vancover, bc help

[love2trip]

can someone give me additional info on getting from Vancover, bc back to Virginia ? How about a nice Hotel in Vancou ver in April with good rates. thx

[Putterdude]

I really can't help you with how to get from Vancouver to Virginia as the one time that I have done it I flew out of Seattle and a lot of people do that as it is more expensive to fly out of Vancouver. There are several way to get to Seattle post cruise, one is to rent a car and drive, another is to go via Amtrak and the other is to go with Quick Shuttle.

Hotels in Vancouver in the height of the cruise season are very expensive but should not be too bad in April with advanced booking. This year we have seen sub $150 rates at the Hyatt Regency, the Blue Horizon, Pacific Palisades, the Sandman Inn on W. Georgia and Best Western-Downtown on Drake St.

May I suggest that you come over to the West Coast Departures and the Canada boards where there is a lot of information and a number of Vancouverites who will be happy to help you.

[Monty'sMum]

Vancouver hotel prices are quite high in general as the downtown/waterfront hotels attract alot of business travellers and host alot of conferences and conventions.

 

Definitely book as far ahead as possible to lock in your room. Any good chain will change your reservation if the price drops closer to the time, you just need to call them if you see them advertising a lower price for the dates you've booked.

 

As well, if you're travelling with your family or alot of luggage, a number of the hotels near the cruise ship terminal offer packages including luggage transfers.

 

As the other poster mentioned, better pricing may be found flying into Seattle. Otherwise, depending on where you are in Virginia, some of the major carriers will have connecting flights to Vancouver.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

We have done several cruises from Vancouver.

 

Living in PA we have found that it is much better and cheaper to go from Vancouver to Seattle and stay at a hotel at SeaTac before flying home the next morning.

[avcruz]

Definitely go by coach, rail or car rental to Seattle & fly out of SeaTac. As for hotels, if you are a AAA member you can use the services of the local auto club to find member rates on hotels in downtown Vancouver. April is still shoulder season and prices will be elevated, but not as high as July. try triple w dot bcaa dot com.

[Fredr]

can someone give me additional info on getting from Vancover, bc back to Virginia ? How about a nice Hotel in Vancou ver in April with good rates. thx

 

Hello,

 

Some ideas for you...

 

While hotels in downtown Vancouver are very expensive, consider renting a car after your cruise, spend a day or two days seeing Vancouver, and either return the car to Seattle's airport or to Vancouver's airport and fly home. The only downside to renting a car in Vancouver and returning it to Seattle, is the border crossing can take a long time and traffic is always heavy in the Seattle area.

 

With a car, you can find less expensive but nice hotels in the greater Vancouver area (and this is not a large geographical area). You will also have a car for exploring Stanley Park, and maybe a drive up to Whistler.

 

There are some nice hotels in Richmond, which is a very pleasant residential and commercial area not far from the Vancouver airport.

 

Also, the bus system that serve the Seattle and Vancouver airports and cruise terminals is a very good system. In 2006 we paid $50.00 per sperson one way and it was well worth it.

 

Hope that this helps,

 

 

Fred

[Happy ks]

I'd first check the air rates before doing all the extra travel between Seattle and Vancouver, unless we were saving a heck of a lot of money, we would not want the extra 3 hours each way travel time. But then again, I hate car trips (why I like cruising :) ) and I especially don't care much for the extra travel hours if we can avoid it.

 

The last time we were in Vancouver in April 2006, we Pricelined a room and got the Hyatt close to the port for $85 plus tax. Our airfare was slightly higher, I think around $100 less per person from Seattle to LAX, so if you counted in around $40 each for transportation to Seattle, we only spent around $35 more, plus hotel tax and dinner, to fly out of Vancouver. We spent an extra lovely day in the city and flew out early the next morning, the airport is about a 30 minute cab ride from the downtown area.

 

We all have our price point and I do realize that airfare can vary depending on what region you are flying to/from. So, you have to decide at what point the savings is worth it to you to travel all the way to Seattle and back.