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Friends are taking the Starlight to SEA and have a bus connection at 9:15PM to Vancouver. Is that a guaranteed connect?
Frank in sunny SBA
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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According to the website, 14-SEA-8914 shows a guaranteed connection.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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Yup, it's guaranteed. I have some friends who did this when they went up to Vancouver to catch a Princess cruise. They arrived into Seattle at 3AM, and the bus was there waiting for them. Crossing the border was apparently not very fun. The bus driver told people it's "not in my job description" to get out your luggage for the border crossing. So everyone had to climb under the bus and grab their own luggage (as well as helping some of the older folks who could not physically do it) and put it out on the sidewalk while they waited to cross the border. The bus driver also kept hitting the bots-dots (the raised little bumps that divide lanes on the highway) as if he was falling asleep, so my friend kept talking to him to keep him awake.
sbalax Member # 2801
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Thanks for the info. I've passed it on to the friends. We are all sailing on a three night coastal cruise from Vancouver to San Pedro on the Island Princess.
I'm surprised nobody commented on my error in the title. Obviously, it should read SEA.
Frank in gorgeous SBA
royaltrain Member # 622
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That bus connection is simply awful. I strongly advise that you spend the night in Seattle and take the next morning's train to Vancouver. You won't be kicked off the train at the border for customs examination, that is done in Vancouver's Pacific Central Station.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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Actually, customs on the Cascades is done by a "rolling customs agent" who boards in Bellingham and gets off at White Rock, B.C. (not a scheduled Cascade stop)
royaltrain Member # 622
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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: Actually, customs on the Cascades is done by a "rolling customs agent" who boards in Bellingham and gets off at White Rock, B.C. (not a scheduled Cascade stop)
When I have taken the n/b train into Canada, both customs and immigration are performed by Canada Customs in the railway station. The Cascade does not stop after crossing the border until it arrives in Vancouver. Southbound the U.S. authorities perform immigration duties in the station, and upon arriving at the border customs agents board and collect the declaration forms from the passengers. This is done while the train is stopped not while it is in motion. Although it has been more than a year since I last rode this train, I have not heard of any changes in the customs and immigration inspections by either government.
sbalax Member # 2801
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My friends are already ticketed for the train to bus connection but I have suggested that they try to get the ticket rewritten so they can stay in Seattle the night they arrive and then continue on the next morning to VCN.
Thanks for all of your input.
Frank in, again, gorgeous SBA
smitty195 Member # 5102
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Frank,
Good move---I hope they can do it. My friends who did this same trip (heading up for a cruise) said that if they could do it all over again, they would have spent the night in Seattle and taken the train up the next day. They did not care for the bus ride, the driver, or the border crossing at all. I hope your friends can make it work!
(BTW, I did see the error of "SBA" but didn't say anything since we all figured it out!)
sbalax Member # 2801
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Smitty--
Thanks for being kind to an old man!
All of us are going to Vancouver for a cruise. We are flying to SEA on Sunday, renting a car and stopping to visit friends and family before spending the night in Bellingham and then dropping the car in downton near Canada Place on Monday. The Island Princess sails at 4:30PM on a three night Coastal Cruise to San Pedro. This is a repositioning cruise (Miss Vicki knows about those!!) and very reasonable.
Frank in gorgeous SBA
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513
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You bet I do Frank. You will have a grand time as always. I too have been warned very emphatically not to take the Amtrak bus across the border - the customs check can be several hours long. Next month I will be taking the train VAC to SEA, stay over night and pick up the CS south. Looks like I may get a Talgo since they seem to feel they are safe. That whole thing about the cracks was pretty strange. Only problem with the train is that it is not a convenient time of departure from VAC, 6:00 pm with arrival in SEA at 10:00 or later.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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Royal Train - on my 1999 trip SOUTHBOUND on the Cascade, they did a preliminary customs check in Vancouver at the station, but that was just to give us our declarations form. Then the U.S. customs agent boarded the train in White Rock, B.C., did his thing while the train was traveling, and then he got off at Bellingham. The northbound procedure may be different, and things may have changed in the last 8 years.......
royaltrain Member # 622
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RRRich: I have done both north and south bound in recent years. In Vancouver the U.S. immigration inspector does his duties in the station including giving you a declaration card. The train is then stopped at the border (Blaine I believe) where the U.S. customs inspectors simply collect those cards and perhaps ask a few questions of the passengers. In 2006 (my last ride) it was not a rolling inspection, Amtrak holds the train as long as it is necessary to complete the customs formalities. This may have been different in 1999, but in the past few years the train is held at the border southbound, and northbound both Canadian customs and immigration takes place in Vancouver station.
sbalax Member # 2801
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We met #14 today 09/15) which left ontime (It's down about 40 minutes out of SNS but they show 39 minutes EARLY into SEA tomorrow night) and went to car 1432. The friends didn't come out so the very helpful attendant, Olga, paged them. They were in the diner. One came on down and we passed off a nice bottle of Firestone Chard, some local tortilla chips and salsa and bid adieu until we meet again on the Island Princess on Monday in YVR.
The sleepers, by the way, are back at the front of the consist and there was a "REAL" Parlour Car that they said was staffed.
Frank in cooling off SBA
John Hull Member # 4465
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Have a great journey, Frank. For information, there should soon be a second round trip between VAC and SEA, giving a morning departure from VAC. Could be useful in the future! John
posted ![[Smile]](smile.gif)