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Amtrak with Toddlers: Getting luggage on train in seattle to vancouver


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Hi!

 

We will be traveling from Seattle to Vancouver on the Amtrak train. We will also have our two toddlers with us (2 and 3 years old). I am very nervous about getting all our luggage on/off the train without losing a kid! While we won't have a ton, we will still have enough to make it difficult.

 

Are there carts available at either end? Do you have to walk a far distance in Seattle (King station) within the train station itself to get to the train? Or is it a long distance in Vancouver to get to the cabs? We are assuming that a cab will be easier than the sky train to get to the terminal with both kiddos?

 

Any advice?

 

Please no negative comments about traveling with toddlers... We love traveling often and cruising with our kids so we already know what we are getting into =)

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Seattle has Redcaps - but you may have some trouble in Vancouver. I've never seen any of the VIA porters on the Amtrak side on all my train rides, it's a very short schlep so there's just not much demand for these services - but given that Amtrak do take disabled pax I am sure there must be some way to get help with bags even if it's the train staff helping out, or calling for a VIA porter to come to this side of the station.

 

Amtrak refuse to buy their own luggage carts here, so after years of just 'borrowing' the ones that belong to VIA the station staff now ensure that they keep them locked away securely on the Canadian side!!! You could call the station to ask if their porters are allowed through to the US-administered part of the station past security (normal VIA services are all domestic, so I don't believe they are all required to have US security clearance in order to work there, but some may have chosen to apply for the relevant permits like the Longshoremen who work at the pier on both US/Canadian side).

 

In a nutshell, there are normally no carts in the Secure area - when you get off the train, you walk past the checked bags which are just laid out on the platform (upright, sometimes even with the handles popped up for you) for you to collect. You then drag your stuff and your kids and yourselves maybe fifty yards through CBSA inspection into the main station concourse before you can reach any luggage carts - but by the time you're there it's only about another fifty yards to go outside and left to the cab queue so if you managed the bags this far, a cart is kinda pointless anyway...

 

If you can't trust your kids to walk in front of you/beside you where you can see them, you'll need to keep a hand free to hold on to a kid. If you can trust the bigger one to also hold the hand of the smaller one, one of the adults could pull 2 big bags along easily enough. I assume your kid's stuff is either going to be mixed into a big suitcase with yours or in a smaller bag, that could perhaps stack onto a bigger wheelie bag? If not, acquiring a couple of smaller bags that will stack onto your big ones securely so you only need one 'luggage hand' each seems like the way to handle this, with any personal bags being backpacks or shoulder bags that do not need a hand to carry.

 

SkyTrain from here to pier - bad move. No luggage storage, and by the sounds of it there's no way you can manage to hold all your bags on your laps which is the only legal place to put them. Aisles and wheelchair/bike spots are not allowed to be blocked with bags, it incurs a hefty fine if you refuse to disembark the train. Since they're automated the odds of a staff member being present to hassle you in the very short ride are slim, but even if it's a quiet time to ride so you're not inconveniencing the commuters it's not the best idea (and would involve dragging bags another hundred yards or do then up an escalator/elevator/staircase). Just take a cab - to the pier will run about $12, maybe $15 if there's a lot of traffic.

 

Personally with your family I'd be seriously considering renting a car for a one-way trip, dropping it at the pier (there are multiple rental companies operating right at Canada Place). You'll need car seats for the kids on top of the basic rental costs, but it would mean you can get the kids and luggage right to the pier. The only other way to do that would be a cruiseline transfer from Seattle (possible, but not always available - check with your line!) or using QuickShuttle, who have a pier drop and various pickups around Seattle. The latter is not cheap, but if one of those pickups is convenient for you it's hard to beat being dropped right at the pier where you can hand your bags over to the Longshoremen right away.

 

I'd still prefer a rental car myself, so you can arrive at a better time - both Amtrak and Quickshuttle (and cruise bus transfers) tend to come in right at the busiest block of time, noon to 2pmish. Unless it's a one ship day, this means long queues for everything. On a 3 or 4 ship day, it means your life will suck as you drag your kids through lineup after lineup. Ordinarily I'm an 'arrive as late as possible for the shortest wait time' guy, but with toddlers to herd, nap-times to worry about, I'd be inclined to aim for a 10am arrival so you can hand over bags, be among the first folks waiting, and when they open boarding around 11am you'll then zip through the queues pretty fast... and the only practical way to get there that early is to either stay overnight or drive up (the earliest Bolt Bus and Greyhound are also pretty early, but they also arrive at Pacific Central so you have the whole luggage hassle again - although since you arrive 'domestic' at least there are some carts around).

 

NB: that all buses usually involve you having to move your bags from the bus to a conveyor belt inside for x-raying. Sometimes you get lucky and don't have to, and you can always have one person run the bags in and out while the other herds the kids, but it's still more hassle than a car!

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Hi!

 

We will be traveling from Seattle to Vancouver on the Amtrak train. We will also have our two toddlers with us (2 and 3 years old). I am very nervous about getting all our luggage on/off the train without losing a kid! While we won't have a ton, we will still have enough to make it difficult.

 

Are there carts available at either end? Do you have to walk a far distance in Seattle (King station) within the train station itself to get to the train? Or is it a long distance in Vancouver to get to the cabs? We are assuming that a cab will be easier than the sky train to get to the terminal with both kiddos?

 

Any advice?

 

Please no negative comments about traveling with toddlers... We love traveling often and cruising with our kids so we already know what we are getting into =)

 

Your bags are checked. If your concern is only about getting on and off the train then just check the bags.

 

As martincath indicated, you will have to pickup your bags once off the train and walk through customs. If that is part of the concern then as martincath indicated a rental car may be an option.

 

The station is fairly compact and there is no going up and down stairs, escalators or anything like that. So you will have an easier time in this station that most airports, especially Seattle.

 

I would skip skytrain and just a taxi. The downtown core is compact and with 4 people there is no cost saving in using skytrain.

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Seattle has Redcaps - but you may have some trouble in Vancouver. I've never seen any of the VIA porters on the Amtrak side on all my train rides, it's a very short schlep so there's just not much demand for these services - but given that Amtrak do take disabled pax I am sure there must be some way to get help with bags even if it's the train staff helping out, or calling for a VIA porter to come to this side of the station.

 

Amtrak refuse to buy their own luggage carts here, so after years of just 'borrowing' the ones that belong to VIA the station staff now ensure that they keep them locked away securely on the Canadian side!!! You could call the station to ask if their porters are allowed through to the US-administered part of the station past security (normal VIA services are all domestic, so I don't believe they are all required to have US security clearance in order to work there, but some may have chosen to apply for the relevant permits like the Longshoremen who work at the pier on both US/Canadian side).

 

In a nutshell, there are normally no carts in the Secure area - when you get off the train, you walk past the checked bags which are just laid out on the platform (upright, sometimes even with the handles popped up for you) for you to collect. You then drag your stuff and your kids and yourselves maybe fifty yards through CBSA inspection into the main station concourse before you can reach any luggage carts - but by the time you're there it's only about another fifty yards to go outside and left to the cab queue so if you managed the bags this far, a cart is kinda pointless anyway...

 

If you can't trust your kids to walk in front of you/beside you where you can see them, you'll need to keep a hand free to hold on to a kid. If you can trust the bigger one to also hold the hand of the smaller one, one of the adults could pull 2 big bags along easily enough. I assume your kid's stuff is either going to be mixed into a big suitcase with yours or in a smaller bag, that could perhaps stack onto a bigger wheelie bag? If not, acquiring a couple of smaller bags that will stack onto your big ones securely so you only need one 'luggage hand' each seems like the way to handle this, with any personal bags being backpacks or shoulder bags that do not need a hand to carry.

 

SkyTrain from here to pier - bad move. No luggage storage, and by the sounds of it there's no way you can manage to hold all your bags on your laps which is the only legal place to put them. Aisles and wheelchair/bike spots are not allowed to be blocked with bags, it incurs a hefty fine if you refuse to disembark the train. Since they're automated the odds of a staff member being present to hassle you in the very short ride are slim, but even if it's a quiet time to ride so you're not inconveniencing the commuters it's not the best idea (and would involve dragging bags another hundred yards or do then up an escalator/elevator/staircase). Just take a cab - to the pier will run about $12, maybe $15 if there's a lot of traffic.

 

Personally with your family I'd be seriously considering renting a car for a one-way trip, dropping it at the pier (there are multiple rental companies operating right at Canada Place). You'll need car seats for the kids on top of the basic rental costs, but it would mean you can get the kids and luggage right to the pier. The only other way to do that would be a cruiseline transfer from Seattle (possible, but not always available - check with your line!) or using QuickShuttle, who have a pier drop and various pickups around Seattle. The latter is not cheap, but if one of those pickups is convenient for you it's hard to beat being dropped right at the pier where you can hand your bags over to the Longshoremen right away.

 

I'd still prefer a rental car myself, so you can arrive at a better time - both Amtrak and Quickshuttle (and cruise bus transfers) tend to come in right at the busiest block of time, noon to 2pmish. Unless it's a one ship day, this means long queues for everything. On a 3 or 4 ship day, it means your life will suck as you drag your kids through lineup after lineup. Ordinarily I'm an 'arrive as late as possible for the shortest wait time' guy, but with toddlers to herd, nap-times to worry about, I'd be inclined to aim for a 10am arrival so you can hand over bags, be among the first folks waiting, and when they open boarding around 11am you'll then zip through the queues pretty fast... and the only practical way to get there that early is to either stay overnight or drive up (the earliest Bolt Bus and Greyhound are also pretty early, but they also arrive at Pacific Central so you have the whole luggage hassle again - although since you arrive 'domestic' at least there are some carts around).

 

NB: that all buses usually involve you having to move your bags from the bus to a conveyor belt inside for x-raying. Sometimes you get lucky and don't

have to, and you can always have one person run the bags in and out while the other herds the kids, but it's still more hassle than a car!

 

Thank you so much!! This was a huge help =)

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