Thursday, March 28, 2024

Downtown Victoria to Vancouver Inner Harbour passenger ferry service begins on May 1, fares revealed

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V2V Empress, a new luxury passenger ferry service connecting downtown Victoria to downtown Vancouver is expected to make its first sailing on May 1.

The 254-seat passenger high-speed jet catamaran ferry services will sail out of Canada Place and into Victoria’s Inner Harbour in 3.5 hours, with tickets ranging from $120 to $240 one-way.

The harbour-to-harbour catamaran operator V2V Vacations says its daily, round-trip service between the two cities across the Strait of Georgia is a luxurious experience designed for the tourist market.

The name of the vessel was chosen to pay homage to the region’s rich maritime history with the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company RMS Empress line ships that formerly operated between Hong Kong and British Columbia.

Daily sailings will leave Vancouver at 8 am and depart from Victoria at 2 pm.

Competition for the new ferry service

Victoria Clipper, which already runs a passenger line between Victoria and Seattle,  is also planning downtown Vancouver to Victoria service. An announcement is expected in March.

Prince of Whales Whale Watching has offered similar downtown to downtown service for several years at $205 per adult, and includes “whale watching, hot drinks, as well as access to extremely knowledgeable onboard naturalists, ” the company says.

The company transports its guest in a new $3.5-million vessel that went into service last May. The 24-metre purpose-built Salish Sea Dream has 94 seats outdoors and the same number indoors, with huge windows and an all-weather enclosed cabin that allows the tour company to extend the sailing season by about four weeks.

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Victoria Buzz Staffhttps://www.victoriabuzz.com
Your inside source for Greater Victoria happenings. Established in 2012.

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