Cruising from Seattle/Vancouver

[JasonL]

Hey yall, I live just south of Seattle Washington. I LOVE cruising and try to do a 7 night Caribbean once a year,  I would do more if I didn't live so far away. So, there are 2 cruise ports fairly close to drive to : Seattle(45 minutes) and Vancouver(4 hours). The sad part is, there aren't many cruises out of these ports except 7 night Alaska cruises. Alaska has a lot of similar scenery as Seattle though, and if I'm gonna take a week off I gonna fly somewhere warmer. It's way too expensive and long to fly to Florida for a short cruise. I would however love to do some 3-5 night cruises from one of my home ports. The problem with that..... there are hardly ever any available with RCCL. In fact, there are 0 that leave from Seattle in the next 2 years. I had told my wife before the new schedule was released that I was just gonna book every single weekend cruise from Seattle that was available because I think they are a great value for a weekend getaway. Well I did book every single one... which happens to be NONE. Sad! 

My second option is actually the main reason I'm posting this topic. Sailing out of Vancouver. 4 hours is annoying when Seattle is so close, but that's my only option. My lovely wife doesn't think it's worth driving to Vancouver with the border crossing and all that. Well, we could drive to drive to Seattle and take a 1 hour flight into Vancouver. It's still going to take the same amount of time to get there with checking in, security check and driving 30-45 minutes to the cruise port. This is all doable and although it's risky I could probably easily do this all the morning of the cruise. My wife doesn't love this option either just to do a short cruise out in our own backyard.

Being the Cruise addict that I am, I will not accept defeat! So I'm thinking about trying to make the journey to the port more exciting. I just thought of this so I'm still working out the logistics and would love any input from someone that has done this(or has a something to add to make it more fun). I have a feeling that I'm gonna be the trailblazer on this though as most of you are not from this area. So, my idea is to take a Seaplane from Seattle to Vancouver. They take off and land from a Lake or Sea and are small planes that I think would be pretty fun to fly in. I think it would make the anticipation of the flight more exciting that the headache that is normally encountered with the standard airport.Harbor Air Seaport actually lands right next door to the Cruise terminals, less than a 1/2 mile walk to the cruise pier. You are only allowed to have 25 lbs of luggage per ticket, but that should be pretty easy for a short summer cruise. The flight is about 1 hour 5 minutes and because it is a small terminal it requires less time before and after your flight. Still have to do customs on way back into the U.S. but I'm told this is a pretty quick and easy process.

Maybe this info is useful for someone else that wants to fly into Seattle, see the sites here then fly on an seaplane to a cruise leaving out of Vancouver. Could make for a fun excursion before or after the cruise?

[CGTLH]

Throwing this thought out as well, Amtrak. Think rail time might be the same as driving. But hey, you're not driving.

We did this after doing a south bound sailing on Radiance. While in my case we overnighted in Vancouver and then did the same in Seattle still think it was a pleasant ride.

[JasonL]

I'm an Idiot, I could fly to Florida for less. Ok I know why I'm the trailblazer on this. It's pretty spendy to fly on Seaplanes apparently. Would definitely have to consider it as a really expensive excursion.  Looks like about $1000 for both of us to fly round trip Lake Union to Vancouver($500 each)

[CGTLH]

26 minutes ago, JasonL said:

You are only allowed to have 25 lbs of luggage per ticket

Also the 25 pound luggage limit might be a challenge for many cruisers.

[arebee]

Did you look at the ones from California and Texas?  I flew into Vancouver a few months ago, getting through customs is a pain.

[twangster]

Oh to be a 4 hour drive to a cruise port.  Sounds heavenly.  

In Denver my access to cruise ports is far more restricted.  

The short cruise market in that area is tough.  Cruises have to have an international stop so from Seattle that’s Victoria or Vancouver.  Those are pretty much it.  After a weekend cruise they have to do something with the ship until the next weekend cruise with the same 2 ports available.   That’s why ships like Mariner alternate 3 then 4 night cruises.   Could they sell a 4 night cruise leaving Monday and returning Friday in Seattle?   Probably not.  Not week after week.  That’s why no cruise line offers them in that area.   

There is that Ovation 3 night in 2020.  Perhaps they are testing the water while repositioning the ship given the Hawaii leg.  The PVSA requires the Hawaii cruise originate or terminate in Canada.  Explorer had the same short cruises in the past, just not weekly.  Only shoulder season.  

[BTE]

Quote from twangster (Oh to be a 4 hour drive to a cruise port.  Sounds heavenly.)

Guess you better move to Florida  LOL   In reality unless you do live there (unless you're like my friend who drives 13-14 hrs every year for his cruise - I pass) it involves the added cost of flying. I've done the shorter cruises but for me if I'm going to fly I'd at least have to do a 5 day or longer cruise.