First off, the staff is nice. The know what they are doing and weren't weird or did anything unusual. Now, the ferry. For the price, it has to be the biggest rip-off this side of travelling carnivals everywhere. For the incredible cost of $150, I was sandwiched in a seat at a table with no leg room on the way to Victoria. The waiting room is cheap plastic chairs in Seattle; the terminal in Victoria is a double-wide trailer, with two bathroom stalls for a boat that holds nearly 300. Imagine that women. The ride itself shocked me that for that cost not a free coffee in site- or water. Or anything. This boat ride is worth $60 at best. Bad food selections akin to airplane food. I was surprised at that, since they make two trips a day they could have amazing food choices, which they claim they make in the Seattle cafe. The guests I sat with, as I was solo, had three wrong orders among them, which is hard to do with pre-packaged food. They said it was terrible food, and I believe them as I saw it. The way back from Victoria to Seattle the boat was somewhat empty. The seats are just like narrow airline seats, and they could be clean or not clean. They don't have wifi, so prepare yourself for nearly 3 hours of boat riding. They have a small deck in the back of the boat for viewing. We hit some swells and they did a good job of slowing down and make it less obnoxious. All in all it was like taking a greyhound bus on water. It was good for once, now I hope I never have to do it again. read more

Paid extra for comfort class. Showed up 2 hours early literally first 10 people to show. They end up bring people who show LATE up in front of hose who come early So we had middle seats NOT window ( which was WHY we showed up 2 hours early. NOT worth it totally awful and unorganized herd like boarding. Yes totally pissed. Wont do this again! read more

Really fun and we had a great time if my hubby wasn't sick . Seriously a couple things if you're going on the Butchart Garden package tour the bus you catch is CVS infront of The Fairmont Empress Hotel & there is no mention of the Clipper. Don't forget your parking voucher if you drove to Bell Street Parking overnight. Bring cards or reading material for the 2.45hr ferry ride & snacks. Two days one night was plenty enough time to see Victoria. The Miniature World was well worth the cost and only took an hour to see. I would definitely recommend Clipper Vacation packages. read more

Our ferry got cancelled at the very last minute due to weather. Ok, fine. But here's how Victoria Clipper handled it: 1. Sent an email at 10:56am instructing us to arrive at the Seattle terminal within two hours to board a bus. 2. We then sat on a bus from 2:15 to 3:00 with no A/C... Sweaty stanky miserable. 3. We then "enjoyed" a 4 hour bus ride to another Canadian ferry port. But Victoria Clipper didn't time the trip correctly and we arrived too late to make the 7pm ferry... So we waited another 2 hours for the next ferry. 4. At 10:30pm our bus rolled off the ferry onto Vancouver Island. We then had another drive to Victoria. Getting in around 11:30pm. All in all, due to the Clipper's inability to plan and schedule basic trip itineraries, we spent OVER NINE HOURS ON A BUS for what should have been a 3 hour beautiful ferry ride. read more

I will probably never take this route of transportation again! We arrive 1 1/2 hours before departure. First impression was great. We stood in lines to get our boarding pass and then through immigration (or as I like to call, "La Migra!"). I thought it was reasonable. We get shuffled into a room that can barely hold the amount of people before boarding. Then, by boarding pass number, we were called to board the boat. We had a number in the 300s. How, this happened, I'm not sure since I bought our tickets last winter. You'd think there were enough seats that a honeymooning couple could sit together. Sadly, since the designer of the boat did not do seats in even numbers, my new husband and I had to sit apart. There is no wifi. The entire trip was filled with "please buy from our duty-free shop." Buy, buy, buy. I already paid a butt load for the damn boat the last thing I want to hear is "spend more!" There is no wifi. Oh, was there scenery? I couldn't tell. I was stuck in a seat in the middle of people and had no access to a view other than sky. There is no wifi. This experience sucked and I won't be taking the Clipper in the future. read more

Although it was a pleasant enough trip I am knocking a couple of stars off for a couple of things: 1) We upgraded our seats in the Economy section to window seats. The boat was probably only 2/3's full when we left Seattle and most of the seats next to the windows were empty, which in a way was kind of nice because it was nice to have the area all to ourselves. But shortly after leaving the dock people in the middle seats of the boat started flooding into the empty seats next to the window (with the crew clearly allowing this). My first thought was "WHY THE HELL DID WE PAY AN EXTRA $60 TO SIT IN THE PREMIUM (Panorama) SEATS when all these other people get them for free!!!". 2) Shortly after leaving Victoria on the return trip it was announced that the boat would be out of most items in the galley. Really?? I was hoping to do some duty free purchasing and they were out of everything I wanted. Grrrr. Come on Clipper. read more

Lines were quite long coming back from Canada but to be expected. The ride is nice and pays to upgrade to vista. The food selection is really awful. The $5 seasonal fruit cup was watermelon, I cube of cantaloupe, and two honey dew. The popular fruit and cheese is apples only with a few slices of cheese and little bit of crackers didn't look appealing. read more

Great comfortable way to travel from Seattle to Victoria BC. Everyone was friendly and helpful, starting with the ticket seller in Seattle. We bought transportation and tour tickets for Victoria after receiving good helpful information on board and in transit. Fabulous views. Wonderful way to travel. read more

I was so impressed with their staff. The whole crew was extremely courteous and helpful. I liked how concerned they were with all the passengers due to some people are sensitive to motion sickness. All in all a very pleasurable experience. read more

A pleasant change from the Washington State Ferries as you enjoy comfortable seats, food and drink for the 3 hour trip from Seattle to Victoria. We were booked for the 9 AM sailing to Victoria and checked in at 7:45. Plenty of time for breakfast! The sausage breakfast burrito in the Seattle location was large, filling and tasted pretty good! Could have used some Pace picante to heat it up though. We boarded in group 1 and headed up to a window seat on the upper level. Yessss! great seats for smooth sailing at 30 knots! Our overall experience was fun and we didn't check our bags so we were able to hit the ground running once we arrived at the Victoria port. 4 stars for this leg of our trip. We arrived at the Victoria dock for our return trip to Seattle 2 days later 90 minutes before departure to a noisy, maximum capacity, standing room only waiting area on a cold & wet Monday afternoon. You would expect the waiting area to go through customs and board for the return trip would be designed to seat as many people as their boat does while also consider the stowage of carry on luggage that occupied too many of the seats .................. Wrong! Crying babies, children running around unattended and no place to sit for 90 minutes. To add insult, upon check in, I was informed the same bag that I had carried on without question during the first leg of our journey was now considered oversize (at 20 inches, it fits the carry on sizer for all major airlines) however it was mandated by a snotty rude clerk that I must check it. This requirement was a major issue to me as the Clipper does not have a good procedure to expedite the return of your luggage once you arrive back in Seattle to proceed through customs. Their snails pace process of unloading all their freight plus our checked luggage adds a minimum of an hour to the end of a trip when all I cared about was returning to my car and driving home. That long hour waiting to get off the boat while watching a single employee move containers from the deck to the hoist, one at a time with a pallet jack. I give this return leg only ONE STAR as the capacity of the waiting area was totally inadequate for passengers and consideration for space for the carry on was non- existent! Keep in mind this trip is designed for tourists that will have luggage for a night or 2! For what this ferry trip cost, I expected better consideration for handling and returning my luggage and a legitimate carry on size requirement that is consistent with other modes of travel. I will not consider the Victoria Clipper as a viable travel option until they solve their luggage issues. If an airline can handle unloading in 15-20 minutes the Clipper can too. read more

Incredibly rude and a smartass was the steward responsible for disembarking passengers. I had never used this company before and I simply wanted to know where the checked bags would be retrieved. All the steward had to say was that they were in a storage unit, and are retrieved right before customs. His demeaning response was, "See the line of people, walk down the line." It sounded like he was just being an ass, not helpful. read more

We were totally disappointed with the whale watching tour. They pack the boat as full as possible and it is almost impossible to find a seat. In addition it is very hard to see whales since the boat is so crowded. They only showed us one kind of whale and the whales were so far away you could not see them or appreciate them. read more

Just got back from a Clipper vacation, I must say it was a great time with family and friends, it was my first time on the Clipper, after living here all my life! A nice package to stay overnight at the Empress, (mental note), must do High tea next time around and the round trip boat ride. We road the Clipper I up and the Chipper IV back, the first boat is a bit different in configuration with fewer tables along the windows, we opted for a middle section on the lower level, the gang wanted to play cards during the trip. We had very rough weather going up, so the trip was a lot longer, didn't get into Victoria until 12:40 or so, we should have docked at 10AM originally, but we did get to see a pod of orcas, go under the bridge at Deception pass, and get a 20% off of Duty free, in my mind that made up for me almost getting sick during the part of the trip through the Strait of Juan De Fuca, I'm a sucker for cheap booze. We didn't opt for any of the food, but the better half and I had a cup of coffee, it was good enough to get the wheels moving. Staff did come through the cabin asking if anyone wanted snacks, food or beverages from their menu, overall the staff were grand, plenty of info from the Captain about our trip on what we were passing and the status of our voyage, it made for a great experience. I'll share this, opt for the pre-board, and get your boarding passes in advance, it is nice to get things set up for a smooth sailing, and fewer lines to stand in. Customs is a pain, regardless, we didn't have any real issues and the line wasn't too bad. Parking was nice, at the Bell Street parking lot, which isn't too bad of a walk/limp, just show your Clipper boarding pass and get a $10 per calendar day rate. While I miss the old ads for the crumpets and tea on the Princess Marguerite, the trip was a lot of fun for our entire family. read more

It's good trip but don't forget movement sickness pills, you might need it badly in the end of your trip

What a great ride. Paid a little extra to sit on the upper deck and it was worth it. The seats were wider and more comfortable. It was smooth sailing even in rough seas. Customs was a breeze. read more

The Clipper was pretty convenient for us to take from Seattle up to Victoria, esp. since it dumps you off right in the main harbor and within walking distance to many of the hotels. Probably my one complaint is the entire seating/boarding process and I'll just never be a fan of "cattle call" boarding where you're put into groups of 50 and people are all creepy-like trying to cut ahead of folks that were clearly standing there for a longer period of time. I'm somewhat particular in where I sit on a boat so I don't get sea sick (since there's a pretty small outside area on the back of the boat that's standing room only), and don't really care for having to stand in line early to try to get a lower level seat that faces forward. There's really no organization in either the Seattle or Victoria terminals except within those 50-person boarding groups (and having to climb over the people in the later boarding groups that hover at the ticket counter). Can you tell that I never like to fly Southwest? You can check in up to seven days prior to your departure (going and return) and would recommend that you do that to get an earlier place in line -- esp. if you have a larger group that might want to sit together. Also, if you can avoid checking your bags (large backpacks and small cases can fit under or between the seat rows), do that b/c they let those passengers off first. If you're worried about sea sickness, the ride to Victoria was pretty smooth for us, but on the way back, it was a little rocky on the way in the first hour as we were in the Strait of Juan De Fuca and then settled down as we got behind Whidbey Island. Food and drinks are available, but it's somewhat limited, so I'd just plan on it being more of a snack until you get to your destination for a real meal. The nice thing is the duty-free options on some perfume and liquor (esp. given WA state's high liquor tax). read more

WARNING!! You take the clipper because it's a quick and painless get-away- it's slightly better then flying. We got a little dizzy on the way there so we took their .25 cent travel meds and boy did we regret it. We were hung over all week from it, I was totally a zombie the next day!! Be Warned!! Overall it was a typical trip on the clipper and exactly what we expected. read more

A previous reviewer called this a "death trap," and I couldn't agree more. A solid hour of massive waves, with water gushing in to the cabin through windows and doors, left the entire boat throwing up. Absolutely no offers for a refund of any kind, even though we were put through a horrific and possibly traumatic experience. By the way, the Clipper sucked even before the 10 foot waves, because the legroom is worse than economy class on a plane and the boarding process is lengthy and stressful. By far the most terrifying experience in my life -- take the state ferry instead! read more

If I could give this company no stars I would! We booked through them and on the way back they had weather issues which is understandable, they only had ONE alternative route which is the coho ferry. I was ok with that since I have small children and had to come home either way but I thought it would be a nice new experience. It was beyond horrific. We were packed on the ship to the point we were sitting on floors and being stepped on and body parts were being placed in my face. I called when I was on the ship to the company to tell them how horrific it was but she said emailing was the best option. I never received a message back So I called Monday and was informed I was given the wrong email so I emailed again. Tuesday rolled around at 5 and no response. I called and the rep told me the customer service was not taking any calls at this time and that it would take 7 days to email me back. I received an email back stating that the only thing they could offer is HALF of the money back for the trip back. Not half of the trip. So I paid 228 round trip for two tickets they offered $60 refund! When I called to say that was unacceptable I talked to a supervisor Haley which told me that's all they offer and they can give me a 50% discount on my next travel. Well, why would I take them again if they are fighting me on an extra $60. I asked to talked to someone else and she said it would be a Michelle who should call me back that day. Did I receive a call back do you think? No! I had to cal back that night and of course she was gone. I did not receive a call till morning the next day to tell me there is nothing they could do but offer me what was already stated! I would tell all travelers take the coho it's cheaper and you might already end up taking it but you will still be paying the money as if you were taking the clipper. I work with 20 other woman and have told them to stay away they were surprised the company would fight me over $60 and then not compensate over that. My husband is in the military and we will make sure we let any soldier know about our experience. I wish they would have took my concerns into consideration. read more

Fast, friendly, and probably the best way to get to Victoria from Seattle. The service is excellent onboard the ferry, and they duty free, let's just say I haven't found cheaper booze anywhere else! As some of the other reviews have mentioned, the boat can get quite rocky when the weather isn't that great out. Luckily for me every time I've taken the Clipper it's been nothing but smooth sailing. However, if you're prone to motion sickness I highly recommend you take some type of anti-nausea medication before leaving the dock. I'm not sure what Rachel P. is talking about, as I've taken the 25 cent travel meds on the Clipper every time and I've never felt hung over or like a zombie at all. read more

Lots of spaces for sitting, walking, resting, eating. There is no alcohol served. There is a nice gift shop with Canadian goods for purchase. The crappy part of the experience was not being warned to check and make sure we could get back on the Clipper. They made the decision based on the weather to end service before our departure time. We did not know to check for that and ended up having to be bussed back to Seattle through Vancouver which was kind of a drag!!!! So FYI...on the morning of your departure check to make sure they'll be running!!! read more

Fantastic employees! This is my second trip to Victoria on the Clipper. First trip went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, this trip was negatively affected by bad weather and bad luck. A high wind warning has caused the cancellation of my return sailing to Seattle. Also, I lost my passport for about a day. I booked my lodging, the Hotel Grand Pacific, through the Clipper vacation package and this was an excellent choice. The hotel is beautiful and located directly across the street from the ferry terminal. This came in especially handy for my multiple trips to the terminal to make a plan around the weather and passport complications. Each time I came to the terminal I spoke with Barbie and she went out of her way to help me, expressing nothing but sincere kindness each time. The complications were worked out and I am now returning home to Seattle via motor coach across the Coho and Bainbridge ferries. This is a much longer trip home but the weather can't be helped and at least the motor coach was comfortable. The Victoria Clipper also provided us with vouchers for a free meal on the Coho Ferry. Overall, Barbie and the rest of the Clipper crew helped to make this difficult situation almost stress free. Thank you Barbie! read more

Great service between Seattle and Victoria. Friendly helpful staff. Comfortable seating. My return trip got moved ahead to avoid a storm - they called me and emailed me to keep me up to date and provided a 50% discount on my next trip for the inconvenience. They also put on a discount for duty free purchases. When traveling from Seattle to Canada - you clear customs on the Canadian side. On the way back you go through US customs twice once in Victoria harbor and again in Seattle. Tip: If you check your baggage you'll have to wait until the light packers get off the boat. If money is no object you can take the Kenmore Air float plane. read more

This review is going to be biased. I had an awful time on the Clipper not because the service was bad or the boat was dirty. I had the worst motion sickness in the world. I'd give this 0 stars but that would be unfair to the company. They're fast, efficient, and do the best job they can so if you have no motion sickness issues, totally go without reservation. The trip is about 3 hours both ways and the port in Victoria is a walk away from the Empress. The port in Seattle is a few blocks from Public Market. Very easily accessible. read more

Make sure you prepare for departure changes, before you book. Everything worked out OK, but we got a call late (after going to bed) that our departure for 11:30 was canceled due to the wind. The put us on a 2:00 instead. Almost didn't see the message. Customer service was fair. I would not recommend picking the package that takes you straight to Butchart Gardens, right off The Clipper. I know we would have enjoyed Butchart more, had we waited until the next day. I felt like I had to ask a lot of questions --didn't feel the company prepares you adequately with information for the whole experience. You can take food with you--highly recommended! Food was not great on the Clipper. The views of mountains and the islands were great!! read more

Loved my trip to Victoria and the journey on the Clipper. I would recommend it to anyone. Was a little late leaving but other than that really easy and fun. read more

Rode the Clipper over to Victoria and back. Sailing was smooth most of the way but can get a little bumpy - if that sort of thing doesn't bother you then don't worry about it. You can check in up to 7 days in advance, in person, with your entire party only. You'll get put into one of three boarding groups based on when you checked in. We checked in a couple of hours before and we were in the second group. You can sit upstairs or downstairs. If you smoke you should sit upstairs since you can only go out on the back deck once you're underway. There's a little bar thing on both decks. If you can avoid checking bags I would recommend it, it will significantly delay getting off the boat, since carry-on only passengers get to hop off first and also won't have to wait for their bag. That's really about it. Some others have reported seeing whales but I saw nary a one on either trip so don't go out expecting to see anything cool except maybe a big container ship. read more

FRS Clipper - Ferries Near Me

Let's see where do I start. Ok get they wanted is there by 7:00 for a 9:00 departure. So you get there and wait (btw you have a boarding number) and they do serve coffee and snacks. On our"adventure" they took a detour because of the wind, so it out is an hour behind. But wait... upon arrival in BC we get a text that says the 7:00 departure has been cancelled and the choices are a: return at 4:30 or b: leave at 7:00. However the 7:00 is on a bus that takes a ferry and your in the bus for 5 hours! So we opted to turn around and leave at 4:30 a $270 let's have brunch in Canada trip! Not what we planned or expected. Skip the one day turn around and save your money and splurge in Seattle at a spa. read more

Super fun way to get up to Victoria. Customs and unloading the luggage can have you standing and waiting for quite a long time. But that is to be expected. We like to sit in the Comfort Class, but the seats in the Economy Class are great. Next time I go, Ill probably sit there. The bathrooms could use some attending during the voyage. They can get a little messy. The staff is super nice and friendly. Our trip had calm seas and beautiful skies. It was a lovely 2 hours and 45 minutes that I can't wait to do again. read more

Took advantage of the Spring sale and did a 2 night accommodation trip to Victoria from Seattle. Checking in and boarding was easy and fairly comfortable seating. Was nice having taxis waiting in Victoria which got us to our destination quickly. Will book again. read more

FRS Clipper - Ferries Near Me

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It is a bit pricey for one way tickets (~$100) for a 2.5 hr ride. The inside is nice and had good service and is spacious because there isn't many people. There is no wifi and also it was super bumpy on the way. Was trying to take a nap but there was a baby screaming the whole time. It is a nice ship but have space for improvement . Efficient way to go to Victoria :) read more

FRS Clipper - Clipper ship - Ferries Near Me

My friend and I did a quick one night trip to Victoria from Seattle and we had a wonderful time. Make sure to take your dramamine you will need it. When getting on the clipper I would recommend sitting on the left side of the boat (Seattle to Victoria) You will get a great view of the Mountains on your boat ride. read more

Loved our weekend. Our ride on the boat was wonderful. We had calm waters and nice sunny warm days I heard it could get rough in the winter so we chose to try summertime. Great place on the boat to buy duty free. Met great people on the boat Staff was great read more

Clipper was canceled we were schleped to ferry to anchoretes . Standing room only no seats not a good experience at all .. if you have 200 passengers make sure you have 200 seats for them to sit .. i strongly suspect that the meal voucher will likely not be honored for many when they attempt to use as I expect they'll be running out food guickly.. very poor experience.. read more

The journey and the service was wonderful on this ferry from Seattle to Victoria. All the staff was so warm and friendly and gave superior service. We traveled Comfort Class which was totally worth the extra $20.00. read more

The trip was good. Good seating on the boat and quite smooth. Parking was a problem. The instructions on the website are confusing and the garage is crowded. The check in lady said many people have the same complaint and some miss the ship. So...arrive early or come by cab. Also, I'm not sure they treated me fairly on the exchange rates. So...call the hotel in Victoria to check prices in Canadian dollars v. American dollars. Overall a nice 4 day 3 night trip with a few hiccups. read more

Pretty smooth ride. Don't expect to get close to any whales. We saw only fins from a great distance away. We saw one other seal. It didn't seem like they made much effort to do a real excursion. Boarding process was disappointing - crowded, not a lot of room at all. Difficult to find space for even a backpack. On the return trip, the boat arrived mostly full to Friday Harbor for the return to Seattle. They did not use our boarding group number either. Ok experience, but I definitely wish it was less crowded. read more

On June 10, 2022 my husband and I travelled from Seattle to Victoria on the Clipper. We paid to be in the Vista Panoramic upper seating. We were happy with our seats though they were right next to the galley which we were unaware of when we chose the seats. We had looked at booking in the comfort section but just didn't want to pay the extra money. If money is no issue I would definitely book in the comfort section as the views were much better. The trip was comfortable and ran on time. Waiting for customs took awhile but it was expected. On June 11, 2022 (my husband's birthday) we traveled back from Victoria to Seattle and again had the Vista seats but this time they were the farthest to the front next to the galley and the view was not good because of the design so my husband asked if we could change seats and they said yes but we could not sit in the comfort class as that would cost more. There were many seats open everywhere. The problem was there was a large group of golfers who were very loud and drinking heavily. So staying where we were by the galley there was constant commotion with them getting drinks and we didn't want to move farther back as that's were they were all sitting. And we were told we couldn't go into comfort class. During the trip several individuals from the golf group basically just walked into the comfort class and sat there for the duration of the trip right in front of our eyes. None of the crew did anything to tell them no. We actually felt bad for the people who paid to be up there. On our way off the boat one of the crew said "so you guys survived all that?" I told her it wasn't right that we were told no but yet the over served golfers could do whatever they wanted and none of you told them no. She said she couldn't be the police and told me to write a letter, so here it is. read more

The Clipper is really the only reasonable way to get from Victoria to Seattle. But for a service with a bit of a monopoly market, the standard of customer service and care does not suffer. Even if the boat has to be cancelled for weather-related reasons, passengers are offered the option of rescheduling for the next day at no additional cost or being bussed to their destination via BC Ferries (at no additional cost - and with an accompanying voucher for 50% of another booking with the Clipper). The staff routinely go above and beyond the call of duty, are pleasant and helpful as a rule, and travelling on the boat is probably one of my favourite ways to get anywhere. Why fly when you can hop on the Clipper and get Harbour-to-Harbour transit with an on-board duty free shop, a great variety of snacks and generously poured bar specials? Booking your ticket online will save you considerably in the price department, with online rates sometimes as much as half of the price of tickets booked through an agent. There are also routinely special discount fares during the late fall and winter months, as well as great package deals with hotels in both Victoria and Seattle (though the company is geared toward American tourists). As a helpful hint, using the promo code 'THANKS' will save you 10% off your regular fare at any time of the year. They also have the "Commodore's Club" which entitles frequent travellers to a free round-trip cruise after 7 or so round trips on the Clipper. read more

Very disappointed. When we arrived on Victoria, it took an hour before the bus actually left for the gardens. The bus is very cramped. The gardens were nice, but definitely not the best we have seen. The major bummer is that we are super delayed for the return trip. And, we have an early booking in Seattle tomorrow. It may be midnight before we get to the hotel. Plus, we have to check in and sit in the waiting room for several hours, without being able to leave. Poor planning, Clipper Vacations! It got worse. We didn't arrive back at the dock until 1:15 am. Pathetic. read more