Sailing out of Vancouver, Canada

[gemcat]

We are considering an Alaska cruise next year out of Vancouver, Canada.  Has anyone done this recently? Did you have any difficulty flying into and out of Vancouver with a US passport? Any advice would be appreciated.  TIA

[d9704011]

1 minute ago, gemcat said:

We are considering an Alaska cruise next year out of Vancouver, Canada.  Has anyone done this recently? Did you have any difficulty flying into and out of Vancouver with a US passport? Any advice would be appreciated.  TIA

What's your idea of recent?  A US passport is just fine for travel to Vancouver.

Edited February 24, 2022 by d9704011

[Husky1987]

Vancouver BC is one of my top 5 favorite cities in the world....well worth it and easy to travel to with a US passport.

[pcur]

I had a cruise cancelled by RCCL that ended in Vancouver.  I found airfare to be pretty pricey coming home to CA. Also, the routes were multiple stops:  more so than flying the same distance on domestic US flights.

 

I loved the dock in Vancouver:  very nice.

 

I don't think you'll have any problem as long as you have a valid US passport.  Be sure to check their COVID requirement, though.  I flew to Hawaii last October and had some COVID hoops to jump through.  Canada might be pretty strict, too, so maybe testing, health questionnaires, etc.

[smokeybandit]

Passport will be the least of your worries. It's covid protocols that'll make it a PITA

[reallyitsmema]

9 minutes ago, gemcat said:

We are considering an Alaska cruise next year out of Vancouver, Canada.  Has anyone done this recently? Did you have any difficulty flying into and out of Vancouver with a US passport? Any advice would be appreciated.  TIA

 

Canada hasn't been allowing cruise ships in its ports during covid, so no one has sailed an Alaska cruise from Vancouver since the 2019 Alaska season.  

[squadron]

26 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Canada hasn't been allowing cruise ships in its ports during covid, so no one has sailed an Alaska cruise from Vancouver since the 2019 Alaska season.  

CDN ports are supposed to open this spring(could be Feb to End of April!!!)

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, squadron said:

CDN ports are supposed to open this spring(could be Feb to End of April!!!)

 

Yes, that is what we are hoping as we have an Alaskan cruise scheduled for May!

[PhoenixCruiser]

Does anyone have a pre cruise hotel recommendation for Vancouver, we will be a group of 7.

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by PhoenixCruiser
typo

[SeattleAl]

Who knows what the future will bring, but this is current info.

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/travel-health-notices/226 

[Ashland]

Vancouver just put out their docking schedule for 2022 and so far it looks like sailing from there is a go. We're booked for Sept 18th.

[xlxo]

10 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

anyone have a pre cruise hotel recommendation for Vancouver, we will be a group of 7.

 

• Pan Pacific if you want to live in a premium hotel on top of the cruise terminal
• Fairmont Waterfront and Fairmont Pacific Rim for premium hotels a few blocks from the cruise terminal
• Blue Horizon for a value hotel with shops, restaurant and liquor store nearby
• YWCA for budget travellers.... pay attention to the room type as some rooms are shared bathrooms
• Delta offers suites for your large groups
• Radisson Vancouver Airport if you have a rental vehicle and looking for free parking.

Vancouver has lots of hotels depending on your budget, needs and location

Edited February 25, 2022 by xlxo

[Joseph2017China]

20 hours ago, gemcat said:

We are considering an Alaska cruise next year out of Vancouver, Canada.  Has anyone done this recently? Did you have any difficulty flying into and out of Vancouver with a US passport? Any advice would be appreciated.  TIA

Well, if you live in the USA, are a USA citizen, than I'm pretty sure your USA passport is fine.  (it is not a fake one right?).  When you say recently, to clarify, the winter months, Alaska cruises do not happen. They start back last week of April, so no "recent" cruisers can comment.  

[flamingos]

14 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Does anyone have a pre cruise hotel recommendation for Vancouver, we will be a group of 7.

 

We are booked in the Sutton Place hotel for our pre-cruise, based on recommendations from friends. 

[Oceansaway17]

Vancouver is a great place to sail out of.  Flights to this city are more expensive than Seattle, but there is a quick train from airport to the downtown area.  Once there, lots to see and walk around is easy.

 

You do know that Canada does not require a visa so of course your passport is just fine.

I think in 2023 things will be better and glad you decided to plan for next year instead of this year.

[DirtyDawg]

5 hours ago, flamingos said:

We are booked in the Sutton Place hotel for our pre-cruise, based on recommendations from friends. 

We stay at the Sutton Place whenever we are in Vancouver. Very nice hotel and an added bonus was a great restaurant called JOEY was across the street. I hope it's still there.

Edited February 26, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Flights to this city are more expensive than Seattle

I had a look at some fares and wouldn't consider the difference to be worth the hassle and expense of having to make my way from SEA to downtown Vancouver.

[DirtyDawg]

On 2/24/2022 at 5:33 PM, Husky1987 said:

Vancouver BC is one of my top 5 favorite cities in the world....well worth it and easy to travel to with a US passport.

The only bad thing about visiting Vancouver is ...

 

... eventually you have to leave. 😉

[erinsmom03]

We have a cruise from Vancouver in July... the airfare right now is crazy! But I am excited to sail a different itinerary than we did from Seattle in 2019. 

 

Any idea if Alaska will allow non-vaccinated passengers to tour on their own in ports? We have a large group traveling, and two are trying to get an exemption. Makes us nervous how that could affect the group as a whole.

[rj59]

You might find YVR to be expensive to fly into. There are cheaper options, such as flying Allegiant or Southwest into Bellingham, WA, and taking Quick Coach bus to the Vancouver cruise terminal, or Amtrak, which had twice-daily stops in Bellingham going to Vancouver. Southwest recently started service from Oakland and Vegas to Bellingham, and all my trips from there to LA for cruises are around $80 each way. For bus service, you have to get out at the border each way with luggage and go through customs, but Amtrak is screened at the train terminal in Vancouver, and back to the US they stop at the border and agents come through to check passports. 

 

Another option is to fly into Seatac and take a short Alaska flight to YVR--there are usually 7 or so daily and are around $100 each way, or a few thousand Alaska or American miles. Quick Coach also goes from Seatac, or you can take light rail from Seatac and catch Amtrak in downtown Seattle. Amtrak from Seattle or Bellingham will give you some wonderful views of Puget Sound. 

 

If you fly into YVR, they have flat-rate taxis to the cruise terminal, or the Skytrain which goes to the Waterfront station across from the cruise terminal (and with a Starbucks and food court with wifi). 

[JCMass.]

20 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Does anyone have a pre cruise hotel recommendation for Vancouver, we will be a group of 7.

 

We stayed at the Marriott in Vancouver near Canada Place the cruise terminal.  It was very nice and very very close to the terminal. 

 

When we went though before the pandemic there were 20,000 people boarding ships in town and we had to go to the commercial dock a few miles from the hotel and not a good set up for embarkation.  It took us hours in line to get to the check in, and then more than an hour sitting in a large hall waiting to go through US immigration to get to Alaska.  We are US citizen just wanting to go from Canada back to the US.  We did not get on the ship till 3pm, after arriving around noon.  They were not set up for cruise ships. 

[5soonerfans]

22 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Does anyone have a pre cruise hotel recommendation for Vancouver, we will be a group of 7.

 

We stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront. It is just across from the terminal and they will take your luggage for you. At least they did in 2018. Vancouver is a great place to visit. 

[PhoenixCruiser]

13 hours ago, xlxo said:

 

• Pan Pacific if you want to live in a premium hotel on top of the cruise terminal
• Fairmont Waterfront and Fairmont Pacific Rim for premium hotels a few blocks from the cruise terminal
• Blue Horizon for a value hotel with shops, restaurant and liquor store nearby
• YWCA for budget travellers.... pay attention to the room type as some rooms are shared bathrooms
• Delta offers suites for your large groups
• Radisson Vancouver Airport if you have a rental vehicle and looking for free parking.

Vancouver has lots of hotels depending on your budget, needs and location

 

9 hours ago, flamingos said:

We are booked in the Sutton Place hotel for our pre-cruise, based on recommendations from friends. 

 

3 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

We stay at the Sutton Place whenever we are in Vancouver. Very nice hotel and an added bonus was a great restaurant called JOEY was across the street. I hope it's still there.

 

3 hours ago, JCMass. said:

We stayed at the Marriott in Vancouver near Canada Place the cruise terminal.  It was very nice and very very close to the terminal. 

 

When we went though before the pandemic there were 20,000 people boarding ships in town and we had to go to the commercial dock a few miles from the hotel and not a good set up for embarkation.  It took us hours in line to get to the check in, and then more than an hour sitting in a large hall waiting to go through US immigration to get to Alaska.  We are US citizen just wanting to go from Canada back to the US.  We did not get on the ship till 3pm, after arriving around noon.  They were not set up for cruise ships. 

 

1 hour ago, 5soonerfans said:

We stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront. It is just across from the terminal and they will take your luggage for you. At least they did in 2018. Vancouver is a great place to visit. 

 

Thank you for the suggestions!

[billslowsky]

10 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Thank you for the suggestions!

If you locate the cruise port on googlemaps, you can click on "Nearby" at the top left and select Hotels.  Pretty much every downtown hotel will show up.  Enter the dates of stay and prices will appear.  You can see the exact distance from each hotel to the port, as well as read reviews of each hotel, all from that site.  You could book from there if you wanted to.

[Tree_skier]

19 hours ago, rj59 said:

You might find YVR to be expensive to fly into. There are cheaper options, such as flying Allegiant or Southwest into Bellingham, WA, and taking Quick Coach bus to the Vancouver cruise terminal, or Amtrak, which had twice-daily stops in Bellingham going to Vancouver. Southwest recently started service from Oakland and Vegas to Bellingham, and all my trips from there to LA for cruises are around $80 each way. For bus service, you have to get out at the border each way with luggage and go through customs, but Amtrak is screened at the train terminal in Vancouver, and back to the US they stop at the border and agents come through to check passports. 

 

Another option is to fly into Seatac and take a short Alaska flight to YVR--there are usually 7 or so daily and are around $100 each way, or a few thousand Alaska or American miles. Quick Coach also goes from Seatac, or you can take light rail from Seatac and catch Amtrak in downtown Seattle. Amtrak from Seattle or Bellingham will give you some wonderful views of Puget Sound. 

 

If you fly into YVR, they have flat-rate taxis to the cruise terminal, or the Skytrain which goes to the Waterfront station across from the cruise terminal (and with a Starbucks and food court with wifi). 

I have used Allegiant a bunch.  It is convenient and cheap if you fly from California.  Anywhere else it's a PITA.  With Allegiant each leg is a separate itinerary so you have to collect your bags after each leg and redo security  and checkin.  

 

I see the OP is in TX.  If Dallas is your starting point. Alaska flys out of Love and DFW and you can get flights into Bellingham with only one change in Seattle. I used to do this(Allegiant or Alaska) very often but I also used to stage a minimally insured old car at a friends house in Bellingham so the border crossing was not particularly onerous me.  I won't be traveling there much any more so I have disposed of the car and would likely fly directly into Van.