Kevin's girl

Okay, I called Flights by Celebrity and they got our flight changed to the next day. We will be flying out at 07:32 with a 40 minute connection in DFW and home by 5:30 pm. Celebrity "guarantees" me that if our flight is late and we miss the connection they will fix it and get us on another flight without worry.

It will be nice to have an extra day to explore. I did really want to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

Celebrity also told me that the 11:40 flight that American had changed us to, did not meet the acceptable flight times for the Cruise line. They also said that changing us to another flight because of this was not supposed to cost us anything extra because of that.

On 3/20/2024 at 11:54 AM, cruiseryyc said:

I would seriously consider staying overnight in Vancouver and taking the early flight the next day.  Take your time getting off the ship, enjoy Vancouver for the day, have a nice dinner and then you have no hassles getting to the airport the next morning.

Okay, I called Flights by Celebrity and they got our flight changed to the next day. We will be flying out at 07:32 with a 40 minute connection in DFW and home by 5:30 pm. Celebrity "guarantees" me that if our flight is late and we miss the connection they will fix it and get us on another flight without worry. Again, fingers, toes and paws crossed.

It will be nice to have an extra day to explore. I did really want to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

9 hours ago, DogLover said:

Fingers, toes and paws crossed you will have no problem with the 11:40 departure!

Exactly! We will have two dogs and a cat also crossing paws, hoping that we make that flight.

3 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

I've changed my plans completely. I booked the Princess transfer from the ship to SEA and a flight leaving SEA at 6:07 pm. The information on the Princess Travel Summary on TRANSFER VANCOUVER TO SEATTLE AIRPORT says "Passengers making their own arrangements out of Seattle must depart no earlier than 4:00 P.M." so I should be OK with a 6:07 pm domestic flight. The total cost of the flight and transfer is less than the cost of a flight from Vancouver. We do have a five hour bus ride however.

That really is a total change of plan. It's also nice that it's going to save you some money too. Enjoy your cruise and safe travel to you both.

23 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

I had the same change on my nonstop flight from 1:42 pm to 11:40 am. Unfortunately, all of the later flights have connections. I can book a flight leaving at 1:30 pm but it has a connection, and we don't arrive at our final airport until about midnight.

 

If we were to book the 1:30 flight, the connection will be in Chicago and only a 40 minute connection time. O'Hare had been our return airport for over 20 years and I know it is usual to spend 15-45 minutes holding on a taxi way waiting for our gate to open. If that were to happen on this flight we would miss our connection and not be back to the Indianapolis area until the next day.

I think we will do a pre-booked limo and self disembark as soon as we can. We will have our happy little faces in a waiting line for Canada Customs as soon as they come on duty, the hustle to YVR and get through Security and US Customs as quickly as we can. Fingers crossed for success.

On 3/15/2024 at 12:39 AM, jeromep said:

Sailed out of Canada Place a few years ago.  Our sailing was the first Princess ship calling at Vancouver for the spring/summer season.  With only one ship in port, I wouldn't call it chaotic, but unlike other embarkation ports, there were very slow lines and many switchback queues.  It isn't a huge open facility like most modern cruise ship port buildings.  It's a lot like waiting in line at the DMV... with all your luggage.  On the outside Canada Place is a striking piece of mid-80s architecture, on the inside (at least in the cruise terminal portion) it looks like a Carter administration government building.  My local post office was built during the Carter administration, so I know how drab and boring that looks.  Come to think of it, when Canada Place is filled with cruisers trying to embark, it looks a lot like our local Social Security office... but everyone has luggage.

Something to truly look forward to 🤣

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Check your airline rules.   Most have a provision that if they change your flight by more than XXX number of minutes and you find it unacceptable, you can call in and have changed to a flight of your choice at no additional cost or full refund.   If booked with agent you will have to have the agent call.

 

That's great to know. Thank you.

10 hours ago, DogLover said:

Since you don't mention your date of arrival, I would check to see how many ships are in port for your debarkation date .... that could make a huge difference. We have done several cruises from YVR and wouldn't even consider a flight before noon, especially with multiple ships.

 

https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/VAN-Vancouver-2024.pdf

Thank you for the port schedule. It seems there will be us and two others in port when we arrive on the 22nd of September. It's going to be busy. It seems we have some thinking to do.

7 minutes ago, martincath said:

With several Ifs, it might be fine - but since you have another option just take that! Worst case you are indeed mobile enough to drag all your own bags off, use SkyTrain, are the only ship in port and end up at YVR very early... but if you don't check off all of those boxes, there's definitely a risk of missing it.

 

I really don't understand why Celebrity would even give that option, all the lines generally use 'arrival time plus 5 hours' here in Vancouver and even if it's a theoretical 6am docking, they know that nobody gets cleared before CBSA show up to start work at 7am so the earliest 'safe' flight time is never before noon!

You are saying exactly what I was thinking. I would have never booked it myself. Celebrity did not even explain what the change was. They said in the email that there was a change in this Record Locator and they would notify me of the details in 30 days. I had to go to the American Airlines website to see what was happening myself.

4 hours ago, lovecruzin said:

We generally fly from YVR around noon. We collect our bags in the terminal and catch a taxi, usually arrive at the airport by 9ish

We did Uber once, won’t  do it again, flat rate taxi in the terminal was easy and convenient. 

Thank you, I was going to handle the transfer next. Nice to know the taxi is a good idea and that the timing should be okay.

6 hours ago, Milhouse said:

I think the general concensus you'll receive is that 11:40am is going to be enough time.  

 

As mentioned by leaveitallbehind, the airport is reasonably close to Canada Place/the terminal.  30mins is a good estimate.

Just as a data point, I left my house (which is slightly further than Canada Place) for the airport at 6:30am for a 9am transborder flight on a recent Tuesday morning, got to YVR at 7am, and had plenty of time to spare to browse duty free and grab some food in a lounge. You may need a bit more time due to the added cruise pax volume.  I think many airlines recommend being at YVR about 2.5hr to 3hrs before a transborder flight (though I think 3hrs is a bit excessive).  

 

Addressing some of the potential bottlenecks:  

There aren't any labour disputes on the horizon at the port to delay luggage. (knock on wood)

Skytrain to the airport is pretty quick and convenient if you don't have a lot of luggage.  There is a short walk from the terminal to the skytrain station and from the YVR station into the airport.  And if you are travelling midweek on the Skytrain, it does get kind of crowded in the morning.  There are some open areas for luggage (and bikes) but it's generally not as convenient to sit with your luggage (vs standing with your luggage)

If you take a taxi or uber, there are multiple routes to the airport (save for the final stretch) in the event one gets congested due to an accident.  If you take an uber, you do have to walk about a block outside the terminal to get to the designated ride sharing pick up areas.

The check-in lines at YVR can get long but you can mitigage this by doing online check-in & baggage drop off of course.    

The security and US pre-clearance lines can be long.  They do have a Nexus lane.  (Funny that the regular security lane was faster than the Nexus lane when I flew recently.)  You can also potentially pre-book a security screening time to avoid the line.  They also seem to have a new Nexus process for US pre-clearance which is much streamlined IMO.  

Thank you very much, I really appreciate the info about the possible bottlenecks too. This does make me feel better about this change and our chances of making the flight.

39 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

If they did not offer any type of "warning" that the flight was no longer "legal" then they must feel that it is doable.

Thank you.

I got an email from Flights by Celebrity today and they are notifying me that my 1:40 pm flight has now been changed to an 11:40 am flight. We have been on many previous cruise and would have never booked a morning flight out of any port city. Wondering if anyone has advise to share on the flight time. There is another flight, same airline, different connection city. The connection place makes no difference and I would call and ask to be changed to that one if this 11:40 flight is the problem I'm afraid it could be.

I got an email from Flights by Celebrity today and they are notifying me that my 1:40 pm flight has now been changed to an 11:40 am flight. We have been on many previous cruise and would have never booked a morning flight out of any port city. Wondering if anyone has advise to share on the flight time. I will also be posting this question on the Pacific Coast threads, but need help while there is time to call Celebrity for a change.

Thank you.

We have cruised on the Solstice twice before. Once in her "Inaugural Season" in 2008 and again in 2018. She is a beautiful ship and we are looking forward to being on her again in September. I have noticed that she now has a blue hull. When did that happen?

I was sweating a 1:40 departing flight. All of you make it sound like I'm doing good. I know the feeling of ridiculous layovers when trying to get back to the Midwest. It was really difficult.

I understand we need to go through US Customs at VYR before catching our flight. Can anyone explain how that works? And do US citizens need the eTA now? 

9 hours ago, tschwa2 said:

Basic wifi is included in All included cruise fare, but not in the Cruise only cruise fare.  All included and Cruise only are both regular cruise fares so it depends on which you book.  

That explains it. Thank you.

This may seem like a ridiculous question, but we haven't cruised in nearly 6 years and are feeling like antiques here. I have read this on Celebrity's website:

Basic Wi-Fi

With our Basic Wi-Fi, included in All Included cruise fares, you can browse the web, send emails, and text family and friends via select messaging apps. It’s a great value option for staying connected while you’re on vacation, but please note that you won’t be able to email large files, share photos or videos on social media, use streaming apps, or make video calls.

I read this that there is now basic wifi included with our regular cruise fare. Is that correct? We are Elite and would have free minutes coming as a perk, right? Please don't be frustrated with our lack of understanding. SO much has changed in the industry since we last cruised. Thank you for your help.

I'm really glad to see that you have received helpful information regarding the camera bag possibilities. I also hope you enjoy your Land Tour, I know we are looking forward to ours. 

On 7/13/2020 at 10:44 PM, geoherb said:

I knew when I booked our cruise tour several years ago that it was not the best option for seeing Alaska--but it was the best option for us based on our budget and our available vacation window. We were on a Princess cruise tour that only had one night at the Princess Denali Lodge. It included the Natural History Tour. Thankfully I knew from here to ask about upgrading to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. It was great, although DH did not think so. We were the last ones on the bus and separated. I sat with a great family who happened to be from our state. I was with the husband on the right-hand side of the bus. He insisted I sit closer to the window. His wife and son were opposite us on the left-hand side. His brother- and sister-in-law were behind them. They were great about letting me see anything interesting was on their side, and of course I did the same for them on my side. Here are some of the wildlife photos I got that day.

 

I thought the prices at the Princess lodge restaurants were reasonable. They lodges had different types of restaurants, and we always chose the casual option with more reasonable prices. DH did not like that I economized by bringing things we could eat for breakfast, but that saved us a bunch of money. 

 

 

Thank you for your help and for the pics. We are excited about the tour.

51 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

We did a cruise tour with Royal Caribbean in 2018.  Finding information beforehand can be difficult but I found this website to be helpful:  http://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/  It has a brochure that will show you all the excursions that you can book once you meet your tour guide the first day.  http://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/content/uploads/2016/06/17059544_AlaskaOptionalTours_Update_Doc_v2_LR.pdf

 

You will be given a form that lists the excursions and cost when you meet the tour guide.  They are all first come, first served, so we found it helpful to know what we wanted to do in advance.  It is light until late at night, so as long as you have the stamina, you can do a lot.  We did a river float in Denali that ended just after 10pm.  Yes, in Denali, you are at a distant hotel, but all the excursions include the transportation to get you there.  Under each description on the excursion brochure it lists which cruise tour is able to book the excursion.  You can upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali as I saw 3A listed.

 

As far as luggage and the bus, I packed one suitcase that had what we were going to use on the ship and that suitcase was tagged as such and we never saw it on our cruise tour.  I had one suitcase that had what we wanted on the cruise tour and that was delivered to us at each hotel.  The bus does have a luggage rack above seats that will hold a day pack with no issues but any rolling carryon has to go under the bus.  Bag pull each day was early, 6am some days, so that was tough and you had to learn to pack accordingly.

 

Cruise tours get a bad rap in this forum but we are glad we did what we did. We would do things on our own in the future if we had the time to plan it out but would also do a cruise tour too if we saw one that met our needs.

Thank you SO much. This is exactly the information I was looking for. 

We are cruising with Royal Caribbean and booked the 3A Land Tour. In the brochure it mentions speaking to "your adventure specialist" for extra excursions and tours. When will we first talk with this "specialist"? Will there be contact with them like a concierge before the cruise or is it once on board ship as the land tour follows the cruise?

I did do a search here on CC and found size restrictions for luggage in the land tour but the posts were from 2014 and I am wondering if there is any updated info from people who have done these tours.

Here is the land tour description:

This will be cruise number 21 for us and our second cruise to Alaska. We have done DIY pre and post cruise trips for our other cruises and have booked our first Cruisetour with Royal Caribbean. This ticks all of the boxes for what we want to see in the amount of time we have available.

I have always shied away from Cruisetours because I was intimidated by them. For those of you here with Cruisetour experience please enlighten me. Please tell me about luggage restriction for the land portion, timings, included and excluded meals, setting up extra tours not included in the land tour (I’ve been watching YouTube videos that refer to them).

I am a research and plan ahead kind of person and feel a bit lost with the “Land Tour” part of this trip. Please send along any helpful tips. Thanks

5 hours ago, Beachammo said:

 

Just a couple of doors down on the corner 9256. It was a fantastic cruise.

I would love to see some pics of your cabin. We are booked in it this August for Alaska. I know it will likely be cancelled but I will still go in my dreams.