We are taking a roundtrip cruise out of Vancouver this Sept. on Holland America. I am having a horrible time finding decent flights into Vancouver from Nashville. The cheapest is $680 and that is with two stops. To fly into Seattle it is only $300. I have a tendency to think I may save a little money by choosing something or another and in the end it ends up costing more doing it that way. I'm wondering what people would recommend and if we are going to have a day or two on either side of the cruise schedule to be in one of the cities which would be better.
Thank you!

I most always fly into Seattle with a cruise out of Vancouver. Extremely simple to get between the two. You do need an overnight in Seattle or area prior to your cruise. You have several options for transfers, ship contracted buses, Quick Shuttle, one way rental cars- you need Seatac pick up and DOWNTOWN Vancouver drop off- you do not want Vancouver airport, Amtrak.

It's pretty easy finding reasonable airport hotels at Seatac. If driving, I most always stay in Bellingham Wa. 2 hours north of Seattle, and an easy am trip in Vancouver with time for some sightseeing.

Determine what may be your preference, and if you need more information, just repost.

Try flying Delta into Bellingham now. It is 20 miles (approx) south of the Canadian border, MUCH quieter than Seatac, and we are hoping Delta stays here so Horizon's flights become more reasonable

We did this last year. We flew into Seattle then stayed a few days to site see then we took the train from Seattle to Vancouver. After the trip we rented a car and drove back to Seattle. The train trip was very interesting and I thought fairly cheep. Pay for the up graded seats and you get to eat first in the dining car. The food was great and the scenery going to Vancouver was awsome. In Vancouver we went to Capilano Bridge It is a tree top adventure in a rainforest. It was really neat. We took their public transportation to ge there. Their public transportation included riding on a ferry across the bay. In Seattle we rode on a sailboat, saw the Museum of Flight,went to Tillicum Adventure ( I wouldn't recommend Tillicum ADventure) went to Pike Place, we used public transportation there and it wasn't difficult. We also avoided having to rent a car for any day but the day we came back from Vancouver. On our way back from Vancouver we visited things that you needed a car to see and we flew home the next day.

Though we embarked from Sea. we stayed there overnight B4 our cruise anyway. I was concerned about missing the boat as the earliest flight from ORD to SEA on the day of the departure gave us 4.5 hrs. lead time which could have been a problem with delays of any kind. There are many inexpensive hotels for one night which are available. I think its a good idea too. We actually stayed 3 days in Seattle post cruise as well though two would have been enough I think. Enjoy Alaska and bring binoculars. Also if you come upon reindeer sausage I'd take a pass.