Guides
Vancouver cruise guides
The schedule tells you when to sail. These guides cover the rest: getting to Canada Place from YVR or from Seattle, parking, hotels the night before, passports and US preclearance, and where each route goes, from Alaska to Hawaii and Asia. Each one lists its sources and the date we last checked them.
Canada Place cruise terminal: where Vancouver cruises leave from
All 749 sailings on our schedule leave from the Canada Place cruise terminal at 999 Canada Place, on the downtown Vancouver waterfront beside Waterfront station. Cars go in by the ramp at the foot of Howe Street, and the port says bag drop opens between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. on sailing day. After check-in and security screening you clear U.S. Customs and Border Protection inside the terminal, the last step before you board.
Updated 2026-11-04
Vancouver cruise parking: Canada Place parkade rates and other lots
The Port of Vancouver sends cruise passengers to the Canada Place parkade, under the cruise terminal and run by Indigo. Long-term parking there cost C$74.50 a day in Canadian dollars when we checked Indigo's cruise parking page on 4 November 2026, at the pay stations or booked ahead, plus fees if you book. Indigo also sells cruise parking at three downtown garages for C$50 to C$60 a day. Indigo says cruise parkers must use P2, where the height limit is 205 cm (6 ft 9 in).
Updated 2026-11-04
Hotels near Canada Place: where to stay before a Vancouver cruise
Pan Pacific Vancouver is the closest hotel to the Canada Place cruise terminal: it is inside Canada Place, above the terminal, and its cruise package lists a direct elevator to it. Fairmont Waterfront, across the road, is a 3-minute walk, and all 13 downtown hotels here are within 18 minutes on foot. None of the 18 lists a cruise shuttle. For a late flight, five hotels at or near YVR airport are 25 to 31 minutes from the terminal by car.
Updated 2026-11-04
YVR to Canada Place: Vancouver airport to the cruise terminal
TransLink's Canada Line runs from YVR-Airport station to Waterfront station, next to the Canada Place cruise terminal, in 27 minutes with no change of train. When we checked TransLink on 4 November 2026, an adult tap fare from the airport was C$11.60 on weekdays before 6:30 p.m. and C$10.00 in the evening and at weekends, including the C$6.50 airport AddFare. A taxi from YVR to the Canada Place and downtown zone was C$46 on YVR's fare map that day, and the port's flat taxi fare back to the airport was C$42.
Updated 2026-11-04
Seattle to Vancouver for a cruise: drive, train, bus or fly
Canada Place is about 144 miles from downtown Seattle by I-5 and Highway 99, roughly three hours of driving before the wait at the Peace Arch or Pacific Highway border crossing. Amtrak Cascades runs two trains a day from Seattle's King Street Station to Vancouver's Pacific Central Station, and Quick Shuttle and FlixBus run buses from SeaTac airport, with one Quick Shuttle departure on its summer 2027 timetable stopping at Canada Place. Flying from SEA to YVR and taking the Canada Line SkyTrain is the other way in.
Updated 2026-11-04
Do you need a passport to cruise from Vancouver?
If you fly in, yes: Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity all ask U.S. citizens who fly to Vancouver for a passport book. If you drive or take the train, CBP also takes a passport card or an enhanced driver's license. A round trip from Vancouver is not a closed-loop cruise, so the U.S. birth certificate rule does not cover it, and you go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Canada Place before you board.
Updated 2026-11-04
Alaska cruises from Vancouver: routes, glaciers and round trips
Most cruises leaving Vancouver go to Alaska, between April and September, and most of them last seven nights. Round trips sail the Inside Passage to towns such as Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway and come back to Canada Place. One-way trips sail north and end in Whittier or Seward, the two cruise ports on the railway to Anchorage. We group them by glacier: Glacier Bay (323 sailings), Hubbard Glacier (136), Endicott Arm (79), Tracy Arm (40) and other routes (89).
Updated 2026-11-04
One-way Alaska cruises from Vancouver to Seward, Whittier and Anchorage
One-way Alaska cruises from Vancouver sail north, most of them for seven nights, and end at Whittier or Seward, the two cruise ports on the railway to Anchorage. Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and Regent end at Whittier; our schedule lists Princess's trips as ending in Anchorage, but Princess says its ships dock at Whittier. Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Silversea, Viking and Explora Journeys end at Seward. From either port you take a train, a bus or the line's transfer to Anchorage, then fly home or start a land tour to Denali.
Updated 2026-11-04
Small ship and luxury Alaska cruises from Vancouver, compared
Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Seven Seas, Explora Journeys, Viking, Oceania and Azamara sail to Alaska from Vancouver on ships of 392 to 1,250 guests by the lines' own figures (Explora gives none), against 3,660 for Discovery Princess. Most of their trips are one-way north to Seward, Whittier or Juneau, and their fares cover more of the trip, such as drinks, Wi-Fi and, on most, gratuities. Viking and Virgin Voyages take no one under 18. A 7-night Seabourn trip started at $6,498 per person on 4 November 2026, against $631 for the cheapest 7-night Glacier Bay cruise.
Updated 2026-11-04
Cruises from Vancouver to Hawaii: round trips and one-ways to Honolulu
Our schedule has 12 cruises from Vancouver to Hawaii, from 7 April 2027 to 23 September 2028. Holland America and Princess sell 16- and 17-night round trips, other lines sell one-way trips of 9 to 11 nights that end in Honolulu, and a few longer voyages carry on to California. On the lines' own itineraries we read, the crossing takes five days at sea. On 4 November 2026 fares started at $905 per person, taxes and port fees included.
Updated 2026-11-04
Repositioning cruises from Vancouver to California, Mexico and Japan
Repositioning cruises from Vancouver are one-way voyages that take ships south or west when the Alaska season ends, and a few short ones in spring. Our schedule has 33 down the coast to Seattle, Los Angeles and San Diego, 28 across the North Pacific to Japan and Hong Kong, and more to Hawaii, through the Panama Canal and to the South Pacific and South America. Most leave in September and October. On 4 November 2026 the coastal trips started at $109 per person, taxes and port fees included.
Updated 2026-11-04
3-day cruises from Vancouver, BC, and every other trip under a week
Our schedule has 27 cruises from Vancouver shorter than a week, from 23 April 2027 to 9 October 2028. Most are one-way trips of 1 to 6 nights down the coast to Seattle, Los Angeles or San Diego in spring and autumn, so you travel home from there. The others are 4- to 6-night Alaska trips, most of them round trips. For most lines the shortest Alaska round trip is 7 nights. On 4 November 2026 the trips under a week started at $109 per person, taxes and port fees included.
Updated 2026-11-04
Cheap and last-minute cruises from Vancouver: the lowest fares
On 4 November 2026 the lowest starting fare from Vancouver was $109 per person, the lowest on a round trip $419, and the lowest per night $83. Each fare is for the cheapest cabin listed with two guests sharing, taxes and port fees included, and is the price we read that day, not a live quote. The cheapest trips are short one-way hops down the coast. Nothing leaves Vancouver before 7 April 2027, so there are no last-minute sailings until then.
Updated 2026-11-04
Vancouver cruise season: Alaska cruises from Vancouver by month
Cruise season in Vancouver runs from April to October. Alaska trips fill the schedule from late April to late September, with 85 departures in July 2027 alone, and in September and October the ships leave for California, Hawaii, Japan and the Panama Canal. The first departure on our schedule is 7 April 2027, and nothing leaves between 8 November 2027 and 12 April 2028.
Updated 2026-11-04
