martincath

Sorry for the delay in replying - I only found out about PorterGenie closing after I'd posted that note and another on a different thread later. Didn't think to search for past posts and update once I found out! If you've gone through the booking process to hit the 'closed for covid' message, they're definitely still not operating - but the other 'leave them, come back for them' services all seem to be available.

You're both right in this case 😉 WHTI rules are shared travel rules, covering US/Canada as well as some other countries. But while Canada will allow a short Victoria stop without proof of citizenship for US citizens (the famous 'RT Loop exception') the US has no such exemption for Canadians entering the US. So whether we drive or fly or arrive by boat, us Canadians need proof of our citizenship - not just identity - on a single government-issued document with a picture. EDLs and NEXUS fit the bill - regular DL does not as there is no citizenship check to get one. US CBP pre-clear folks bound for Alaska at the pier before boarding in Vancouver, and they would most definitely NOT allow boarding without US-acceptable documentation!

Since you're entering the US and then re-entering Canada, you definitely need something compliant with WHTI rules. That means an Enhanced Driving License, a NEXUS card, or a Passport for Canadian citizens. If you don't already have NEXUS, it's a lengthy first time process as an interview by both US and Canadian border agents is required so if you have a passport renewal under way already that will likely be quicker despite the current delays. Application for this and all the other Trusted Traveler Programs is here. You can probably find the most up-to-date chat about current application delays, interview locations with closest availability etc. on the FlyerTalk forums, which are far more active than Cruise Critic on all things Trusted Traveler... Depending which province you live in, you may or may not be able to get an EDL - details on this page, including links to the provincial licensing authorities. No idea what sort of delay is involved in processing these.

Edit - whoops, you did actually specify an eMed test so it's opbviously Antigen - deleted the redundant info about the 72hr timeline for Molecular testing! For Antigen tests our Federal Canadian Cruise-specific testing rules seem to align with most US cruiseline rules - any time of day as long as it's not more than 2 calendar days earlier - so as long as your test is some time on Wed (or Thu or even Friday if results come back before than you board), it's valid. Arguably a test taken at 2am local time was taken at 11pm the day before here in PST land though, so although for Antigen I strongly doubt that anyone at the pier will check anything other than the date you could either play it safe and do it before you head to the airport or even just bring the tests with you to Vancouver and remote test in your hotel room during your pre-cruise time.

The entire Royal Class remains unable to traverse the 'BC Inside Passage' due to their lack of maneuverability - it's mandatory to have a pilot on the bridge for most of it, and the local pilots association flat-out refuses to take responsibility for this class of vessel in those waters. The only good part of the whole mess is that Princess finally started to admit that the routing is different. If you check on their website - NB: not a third party site! - you will clearly see that whether it is a one-way or a round-trip the Royal class are routed outside the Island from Vancouver in both directions. Examples: 7-day RT, 7-day Northbound (the latter actually has a separate dotted line pointing out that while all the other ships do sail inside, Royal and Majestic go outside!) Unless the rudders are replaced this class will never sail Inside - and even has trouble getting into Ketchikan due to approach angles and wind conditions. Between this and the lack of good viewing areas the Royal class basically sucks for Alaskan cruising!

Well that sucks. Greyhound do offer a workable bus - 7:20pm departure from Bellingham arriving Vancouver 9:15pm - which does mean a lot of wasted time, but it's dirt cheap at $14pp! Add on cab fare to the bus station from the airport and you're still probably looking at less total than a single ticket on QuickShuttle with a suitcase was... and while an on-time flight would see you facing a long wait for the bus, if you think of it as padding in case of delays it's effectively free insurance.Flying these days, even the reliable airlines are struggling to maintain service levels, and if you are flying (God forbid) on Allegiant then a couple of days padding might not be enough! And Amtrak does offer buses even though the trains are not running - checking their schedule that particular day though it looks like an annoyingly long and indirect trip (for some reason heading south toward Seattle, then waiting around for 3 hours in Everett to board the late Seattle-Vancouver bus which arrives just after midnight, so into Aug 10th - at the very least I would have expected them to let you board the northbound bus at Bellingham!) You'd also have to get a cab to Bellingham train station from the airport on top of the $70 fare...

Lounge? No - the L in that particular location stands for Int'l Arrival Lobby - it is useful, you'll find the Greencoats (volunteers) for in-person help as well as phones, leaflets for tourist attractions etc. Actually, not sure whether physical leaflets will be back since TheBeforeTimes or not! It's more of an info hub than a 'hang out' - no food, no comfy chairs. Personally I'd recommend the Observation area - it's small enough that there's no way you will fail to find each other, it's definitely outside security, it's the only public spot on the 4th floor so it's easy to find, there are comfy chairs (it's an indoor plane spotting room basically) and if either of you miss the signs to it the Greencoats will all know where it is and can point you the right way.

Celebrity, and all the other lines who offer this, do the following: buy you a 1-day ticket for one of the local HOHO companies - exactly the same as if you bought one yourself directly; buy you 1 ticket for use on SkyTrain to get out to YVR (a 2 zone fare - but if you do this yourself, on a weekend or after 6:30pm weekdays you actually only need a $3.45 1 zone ticket and Seniors pay even less) transfer your bags from the pier to the airport, where they will be held for you until you arrive The last part of the list can no longer be replicated exactly as CDS lost the franchise for luggage storage at the pier so no longer offer bag transfers to the public, but there are many bag storage places downtown that run between $5 and $13 a bag for the day - a metered cab to the airport is approx. $35+tip per vehicle, but SkyTrain handles luggage just fine on the Airport line so if you're mobile you can still ride the rails even with your suitcases. So compare the price of a HOHO day pass ($59pp), SkyTrain ticket ($4.45 or less pp), and bag storage - and remember, this is all in Canadian dollars not USD! - to see how much they are jacking up the price... Also bear in mind that the only convenience aspect is moving your bag for you; but that they are also adding a new risk of somebody involved in the bag move screwing it up - someone posted just last week about their bag being lost while doing this and Celebrity taking zero responsibility for it...

You may have an out-of-date download - the website and the schedule PDF confirms Summer Schedule runs until Sep 30 this year. After that it doesn't stop - just cuts back to less frequent service and an earlier stop time that continues until May next year. No differences on weekends I'm aware of - although THIS weekend just gone, since Canada Day was Friday, they changed the service routing to avoid Canada Place due to the extravaganza of events!

You're welcome - and I definitely concur with @cruiseryycthat a trip to the island is a very poor choice given your limited time. Our first visit to Vancouver we had a whole week, spent one day in Victoria (floatplane both ways, so as efficient a trip as possible) and one up in Whistler and while we enjoyed both we felt like we would have probably been better just sticking to Vancouver instead of either! Stanley Park and the Seawall are pretty much the most Vancouvery things about Vancouver, so in terms of must-do sights they do deserve to be right at the top of the list - but even assuming a fairly whistle-stop visit is done that only eats up your half day, the two full days still need some careful curating to maximise your enjoyment. However much I might know as a local, our tastes could still be widely disparate - so my optimal two days might not overlap at all with your own. Rather than say 'do not miss X' or 'avoid Y' the best advice I can give, hands down, is to point you at TripAdvisor rankings. You know you - so I'm confident that you have a reasonable idea of where your own tastes run compared to 'Joe Public', which means if you read through the list of top-ranked activities you should pretty quickly be able to cull the items which are not your cup of tea. Yes, there are a lot of fake reviews - but for the popular sites with thousands of reviews the relative ranking of each can be safely assumed to be correct. There are also a lot of suggested itineraries for one day and two day visits that might spur some ideas. Once you have a curated list (add a few more than you think you have time for as you might need to cull it further) that's when us locals can be really useful - you might want to visit places where the time of day makes a real difference to e.g. traffic for getting there, or places which are on all of the Pre- & Post-cruise ~4 hours in a bus excursions so get slammed by coachloads of cruisers during specific hours. Plus, if you're a family or even a couple it's unlikely your tastes align perfectly with all your travel companions. If you each make your own list of say top five things to see and do and only compare them when they're done you'll immediately see which sites overlap and which don't - maybe doing a different thing at the same time then meeting up again for lunch/dinner after will work, just like folks tend to do while on cruise ships (especially with how close together many of our downtown sites are). Plus, free city WiFi network (#VanWiFi broadcasts all over downtown and many other spots too) means you can message each other to keep in touch if you don't have free data or voice over here. Given your lack of Chinese food availability it does make sense to grab it while the going is good - so a few more spots, especially local chains, for you to maybe try and get lunch in while out and about: Peaceful is a chain with three locations in Vancouver proper. Hand-pulled noodles are a draw for many, and it's likely you won't even have heard of many of the dishes - lots of lamb, some Middle Eastern influence via the Silk Road and China's native Muslim population the Uighurs are part of this 'Northern' cuisine, which has a lot more wheat and less rice than the Cantonese you are likely most familiar with. ChongQing has two branches - one on Robson in the core, another on Commercial Drive - and is one of our popular local Szechuan restos. A specific-to-Canada dish is Ginger Beef, invented in Alberta - if you have any British Expat places near you in Spain, you might know 'deep fried crispy beef with chilli or garlic sauce' already - if so, this is a similar preparation but in a sweet & spicy ginger sauce. While it would be a dang pricey lunch, you could have even have 'Peking Duck' at one of China's top restos Quan Ju De (Vancouver is quite often the first location for a Western branch of an Asian chain). Dinesty only has one Vancouver branch, but it's conveniently downtown on Robson so might work well on any given day of pootling around downtown. Dumplings are the big winner here. Lastly, a dinner only option but one of the few really good restos in Chinatown that is actually Chinese, Bao Bei remains extremely popular - Shanghai and Taiwan are the flavour inspirations, but the vibe is very modern almost Tapas-esque, with either small nibbly plates or big ones to share. Custom cocktails are well worth indulging in. Several other places have tried (and mostly failed) since they opened to offer a 'modern Chinese cocktail bar' experience but BB was the first to make it work and the most successful.

Then I'll give you a few nicer and more interesting spots to check out, things that might be very hard or even impossible to find elsewhere. For a top-notch breakfast, I still think that Medina remains the place to beat - a vaguely 'Middle East meets Belgium' vibe overall with the best waffles and accompanying sauces in the city, and one of the very few good things to come out of Covid is that they finally take reservations - otherwise you'd be joining a block long queue they consistently had since they opened over a decade ago. For dinner, a truly unique dining opportunity - at a remarkably good price - can be had at Salmon & Bannock. It's the only sit-down Indigenous resto in the area, one of only a handful in the country. You won't find better priced bison or a wider variety of salmon dishes - and since they are the only resto with access to several species that can be hunted by our First Nations but not sold to anyone, the 'free samples' that get given out with the main dishes are the only way you'll be able to sample e.g. sea lion. Chinese - some of the best high end restos in the region are actually in Vancouver proper, despite Richmond's justified reputation as the local municipality with the most Chinese restos and population. Dynasty would be my overall pick, swanky dim sum, posh feast menus, but you could do a lot worse than Kirin which is more likely to be walkable from whichever hotel you pick. On the Thai front, I can't say that I have ever found a real standout locally - so I'm going to point you a little sideways to Phnom Penh which has a mostly Vietnamese/Cambodian menu though you'll find quite similar dishes to Thai places. This is one of the seriously longterm local spots, still has queues outside even forty years later. Beef Luc Lac, Chicken Wings, and Butter Beef remain probably the most popular dishes - if you're a couple, one of each is probably enough for a good size meal. Not remotely fancy - shared tables, plastic tablecloths, brusque service - but probably has more celebrity pics & autographed menus than anywhere else in town. Back into the fancier fish & meat menus - if you haven't visited Quebec (or you did and you loved it) St Lawrence is worth making a reso well in advance for. They rotate menus seasonally, changing every month or two, often with a regional French menu as well as their regular Quebecois staples. The pies are just ridiculous - theoretically simple, peasant fare but executed to perfection. L'Abattoir is a Gastown staple for French style food using local produce, and does particularly well on their bar program (a lot of award-winning cocktails and mixologists, wines unique to the resto, that sort of thing). The regular resto is unfussy - but staff know their stuff, you can ask any server for wine reccos to match food. They also offer an occasional seriously high end set menu in their function space Gaoler's Mews - that's probably the hardest ticket to get in town as the seats are few and even at $300+ it sells out in minutes when a meal is advertised. The Mackenzie Room has a constantly-changing, very local menu - it changes so often that even before Covid they rarely bothered with paper menus, it's all on a big chalkboard on the wall. If you can find another couple to go with, this is one of the places where throwing yourself at the Chef's mercy is the way to go - 'I Want It All' brings all 12 daily dishes to your table with plates for sharing! They will do smaller combo menus for couple though, at the same price per head ($69 most recently, a helluva deal for the quality). Barbara is possibly the most pedantically-plated resto in the city - it's a one man show, very few seats, all food prepped and dished by Chef Hennessy himself (and that man does love his tweezers!) Tiny resto, tiny wine list, tiny menu (3 tasting trios of dishes - veggie, meat, fish/seafood but you can pick and mix between them - and a couple of extra dessert options), and pretty tiny portions but absolutely everything is Just So. When they opened at $50 for the tasting menu they were insanely cheap - even now at $70 you can see every dollar on the plate. Sit at the bar rather than the handful of wall tables if you can, as Chef H is happy to chat. The above four are some of the spots I was thinking of when I asked about your tolerance for resto surrounding streets - if you're used to urban grit you should be fine, it's not so much dangerous as perhaps guilt-inducing that you're walking past folks living on the sidewalk when you're going to enjoy a fancy meal... Lunch-wise, dang near impossible to make specific suggestions as so much depends on what you are doing that day - much more efficient to eat anything decent that's in a convenient location. Aside from inside large Parks & Gardens, which have few food franchises operating, you'll generally have a lot of options nearby any of the tourist attractions. One general concept we have a lot of is food trucks - so many that you really need to keep track of who is where on the app! If you are near a Japadog cart, truck, or resto that's worth a definite lunch stop - a local legend and damn tasty. Personally I tend to always come back to the kurobuta pork terimayo dog, but I honestly haven't had a bad option. Hope that's enough to get you going!

That definitely seems like the best option!

About 400 yards away - as David says, the platform right outside Canada Place is for the other line (Expo, heads eastward). If you head for the end of the Canada Line platform that says 'Granville' you can actually walk downhill, a little easier if you have heavy cases than coming up in the main lobby of the historic station building where the walk is a very slight uphill slope along Cordova. Closest Canada Line station is City Centre - <800 yard walk. Google map directions. Stadium-Chinatown is only a couple of blocks away, but on the Expo line - to transfer you need to walk through a mall between City Centre & Granville stations, or else go all the way to Waterfront and change platforms (stairs or escalators up then back down again) so honestly the walk from City Centre is your easiest option...

@gillianspyou may not realise that the cruise pier, with the Pan Pacific on top, is slap bang in the downtown core - and about 90% of the city's hotels and tourist attractions are also within the core (airport hotels are actually in Richmond, a different city, there are only a handful of Vancouver hotels anywhere outside the core and almost all of those are neither boutique nor fancy). There are more central hotels then the PP - obviously since the pier is right on the water, hotels about halfway between it and False Creek on the other side of the core are most central - but the difference is only about half a mile;-) Personally I'd rather have a wider range of restos within a couple of blocks, so I'd be looking along the Robson corridor - nearer the western end if you see yourself spending a lot of time in Stanley Park, the eastern end if you'd rather hang out in Yaletown or Chinatown. Listel or Hotel Blu should cover you for boutiquey at each end - but Blue Horizon has large rooms, all corners, and high floors have stellar views for a more moderate cost very close to the Listel. On the really upmarket side, Shangri-La is slightly more central than the PP with even better service (one of only two 5* hotels in the city, the other is the Fairmont Pacific Rim). As to restos... budget, preferred/detested cuisines, dietary issues, and tolerance levels for, shall we say, less-than-salubrious streets around the resto would really help narrow down what to recommend for you... I could probably give you a different resto for each meal on all three days within five blocks walk of any hotel you choose if you have a wide range of food likes and a big budget, but if you're all gluten-free vegans who want to stay under fifty bucks a day things get trickier!

You're welcome - glad to hear Seasons still has good food & service these days and that you enjoyed your time here!

Something has gone wrong @flpenguin - Indigo do operate the lot at the actual pier and Westpark became Indigo in the last year or so, so if anything you should expect to click on an old Westpark link and get bumpred to Indigo but not the other way around! However, parking at Canada Place cannot be done online - you have to call them. It's specifically this lot (034), at 999 Canada Place. The contact number and email address is on that page, and booking in advance attracts a hefty extra charge $32 per day instead of $23.48 if you risk just driving up). They will let you book the lot under the Pacific Rim hotel online for $23.48 per day - that's the same distance as the other convention centre parking, opposite side of the road, both are barely over 100 yards extra walk if you want to save a few bucks. The larger West side of the conv centre (1055 Canada Place) has parking run by Impark - if memory serves they charge $24 per day, but might offer longer-term discounts for a week+

The Canada Line operates under the same rules as the rest - so luggage isn't supposed to block aisles, take up seats, or be put in the designated wheelchair/bike spaces. However, unlike the other lines the trains themselves are completely different - there's gallons of legroom and enough room under every seat to stash a good sized suitcase! I'm 6'1" and 250lbs, and have no trouble getting a 28" roller and a carryon or backpack under my seat/under my legs - so unless you have massive or multiple suitcases, if you can drag'em you can stash'em. Since the airport is one terminus, you will also always get a seat - you're not fighting folks from earlier stations. If you go all the way to Waterfront you're likewise ending at a terminus so everyone gets off, which means no need to ask folks to move so you can oull your bags out from underneath you - but if your hotel is nearer City Centre Station then just ask anyone standing right next to you to let you out as soon as the train starts rolling out of Yaletown. Pulling bags out from under you and maneuvering through bodies to the doors before they close might get tricky if you don't have your bags ready to roll. The only point where the Canada Line really stops making sense is when the price gets up to close to that of a cab - with $5 extra on all tickets for the privilege of leaving the airport, 4 people will pay less for a cab downtown (fixed zone price $34, vs. adult fare for a weekday afternoon works out to a little over $9pp on the train). Even for 3 folks, you're looking at almost exactly $28 for 3 adult fares - so the convenience of door-to-door service may seem well worth the extra $6 for a cab + tip. If you were flying in day of and speed was of the essence - yes, train is both faster and incredibly consistent due to being entirely automated. But since you are arriving the day before, with cabs using zone fares it doesn't cost you a penny extra if they hit traffic!

Bus is reliable, cheap, but slow (70-90mins depending on route) and not very frequent on those out-of-town routes - but unlike here in Vancouver it's still incredibly backward in terms of customer payment convenience, accepting only exact cash fares (in CAD$), no free transfers between buses, and even day passes need to be bought from a driver as you board rather than being able to acquire in advance. Sometimes the 75 turns into a different number in town, then continues to pretty close to the pier - if so, you might be able to just stay on and only pay $2.50pp. If a transfer is needed though, 2 tickets cost exactly the same as a Day Pass ($5) so you may as well have CAD$25 cash in hand as you board, ask the driver for 5 Day Passes, and then you're good to hop on and off any bus you like without scrambling for change - if you let your guide know in advance, they should be able to ensure they have some smaller local bills they can swap with you if they're taking payment in USD or by credit card for the tour. Taxis - available cabs with 5 passenger seats are very limited as most vans are adapted to take wheelchair passengers so they lose a row of seats. I know Yellowcab does have at least a few unadapted minivans though - but you'd have to call them and specifically book one of those vehicles, as otherwise you're looking at max 4 bums on seats in the adapted vans or the much-more-common Priuses. Ballpark price on the meter, CAD$60 oer vehicle - traffic could bump that up some, but with 5 folks to split the ride I think it's safe to assume that the equivalent of US$15pp will cover the ride and a tip no problem. Is your guide going to drop you off at Butchart, since you didn't ask about getting there just coming back? No chance you'd consider just paying them extra to hang with you at the gardens then drive you back - that would be pricier than a cab but much less hassle for 5 people, as if anything goes wrong on the minivan cab supply front you would be looking at needing 2 cars for double the price...

That's the wrong map - fares increased in April. The most up-to-date version can be found on YVR's website down near the bottom of this page (which was mentioned above - I'm guessing you saved a copy at some point pre-April badger?) Fairmont Vancouver is now $34. But back to your original query - yes, if you have an included transfer you can head to YVR and take advantage of it, but personally I'd be asking them to cancel and refund you the transfer portion as they are always flagrantly overpriced! Pre-Covid rates generally ran US$29pp - which was already as expensive as a cab. This year I've seen folks saying they were paying US$49pp! And you can see for yourself how cheap the taxi is for as many people fit - but prices on the zone map are in CAD! If the transfers cannot be priced individually and thus refunded - make a mock booking at the Fairmont yourself, as HAL are likely padding your hotel price enough to cover their transfers... and don't forget their prices are listed per person in USD whereas you'd be booking a room for 2+ in CAD, so cancelling the hotel might also save a chunk of change (not always - if they have booked a whole passle of rooms they might have a genuinely good price which they're passing along to you). If you are locked into an airport rental car, then someone needs to return it there - but you could easily take your bags and everyone except the driver to the hotel and then only one driver needs to head out to YVR, without luggage, making SkyTrain even easier to use. NB: my fellow local is obviously thinking of their own commute in from the eastern 'burbs, as Burrard station is not on the Canada Line so you'll be riding the rails back & forth forever if you come in from YVR expecting to see it! City Centre station is the stop closest to the Fairmont Van on the line you'd be traveling... If you're not locked in on the rental car, try shopping around - because every rental picked up at YVR has an extra fee that only applies there and it's HIGH, over 20%. That doesn't mean you'll actually find a cheaper deal at a downtown rental franchise of course, these days it's a nightmare finding good deals on rentals, but it's worth trying if you have a cancellable rate on that week long rental - as even saving a few bucks a day coiuld easily pay the cab ride to a rental location elsewhere.

No worries - I wish hotels that did this simply greyed out the available date fields so you couldn't enter a date they're not taking yet rather than marking dates beyond X 'sold' and letting customers try to make a booking that won't work. I think it's a weaselly business school psychology trick to induce exactly the sense of panic you felt and make the hotel seem even more desirable 'because it must be so popular'!!!

Good point - definitely ensure you are compliant with the MOST restrictive rules on timing, testing, Vaxx status etc. whether that's CBP, Canadian gov't, or cruiseline! So many special cases these days it's nigh impossible to give a single, definitive answer to anything... Well in that case, definitely go for ~9:30am and bring a good book. You'll end up waiting around for probably 60-90mins until CBSA and CBP agree the ship is zeroed out, security are ready to start, and all the dominos fall in place but once things do start up you should be strolling through just as fast as we do when we show up late.

It's almost certainly not - like many local hotels, their online booking only opens 11 months ahead, so if you are trying for late May you'll need to come back maybe next week? Or you could call them and ask - freephone anywhere in North America on 1 800 663 1424

HOHO bus tours - there are a few stops within the park, including the totems (frankly unless you're visiting every brewery in the city I wouldn't bother with the brewpub - it's definitely in the lower tier of local beer makers, although if the timing is convenient it's not a terrible lunch option). If biking is an issue of fitness, there are lots of electric bike rentals now. If it's balance, adult tricycles are available (and quite practical with the basket between the back wheels to hold a bag, just make sure never to leave anything in the basket when you park them!) - or if you're a couple and your other half has good legs, hire a tandem and let them do the pedalling 😉 Otherwise, cars can get to many spots - not on the actual seawall, but very close by at several points including both the totems and brewpub. Parking is done on a 'pay once, move anywhere else in the park for the duration of the ticket' basis so you can split up walking by stopping at each parking lot, checking out the stuff nearby, then driving to the next one - it's one of the very few sites in Vancouver where a car can be useful rather than a hassle for parking! Without a rental car though, the meter on a cab would rack up a lot while waiting for you - given the one-way system some taxi drivers are very reluctant to come pick folks up inside the park as they might have to drive a long way to get to you without the meter running, although you do often see a cabbie or two lurking in high season near some key spots like the Prospect Point cafe... if you're the kind of person who likes to haggle, negotiating with a cabbie for a fixed price impromptu tour of the park with a couple of stops to let you out to take photos might be worthwhile? As to the carriage rides - unless you drop ridiculous coin for a private hire (as in $300+, so cheaper to pay a cabbie for several hours of idling on the meter!!!) to guarantee your own choice of seat and what time you spend where, you won't see much. The horses are slow and you'll be on a big trolley with only the outside seats on each row getting much of a view - and the front row literally blocked by a horses arse! Carriages are really a thing to do if you are the kind of person who enjoys the vibe of a carriage ride, rather than a practical 'actually see lots of stuff' touring option.

There has been a GE/NEXUS lane in the past - and there's one thread from May indicating that it came back this year. Head left - and it might be a pretty small sign, with 'Priority', 'Crew' or similar wording as well as GE/NEXUS so hard to spot across a crowded room! In general, be either very early, definitely before 10am (and expect to wait around until everything begins, but then speed through once everything does open) or else be as late as you possibly can (but never less than 90mins pre-departure time). For shortest possible 'street to cabin time' the latter plan wins as there's no wait time - and gives the bonus of extra time in an awesome city. But if you've visited us before and just want to get onboard as early as possible, I'd say roll in about 9:30am with your bags (it's literally across the street and down a ramp, and then you know 100% you have given your bag to the correct longshoremen for your ship with no possiblity of error by the bellhops if e.g. there are 2 ships of the same line in port...) Haven't visited us before? I wouldn't recommend a North Shore tour on the morning of your embarkation, even if the expected tour end time is early enough - the bridges are always a bottleneck, and with Old Growth Logging protests ramping up their traffic blocking and specifically targetting the bridges now there's an elevated risk of delays. But if you do pretty much whatever else you like around town before noon, come back downtown for lunch somewhere nice, and then leave the last hour or so before emarking for things close enough to the pier to walk there within 10-15mins (e.g. FlyOverCanada which is right on the pier, the Steam Clock in Gastown). This removes all the risk of traffic delays so you can cut your timing very close with virtually no risk.

Since you name-checked me @Urban trekker Dennis I'll respond... +1 to what Dennis said 😉 But if they're both in your price range, you'll get even better value at lower price in the YWCA Hotel around the corner from Blu - their new tower is even newer than Blu, their prices lower, their practical facilities (laundries, kitchens) better, and profits go to a charity. You're obviously not brand-loyal given the comparison between HI and a Hampton family hotel, so unless you feel the need for the extra fripperies that a trendy hotel will offer over a basic one, swap to the Y unless it's sold out already - savings will help you make use of all those extra dining options nearby!