HAL transfer from Seattle to Vancouver

[Marjeanne]

This is our first cruise on HAL.. 9/20 Alaska on the Volendam..

I do have a question that I hope someone can answer...we are arranging our own air transportation...which we have done for all our prior cruises..

We are an hour and 40 minute direct flight from Sacramento to Seattle, however if we fly to Vancouver it is a 6 hour flight because of stops and layovers AND is $500.00 more..

I called HAL and they informed me that they did offer transportation from Seattle to Vancouver... Has anyone used this service?? I am assuming a HAL rep will meet us at the airport..

Thanks...

[boot]

We did the Seattle to Vancouver bus transfer a couple of years ago. It was about a 3 1/2 hour trip, but could be longer depending on the line-up at the border.

[Marjeanne]

Boots thanks so much for the info.. I am scheduling our plane to arrive at 8:45 a.m. as I am aware that it is a 3 or more hour ride...I just hope we aren't waiting at the airport too long...

We did this when on the Mercury many years ago, and it worked out great..

Thanks again Marjeanne

[HALOnlyCruiser]

Hi Marjeanne!

The transfer from Seattle to Vancouver is pretty and painless. They take your luggage at a desk by baggage claim (look for the Hal Gal in a red blazer holding a HAL sign at baggage claim...tell her you have a Vancouver transfer and she'll direct you to the right desk), and you don't have to mess with it again until you unpack in your cabin. The buses leave pretty regularly, unless you get the "straggler" bus, as we did! The trip is about 3 hours, with one rest stop outside of Bellingham. The border crossing usually goes pretty fast, except two years ago we were detained for quite a while because a lady was traveling with an adopted toddler from China, and it vexed the Immigration officials no end.:) We didn't leave Seattle until way past 2:00, but since it's a HAL transfer, the ship had to wait for us (and it did). We missed the lifeboat drill and had to go to "Remedial Drill" at 9:00AM the next day. The ship ended up sailing after 6:00. But the point is, they waited for us. To my way of thinking, it was well worth saving $500 and hours of "terminal time". I think the going rate is about $50 pp each way. If you plan to take the transfer back from Vancouver, I would book a flight as late in the day as I could. Sometimes you're off the ship by 9:00, and sometimes it's 10:30. Usually they put Seattle transfers pretty early in the disembarkation, but I would still try for a flight after 3:00PM at the earliest. Hope this helps! Have a great time.......Alaska in September is very pretty and way less crowded!

[cruisequeen10]

If you are taking the bus from Seattle to Vancouver, just make sure you are aware that it takes approximately 3 hours to get here. You wouldn't want to miss the ship.

[Janet S.]

Is this transfer available if we arrive a day before the cruise? Can we take the transfer from the Seattle Airport to a HAL hotel for the one-night stay?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have taken HAL's transfers from Seattle to Vancouver. The bus will leave around 10 AM from SEATAC and stop at any hotels in downtown Seattle before it continues to Vancouver depending on the number of people staying at the hotels. We arrived at the ship anywhere from 2 - 4 PM (all depends on traffic and if the bus has to stop at the hotels. Going into Canada from US is very quick.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Janet S

 

We always fly into Seattle early and even this year we wanted to go to Vancouver early - but HAL will not transport anyone to Vancouver until the day the ship leaves being as very few people like to do this and it is costly to HAL to run a bus with only a few people on it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Are you going to be using HAL's transfers to get back to Seattle to fly home?

 

If so, what time is your flight?

 

I hope it is after 3 PM!!!

[Marjeanne]

Thank all of you for all your replies..

You have helped me so much and Halonlycruiser, you answered all my questions...

I am now looking forward to the cruise and not having to worry about getting to the ship on time...

Even tho we are veteran cruisers using a new cruise line can be a bit intimidating...but I know we will enjoy sailing on HAL..can hardly wait..

Scheduled our return for 4:45 so we should be just fine...

Thanks again... Jeanne

[luvcruisn']

For those wanting to come to Vancouver a day before their cruise, there is a bus called Quick Shuttle that runs from SeaTac Airport to Vancouver. There are about 4 departures per day from the airport, the schedule is online at the Quick Shuttle website. It only goes to the cruise terminals on Saturdays, but it does go to some of the downtown Vancouver hotels on each run, and one can get a cab after that to wherever you want to go.

[luvcruisn']

Just went back to the Quick Shuttle website, and found that there are 6 departures daily from SeaTac, with seven on Saturdays & Sundays during the summer season. The ones that arrive in the early afternoon in Vancouver also go to the cruise terminals.

[garydm]

We have done this both ways from Sacramento. The most miserable time of my life was the 4-5 hour bus ride from SeaTac to Vancouver for a Princess Cruise. We had to get up at about 4 am to make the flight out so all we wanted to do was relax and sleep on the bus. The driver did not stop talking for the entire trip over a PA system on the bus. Horrible. And, he stopped at all the downtown Seattle hotels to pick up passengers on the way. Coming back can be as long as 5-6 hours depending on the backup at the border.

 

The next time, we flew into Vancouver via SeaTac and it was wonderful. At that time it was only about $100 more but now it is much more as you point out.

 

Good luck!

 

Gary

[Stevesan]

If you're overnighting in Vancouver, why not rent a car at Seatac and drop off in Vancouver? It's a short drive through great scenery and you'll have a vehicle to tool around in while in Vancouver.

 

It was a couple years ago, but I rented a full size Buick for @$120 each way. For a short trip, I much prefer the independence and reliability of driving myself and not being a slave to train or bus schedules.

The major rental companies in that locale are very accustomed to dealing with one way rentals.