V2V Vancouver to Victoria Ferry

V2V Vacations operates a new high-speed upscale passenger ferry with daily service between downtown Vancouver’s Coal Harbour and Victoria‘s Inner Harbour.

V2V FERRIES CLOSED FOR GOOD!

On Monday, January 6, 2020, V2V Vacations announced that it was ceasing operations effective immediately. On its website was the following message:

“V2V Vacations has made the difficult decision to cease our service between Vancouver and Victoria with immediate effect. Travellers who have purchased tickets will be fully refunded by calling our toll free number +1 855 554 4679 or emailing hello@v2vvacations.”

What will happen to the vessels now? No one yet knows. BC Ferries should maybe pick them up – if the service could be run with tickets costing about half their recent price, perhaps the vessels would fill up with passengers and the business could become sustainable (especially after all the debt is written off). We may never know!

V2V Vacations High Speed Ferry

Operated by V2V Vacations, the V2V used to be a ferry service between Vancouver and Victoria. It offered a comfortable and convenient ride, friendly service and amazing views along the way.

V2V promoted itself as a “cruise service” as opposed to a “ferry”, and prided itself on its personalized service and cruise-like experience. It also offered a selection of locally-sourced food and beverage items on board, which was nice.

Depart Times and Locations

The V2V Empress departed daily to Victoria once per day and crossings took about three and a half hours each way.

Note: Service used to run year-round. Starting in the fall of 2018, however, the V2V Empress was no longer scheduled to run during the winter season.

Victoria V2V Terminal

Up until mid-September 2018, trips from Victoria’s Inner Harbour to Vancouver left daily at 9:00 am from just outside Victoria’s Steamship Terminal Building (which is home to the Robert Bateman Centre Gallery) at 470 Belleville Street.

From September 20 until October 15, 2018, departure times changed and became daily at 4:00 pm (so in the afternoon instead of morning).

In 2019 V2V ferries were scheduled to depart from Victoria at the following times:

From March 15th to April 15th at 2:00 pm
From April 16th to September 30th at 4:30 pm
From October 1st to 31st at 2:00 pm

Vancouver V2V Terminal

Up until mid-September in 2018 V2V Vacations offered daily departures to Victoria from outside Vancouver’s Vancouver Convention Centre beside the Harbour Air Seaplane Terminal at 1:30 pm every afternoon.

From September 20 until October 16, 2018, the schedule changed and the departure time became 8:00 am (so in the morning instead of the afternoon).

In 2019 departures from Vancouver were scheduled to take place between March 15th and October 31st daily at 8:00 am.

Reception was located one floor above the Harbour Air check-in area next to the De Dutch Pannekoek House restaurant.

Inner Harbour and V2V Ferry — V2V Ferry in Victoria’s Inner Harbour

Ferry Fees & Classes of Service

V2V Vacations offered two classes of service: Premium and Royal Class. All seats were assigned. Passengers were welcome to go outside though and enjoy the views from any of the three outer decks.

Premium Class

Premium Class was the V2V Empress’ very comfortable economy class. Regular price for adults was $110 and for children ages 2-12 it’s $55.

Premium Class offered large comfy seats on the Main Deck. Some of the seats had tables, some were along the windows and others were in rows in the middle.

In this class there was a small snack bar offering refreshments for purchase including tea, coffee, beer, wine and miscellaneous snacks. Prices for refreshments were not unreasonable.

V2V Main Deck Premium Comfort Seats — Premium Seating on V2V Empress’ Main Deck

V2V Royal Class

Royal Class on the V2V Empress cost about $165 regularly and featured luxurious reclining seats and complimentary refreshments. Children ages 2 to 12 were half price.

Royal Class seats were located at the front centre and sides of the Upper Deck. There were six in a row at the very front of the boat, and then four sets of two seats at the front on either side of the vessel. The seats were all very comfortable, reclined and had spectacular views.

Note: In their first year of operations V2V had three different classes. Between Premium Comfort Class and Royal Class there was a First Class category too. That’s no longer the case.

In V2V’s first year of operations, First Class seats cost $199 and Royal Class seats cost $240. Since 2018, at $165 per ticket, the top tier Royal Class seats are now less expensive than even the middle class seats from a couple of years earlier (which makes them more reasonably-priced than they were originally).

First Class Seats on V2V Ferry — V2V Empress in Victoria

Other Information

Click V2V Vacations for more information about Vancouver’s former luxury ferry service.

For other Vancouver-to-Victoria travel options, check out the following:

BC Ferries – for foot passengers and vehicle ferry transportation via Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay.
Harbour Air – for 30-minute flights in seaplanes that follow a similar route to the V2V Ferry but way up in the air. (TIP: Harbour Air sometimes offers seat sales, including in the summer, and sometimes for rates below even $100 or not much more).
Helijet – for exciting flights by helicopter. Helijet tends to be more reliable than alternative air travel options as it’s less affected by poor weather. It’s generally more expensive though, and about the same price or more than travelling Royal Class on the V2V Ferry. (TIP: One child age 12 and under can usually travel free per one adult paying regular full fare).