The Port of Vancouver is home port for the Vancouver-Alaska cruise, one of the world's most popular cruises. Annually from May to September, more than 900,000 million passengers on some 275 sailings, pass through the Port's two cruise terminals, Canada Place and Ballantyne.

The cruise terminals are near downtown Vancouver. Most cruise ships dock at Canada Place which is just a few minutes walk to the downtown attractions.

Ballantyne the lesser used port is further out and you will need a taxi.

From the International Airport you can take a taxi to the terminal.

Hotels in Vancouver.

Webcam of the harbor.

Printable map to take along.

Cruise calendar for this port.

Check here for festivals and events in Vancouver when you are in port.

Watch a destination video.

With endless options for activities, sights and attractions, Vancouver is a city to explore. By coach or minibus, horse-drawn carriage or helicopter, bicycle or on foot - on your own, as a couple, group or family - your choices for fun, excitement and enjoyment are limitless!

This is North America's second biggest Chinatown, after San Francisco's. Mandarin and Cantonese are the mother tongues in 30 per cent of Vancouver homes, which makes Chinese the largest "minority" ethnic group. There are lots of interesting markets with many varieties of fresh and dried seafood and mushrooms. You'll also find inexpensive house ware and traditional Chinese medicine.

Stanley Park is recognized around the globe as one of the great parks of the world! Vancouver's first park and one of the city's main tourist attractions, Stanley Park is an evergreen oasis of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) close to the downtown core.

Vancouver Trolley Hop-on Hop-off Tour See the best of Vancouver in a classic turn-of-the-century Vancouver Trolley. Your Trolley Ticket is your passport to fun and excitement while you're in Vancouver.

The world's longest automated light rapid transit system SkyTrain moves customers quickly, efficiently and reliably across the region through 33 stations along the 49.5 kilometres of the Expo and Millennium lines.

Running on electricity, SkyTrain is emission-free and energy efficient. Travelling high above traffic on elevated guide ways means that you fly past traffic, on trains running every 2 to 8 minutes.

There are unlimited transportation choices in getting to and around Vancouver. Choose the one that's right for you.

It pays to compare your cruise line shore excursions here.

A good spot to move on to from Vancouver is British Columbia's capital Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Vancouver is also quite close to Seattle and a bit further off are the excellent destinations of Jasper and Banff in the famed Jasper National Park and Banff National Park on the BC-Alberta border.

Robson Street in the City center is home to many high-end and touristy shops.

Pacific center has more than 150 shops, restaurants and services if you want to walk in an underground shopping center. The shopping center begins at Sears on the north end at Robson Street, and stretches all the way to Pender Street. There are many floors in the mall depending on where you are, and notable merchants include Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, Sport Chek, Gap, and coming soon H&M and Apple Store; the mall is connected to the Bay (at Georgia and Granville streets), and Vancouver center (a small mall mainly consisting of a lotto center, London Drugs, and a food court underneath Scotiabank).

Vancouver is also famous for its dim sum restaurants. Because of the big Chinese population, the price and quality of dim sum here is among the best in the world.

It's considered normal to tip 10-15% of a restaurant bill. Tips are also usually given to bell hops, concierges, room cleaners, cab drivers, hairdressers, hotel attendants and, by savvy drinkers, bar staff.

Canadian dollar

You will find ATMs in many grocery stores, malls, airports and so on, and most are linked to the international networks, the most common being Cirrus, Plus, Star and Maestro. You can also grab cash from an ATM if you use a major credit card although this method tends to be more expensive because, in addition to a service fee, you'll be charged interest immediately.

Currency Converter

English 59.3%, French 23.2% (both official); other 17.5%

In case of an Emergency, dial 9-1-1 from any public phone for free.

Internet cafes are widely available and generally quite reasonably priced ($2-3/hour). Wicked Gastown Internet Cafe provides computers with Internet offers free Wi-Fi at 27 locations across Vancouver,

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