sailing of the Norwegian Sun.

 

We will be returning home the day after the ship arrives in Vancouver, do you think it will still be hard catching a taxi to the airport from the hotel at around 6am?

The Norwegian Sun sails on a Monday with the Wonder. Cruise terminal shouldn't be too busy.

Thank you for the info! How about a taxi from the Hyatt Regency to port, how much do you think that would cost?

Since you didn't actually get the right answer to this question despite the flurry of replies above - from hotel to port is going to be metered, no fixed rates except inbound from airport. Base rate without traffic a touch under $6.

Assume $10 including tip and extra meter time for the slow going in the bottlenecks approaching the pier - frankly it would be quicker to walk if you can trust the kids not too run into traffic! It's less than 600 yards north down Burrard (walk toward the mountains), with Canada Place (the pier) a short block to the right when you hit the end of the street.

Since you didn't actually get the right answer to this question despite the flurry of replies above - from hotel to port is going to be metered, no fixed rates except inbound from airport. Base rate without traffic a touch under $6.

 

Assume $10 including tip and extra meter time for the slow going in the bottlenecks approaching the pier - frankly it would be quicker to walk if you can trust the kids not too run into traffic! It's less than 600 yards north down Burrard (walk toward the mountains), with Canada Place (the pier) a short block to the right when you hit the end of the street.

I don't think we can walk to port with the kids and luggage, very risky. So, taxi is going to be our pick. $10 is not bad at all!

How about catching a taxi when arriving back in port after cruise, how easy that? Should we pre-arrange transportation?

As mentioned earlier... you are arriving on a 2 ship day. Taxi's shouldn't be too much of a problem to get to the Hyatt.

If there is a line.... walk upstairs to the Pan Pacific hotel to get a cab there.

As mentioned earlier... you are arriving on a 2 ship day. Taxi's shouldn't be too much of a problem to get to the Hyatt.

 

If there is a line.... walk upstairs to the Pan Pacific hotel to get a cab there.

Ok, so I guess it's pretty much set that we don't need pre-arranged transportation. As long as it's not an half hour wait for a cab I am ok with waiting around for one. Thank you all for your help!

As mentioned earlier... you are arriving on a 2 ship day. Taxi's shouldn't be too much of a problem to get to the Hyatt.

 

If there is a line.... walk upstairs to the Pan Pacific hotel to get a cab there.

Another question, do they allow early drop off of luggage at the Vancouver port? I was thinking of dropping off luggage before checking in and going to the Fly Over Canda before checking in, would this be possible?

Another question, do they allow early drop off of luggage at the Vancouver port? I was thinking of dropping off luggage before checking in and going to the Fly Over Canda before checking in, would this be possible?

Absolutely. The longshoremen start accepting luggage some time around 9:30am - on a two ship day it's unlikely you'll need to wait much after this (officially it can be any time up til 10am when they start taking bags).

Since boarding late is most efficient (after 2pm), you can spend several hours sightseeing if you want to minimise your queue time. Remember that, unlike US ports, you have the extra step of US immigration controls - preclearing in Vancouver is somewhat of a bottleneck, especially at peak boarding time noonish, but is still much more efficient than the entire ship having to be cleared on arrival at your first AK port!

We will have 7 adults with 7 large bags and 7 carryons. Will we be able to get from the YVR to Pan Pacific hotel in one taxi (van)? And when you said set price of $35 is that per taxi?

I recommend two taxi's in your situation. It's $35 (USD$27) per vehicle to the pier hotels.

Remember that, unlike US ports, you have the extra step of US immigration controls - preclearing in Vancouver is somewhat of a bottleneck, especially at peak boarding time noonish, but is still much more efficient than the entire ship having to be cleared on arrival at your first AK port!

For preclearing US customs and immigration at the dock in Vancouver, are there Global Entry kiosks?

We will have 7 adults with 7 large bags and 7 carryons. Will we be able to get from the YVR to Pan Pacific hotel in one taxi (van)? And when you said set price of $35 is that per taxi?

Agree w/ above, 2 cabs at $35ea needed (minivans only seat max 5). Maybe a limo though? Bit pricier - they've tweaked their vehicle sizes this year, an 8pax used to cost what a 6pax does now, so for 7 people you'd be looking at ~US$81+tip

For preclearing US customs and immigration at the dock in Vancouver, are there Global Entry kiosks?

No kiosks, but there were many reports that Global Entry/NEXUS was given priority at the CBP stage when boarding - you need to identify your whole party as having relevant status to staff, and then you basically get to skip that queue.