Ferry from Victoria

[ksullivan1800]

Hi Everyone-

 

We will be sailing from Vancouver on the May 24th sailing of RCCL's Rhapsody of the Seas. Prior to the cruise we will be spending a night in Victoria and taking the ferry back to Vancouver on the day of sailing.

 

Has anyone every taken the ferry over on the day of your sailing? We have an option of taking a 7am or 9am ferry. I'm just wondering if we will be pushing it if we take the 9am ferry. Taking the float plane is not an option as I don't like small planes!

 

Thanks for any input!

[Urban trekker]

Yes the 9 AM ferry is doable - us locals usually consider around 3 hours total travel time from downtown Victoria to downtown Vancouver as the normal time frame.

 

You don't state whether you have a car or not - if so make reservations as the ferries can be busy.

 

If using public transit our Canada Line light rail will drop you within 2 or 3 blocks of Canada Place where you will be cruising out of.

 

i am sure that local transit guru and supporter Scott Bee will be along to give you the info on fares and times etc.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[ksullivan1800]

Hi Dennis-

 

We will be driving a rental car so many thanks for the tip about making a reservation!

 

Kerry

[Putterdude]

The 9:00 is doable buy I would suggest that you may care to be at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal a full hour before your sailing or consider paying for a reservation on that sailing.

[porsena]

The twenty-fourth of May

Is the Queen's Birth Day

If we don't have a holiday

We'll all run away. British children's rhyme

 

In this case the stat holiday is Monday the 20th, which will not affect traffic on the 24th but which you'll notice if you're in Canada that day.

 

Most of the time, there would be little risk of a full ferry at 9:00 on a Friday, but that is one of the busiest days of the week. If, however, you were to miss that crossing, the next one is not until 11:00, which would see you and your car in downtown Vancouver by about 13:30. If that would bother you, the vehicle reservation fee is $15 7-days or more in advance. I've learned that trying to predict ferry loads is a mug's game unless you have BC Ferries' fancy and proprietary software.

 

I will just mention that high winds can cause cancellation of ferry sailings to Tsawwassen (Vancouver), where the ferry dock is pretty exposed, to be cancelled for several hours at a time, creating significant backlogs. This seems to happen only a few days a year. With a slightly greater frequency, mechanical problems on the day cause some sailings to be cancelled. These events are another risk that you would not arrive at the time planned.

[Langley Cruisers]

You've asked for advice and mine is to get on the 7 am ferry. No telling what may happen that day and why wouldn't you want to be over on the Vancouver side, returning your rental car in good time, and getting to the pier to check in? The first day onboard ship is a day you've paid for... I am so there as early as possible. :);)

 

.

[scottbee]

Hi Everyone-

 

We will be sailing from Vancouver on the May 24th sailing of RCCL's Rhapsody of the Seas. Prior to the cruise we will be spending a night in Victoria and taking the ferry back to Vancouver on the day of sailing.

 

Has anyone every taken the ferry over on the day of your sailing? We have an option of taking a 7am or 9am ferry. I'm just wondering if we will be pushing it if we take the 9am ferry. Taking the float plane is not an option as I don't like small planes!

 

Thanks for any input!

Factor in a little over 4 hours, the scheduled coach (which is 1st off) takes 4h15

 

take the 9 or 10 (summer schedule) ferry and you'll be fine. The ferry leaves from 32km north of downtown Victoria at Swartz Bay, so you need to factor in time to get to the terminal, get on board etc, and then about 1h35m for the sailing and then another 20 mins to get off at Tsawwassen. From there, it's just under an hour (37km) to downtown Vancouver. If you go by city transit, the cost is $8 ($2.50/Victoria + $5.50/Vancouver). or, you can take a direct coach which is $35+ferry. I believe the only direct coach that does go to Canada Place is on the 9am ferry, you'd have to check pacificcoach.com to confirm, so you'll also need to factor in a taxi from bus depot to Canada Place if you choose not to take the local transit option.

[Langley Cruisers]

^ Scott, they have a rental car. Seems they need to return the car to the closest office to the pier.

[scottbee]

^ Scott, they have a rental car. Seems they need to return the car to the closest office to the pier.

 

If they can drop the car on the Victoria side, it really is easier. Now you're looking at a $55 + $20 reservation on the ferry, or show up for the 9 and hope you make the 9 or 10.

[porsena]

Scott, my reading of the schedule is that there is no 10 AM on the 24th.

[scottbee]

Scott, my reading of the schedule is that there is no 10 AM on the 24th.

 

Indeed, looks like they've chosen to remove that as part of their austerity plan. In that case I would definitely want to be on the 9, and get a reservation for it. Yet more reasons to not want to bring the car on the ferry, and drop it in Victoria.

[Putterdude]

I would get a reservation and travel in the comfort of my car, most people after they have spent thousands of dollars on a cruise vacation don't want to ride a transit bus with their luggage in the aisle or between their knees. Commuters with a carry-on I can understand but a person with a 27" bag and a carry-on that is a bit much. I appreciate comfort and am prepared to pay for it.

[Langley Cruisers]

^ Agreed, 'dude; OP already said they have a rental car and yet people are trying to talk them out of it? I understand, but it's not always about cost. :)

 

.

[Steve H]

Get a res. on the 7 o"clock and you will have no worries . It will give you peace of mind and some extra time in Van. to get organized.

[operabob1]

If uncertain, the need for a reservation is more important on the 7:00 than the 9:00 as the semi trailers mostly try for the earliest trip and take up a huge amount of room.

 

For peace of mind you'll probably want to rezzie but if it's me I figure if I arrive at the terminal by 8:15 I won't have any trouble getting on the 9:00.

 

If you want to time it you can get an idea about how booked a ferry is here:

 

http://portal.victoria.tc.ca/

 

You'll want the info for:

 

SWB-TSA

 

I used this page to gauge how quickly I had to head out the door to catch the 7:00 every morning for business while avoiding BC Ferries usurious reservation charges.

[Steve H]

I would still say get the 7 with a rez. Two sailings were cancelled yesterday because there was a problem on a sailing (someone jumped overboard!). The ferries usually run on time but there are problems at times for various reasons, and it always happens just when you need to get off the island. It is just not worth the risk in my opinion.

[operabob1]

Hope we're not scaring Sully with all our cautions! ;)

[ksullivan1800]

Hi Everyone-

Thank you so much for all of the advice regarding the ferry. You have certainly convinced us to make a reservation for the 7am ferry. Better to be safe than sorry. Now let's hope nobody jumps from our ferry!

 

On a side note, there was some discussion about it might be better for us to return our rental car in Victoria and take the shuttle back to Vancouver. I did look into that and for some reason if we were to pick up in Vancouver and drop off in Victoria we had to pay a larger sum of money. In fact, we are renting a standard sized car for 3 days for CAN $86 and to drop off in Victoria would have been in the $200-$300 range. (We are using Enterprise via Costco Travel).

 

Thanks again for all the help!

[Langley Cruisers]

I did look into that and for some reason if we were to pick up in Vancouver and drop off in Victoria we had to pay a larger sum of money. In fact, we are renting a standard sized car for 3 days for CAN $86 and to drop off in Victoria would have been in the $200-$300 range....

 

Yes, I can help you with that as I worked in a car rental agency for 5 years. The reason is that every city is franchised; they "own" their own cars, if you will. If you rent a car and drop it in another city, you are, in effect, penalized because now that car is sitting in a foreign city collecting no revenue. It can often sit there for days or even weeks before getting back "home" again. Quite simply, they don't want their car in another city. Makes sense. :)

 

Also, don't let the story of a jumper scare you; incidents like that are very rare and BC Ferries is a corporation which runs every single day without incident, for the most part. No worries.

 

Have fun. :)

 

.

[Putterdude]

I agree with Langley Cruisers but in my experience Enterprise has been by far the worst in either not permitting drop offs or charging huge fees for them.

[operabob1]

Yes, I can help you with that as I worked in a car rental agency for 5 years. The reason is that every city is franchised; they "own" their own cars, if you will. If you rent a car and drop it in another city, you are, in effect, penalized because now that car is sitting in a foreign city collecting no revenue. It can often sit there for days or even weeks before getting back "home" again. Quite simply, they don't want their car in another city. Makes sense. :)

 

 

One of my "retirement" jobs involved buying in to a business transporting cars on and off island for car dealers. If we were stuck somewhere without a ride back we'd call local car rentals and if any were available they were happy to let us drive the returns back for free. However, if they called us it was $125 to bring a car from Vancouver to Victoria. Factor in their work and you can understand the charges.