Vancouver Info if needed

[Jennifer31]

Hi

 

Well after my 12 try on priceline, I finally got a hotel in Vancouver, BC for after my cruise. Now, I am trying to figure out where it is at and how close is it to Ballyente pier and granville island. The hotel is Holliday inn- downtown broadway centre. How much is the taxi ride from the Ballyente pier to this hotel?

 

On another note, any good restaurants around Hyatt Regency for before my cruise.

 

Thanks

Jennifer

[ell52]

Hi

 

Well after my 12 try on priceline, I finally got a hotel in Vancouver, BC for after my cruise. Now, I am trying to figure out where it is at and how close is it to Ballyente pier and granville island. The hotel is Holliday inn- downtown broadway centre. How much is the taxi ride from the Ballyente pier to this hotel?

 

On another note, any good restaurants around Hyatt Regency for before my cruise.

For the first part of your question:

The Holiday Inn Vancouver Centre on Broadway is not actually downtown. It is south of the downtown core. You will definitely need a taxi to get there from the pier.

 

Granville Island is closer and you can either take a short taxi ride; or take westbound bus on Broadway, then either walk down Granville Street or transfer to a northbound bus on Granville. I'd just take a taxi for that short a distance.

 

Take a look at this site for --> Holiday Inn Vancouver Centre. It has a good active Google map that shows you where the hotel is, relative to the rest of the city.

 

Re: Hyatt Regency pre-cruise

There are lots of restaurants within easy walking distance of the hotel. If you walk up to Robson Street, there's literally a smorgasbord of every type and price range of restaurant. It really depends on what you're looking for.

 

.

[georgigirl]

Hello! We are arriving into Vancouver 7/26/07 for 2 nights prior to our cruise on Princess. Has anyone tried walking from Commercial Drive (at Penny's Place) down to the Canada Place Cruise Dock? With luggage is this too far, or is it just better to get a 5 mininute taxi ride?

 

What should I expect to pay for 5 people + luggage from the YVR Vancouver Airport to Commercial Drive to Penny's place for a Taxi. How much will the taxi be from Commercial Drive to the Canada Place Pier for 5 people and luggage?

 

Are there any suggestions for a ferry trip/tour to get over the Buschardt (spell?) gardens in Victoria with pick up and return to your hotel in Vancouver? Thanks so much! :)

[ell52]

Hello! We are arriving into Vancouver 7/26/07 for 2 nights prior to our cruise on Princess. Has anyone tried walking from Commercial Drive (at Penny's Place) down to the Canada Place Cruise Dock? With luggage is this too far, or is it just better to get a 5 mininute taxi ride?

 

What should I expect to pay for 5 people + luggage from the YVR Vancouver Airport to Commercial Drive to Penny's place for a Taxi. How much will the taxi be from Commercial Drive to the Canada Place Pier for 5 people and luggage?

 

Are there any suggestions for a ferry trip/tour to get over the Buschardt (spell?) gardens in Victoria with pick up and return to your hotel in Vancouver? Thanks so much! :)

It is way, way too far to walk from Commercial Drive to Canada Place! Please don't try it. The taxi ride will probably be closer to 10 - 15 minutes coming from Commercial Drive. Also, with 5 people plus luggage, make sure you call and pre-book a van taxi the day before. Otherwise, you'll end up having to take two taxis (double the cost).

 

My best guess for a taxi from the airport to Commercial Drive is around $35 - 40. It really depends on traffic and which route it takes. There are lots of road construction delays these days.

 

At the airport, again, request a van taxi. When you get out the door at YVR, you'll see a taxi queue just across the roadway. Find the taxi dispatcher and let him know you need a van for 5 people. He will call for one, if there isn't one already in the queue.

 

Taxi from Commercial to Canada Place - I have no idea.

 

For tours to Butchart Gardens, there are several tour/bus companies that do them. They usually pick up/drop off from downtown hotels, so don't know that you'd get one to Penny's Place -- unless you do a private tour.

[msapoch]

Georgigirl--

 

Will you be on the Sapphire Princess for your cruise. We are scheduled Sept. 5th. If that will be the ship you are on would love to communicate with you upon your return. I will send you my email if that is the case.

 

Madeleine

[gg3]

To Ell, Dam, Terpnut, Weathermom and everyone else who has come on this thread to give great advice: "THANK YOU SO MUCH". We just returned this past Sunday from our Vancouver RT on HAL Zuiderdam and had an absolutely fabulous time. Lets have a big round of applause for all you Canadians who go out of your way daily to help folks from other countries find our way around Vancouver, give us tips about weather, hotels, restaurants, places to sightsee, currency exchange, etc. We found the people in Vancouver to be absolutely delightful with a great love for their country and their city and willing to share it with us. Every time I stopped someone on the street for directions, they were so polite, so willing to help. We were impressed with your streets, homes, cleanliness of your city, government, traffic flow, shops, restaurants, and hotels. We stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront and the Pan Pacific. I can not begin to tell you how wonderful our room was at the Fairmont and what a fine staff they have there. They worked diligently to meet every request.......above and beyond, I thought. Again, thanks to all of you. We love Canada so much and it was tough returning to the 90 degree temps of Texas. gg

[ell52]

gg3, you're more than welcome. Glad you enjoyed your time here. :)

 

Did you ever get to The Sandbar on Granville Island? If you did, what form of transportation did you decide on?

 

ell

[Jennifer31]

Hi

 

Thank you for your help. I am glad to hear that Holliday inn- downtown broadway centre is near granville island.

 

Do you know how much the taxi ride is from the Ballyente pier to this hotel?

 

 

thanks

Jennifer

[gg3]

gg3, you're more than welcome. Glad you enjoyed your time here. :)

 

Did you ever get to The Sandbar on Granville Island? If you did, what form of transportation did you decide on?

 

ell

 

Ell - thank you for remembering and asking. We used the hop on, hop off, Big Bus, to tour Vancouver, so we ended our journey on it at Granville Island. Then we ate at the Sandbar and it was just wonderful, then took a taxi back to the Fairmont Waterfront. Again, thank you for all you help, Ell. gg

[Urban trekker]

"We're considering the Sunset Inn and Suites. Is this a good location for what we want to do? It looks like it would be an easy to walk to where we would catch a water taxi. Is the area fairly safe? Are there any nearby restaurants within walking distance of the hotel? And would it be safe to walk to them in the evening? How far of a walk would it be from the hotel to Stanley Park?"

 

If this is the place that i think it is - you are actually staying at an older apartment building that has been converted into hotels/suites - is it on Burnaby St - if so you are in the heart of the West End of Vancouver and one block away from Davie Street Village - lot's of good eateries there - including one of the best Greek places anywhere - Stephos - there is usually at least one hour line-ups to get in and that is on a slow night.

 

You are about three block downhill to catch the water taxi over to Granville Island - the area is safe - there are panhandlers everywhere in the downtown core - just ignore them and don't start a conversation and you will be fine - walking at night is fine as there is street traffic 24/7 on Davie - it's one of those streets that never seems to sleep - I am about 3 blocks away from it so i can attest to that - depending on part of Stanley Park you want to see you have about a one mile walk - what you might want to do is walk into the entrance of the Park by Second Beach - you should see a sign for the free hop on hop off bus that runs in the Park every 30 minutes.

 

Here's a link to a web site on the Downtown/West end core of the city:

 

http://www.englishbay.com It has listings of just about everything in the area.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[georgigirl]

Hi Madeleine, We are on Princess leaving 7/28/07. Yes, it's the same ship and yes, feel free to write for my review. We are excited as it's for our 25th wedding anniversary and for our 50th birthdays! We are traveling with my inlaws, and our 14 year old (5). Staying in Vancouver was an added bonus for all of us. We found a great B&B with friendly and helpful staff on Commercial Drive. It's a 25 min. or so trip from the airport, but then just 5-7 min to the dock from what I was told.

 

I'd like to find some sort of trip where they pick us up on Commercial drive, and go to the gardens in Victoria and then back to the B&B. I've looked around and due to there being a lot involved (ferry, taxi, etc.) it seems a little steep. Anyone have ideas on this?

 

Take care! Georgi

[weathermom]

Hi Georgi

Commercial drive is sort of off the beaten track - I wouldn't expect any tour operators to make their way that far east of the main core - especially with the traffice this summer.

I would expect that any tour operator that would pick you up would need to charge a fair amount extra. If you want to save a few dollars your best bet is to rent a car for a couple of days - then you won't have the hassles of trying to get a taxi & take yourselves over to the island (the ferry is ~$40 one way for the car & ~$11 per passenger (one way) Butchart Gardens is $25 per person

[Cruise Dreams]

Thanks so much for your reply, Urban Trekker!! You've been an enormous help. I can't wait to explore your city.

[Firinggirl]

Hi Shoppie! We are cruising out of Vancouver Sept. 14 on the summit! My mother and Father in-law are also going with us. Could you tell me where a nice place to stay? She needs a wheelchair sometimes and thinking the closer we are to Canada Place the better we would be but, everything seems a little expensive. Should we stay close to the airport and get a taxi to the ship the next day? Please any help would be very helpful!

[dixiesmama]

I am going to Alaska next June. We are going 2 days early so we can spend some time in Vancouver.

We are also going to book our hotel ourselves instead of going through the cruiseline.

I would like to know where you would suggest staying that is not only close to the airport but also close to the cruiseline dock.

Maybe you could suggest also what to do in Vancouver

Thank you very much

 

Gwen

gigi0820@comcast.net

[Terpnut]

I am going to Alaska next June. We are going 2 days early so we can spend some time in Vancouver.

We are also going to book our hotel ourselves instead of going through the cruiseline.

I would like to know where you would suggest staying that is not only close to the airport but also close to the cruiseline dock.

Maybe you could suggest also what to do in Vancouver

Thank you very much

 

Gwen

gigi0820@comcast.net

Vancouver has two cruise terminals-- Canada Place and Ballantyne--so you need to first know which one you are sailing out of. Both cruise terminals are downtown and thus not near the airport so decide which is more important: saving money to stay near the airport or being close to downtown and various attractions. As you will be there a couple days early, I would stay downtown--there is lots to do there. I strongly recommend you do your homework and read through all the various Vancouver threads as most of the ideas and suggestions you are looking for have been answered/covered before.

[ArtyFarty]

Hi :)

We will be arriving in Vancouver on the 19th Sept and we are wondering what time the shops close and what time does it start to get dark. We will be at our hotel, 'Holiday Inn Downtown' probably around 4ish from the airport and are thinking of walking over to Granville Island to have a look around and have some tea.

:confused:

[roothy123]

Just wanted to check a couple things: It's no longer possible to get a credit on lodging tax paid by non-Canadian residents, right? That 17% (or whatever it is) tax is a killer! Also, if anyone has driven through the Peace Arch border crossing, are wait times reasonable? Does it matter much what time you hit the border? We are thinking of coming through early in the morning (maybe by 7) - assume that's a reasonably light time? (I know it depends greatly on when everyone decides to come, so obviously is variable, but......)

 

Comment on hotels: We are staying at the Blue Horizon on Robson. It's a bit of a splurge (will end up being close to $200 with our choice of being on the upper level, plus tax is added) but this hotel looks to be quite interesting in terms of views. There are big picture windows on two sides of the room (I believe all rooms are corner rooms) and I think there are little balconies on all rooms as well.

[maccruiser22]

The Peace Arch waiting time can go from 20min to 2hours going southbound into the US. There is never really a good time to cross, expect waits. Going into Canada is not too bad but can get just as busy.

[sultan_sfo]

Starting at Canada Place and walking toward Robson St. (on Howe or any parallel street), is it level, uphill, or downhill? We need to go with carry-ons to Helmcken & Hornby. Would a cab driver be annoyed at the short distance if we took a cab from Pan Pacific? We would arrive on a cruise./Sultan

[roothy123]

The Peace Arch waiting time can go from 20min to 2hours going southbound into the US. There is never really a good time to cross, expect waits. Going into Canada is not too bad but can get just as busy.

 

Thanks. Guess I'll need to allow plenty of time and hope for the best!

[ell52]

Starting at Canada Place and walking toward Robson St. (on Howe or any parallel street), is it level, uphill, or downhill? We need to go with carry-ons to Helmcken & Hornby. Would a cab driver be annoyed at the short distance if we took a cab from Pan Pacific? We would arrive on a cruise./Sultan

It is uphill from Canada Place to Robson Street. I wouldn't worry about the cab driver. The cabbies do these short runs every time a cruise ship docks. Lots of people take a cab from the pier to their hotels (most of them in downtown).

 

Besides which, I think walking with luggage to Helmcken & Hornby is too far to do comfortably.

[sultan_sfo]

Thanks for your quick and precise response. /Sultan

 

 

It is uphill from Canada Place to Robson Street. I wouldn't worry about the cab driver. The cabbies do these short runs every time a cruise ship docks. Lots of people take a cab from the pier to their hotels (most of them in downtown).

 

Besides which, I think walking with luggage to Helmcken & Hornby is too far to do comfortably.

[ell52]

You're welcome. :)

[scarlett1]

First, your comments are amazing so thank you, in advance, for all your insights. We'll be staying in VC for 4 days after our cruise. We have a 9 year old, a few older relatives and another family with us who have children.

 

For the kids, we know about the science museum, Granville Island, IMAX, and the aquarium. We're staying at the Four Seasons. What else would kids like to do? We love the idea of taking the trolley that drops you on and off all day and we plan on doing the trolley in Stanley Park so we can acclimate ourselves to the Park.

 

We will be taking a whale watch in Juneau but I can't get enough of the Orcas, as I'm from the east coast and we don't have any of them here. Would a whale watch be a good idea and do you know of any good companies?

 

Thanks, again.