Instead of Cascade to Vancouver BC ?

[Billvasili]

Okay we are taking the Empire Builder to Seattle from Chicago. My g/f wants to take the ferry from Seattle to Vancouver BC. Has anyone taken this route before and we would have a small service dog with us? Is it hard to reach the ferry dock from the Amtrak station in Seattle???

 

[Palmetto]

I don't think such a ferry exists. I could not find any evidence of one.

 

[jiml]

You would have to first take the ferry to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, then another ferry from there to Vancouver.

 

[fairviewroad]

And the ferry doesn't really go to downtown Vancouver, so in reality you are purchasing a bus ticket from Victoria to Vancouver, and a portion of that bus ride takes place on a ferry.

If you just want the experience of riding a ferry in the region, there are a number of day trips you can take by ferry from downtown Seattle. The ferry docks are a short taxi ride from the Amtrak station. It's possible to use public transit, but in all honestly a taxi/Uber is probably just going to be an easier bet.

 

[Trogdor]

The Victoria Clipper leaves from the waterfront in Seattle. You’d have to check the schedule as it varies by time of year. Much of the year it leaves Seattle in the morning and returns at night, which prevents any same-day connection with Amtrak. I think there may be additional sailings in the summer.

Incidentally, SVF (Seattle Clipper Ferry) and VIF (Victoria) are valide station codes and Amtrak can sell you a ticket.

in Victoria, there may or may not still be a downtown-to-downtown ferry to Vancouver (I know one started up recently, don’t know if they’ve managed to continue). Also, I don’t know if the schedule is such that it at all offers a reasonable connection. EDIT: Just looked it up, and it turns out the downtown-to-downtown ferry just announced in January that they are not returning this year.

Otherwise, you have to go to Swartz Bay, which is quite a ways north. If able, I’d recommend taking the 70 or 72 bus from downtown (often runs with double deckers) to Swartz Bay (it starts not too far from where the Clipper docks), then take BC Ferries across (those ferries run every 1-2 hours). From the ferry you can take a Translink bus/train combo to downtown, or they may sell coach bus tickets on board to take you from the ferry straight to downtown Vancouver.

 

[Bob Dylan]

It's been a few years since I did it, but there are Float Plane Flights between Victoria and Vancouver that land you on English Bay right in downtown Vancouver and take about 20 minutes.

They might be a little pricey( But CDN $$) compared to the Bus/Ferries, but it's a Bucket List thing and the Views are Spectacular!!.

 

[zephyr17]

There is no ferry to Vancouver for the very good reason they are both on the mainland with robust highway and rail connections between Seattle and Vancouver.

You appear to be conflating the City of Vancouver with Vancouver Island, where the city of Victoria, BC is.

From Seattle you can't take a ferry to Vancouver, and you can't take a train to Victoria.

First step: decide on your destination. British Columbia is a big place.

 

[Willbridge]

My 1916 Official Guide shows an overnight CPR ferry between Vancouver, BC and Seattle. Anything to compete with James Hill!

 

[ehbowen]

My 1916 Official Guide shows an overnight CPR ferry between Vancouver, BC and Seattle. Anything to compete with James Hill!

It was still running in July 1957. Union Pacific's tours department utilized it in preference to giving any business to the GN/NP competition....

Edit To Add: Whoops; a stop along the way to Vancouver was Victoria, and as stated above the Great Northern couldn't take you there. I believe that the ferry operated on a triangular route, Seattle-Victoria-Vancouver-Seattle, but I'm away from my reference materials and can't verify that right now.

 

[Willbridge]

It was still running in July 1957. Union Pacific's tours department utilized it in preference to giving any business to the GN/NP competition....

Edit To Add: Whoops; a stop along the way to Vancouver was Victoria, and as stated above the Great Northern couldn't take you there. I believe that the ferry operated on a triangular route, Seattle-Victoria-Vancouver-Seattle, but I'm away from my reference materials and can't verify that right now.

Your edit is correct. Somewhere along the way after my 1916 Guide was issued, the service was cut back by merging the non-stop overnight Van<>Sea Princess with non-stop overnight Van<>Vic Princess. Likely it happened after the Pacific Highway (US99 and BC99) was paved. In 1916 the competition Van<>Sea was the GN 3x daily and the NP 1x daily. A highway trip would have been pretty miserable, but by the end of WWI it was likely paved all the way.

For readers new to all this, note that the dawn of the eternally in need of spending highway program wiped out scores of US and Canadian waterway routes and electric interurban lines, even faster than it wiped out steam railways.