Kfrech

Arriving back in Vancouver at 7 a.m. from a HAL cruise on 6/20. Originally I thought we’d spend the day seeing the sights, and depart YVR at 10:30 p.m., but now I’m not so sure. I don’t want to be stressed out about making the earlier flight, but at the same time, we are going to be wrecked by the time we land on the East Coast, almost 24 hours after we disembarked. Downside to taking the earlier flight also is one less day in Vancouver.

That’s exactly what we’ll do. It sounds like the perfect solution. 

Wonderful! Chinese it is! Enjoy your dinner and thanks for the tips. 

Thank you for such great information! We have a lot to consider. I’m leaning towards the Landsea tour, getting off at a hotel, having dinner somewhere and than proceeding to the airport. Any suggestions? I’d like to be as close to the airport as possible. 

Flight back to the east coast is not until 10:30. 2 people, each with 1 carryon and a backpack. Trying to take advantage of the extra time we have. From what I can tell, the longest Landsea tour is 7 hours (beginning at 10 a.m.). That still leaves us with 5 hours before our flight departure. I've also read that Landsea will not allow you to take luggage on the bus if you are not headed directly to the airport. I was thinking of storing the luggage at Pan Pacific for the day and returning there, having dinner, walk around, etc and than get transportation back to the airport. I'd have to do the same thing with HOHO. Does HOHO give us more flexibility? Will it allow us more time, thereby taking up most of the day? We are not interested in renting a car for the day.

We will also have about 1/2 day prior to our cruise day, plus the morning of the cruise. I'd like to see thing that we might not see on the HOHO bus or a Landsea tour.

Thanks for all the help!

Many thanks to all who've replied to my various posts. First time in Seattle, no car, sailing round trip out of Vancouver. We'll have 2 days in Seattle, after which we'll take Amtrak to Vancouver in the early a.m.

I'm looking for hotels, or even the best area to stay in so that we can accomplish as much as possible in a short period of time. I'd like to spend no more than $300 per night. I've looked at a few hotels in the Pioneer Square area, but I'm not sure that's the best location.

I'd like to be close to King Street Station for easy access to Amtrak, as well as close to a light rail station for easy access from the airport. Of course, I'd also like to be within easy walking or public transit distance to some of the city's highlights.

We’ll actually have a day and a half in Vancouver prior to the cruise. We might do what others have suggested and explore outside of the city area. 

That is something worth serious consideration. Thank you!
 

What about border crossing time? We would most likely be doing this on a Thursday, mid June. 
 

What time would you recommend we leave Seattle?

What kind of tour did you take? We are in a similar predicament. I’m considering renting a car for the day. 

No I haven’t. I will look into that. We won’t have much luggage (1 carryon and a backpack each), so I was thinking we could do something less organized. What about renting a car for the day from the port and returning it to the airport? We wouldn’t drive it around the city—just park it somewhere for the day and than take it to the airport. I haven’t yet looked into the cost of that. 

How do we spend the day? What do we do with luggage?

Flight doesn't depart until 10 pm.

Thank you!

I think we are going to eliminate Victoria completely from our plans. Regardless of how we get there, our time is very limited.

I think we'll concentrate on Seattle and Vancouver (and of course our first Alaskan cruise.)

Thank you for your very thoughtful reply.

We are much more interested in Victoria and Vancouver, than Seattle. We'll have to do some thinking.

We could overnight in Victoria. Sounds like going from Victoria than onto Vancouver would make more sense. A day trip from Vancouver seems even longer. 

We are sailing to Alaska to and from Vancouver June 13-20. We will be flying round trip from the East Coast to Seattle (free flights). However, we may consider flying one way from Vancouver to save time (although that’s not my first preference). Our plans are ambitious—we like to see Victoria as well. I’m not interested in flying there—although it will take longer, I’d rather take a scenic ferry ride. 

We will be arriving at SeaTac around noon on the 10th of June. This gives use

2 1/2 days before the cruise on the 13th. We will fly back out of Seattle on the morning of the 22nd.

I’m not sure how to split the time and fit everything in. We’d like to see the highlights of Seattle, and perhaps spend more time on the Victoria/Vancouver portion. 
 

I’d appreciate any and all suggestions. 

Thank you for the clarification. It seems best to use the OBC for other things (which seems easy enough to do) rather than take the chance on not getting the excursions we really want. 

Let me make sure I understand this correctly:

I book them with my CC now, and than use the OBC to pay off my credit card charges? Do I have this right?

Thanks for all the great advice!

I booked today and will continue to look; I'm sure I'll be back with many more questions!

Do you do this directly with Holland or do you use TA?

I see that OBC cannot be used for excursions purchased prior to boarding. Can it be used for gratitudes? What else can it be used for? We are planning to sail on the Koningsdam to Alaska in June. 
 

Also, the Explore 4 promotion ends today. Should I book now or hope for something better? They are offering free internet also if you book a Verandah, which is what we intend to do. 
 

We are not seasoned cruisers, having only cruised twice before. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. 

We are not frequent cruisers, but will be sailing on the Koningsdam to Alaska in June. TA offers same pricing, including Explore 4, but also includes a few additional perks. Any reason NOT to use TA? TA requires membership which we have and that we used for hotels and car rentals.

Thank you!