Vancouver Info if needed

[REDTOY]

I believe that you have asked this question on another thread and while I suspect that all of your luggage will accompany you to Victoria, I really think to really get a difinative answer you would be better off asking Princess or having your TA ask Princess on your behalf. Unless you can connect with someone who has booked this tour in the past any answer is going to be a guess and even if you do, Princess's policy re luggage may have changed since they did the tour.

 

Yes, guilty as charged! But then I read the "I'll answer ?" post by shoppie in Vancouver.

 

Pardon my reluctance to ask Princess. It has been our past experience that the credibility of answers from their tour department leaves a bit to be desired. Not to fault their clerks who try their best; they just aren't "out in the field". We love Princess in every way, and this will be our 18th voyage on their ships. Our hope here, was to hear from someone who had taken this very tour, albeit last year, or maybe even this year.

 

Thank you for your post and sage advice.

 

REDTOY

[Putterdude]

I understand your concern and do hope that you get and correct answer.:)

[Kamloops50]

Yes, guilty as charged! But then I read the "I'll answer ?" post by shoppie in Vancouver.

 

Pardon my reluctance to ask Princess. It has been our past experience that the credibility of answers from their tour department leaves a bit to be desired. Not to fault their clerks who try their best; they just aren't "out in the field". We love Princess in every way, and this will be our 18th voyage on their ships. Our hope here, was to hear from someone who had taken this very tour, albeit last year, or maybe even this year.

 

Thank you for your post and sage advice.

 

REDTOY

 

I would suspect that your luggage will have to travel with you because of security concerns when it will be loaded on the ship. When we boarded our cruises we were asked have you let the your baggage be out of sight for a certain period of time.:)

[REDTOY]

I would suspect that your luggage will have to travel with you because of security concerns when it will be loaded on the ship. When we boarded our cruises we were asked have you let the your baggage be out of sight for a certain period of time.:)

 

Now, that makes a lot of sense! I guess my thinking was "pre-911" when we were separated from our luggage on pre-cruise tours in Switzerland and Australia. Since then, we've been on several cruises but none that included a pre-cruise tour.

 

Thanks,

 

REDTOY

[travelteach326]

We are a group of 20 arriving in Vancouver on 8/8 after our Inside Passage cruise. We will be staying at the Blue Horizon. We would like to get to Victoria. What is the best way to get to Victoria? Would it be wise to find a tour company and get a van for all 20 of us? Can you recommend someone? Do you have any recommendations for restaurants that have good food and reasonable prices?

 

My husband and I are thinking of renting a car and doing an overnight trip to Whistler. What time would be the best time to drive? Would this trip be wise or is the traffic out of control due to construction? Can you recommend a nice hotel and restaurant in the village?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Urban trekker]

"Do you have any recommendations for restaurants that have good food and reasonable prices"

 

You are in the heart of eatsville when you stay at the Blue Horizon - wall to wall restaurants for three to four blocks and on both sides of the street - too many to name but if you can give us some food preference we can give you some ideas.

 

"My husband and I are thinking of renting a car and doing an overnight trip to Whistler. What time would be the best time to drive? Would this trip be wise or is the traffic out of control due to construction? Can you recommend a nice hotel and restaurant in the village?'

 

I would certainly recommend doing a trip to Whistler - most of the heavy construction is done at night and any closures during the day time are no more than a few minutes + they don't normally work on weekends. It will however take about 2.5 without stops to drive to Whistler.

 

Here's a link to the construction project website:

 

http://www.seatoskyimprovements.ca/updates.htm

 

There doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary going on this summer and I can tell you that where the project is finished the drive is great + one advantage of the slower speed is that you actually get to see the scenery that much better.

 

As for where to stay I will let PD and the others make some suggestions but here are a couple of web sites that might help:

 

http://www.whistler.com

 

http://www.tourismwhistler.com

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

Just to add what Ut has just posted, here is a link to a company that offers smaller van tours as well the ordinary large coach tours. They are regarded to be good operators but there are others as well, I just don't know their reputation. http://www.vancouvertours.com/tours_p.html

As for Whistler, I am not certain that there is a bad hotel in Whitstler and pricing is all over the map from the Pan Pacific and Fairmont's Chateau Whistler to the Holiday Inn. However during the summer a lot of the hotels do have promotions that can be pretty good. If you are only going to be there for the one night then I would choose something in the Village as opposed to some of the other areas where you are going to be doing a lot of walking or in the case of Creekside, driving. One of my choices would be the Crystal Lodge as I was recently there, it is centre ice in the Village, and has an Old Spaghetti Factory as well as a more upscale Ric's for dinner. http://www.crystal-lodge.com/

[travelteach326]

Thanks Dennis and PD for all your information. You have been such a big help. We have contacted Landsea and I love the hotel you recommended in Whistler. I appreciate all the recommendations.

[lucia1024]

Thanks!

 

I feel better about my decision.

 

You have been very helpful in letting me know what to expect.

[Kamloops50]

We are a group of 20 arriving in Vancouver on 8/8 after our Inside Passage cruise. We will be staying at the Blue Horizon. We would like to get to Victoria. What is the best way to get to Victoria? Would it be wise to find a tour company and get a van for all 20 of us? Can you recommend someone? Do you have any recommendations for restaurants that have good food and reasonable prices?

 

My husband and I are thinking of renting a car and doing an overnight trip to Whistler. What time would be the best time to drive? Would this trip be wise or is the traffic out of control due to construction? Can you recommend a nice hotel and restaurant in the village?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

I would investgate using the Whistler Mountaineer Train.

 

http://www.whistlermountaineer.com/

 

they have packages that include hotels and transportation. You can do an overnight or even a one day trip.

 

The highway can be busy in the morning with commuter traffic.

 

:)

[shollismd]

For anyone who can help, I'm cruising from Vancouver to Inside Passage on Sept 17th returning on Sept 24. I'm having trouble finding a decent airfare from Washington DC area and have a question about the timing. The best fare I can find is on Air Canada but leaves at 11:15am on the day we arrive back in port. Is this doable, or is it cutting too close? How long does it take to get from the cruise terminal to the airport? My only other option is to pay $800 a ticket (vice $600) or stay an extra day, but would really like to head out on the 24th. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

[Putterdude]

For anyone who can help, I'm cruising from Vancouver to Inside Passage on Sept 17th returning on Sept 24. I'm having trouble finding a decent airfare from Washington DC area and have a question about the timing. The best fare I can find is on Air Canada but leaves at 11:15am on the day we arrive back in port. Is this doable, or is it cutting too close? How long does it take to get from the cruise terminal to the airport? My only other option is to pay $800 a ticket (vice $600) or stay an extra day, but would really like to head out on the 24th. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

 

Wish I could tell you that you could make it but you are really pushing the envelope on with that time. But here are the logistics, your ship will get in at 7 am by the the time it clears customs etc, the first group wont be off until at least 8 then you you need to get your bags, clear Canadian Customs, which will take a min of 30 mins, then you line up for a cab which can take an hour or more so by the time you are sitting in a cab it is after 9 am. It is a 30 to 40 min trip to the airport and if this is a direct flight to DC then you need to be at YVR a min of hours before flight time because you clear US customs and immigration and security at the airport so on that basis it is just to tight. If you are changing planes in eastern Canada you might just do it with ships transfers but it is still extremely tight. Ordinarily they do not recommened flights much before noon or 12:30.

[shollismd]

Thanks for the info. I kinda figured that was the case, but needed corroboration. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and pay for the expensive flight. Thanks again.

[Urban trekker]

Have you looked at flying out of Sea-Tac - Quick Shuttle offers you a direct bus from Canada Place to Sea-Tac which gets you into Seattle early afternoon - you could then get a later afternoon flight to your destination.

 

Here's the link: http://www.quickcoach.com

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[scottbee]

For anyone who can help, I'm cruising from Vancouver to Inside Passage on Sept 17th returning on Sept 24. I'm having trouble finding a decent airfare from Washington DC area and have a question about the timing. The best fare I can find is on Air Canada but leaves at 11:15am on the day we arrive back in port. Is this doable, or is it cutting too close? How long does it take to get from the cruise terminal to the airport? My only other option is to pay $800 a ticket (vice $600) or stay an extra day, but would really like to head out on the 24th. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

 

The timing is always difficult to get back to the east coast same day. Considering it's 5.5hrs, plus 3 hours time difference, in order to land before midnight you'd have to leave the west coast before 3:30pm, if there were a non-stop, and there isn't

 

HOWEVER, does this work?

 

 

Wed 17 Sep 2008

 

United Flight 189

Departs: 6:00a Baltimore/ Washington (BWI)

Arrives: 7:06a O'Hare Inter*national (ORD)

[ Layover in Chicago, IL (ORD) for 1h 04m ]

United Flight 755

Departs: 8:10a O'Hare Inter*national (ORD)

Arrives: 10:38a Seattle/ Tacoma Intl (SEA)

[ Layover in Seattle, WA (SEA) for 1h 22m ]

United Flight 8244 (Operated by Air Canada)

Departs: 12:00p Seattle/ Tacoma Intl (SEA)

Arrives: 12:50p Vancouver Intl (YVR)

 

 

Return – Wed 24 Sep 2008

United Flight 1124

Departs: 1:55p Vancouver Intl (YVR)

Arrives: 5:45p Denver Inter*national (DEN)

[ Layover in Denver, CO (DEN) for 0h 55m ]

United Flight 168

Departs: 6:40p Denver Inter*national (DEN)

Arrives: 11:54p Baltimore/ Washington (BWI)

 

United $423.79+$97.40taxes = $521.19

[MrsC22]

Dear Shoppie: Can you give me your recommendation on what tours you feel are worth your money in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Also, we will be spending a couple of days in Vancouver and will be going to Victoria. Do you have any hotel recommendations in Vancouver? Have you ever heard of the Georgian Court Hotel? Is it in a good and safe location? Thanks so much.

[Putterdude]

Dear Shoppie: Can you give me your recommendation on what tours you feel are worth your money in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Also, we will be spending a couple of days in Vancouver and will be going to Victoria. Do you have any hotel recommendations in Vancouver? Have you ever heard of the Georgian Court Hotel? Is it in a good and safe location? Thanks so much.

 

The Georgian Court is one that we don't get asked about very much but only because it tends to be on the eastern side of the downtown business community. But it is a very good hotel in a quiet and safe area. You will be almost across the street from BC Place Stadium which will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, a block from GM Place where our Vancouver Canucks play, 1 1/2 blocks to Costco if you need to pick up a few things. You can walk into Yaletown which kind of a Soho neighbourhood with lots of trendy shops and restaurants, Pacific Centre which is a very large urban regional shopping centre, the Hudsons Bay department store, and the shops of Robson St. In the hotel there is a gourmet restaurant called the William Tell which has been serving Vancouverites for decades.

As for Alaska, my favourite is the WP&YRR trip to the summit and back but after that I would suggest you pose the question on the Alaska board.

[MrsC22]

Thanks so much for the information, I will certainly pass it on to my husband.

[gramtofive]

We will be in Vancouver for two days prior to our cruise. We are not big breakfast eaters, but would like something before heading out for our sightseeing. My daughter read something about Tim Horton restaurants and thought they sounded like a place where we could get a light breakfast. Any comments regarding this would be appreciated. We are staying at the Blue Horizon and wondered if they are located near the hotel. Thank you.

[Putterdude]

Do we have Tim Horton's .....they are everyhwere here is a link, there is one just around the corner from the Blue Horizon at 1150 Alberni St. The are a donut shop that has has some breakfast items as well as muffins, pastries, coffee and juices. They also have a a very good lunch menu consisting of soups, sandwhiches and chilli. They are a big favourite in Canada. http://www.timhortons.com/locator/index.html

[gramtofive]

Putterdude,

Thanks so much for the info. That sounds just perfect for a quick breakfast and also lunch.

[Putterdude]

You are very welcome, you are also within a block or so of Robson and Thurlow where you will find Starbucks on 3 of the 4 corners. But do try Tim Horton's, it is a bit of Canadiana.

[Atlantic Seabreeze]

We will arrive Vancouver on 7/12, via Princess Sapphire and I have yet to make a reservation for an overnight; out flight leaves on 7/13, just before noon. We have our 13 year old grand daughter with us and would like to show her a little of Vancouver. Any suggestions of where to stay and what to do in such a short time? Consider it will be 5 of us toting our luggage and no clue of distance between port and air terminal or how to get from A to B.

 

Your input would be much appreciated. Thanks:)

[Putterdude]

We will arrive Vancouver on 7/12, via Princess Sapphire and I have yet to make a reservation for an overnight; out flight leaves on 7/13, just before noon. We have our 13 year old grand daughter with us and would like to show her a little of Vancouver. Any suggestions of where to stay and what to do in such a short time? Consider it will be 5 of us toting our luggage and no clue of distance between port and air terminal or how to get from A to B.

 

Your input would be much appreciated. Thanks:)

 

Without some idea of your budget for rooms it is a bit difficult to give you much definitive advice, however Vancouver in the downtown core is quite expensive during the summer; you will be hard pressed to find anything much under $200 unless it is a promo. Some family type accommodation would be the Best Western Downtown on Drake St., the Sandman Inn on West Georgia, the Hampton Inn on Robson St. and to the west of the Hampton on Robson would be the Blue Horizon and the Pacific Palisades. There also have been some very good prices recently booked at the Hyatt Regency on Burrard St. thru Priceline, like at $150 all in. All of these hotels are in good and safe locations and would be a $15 cab fare or less from the cruise terminals; however given that there is 5 of you it is unlikely all would not all fit in one cab so you would probably be money ahead to take a limo. To go from your hotel to the airport is about a 35 min drive and your cab fare would be about $35 and add about $10 for a limo. Vancouver does have some van-cabs that you might all fit in but the number of them is finite.

We have a number of tour companies but here are 2 of the more popular.

www.vancouvertours.com/

www.vancouvertrolley.com/

[Urban trekker]

Involved with a different kind of boat this weekend - once again volunteering with the dragon boat races - locals and visitors alike come on down to Science World to take in the action - it's free - there's a concert in the park tonight and the grand finale tomorrow - if you have a few moments to spare take a walk along the newly opened promenade on south side - you can't miss it - it's by all the cranes where they are building the athletes' village for the 2010 games. It also looks like the weather will be favorable.

 

Hope to see some of you down there.

 

Cheers and have a great weekend.

 

Dennis