Transportation from Seattle to Vancouver

[YvonneQ]

My husband and I are going on our first cruise. We are sailing from Vancouver to Anchorage. We are flying into Seattle 2 days prior to our sail date. What is the best way to get from Seattle to Vancouver? And what is the best way to book the reservation for this transportation?

[Nitemare]

We live in fear of missing the boat, so when we sailed out of Vancouver on Princess after spending a few days in Seattle, we took Princess's shuttle bus ($30/each, IIRC) from Seattle to Vancouver, knowing that no matter what might happen at the border or on the bus, we wouldn't miss the ship.

[ute_fan]

Check out the information on the Alaska port of call board -- there are numerous threads dealing with this topic. As for us, we rented a car and drove, but we flew in the night before so we weren't worried about timing.

[YvonneQ]

Thank you.

[LARGIN]

We live in fear of missing the boat, so when we sailed out of Vancouver on Princess after spending a few days in Seattle, we took Princess's shuttle bus ($30/each, IIRC) from Seattle to Vancouver, knowing that no matter what might happen at the border or on the bus, we wouldn't miss the ship.

 

How long was the bus ride ???

[musicmansmom]

there is also a bus service at www.quickshuttle.com that takes you right from the seattle airport to vancouver hotels, then when you get off the ship they take you back to the seattle airport. we just booked with them roundtrip ( me and a friend ) for a total of $ 130. have a great time.

[Nitemare]

How long was the bus ride ???

Supposed to be 3 hours, with lots of traffic before we got to the border, and then a driver who got lost within SIGHT OF THE BOAT, it took us about 4 1/2 hours. Which still left us lots of time before the ship was supposed to sail.

 

Heading south after the cruise (in our own rental car -- we had a very late flight out of Seattle), it took us 5 hours, between a major accident just north of the border, and about 75 minutes to cross back into the States.

[calikak]

If you're flying in two days early, you might want to take Amtrak up there. It runs along the water most of the way up there so there's a lovely view, it doesn't get stuck in traffic, and there's no wait at the border because you go through customs & immigration at the station in Vancouver. It takes about 4 hours from downtown Seattle, and because it's a train, you can get up and stretch your legs and get a snack, which you can't do on a bus. It's about a $10 cab ride from the station in Vancouver to the pier, or you can take the SkyTrain which is even cheaper. Make sure to pay the extra $10 for a business class seat so if the train is oversold, you don't get stuck on a bus. There's one train a day and it leaves Seattle pretty early in the morning (I think 7AM or so) and gets to Vancouver around 11.