tranportation question from ferry to cruiseport in Vancouver

we are staying in Victoria, B,C.for three days prior to our Island Princess cruise. We will return our rental car at the aiport before going on the ferry to Vancouver. Not sure of our transportation options of getting from the ferry to the cruise-port. Has anyone done this before?

Once you reach the ferry port in Vancouver, grab a taxi or check out these links. Hope one of these is helpful for you. https://www.ridebooker.com/transfers/tsawwassen-ferry/vancouver-cruise-ships http://xplimousine.com/cruise-ship-ferry-terminal-shuttle-transfer-service

Many locals do this on a regular basis using public transit - but with typical cruise luggage that could be challenging; technically you can't put bags on seats or in aisles, so unless the bus is running less-than-full you'll get booted by the driver and face a very pricey cab fare. You may get lucky - if there's space on the bus nobody worries about suitcases - in which case you'll be paying only $2.75pp and then another $4pp for Skytrain (bus tickets do not transfer to Skytrain) but NB: that you need CAD cash, exact fare for buses so make sure you have enough change left from your 3 days on the island!

I would suggest simply returning the rental car in Vancouver. While it will add approx $55 to your ferry ride, a cab is going to run you approx $90 (the rates listed on ridebooker are, to be blunt, rounded-up to the point of ludicrousness - since by law these rates are set by time, cannot be discounted, and traffic means that time and thus cost varies they've obviously chosen to offer a 'fixed' rate that means 99% of the time the metered cost is less - and they pocket the difference!)

A much more accurate fare comparison can be found on taxifarefinder - since all cabs must use exactly the same rates by law the info here is 100% correct, only the actual traffic conditions on the day cause a variance - and as you'll see even in extremely heavy traffic they estimate less than $120 including 15% tip even right to the cruise terminal. As someone who drives much of this route on a regular basis as long as you avoid evening rushhour (when 3 lanes out of the city leave only 1 lane inbound or a detour to take a bridge rather than the tunnel) you will most likely be looking at a $90-100 cab fare at most.

But like I said - even the cheapest cab fare is much more than the ferry rate for a car and a bit of gas, so see if you can change the rental to a one-way dropping it in downtown Vancouver. If YVR dropoff is cheaper that could work too - just be aware that a cab from YVR to the pier is $35 fixed rate (call it $40 with tip) so unless it saves at least that much, stick to a downtown drop. If you cannot find a one-way rental that adds less than a ~$50 drop fee, stick to your current plan and take a cab from Tsawassen. If it's just two of you, a cab to the end of the Canada Line at Richmond-Brighouse - approx $70 - then 2 SkyTrain tickets ($4pp weekdays, $2.75 weekends) would save a little - but if you're a family of 4 you may as well ride the cab the whole way to the pier as the hassle of changing to Skytrain for pretty much zero saving isn't good value.

Once you reach the ferry port in Vancouver, grab a taxi or check out these links. Hope one of these is helpful for you. https://www.ridebooker.com/transfers/tsawwassen-ferry/vancouver-cruise-ships http://xplimousine.com/cruise-ship-ferry-terminal-shuttle-transfer-service

Thank you for this information. $125 is a bit expensive, but I am not sure if there are any other better options. Uber and Lyft do not operate there yet as far as I can tell.

We used the city bus from the ferry terminal to our downtown hotel. It may have required one change....too long ago.

We had spent the night in Victoria in order to be at Butchart Gardens when they opened in the morning. After our visit we turned in our rental car and took the ferry back to the mainland.

We travel light so managing a bag or two on the bus was no biggie.

Many locals do this on a regular basis using public transit - but with typical cruise luggage that could be challenging; technically you can't put bags on seats or in aisles, so unless the bus is running less-than-full you'll get booted by the driver and face a very pricey cab fare. You may get lucky - if there's space on the bus nobody worries about suitcases - in which case you'll be paying only $2.75pp and then another $4pp for Skytrain (bus tickets do not transfer to Skytrain) but NB: that you need CAD cash, exact fare for buses so make sure you have enough change left from your 3 days on the island!

 

I would suggest simply returning the rental car in Vancouver. While it will add approx $55 to your ferry ride, a cab is going to run you approx $90 (the rates listed on ridebooker are, to be blunt, rounded-up to the point of ludicrousness - since by law these rates are set by time, cannot be discounted, and traffic means that time and thus cost varies they've obviously chosen to offer a 'fixed' rate that means 99% of the time the metered cost is less - and they pocket the difference!)

 

A much more accurate fare comparison can be found on taxifarefinder - since all cabs must use exactly the same rates by law the info here is 100% correct, only the actual traffic conditions on the day cause a variance - and as you'll see even in extremely heavy traffic they estimate less than $120 including 15% tip even right to the cruise terminal. As someone who drives much of this route on a regular basis as long as you avoid evening rushhour (when 3 lanes out of the city leave only 1 lane inbound or a detour to take a bridge rather than the tunnel) you will most likely be looking at a $90-100 cab fare at most.

 

But like I said - even the cheapest cab fare is much more than the ferry rate for a car and a bit of gas, so see if you can change the rental to a one-way dropping it in downtown Vancouver. If YVR dropoff is cheaper that could work too - just be aware that a cab from YVR to the pier is $35 fixed rate (call it $40 with tip) so unless it saves at least that much, stick to a downtown drop. If you cannot find a one-way rental that adds less than a ~$50 drop fee, stick to your current plan and take a cab from Tsawassen. If it's just two of you, a cab to the end of the Canada Line at Richmond-Brighouse - approx $70 - then 2 SkyTrain tickets ($4pp weekdays, $2.75 weekends) would save a little - but if you're a family of 4 you may as well ride the cab the whole way to the pier as the hassle of changing to Skytrain for pretty much zero saving isn't good value.

Thank you. I appreciate the quick reply.

I went to taxifarefinder and they estimated that the cab fare, with tip, would be just over $90. A small savings. The bus with luggage has absolutely no appeal for me. So we will just add this to the cost of the cruise. Is it best to reserve this in advance?

We used the city bus from the ferry terminal to our downtown hotel. It may have required one change....too long ago.

 

We had spent the night in Victoria in order to be at Butchart Gardens when they opened in the morning. After our visit we turned in our rental car and took the ferry back to the mainland.

 

We travel light so managing a bag or two on the bus was no biggie.

Thank you. My husband wished that I traveled light! I have no problem taking buses, just not with a large suitcase in tow. So I think we will have to spring for the taxi. Adding Victoria to the trip is so worth it though. Love Butchart Gardens!

Wilson offers motorcoach service from Victoria or the ferry into Vancouver. You might want to explore this option too.

Very simple! Return your car to a downtown Victoria location (all of the major rental companies have a location downtown); then take the BC Connector bus from downtown Victoria to Canada Place in Vancouver to catch your cruise.

https://bcfconnector.zaui.net/modules/webBooking/index.php?id=25&action=Details&activityDate=1481702400

Very simple! Return your car to a downtown Victoria location (all of the major rental companies have a location downtown); then take the BC Connector bus from downtown Victoria to Canada Place in Vancouver to catch your cruise.

 

https://bcfconnector.zaui.net/modules/webBooking/index.php?id=25&action=Details&activityDate=1481702400

Or return the car at the airport as you planned and take a cab from there to the cruise terminal. The downtown drop offs have limited hours including being closed on Sunday in some cases. You can choose OnBoard BC Ferries for where you start the trip. (Note, I think that price doesn't include the ferry fare. The Victoria price does ) That is what I planned to do if we had taken the ferry.

BC Connector has one trip a day that drops off at the cruise terminal. To see all the time options, put in Victoria Bus Terminal and choose drop off at the Fairmont Hotel (the closest drop off on that route to the Cruise Terminal. It should be easy to get a cab from there for the short distance to Canada Place.

We decided to take the more expensive but faster option of taking a Helicopter from Victoria to near the cruise terminal in Vancouver. There is a baggage weight limit of 50 pounds per person with that option. It takes less than an hour as compared to 4 hours for the ferry.

Here is a thread about the options:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2507119

Thank you. I appreciate the quick reply.

I went to taxifarefinder and they estimated that the cab fare, with tip, would be just over $90. A small savings. The bus with luggage has absolutely no appeal for me. So we will just add this to the cost of the cruise. Is it best to reserve this in advance?

You can book cabs in advance, yes. Since everyone charges the same price it doesn't matter who you book with. The notes above about BCFC coach are also useful - especially that they will sell you a partial route e.g. just from Tsawassen into Vancouver. You can actually buy these onboard the ferry. While an end-to-end at ~$65pp (never buy tickets right to the pier, they charge more for the extra drive than a cab from the bus station costs) would be more expensive than a cab for two on paper, that would include the ferry fare - offhand I can't recall how much they charge for the pier to downtown only part or for YYJ to Vancouver, there may be better or worse value in these.

Unless you have prepaid the car rental already and cannot amend it, I still think the most convenient option is to see what dropping it in Vancouver would cost. There are rental fleets right at the pier as well as downtown offices within a few blocks for all the major chains...

... offhand I can't recall how much they charge for the pier to downtown only part or for YYJ to Vancouver, there may be better or worse value in these.

The charge for BC Connector from on board the ferry to Vancouver is 31.50 and, IIRC, the ferry costs about 17.50 so a total under $50. So about $16 pp less than starting on BC Connector in Victoria minus the cab fare from the airport to the ferry.

Depending on how many there are in your party, it may not save much money. The main reason for suggesting it is flexibility rather than cost savings. The downtown car rental places have more limited hours than the airport.

I don't know how the baggage transfer is handled from the ferry to BC Connector when you get BC Connector on board. We travel light so that wasn't a consideration for us. I expect that they have some sensible way of handling it.