Donna,
There are a ton of hotels in downtown Vancouver, all of which are a $5 cab ride to the cruise docks at Canada Place. There are 2 hotels right there at the water, but are probably the most expensive in the city, but if you want, see if they have an interline rate:
Westin Bayshore
Waterfront Centre Hotel

I have stayed at the Best Western Sands for about $100/night, and it is an average decent hotel (a relatively cheap rate for downtown)

I have also looked into, but not stayed at the Barclay Hotel for our correspondents meeting. It is VERY cheap, supposedly b/c the rooms are small, but have heard good things about it, and I know that the area is OK, so I would recommend that one.

Also there is a YMCA that is fairly inexpensive and I know is in a good area, and is fairly new. The link is <a href="http://www.ymca.vancouver.bc.ca/" target="_blank">http://www.ymca.vancouver.bc.ca/</A>

Just be careful, because the downtown is a large area, with some really nice areas and one crackhead/prostitution area. You really have to know the downtown to know where they are, which I do, but is hard to describe to you. Brand name doesn't necessarily help either. I would not want to see you end up in Downtown East Side by mistake.So... my suggestion is, either stay at one of these places, or feel free to ask me about a specific hotel if you find one that you think you might want to stay at. Here is a link for a directory of all Vancouver hotels for contact numbers for the hotels I have recommended.

<a href="http://www.vancouverplus.ca/search?type=grid&flavor_id=9&neighborhoods=126&his toindex_left=neighborhoods&sort=rank-desc&context=hotels_shopping&histo_name=Vancouver& cslink=cs_filter1" target="_blank">http://www.vancouverplus.ca/search?type=gr...link=cs_filter1</A>

I hope I haven't scared you off, just wanted you to beware! Downtown Vancouver is actually a great place to stay and many people in fact live right downtown. These opposite neighbourhoods seem to coexist peacefully side by side somehow. Just know where not to go and you'll be fine...