Olympic Travelers Stranded: Ship Hotel Won't Dock

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

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With the start of the Games just a week away, some travelers’ Olympic dreams are turning into a real nightmare as their travel plans fall to pieces. The eleventh-hour cancellation of a cruise ship (full details here, courtesy of the New York Times’ Olympics and Paralympics blog) that was to be docked and used as a hotel has put hundreds of people in a tight spot, and with occupancy nearly maxed out in Vancouver, has left them with very few options.

Tourism Vancouver has posted information about receiving refunds and where to search for last-minute accommodations. It also offers a list of non-traditional and private accommodations services.

For people willing to spend big to save their vacation plans, the Loden Vancouver announced it has 41 room nights between the 11th and the 28th for last-minute booking. But it’s anything but cheap: Olympics rates at the upscale hotel (which was voted Canada’s top luxury hotel in our sister site Trip Advisor’s 2010 Traveler’s Choice Awards) range from $900 to a staggering $6,000 CAD a night.

Have you ever found yourself without accommodations during a festival or major event? How did you find a place to stay?

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