6 easy downtown Vancouver walks to see cruise ships! (free things to do near cruise port before your Alaska cruise)

Hi there!

What better way to get even more excited for your cruise from Vancouver than to go look at some cruise ships the day before your cruise?!

Canada Place is the name of the Vancouver cruise port and it’s located in a convenient area of downtown Vancouver.

It’s possible to walk all around Canada Place to see cruise ships from different angles!

I went to some cruise ship lookout spots (let’s call it that) in downtown Vancouver before my cruise!

These were great things to do near the Vancouver cruise port.

So, if you arrive in Vancouver a day or 2 early before your cruise (a good idea!), then there is some walking you can do downtown that can be perfect to see cruise ships!

There are some spots that you can check out even on the day of your cruise before you get on the cruise ship.

I did that, with luggage and all! 🤪 I went to see the cruise ship before I went to the port to start the boarding process.

Since there are lookout spots that are within walking distance of the cruise ship, it’s reasonable to do, as long as you don’t mind walking with your luggage.

You can also drop off your big luggage at the cruise port, and then go for a little bit of a walk before you check in.

 

 

During the Alaska cruise season, you’ll find cruise ships at the cruise port during the day, since they arrive in the morning.

If you want to watch a cruise ship sail away from Vancouver, you’ll want to check the departure times so you can be there at the right time. Below will include how you can check that, although, departure times can change!

Now, here is some walking to do around downtown Vancouver!

These are some free things to do in downtown Vancouver the day before your cruise.

At the end there’s also an interactive map for a better understanding of where these spots are located in relation to the cruise port.

 

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1. Granville Square

It just so happened that my Alaska cruises on the Sapphire Princess and Majestic Princess were docked in the spot that you could see it from Granville Square.

So I was able to see both of them by going here.

 

 

I also went to Granville Square the day before one of those cruises, and there was no cruise ship docked there at all.

This is located on an upper level, and there are stairs to get there.

On the day I had my luggage (aka day I started my cruise), I was staying in Gastown of downtown Vancouver and took a bus down Granville Street to the stop just before W Cordova Street.

If you’re taking the skytrain to the cruise port, then this is also near Waterfront Station.

From the bus stop, I walked in the direction of the water and took the stairs at the intersection of Granville and W Cordova up to the Granville Square cruise ship lookout spot. (map)

 

 

2. Canada Place bike sharing station (W Waterfront Rd + Howe St)

Bike sharing is a thing in Vancouver, and there’s a public bike station right near one of the cruise ship lookout spots!

If there’s a cruise ship docked, you can see it at the intersection of W Waterfront Rd and Howe St. (map)

 

 

After I went to Granville Square, I walked down some stairs to go to the cruise port and this bike sharing station was along the way.

 

 

3. Canada Place Welcome Center

Now onto the other side of Canada Place where you can see cruise ships docked in a different location.

For reference on a map, you can look for the Canada Place Welcome Centre. (map)

From there, you’ll see a cruise ship so you can just walk wherever you want!

You can even walk right alongside the cruise ship. There’s a walkway that’s open to the public.

Walking up ahead, I took some stairs up to see the cruise ship from a higher viewpoint.

 

 

 

4. The Drop

A few minutes walk from the Canada Place Welcome Center is an art sculpture called the Drop, which is good as a reference point. (map)

There are cruise ships that dock directly across from here, so it’s a great view of that ship!

You can continue your walk along the waterfront path from the Drop around the Vancouver Convention Center to the Seawall Water Walk and Coal Harbour Seaside Park.

 

 

 

5. Prospect Point Lighthouse (Stanley Park)

Stanley Park is downtown Vancouver’s big urban park.

The cruise ship sails right on by Stanley Park so there are lots of places along the shoreline that you can be in order to see the cruise ship at sailaway, including many spots along the Stanley Park Seawall Path, which is a walking path along the shore.

One specific spot along the seawall that you might want to choose as your cruise ship watch spot is the Prospect Point Lighthouse. (map)

 

👆 Views of Stanley Park from the cruise ship!

 

 

6. Lions Gate Bridge

From Stanley Park, you can walk across the Lions Gate Bridge, which is the bridge that the cruise ship sails under to get out of Vancouver! So you can watch the cruise ship sail under you!

And, when you are ON the cruise ship, you want to be sure to be out on the open deck so you can watch the bridge as you sail under it! It’s fun!

 

 

 

How to check the Vancouver cruise port schedule

To know whether there will be a cruise ship in port and what time it will leave Vancouver, you can check the schedule at cruisemapper.com or look for the “cruise schedule” at the Port of Vancouver website.

Here is the Port of Vancouver cruise ship schedule for 2024 pdf that was last updated in February 2024.

No matter your method of checking departure times, it’s subject to change!

 

Downtown Vancouver map

👆 How to start using this downtown Vancouver map: Click the top left icon! Or just zoom in to start looking and clicking around!

 

 

More maps and where cruise ships dock:

• Ketchikan cruise port map
• Juneau cruise port map
• Skagway cruise port map
• Sitka cruise port map

 

Walking in cruise ports:

• Ketchikan walking
• Juneau walking
• Skagway walking
• Icy Strait Point walking
• Sitka walking

 

HAPPY WALKING IN VANCOUVER!