Princess transfer from Seattle to Vancouver

[K8sMom]

Has anyone taken the bus transfer offered by Princess from Seattle to Vancouver? If so, how long did it take? What time did the bus get back to Seattle on the return trip from Vancouver?

[HockeyBoysMom]

We took the Princess transfer from Vancouver to Seattle this past week. I would guess it would be about the same both ways. It took us about 3 hours, including US customs and a short stop at a rest area to stretch. I don't know how it always is, but our bus was not crowded at all and we were able to sit one person per set of seats, so we could stretch out and relax. The bus driver did a little commentary on local sights, but I didn't pay much attention, as I am live in between Seattle and Vancouver and am very familiar with the area. The luggage was loaded onto the bus and we just collected it at the terminal once we arrived. The whole process was very easy. The most difficult part was waiting to get on the bus after disembarkation. Apparently there was some confusion as we kept being called and then not loaded onto a bus. Once we finally got on, it was smooth sailing.

Dusty

[HockeyBoysMom]

Sorry, we got back to Seattle at about 1:00pm from Vancouver. We disembarked at about 8:00am and then waited for awhile to get on the bus. I would guess we got on the bus around 9:30.

Dusty

[K8sMom]

Thanks for the information. We will probably fly into and back out of Seattle. Going in May of next year on a back-to-back - Vancouver to Whittier and back to Vancouver.

[alaswhales]

We did the bus transfer from Seattle to Vancouver to get on the Sapphire in June, and it was also about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. We were lucky. When we stopped at the rest area, we all got back on the bus and our driver, Leon, was bummin' that another bus left before us.. He told us how he wanted to be in front of that bus, so we wouldn't have to wait forever at customs........Well, we don't know why, but when we pulled the bus into the customs area for busses, they had us stop in front of the building. Just then, the door to the other bus in front of us opened and they had EVERYBODY get off the bus and go inside. An agent came up to our bus and asked from street level if we all had our paperwork filled out. We did, and Leon walked down the bus picking them up. He handed them to the agent, who never even put a foot up onto the bus, and he said "have a nice day" and allowed us to go. Now, we all clapped and cheered as we pulled away, telling Leon that is was a good thing that we were behind that bus!!! He said he has never, in all the years he has been doing this route, had that happen! I can only imagine how much extra time that would have added to the trip. We just went northbound, so that is it from me. ;)

Hope you get Leon, he was a funny guy. Knows a LOT about the area also!

[judynorth]

We had a similar experience at the Canadian border going to Vancouver - no wait at all and no agent boarding. My biggest hint, though, is that the time that you are given for your transfer isn't etched in stone. When ever you arrive at the airport you can get on the next available bus. We were staying in Seattle and went to the airport to catch our 12:30 PM bus and found out that we could have come at any time to catch the bus. If I had known that, we would have been at the airport at 8 AM. Boarding the ship last May was a horrible experience (some people had as much as a 5 hour wait) but they have taken care of those problems now and from what I hear, the waits are much shorter. One of our party had recently had bypass surgery so we were able to board the ship without waiting and it took less than an hour to go through customs and checkin.