Hey, everyone. I've mentioned this idea about traveling to the Pacific Northwest Drupal Summit to a few SeaDUG members and it's been well received, so I'll throw it out to the group.
There's a cruise ship that leaves Seattle on Friday, October 1, at 5 p.m., arriving in Vancouver at 7:00 the next morning (Day 1 of the Summit). With government fees, an inside room is about $80 per person and oceanview rooms start at around $90 per person. The price is based on double occupancy and includes the room, food, and other basic cruise ship amenities. Most rooms seem to be two beds that can be converted to one queen-size bed.
Here's some more information about the ship: It's the ms Zaandam, and it's operated by Holland America. It was christened by the Olsen twins in 2000. More info is here: http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/Zaandam
I'm planning to take the cruise up and Amtrak back. Is anyone else interested in joining me for a pre-Summit SeaDUG gathering aboard the ship?
Comments
I don't think I can swing it
I don't think I can swing it - I'm only going up for the first day anyway - but that would be a lot of fun.
I booked a room for me and my
I booked a room for me and my wife. $69 each for an inside room. Sounds like fun - thanks for letting us know about this Rick!
Fees
Sounds like fun. However, after all the taxes and fees, I'm getting $220 per person. ($39 fare + $52 packages and transfers + $99 cancellation protection + $31 taxes and fees = $220.95) Did you find a way to get rid of all the extra junk?
Getting rid of the extra junk
I used Kayak to search for fares. The best deal I got was $60 ($29 fare + $31 taxes and fees) through Expedia, but it appears the cheapest fare available now is $70 ($39 + $31 taxes and fees). I don't remember if I was offered add-ons like cancellation protection but, if so, I was able to remove them.
Here's a link to the Expedia page for the cruise: http://cruise.expedia.com/Itinerary.aspx?item=266869
trains? carpool?
Hey folks,
Cruise sounds awesome, but a little slow/expensive for me.
I'm planning on flying to Seattle to visit friends and then would like to head to Vancouver for the summit. So, of course I'd like to head up with other Drupalers to max out my Drupal interaction that weekend. Is the train the best way to go? Is anyone planning on driving and having extra space (I'd help pay for gas, of course).
I'm looking forward to this great event!
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One way Amtrak is $37.50, and
One way Amtrak is $37.50, and most of the routes are actually buses instead of trains. Plus, the earliest one doesn't get in until noon so you'll probably want to travel on Friday and get a hotel room for Friday night. That changes the cost dynamics drastically IMO, and makes the cruise actually cheaper since it includes transportation, lodging, and meals.
If you drive, you could skip the Friday night hotel, but remember it's going to take about 4 hours to get there and you're going to burn 6-7 gallons of gas. So if you carpool you can bring the cost down, with the tradeoff that you're going to have to leave at 4am and pay for parking in downtown Vancouver (not cheap).
Seattle shuttle
Flying to Seattle is a lot cheaper than Vancouver, so I was researching some options, and this one came up: http://www.quickcoach.com/schedule.htm
The nice thing is that it goes to downtown Vancouver, so it's right near the venue. $86.00 round trip with advance purchase and it has wifi :)
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Train!
For what it's worth I did the train trip from Vancouver to Seattle recently and it was really fantastic - folks last year took busses and the train, and the bus didn't sound nearly as pleasant, especially the border crossing (all bus people have to get off and walk through customs, whereas on the train, they just stop for 10mins at the border and the guards walk through to check passports).
Plus the view is amazing from the train, it goes right along the water for a good chunk.
http://amtrakcascades.com/schedule.htm has the schedules, any route with a little bus icon is one of the bus shuttles, but the rest are train, so basically there are 2 trains a day, one very early, and one evening.
See you there! :)