Vancouver help needed

[tinykygal]

We will have several hours after disembarkation in Vancouver and do not want to sit at the airport for approximately 8 hours.

We are sailing Princess, reviewed the excursions for that day which include, of course, luggage handling.

I thought the pink HO/HO sounded like a viable option; however, the reviews are not good. Most excursions do not allow an opportunity for food.

Dietary restrictions would not allow me to make it 8 hrs without lunch.

 

What would you seasoned cruisers recommend we do? I might mention that we have experienced so many flight delays lately that sitting at the airport for 8 hours would "do us in"

 

Thank you for your help.

[tinykygal]

I would like to add that we have paid for transfer to the airport, not sure if that would influence your recommendations.

[martincath]

Your transfer will be right after disembarkation - if you hang around downtown you'll lose it. See if you can cancel the transfer first, convert to OBC perhaps.

 

The HOHOs are ideal if you don't know how long you'll be staying - unlike the other tours you can do as their name suggest, get on and off at each stop. Which means you can break for lunch whenever your dietary needs require it...

 

If you actually read the words in the reviews, as opposed to look at the ratings, you'll find most of the bad HOHO reviews are due to waiting a long time at a stop. This may not be as much of an issue for you as you're looking to use up time;-)

 

Another, more expensive option, would be to do a tour that drops you at the airport - the basic city tours are just a couple of hours, but you can do much longer ones taking in the North Shore (Capilano Bridge, Grouse Mountain) or even Whistler. If these sound like the kind of places you may enjoy, look at LandSea's website here. They've been around for years and seem to be generally very well-reviewed.

[Putterdude]

I would agree with Martin re Land/Sea Tours and one of the advantages of them is that they do deliver you and your luggage to YVR at the end of the tour.

 

If it's a HOHO then I would check my luggage with Priority Luggage Service or take my luggage to one of the nearby hotels and give the bell desk a nice tip to hold it in their lock up. Priority will for a fee transfer your luggage out to YVR. The HOHO I recommend is the Vancouver Trolley which has live narration and operates year round.

 

I wouldn't think that cancelling your transfers will be a problem if the are through the cruise line.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Putterdude

[tinykygal]

Thank you. Will check this out. I appreciate your suggestions.

[Rambler5678]

http://vancouvertours.com/tour/pre-cruise-vancouver-city-tour/

[tinykygal]

I have reviewed Land/Sea. Looks good. Were you able to find a comfortable place to wait until the 10 am tour if applicable.

I feel we are herded off the ship in droves. Not sure if Princess will allow us to sty on ship a little later.

CC has been invaluable to me.

Thank you.

[Putterdude]

I have reviewed Land/Sea. Looks good. Were you able to find a comfortable place to wait until the 10 am tour if applicable.

I feel we are herded off the ship in droves. Not sure if Princess will allow us to sty on ship a little later.

CC has been invaluable to me.

Thank you.

 

You should be able to hang in a lounge or out on deck until after 9 am then you will likely need 30 minutes or so to collect luggage and clear Canadian customs. If off earlier then you could go and sit in the lobby of the Pan Pacific Hotel which forms part of Canada Place.