Alaska~Flying into SEA or Vancouver??

[P.A.]

We have an Alaskan cruise planned for June of 08. We're from Oklahoma and not sure if we should fly into Seattle or Vancouver. Our cruise port is Vancouver. I know the flights will probably be a bit more pricey flying into Vancouver, but, it might price out the same by flying into SEA then taking other means of transportation over to Vancouver.

 

We will fly in a day early no matter where we fly into. We already have our hotel confirmed for Vancouver the night before. Your thoughts on this and if you've done one or the other before. Would really like to hear from someone from Oklahoma that has done this.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[missty]

We flew into Vancouver a couple days before. Beautiful city! We got a great flight from LAX that was only maybe $50.00 - 75.00 more then to SEA. Worked out great for us.

[P.A.]

Just checked and if I were booking a flight today I would pay $981 RT per person from OKC to Vancouver and that is discounted OR $365 from OKC to SEA RT per person. So BIG difference! I'm positive I can get a good price on SW from OKC to SEA (used to work for them), but not so cheap into Vancouver. Ugh! :(

[greatam]

Numerous ways to get to Vancouver from Seattle. Rental car (one way), shuttle, or train. The train ride is ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR in the daytime. There is only one train, although 4 Amtrak buses daily. Book via Amtrak.com. You would probably have to spend the night in Seattle, as the train leaves at 7:40AM.

 

Very doable idea and should save more than enough to pay for transport AND hotel. Please go to the Alaska board for more info.

[notentirelynormal]

There are a few other considerations. Number one is that Seattle is about 150 miles from Vancouver. Seattle traffic can be awful depending on the time of day so the drive can quite a bit longer due to that. And if the weather is bad, that will add to the commute time as well. Once north of Seattle though its not a bad drive. Then you get to the Canadian border. Depending on the time you go through, the day and any number of things crossing the border can either be done in 5 minutes or 1 or 2 hours in line. Don't get me wrong, its worth the drive if you want to see the scenery (I've done it probably 200 times) BUT you do need to figure in all those factors. I've done it in a couple of hours and I've done it in 5 or 6 hours.

 

I was born in Vancouver and live in Los Angeles and I go back a lot. Personally, I would fly into Vancouver and see the city. It's beautiful and you can spend a few days there and only scratch the surface and you won't be tired when you get there.

 

If you do decide to fly into Seattle, there is also a bus service from Seattle to Vancouver.

[Cruise Junky]

The border line Ups lately have been absolutely insane...at least two hours in each direction every time they update them. If you can swing it, I'd fly into Vancouver.

[JohnL1935]

When we did Alaska 2 years ago I purposely booked our cruise out of Seattle because of the big difference in airfare. We stayed an extra day before and after in Seattle, had beautiful weather and had some great outdoor seafood at the restaurants right on the water. The difference in airfare paid for our mini vacation in Seattle. Our hotel provided free shuttle service all over the city and even took us to the ship when departing. I can see no advantage to leaving from Vancouver unless you were visiting friends there or doing it for an extended vacation. We were on Princess Diamond and its sister ship, the Saphire, departed from Vancouver.

 

John L.

[loverofcruises]

When we did Alaska 2 years ago I purposely booked our cruise out of Seattle because of the big difference in airfare. We stayed an extra day before and after in Seattle, had beautiful weather and had some great outdoor seafood at the restaurants right on the water. The difference in airfare paid for our mini vacation in Seattle. Our hotel provided free shuttle service all over the city and even took us to the ship when departing. I can see no advantage to leaving from Vancouver unless you were visiting friends there or doing it for an extended vacation. We were on Princess Diamond and its sister ship, the Saphire, departed from Vancouver.

 

John L.

Where did you stay in Seattle? We are planning for 2008 and have no clue about planning for extra days. thanks

[mahdnc]

We have an Alaskan cruise planned for June of 08. We're from Oklahoma and not sure if we should fly into Seattle or Vancouver. Our cruise port is Vancouver. I know the flights will probably be a bit more pricey flying into Vancouver, but, it might price out the same by flying into SEA then taking other means of transportation over to Vancouver.

 

We will fly in a day early no matter where we fly into. We already have our hotel confirmed for Vancouver the night before. Your thoughts on this and if you've done one or the other before. Would really like to hear from someone from Oklahoma that has done this.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

One other point to consider is that Vancouver is a very beautiful city. If you are staying one night there before the cruise, it would be to your advantage to fly to Vancouver directly which will allow you to spend more time checking out the city instead of being on the road/rail getting there. However if the extra cost for flying to Vancouver is too great, then I guess that does not matter.

[JohnL1935]

Loverofcruises: We stayed at Silver Cloud at Lake Union. It is a bit out of the way from downtown but they had 2 vans taking people to/from and generally they were quite prompt on pick-up when you would call. Another fun event was the tour on the "Ducks". They even went for a boat ride into Lake Union and the driver talked about many of the "houses" on the lake. Next year we have a spring event in Portland and we will spend a few days in Seattle. It was a fun place to visit. In case no one tells you or that it hasn't changed, the bus service is free in the downtown bus zone. This is convenient when you run out of steam from walking all the hills.

 

John L.

[DaveFr]

Just checked and if I were booking a flight today I would pay $981 RT per person from OKC to Vancouver and that is discounted OR $365 from OKC to SEA RT per person. So BIG difference! I'm positive I can get a good price on SW from OKC to SEA (used to work for them), but not so cheap into Vancouver. Ugh! :(

Pam,

 

I just did a price check for OKC to YVR (Vancouver) RT for departure on June 14, 2008 and return on June 22, 2008. Frontier had one-stop flights (through Denver) that were $477 pp RT. IMHO, a price difference of $112 pp makes flying into Vancouver a reasonable possibility.

 

Your fare might differ slightly depending on what days you're flying. You should check it out.

[P.A.]

Pam,

 

I just did a price check for OKC to YVR (Vancouver) RT for departure on June 14, 2008 and return on June 22, 2008. Frontier had one-stop flights (through Denver) that were $477 pp RT. IMHO, a price difference of $112 pp makes flying into Vancouver a reasonable possibility.

 

Your fare might differ slightly depending on what days you're flying. You should check it out.

 

 

Thanks Dave for that info! I checked Frontier this morning and for the dates we are traveling it was $577 (I think or $566). We are leaving on a Friday so I know that day is more expensive to travel. Little cheaper to leave on Thurs but doesn't pay to do that because of the extra night of hotel.

 

However I did check some other airlines the other day and did get a $400 something ($450??). Just not sure whether to book airfare now or wait. Hoping it will come down some between now and first of the year. We have 10 more months til travel.

 

Thanks again for your efforts! :)

[P.A.]

When we did Alaska 2 years ago I purposely booked our cruise out of Seattle because of the big difference in airfare. We stayed an extra day before and after in Seattle, had beautiful weather and had some great outdoor seafood at the restaurants right on the water. The difference in airfare paid for our mini vacation in Seattle. Our hotel provided free shuttle service all over the city and even took us to the ship when departing. I can see no advantage to leaving from Vancouver unless you were visiting friends there or doing it for an extended vacation. We were on Princess Diamond and its sister ship, the Saphire, departed from Vancouver.

 

John L.

 

Yes John we did consider that...a cruise out of SEA, but the itinerary out of Vancouver suited us more. I'm begining to wonder though if we made a mistake.