834 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Let’s be honest here, the young/new money is heading to the Westshore. A downtown ferry is an inconvenience.

Ogden Point/the harbour makes sense for Seattle, but not for Vancouver.

[Victoria Watcher]

royal bay to vancouver service!

[Bernard]

I can think of numerous harbour to harbour passenger ferries between Victoria and Vancouver and they have all failed.   What all these services have to deal with is all the harbour to harbour flights.    Victoria harbour to Vancouver harbour is one of the busiest air routes in North America when measured by aircraft movements.   

 

To have any ferry service make sense it has to be:

• Less than half the price of the cheapest flight
• Less than three hour
• Offer multiple sailings everyday 

Without all three I fail to see how this of service can make any sense.

[Mike K.]

Indeed. I would have/could have used V2V on a couple of occasions but there's no way I want to leave my hotel room at 7AM to catch the only departure to Victoria. There goes the entire day. Meanwhile with Harbour Air you book a 6PM flight and you've got your hotel room until noon-ish, your luggage stowed away at the hotel, and the whole day to explore, attend another meeting, etc.

[Victoria Watcher]

well if it was marketed better it might have worked.  more whale watching less ferry.  doesn't one of the whale watching companies do this successfully today in a pretty big new boat for 5 months a year?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 January 2020 - 10:45 AM.

[Mike K.]

It's much smaller than the V2V, no?

[Victoria Watcher]

It's much smaller than the V2V, no?

 

yes i think so.  but it's being done successfully.   at a much higher fare too.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 January 2020 - 10:55 AM.

[G-Man]

If the route started at Oak Bay Marina it would be significantly faster.

[Victoria Watcher]

or sidney.  then ladner on the other side.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 January 2020 - 12:39 PM.

[shoeflack]

Might as well just run it North Saanich to Tsawwassen! Wait a minute...

[Mike K.]

What about a mega terminal at Goldstream Park?

You’ve got rail, a highway, plenty of room for a large terminal and a float plane base.

[Victoria Watcher]

just make it an extension of the floating lng terminal coming there.

[Mike K.]

Might as well.

[Bernard]

I really have to wonder what sort of market research these harbour to harbour companies are doing that is convincing anyone to invest money with them.   I can think of five different ventures over the last generation and not once has it worked out.   I can only hope that this is the last time someone tries this

[Victoria Watcher]

nothing really new here. revenues were terrible so they closed.

 

 

 

A stumble out of the gate and a deeper financial hole than expected combined to sink V2V Vacations’ passenger ferry service after just two and a half years in business.

 

The service, which launched in May 2017 and connected the downtowns of Victoria and Vancouver, was shut down permanently this week after its Australian parent company, Riverside Marine, decided it could no longer justify the financial risk.

 

https://www.timescol...vice-1.24048033

 

 

it's interesting that both bouree and nursey say they are not surprised.  i wonder if they were so candid with the operator at the outset.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 January 2020 - 04:18 AM.

[Rob Randall]

Probably the same crowd that said the Crystal's BC Experience was the bee's knees. Great exhibit, Mel! *fails* "Yeah, I knew it all along".

[Coreyburger]

Probably the same crowd that said the Crystal's BC Experience was the bee's knees. Great exhibit, Mel! *fails* "Yeah, I knew it all along".

Almost like forecasting the number who might use something is hard or something...

[aastra]

 

If the route started at Oak Bay Marina it would be significantly faster.

 

Yep, any harbour-to-harbour sailing has limited appeal right out of the gate for the reasons Bernard mentions. Methinks Oak Bay marina to Richmond is the only route that could possibly make such a service viable. A bit faster, a bit cheaper, more daily sailings.

[aastra]

Something like this, but dressed for the elements. Oak Bay to Steveston, with shuttle service to Skytrain on the Richmond side and to downtown on the Victoria side.

[Nparker]

This Harbour Air add offers all the explanation needed for V2V's demise.