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Apparently they are working on Arrive CAN 2.0 that will eliminate the needs to use the kiosks at the airport or complete the equivalent paper arrival cards.

The whole point of doing this electronicky is so these things are reviewed by the computer system not a human. The cruise line (and the airlines) provide a list of everyone coming into the country hours before the ship docks or the flight lands. If there was an issue that CBSA had with some passengers they would have identified that long before you arrive. I have been on the pacific costal cruise where you leave LA, it clears CBSA in Victoria and the next day the cruise ends in Vancouver. They make an announcement on the ship for a few people to come down to one of the venues on the ship. Everyone else is good to get off the ship with out even seeing a CBSA agent.

If you want to stay at the airport, I would book the Hilton hotel that is connected to the airport terminal;. I have stayed their before and it quit and nice. However Rome is such a great walking city. Staying in the city is a better option.

The Canadian compensation levels (if its the airlines fault) is $900 (under 6 hours), $1,800 (6-9 hours), $2,400 (over 9 hours). I think that is fine. The problem is the airlines are going to try to define every delay as not being their fault to avoid having to pay it. Those rules need to be tightened. The rules around re-routing and re-booking are reasonable and I have found generally followed by Air Canada and WestJet. The airlines that are the problem are these ultra-low carriers like Swoop and Flair. Parents are not being cheap by not picking seats ahead of time. If you traveling with small kids and you phone the airline call center the airline is required to assign seats for everyone together at no cost. The proper solution to this problem is to fix the airline booking software so this just happens automatically and not at the gate. I have been on Air Canada domestic flights severely delayed where they provide a handout with a discount code to use on the next booking pre-COVID. Should it be more than a 20% discount on your next booking? Yes. As we get more of these Ultra low cost airlines coming into the Canadian market I think we need the rules bumped up to something closer to the Europeans.

They are good and a favorite with locals especially for lunch. In Asian countries most of the lunch type dishes are fair game to see in a breakfast service. So that part makes it a bit more authentic.

Vancouver Sun article on re-introduction https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/amtrak-to-restart-seattle-vancouver-cascades-run-earlier-than-expected Interesting note is the delay in restarting was due to lack of staff, they were originally projecting to restart in December, but were able to accelerate the schedule to September with one train. The remaining trains will be added as staffing is added.

I have been on the Air Canada flight between LaGuardia and Toronto a few time. You would be surprised there are lots of people connecting through Toronto to Europe, Brazil or Asia. I would assume there are better non-stop options but apparently people do the connection fairly regularly.

LGA does have international flights to Canada.

If the flight is canceled or delayed by more than three hours the airlines has to offer the passenger the next available flight (on their own or a partner airlines flight) and a seat is available in the same class of service. If the delay would result in arriving over 9 hours late then they have to also offer to rebook onto a competing airline if space is available. The 48 hour limit is a special case when it is due to a snow storm or other event that shutdown the entire airport.. What I find annoying is that WestJet switched to outsourcing their gate staff in all the secondary airports (including Victoria). The contractors don't have training/access to reroute onto non-partner airlines. They basically have to call into Calgary to have someone do it for them. The financial compensation only kicks in if the reason for the delay is under the control of the airline. That is where they are playing games by claiming everything is out of their control which is nonsense. Canadian airlines are also required to move passengers around or assign seats at no cost to ensure that young kids are seated next to their parents. Here is the details. https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/air-passenger-protection-regulations-highlights

The Canadian rules are not as good as in the EU. That is clear. That said, they still force the airlines to reroute passengers onto competing airlines which I think is the critical item. Compensation is nice but not as critical in my view.

If you have the time, there is high speed catamaran ferry service from downtown Victoria to downtown Seattle. Despite the fact it is a relatively fast ship, it does take several hours. Otherwise a pleasant ferry ride.

I would book two one-way flights. There is no advantage to round trip and you get more choice. The two major Canadian airlines are WestJet and Air Canada. You may want to look at their websites in addition to the major US airlines. You also have the option of flying into Seattle or Bellingham airport. There is Amtrak rail service from downtown Seattle to Vancouver. Bus service is also available from both Seattle and Bellingham airport. Other thing to mention is both Canadian airlines and the airports dramatically reduced staff at the height of COVID. Travel volumes came back much more quickly at the start of summer than the industry was expecting and planning for. The airlines and airports had to ramp up staff very quickly at the start of the summer and it shows. They are getting back to normal and it should be all worked out before next year.

I would look at it differently CSBA is doing the responsible thing in this case. They are being pragmatic and trying to not mess up peoples vacations. If they were to tell you don't fill it out then as a passenger your stuck between CSBA and HAL having conflicting rules.

I think it makes sense for CBSA not to want to deal with it at this point. It is September. Before the start of the cruise season the cruise line had to prepare a ships manual that defined the procedures it would follow in Canada based on the Canadian regulations. Transport Canada distributes the draft manual to all the other relevant agencies. They all review for compliance and approve. Once approved by the government they are following their line/ship specific manual. Given its September, the season is almost over. Before the cruise season starts again next year they are going to go through that whole process again. Hopefully HAL gets it right next year.

Legal requirements in Europe are very consumer friendly. They apply to EU based airlines and non-EU flights when they depart from EU countries. This is the US catching up. Many but not all US airlines have a history of also doing the right thing even if not required by law.

If you concern is getting a hold of you in an emergency. They can also call you on the phone in your cabin. Each cruise line has a 1-800 number for access the ship operator. The operator asks for a credit card number. If you call out it gets added to your on board charges. It is expensive to use ship to shore phone service. NCL charges around 79 cents US a minute.

If on the same ticket, Yes. The Air Canada check in agent will also print your Air New Zeeland boarding pass.

As others have said, I would try to close your eyes on the flight. Just after departure, the crew will prep to do a meal service. Have dinner then get some sleep. The wine Air Canada gives away in Economy is drinkable, I usually just have one glass but otherwise avoid alcohol. Then try to get some sleep, does not have to be good sleep, even napping a little on the flight helps. Worse thing to do is spend the night watching movies on the entertainment system. When you arrive try as much as possible to stick to local time. You will likely want to go bed early the first night. That is fine.

Not a requirement to come back to Canada but it is usually a requirement to enter other countries and does very from country to country.

As Flyer Talker indicated, the communication path could deviate based on any special arrangements between NCL and WestJet. What will not change (even if it is a charter or consolidator ticket) is the airline is required to rebook you at their expense if they cancel or the delay is over 3 hours. That is defined in Canadian Transportation Agency regulations that would apply since your connecting through Canada. Not as good as European rules, but better than US rules. The legal requirement is to get you to your destination with 48 hours or the original ticketed time, and to use competing airlines if necessary to meet that requirement.

Usually the airline take control of the reservation around 24 hours before departure. Until that point the travel agent is your main contract. If it cancels, WestJet will automatically rebook you onto another flight at their expense. If the travel agent is still in control of the reservation they will tell the travel agent of the change and the travel agent is then responsible for configuring the change with you. All airlines generally try to rebook onto their own flights, if that is not available they use their partners and if that is not available anyone else. WestJets main partner in North America is Delta. Their main European partners are Air France, KLM and Virgoan American.

I would say it is possible but tight. There is a train that leaves at 5:25 AM in the morning that would work. The next train leaves at 8:10 that arrives at Dorval (near the airport) at 12:20. At the airport around 1 pm. You then need to do security and US Customs if on a direct flight to the US. That is tight. if you get off the ship quickly you might be able to make it. Driving would be faster than the train.

AriveCAN 2.0 is in the works. It is expect to replace the need to fill out any declaration card or use the kiosk when entering Canada. The should speed up the entire customs immigration process.

Amtrak on the Vancouver to Seattle run is generally good. It is not your typical Amtrak service, this one is actually a service using trains owned by the Oregon and Washington state department operated by Amtrak. There are several bus companies that operate between Seattle and Vancouver. If you travel light there is also float plane service between Seattle and downtown Vancouver. Baggage is limited. Ticks are sold through Harbour Air website. Baggage is limited. The service is mostly used by the tech industry with Expedia, Amazon and Microsoft having significant software engineering offices in both cities.

There are three or four tug boat operators in Vancouver. Only one of them is on strike. So this may come down to the one the cruise line normally uses and it may have to try to use a different provider until this is resolved. However the other tug boat operators are going to have a lot of extra work to deal with until the strike at Seaspan is resolved.