Transportation from Vancouver to Seattle
 

Our cruise ship docks in Vancouver - we found out the shuttle doesn't leave for Seattle until 9am - our plane leaves from Seattle at 1:55pm. We are thinking with the border crossing, we are not going to make it. Any suggestions on getting from Vancouver to Seattle sooner.

is it the cruise ship shuttle? if so, you may be ok--my understanding is that those shuttles are cleared by customs/immigration in advance and "sealed" so they don't have to stop at the border. if that's the case and the bus has a way around any line up at the border, then you should be at the airport by 12:30 pm or so which should be fine for your flight.

otherwise, i'd look into flights between vancouver and seattle.

Thanks for that information - I was unaware of it. It makes me feel a little more comfortable. I really don't want the added expense of a flight from Vancouver to Seattle!

i would check with the cruise line to see if that's the case with your particular shuttle--or ask about it on cruisecritic.com

What time does the cruise ship actually dock? And what time would you expect to be off the ship? You are arriving Vancouver the same morning as your flight out of Seattle in the early afternoon?

I'm not aware of any cruise transfer buses that get to skip the border now. The cruise lines have a "US Direct" option for persons flying out of Vancouver airport immediately on arriving (since one pre-clears US border formalities at YVR airport anyway) but AFAIK this doesn't apply to any buses (and BTW it doesn't apply either at Tijuana for pax disembarking at Ensenada and going to San Diego airport.)

For the OP, assuming you're arriving on a weekend, I think the chances of making a 1:55 plane are pretty slim, and at best you will be nervous wrecks.

Working backward, from Canada Place to the border is around 45 - 50 min under good circumstances, then from the border to Sea-Tac is right around 2 1/2 hours, again, assuming minimal traffic (which on weekends in Seattle is a heroic assumption.) On weekend cruise days, Sea-Tac is a zoo in the early afternoon (cruise pax from boats docking in Seattle trying to make the same planes) so I'd budget at least an hour, more like 90 min. to go through the hoops at SEA.

So adding that up you're right around 4 1/2 to 5 hours not counting border wait. If the bus leaves at 9, five hours is 2 PM, meaning you'd have to have <i>zero</i> wait at the border, plus wide open city streets in both Vancouver and Seattle.

I'm willing to bet that the cost of a flight out of Vancouver to Seattle is cheaper than the cost of the bus <i>plus</i> the cost of a replacement flight if you miss yours.

You might talk to your airline and see what the change fees etc. would be to move your reservation to a later flight, or even to fly straight out of Vancouver in the first place.

But I could be wrong - check with the cruise line if this is a transfer being purchased from them.

It's a 3 hour drive, Seattle/Vancouver even at the best of situations, racing down the freeway, with no delays at the border. I hope I'm missing something, but I just don't see how this can work.

gardyloo, you may be right--i'm basing my information on user reports i read on cruisecritic by posters who said they traveled on a "sealed" (their term, meaning precleared by us immigration) bus operated by the cruise line from vancouver to seattle. but even if that's the case, traffic could still sink them.