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2 hours ago, Ready to Sail! said:

I am getting conflicting information from NCL.  Just booked a cruise Boston to Quebec City for next fall so I have plenty of time

but would like some input from those who have ended their cruise in Quebec City.  Did you fly out from Quebec City or shuttle

to Montreal to fly from there?

 

Quebec City has a small be reasonable sized airport give the small size of the city.  Good connections through Air Canada or WestJet to major Canadian cities.

International is more limited, Air France to Paris, United to Newark, American to Philadelphia.  

Montreal is a much larger airport with flights to major airport in Canada, US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  

For reasons that make no sense, NCL books people through Montreal while leaving people with the impression it is the local airport.  If you want to fly from Montreal, you may want to look at VIA Rail website for train schedules from Quebec City to Montreal Airport.   On the VIA Rail site if you select Montreal Airport that includes the train to Dorval Station and a 10 minute shuttle bus to the airport terminal. 

26 minutes ago, bignan said:

You are right; you'd think that the cruise line would provide that information to passengers ahead of time in an email.  I wonder how much longer Canada is going to require the ArriveCan app.  

Sounds like it will be permanent.  The next revision of the app is suppose to have all the question that you normally answer on the customs declaration card or answer on the airport kiosk.  I suspect the COVID questions will eventually disappear.   I hope they give you the option of still doing on paper if you have problems with the app.  However, they have not released any of the details yet.

On 9/1/2022 at 5:34 AM, ShopperfiendTO said:

 

I take it that "clear security" at LHR means that I shouldn't buy liquids over 100mL (e.g., bottled water, large fragrance bottles, wine, etc.) at the airport where the first flight departs since I will be forced to forfeit them when clearing security at LHR? 

As Globalister indicated it has to be in a special clear plastic bag that is sealed by the duty free store. Usually with a red boarder and a green happy face/tick market on the front.  What is critical is don't break the seal on the bag until you get home.   

The duty free store knows the drill and if you tell them your making the connection they will package and seal the bag correctly.   If your making a domestic connection back in Canada they will let you through security with it as well.

5 hours ago, Cbtours said:

Def not planning on driving😩😩😩

move been trying to find out how public transport works. I see it looks like skytrain is close to port for cruises? I have Stanley park, grouse mountain, Seawall as starters. I’d like to do a tour to Victoria especially to see butchart gardens. But lots to see so a day trip.

the aqua bus? Seems good too.

Translink (Bus, seabus and skytrain) use an integrated fare system with free transfers between them.  These is an extra surcharge of a few dollars when leaving the airport on Skytrain.  Aquabus is not part of the transit system, but its cost are modest.  During business hours on weekdays the system is divided into three fare zones at all other times it is one zone.  Skytrain service is very frequent.

Canada Place houses the cruise ship terminal in the lower level. Convention center in the upper level.  It is close to Waterfront Station.  

Victoria is a different city that is accessed by taking a car ferry.  On the Vancouver side BC Ferries docks at Tsawwassen terminal. It about an hour to reach by public transit (skytrain/bus), about 90 minute cross.  Then BC Transit on the Victoria side.   BC Transit, BC Ferries and Translink are separate systems. However they are times to work correctly.

Here is the warning from the Government of Canada.  There are no fees for Arrive CAN app.

https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/features-vedette/2021/11/arrivecan-eng.htm

8 hours ago, Cbtours said:

Thanks. I’m keeping my eye on them all. I’ve also been busy looking at what we want to see, which will give a clearer picture of where we want I think. 
 

In addition to the question of what to see, there is how to get around.    Many tourist oriented venues are downtown and in walking distance to many of the downtown hotels.   

Vancouver is also well connected by public transit through the skytrain metro system.  Being near a skytrain station may be helpful if some of the destinations are out a bit. 

Driving in Vancouver is also an option, however it is slow going in the downtown area.

I would also say the Bard & Banker and Irish Times are good choices.

Personally I would go with 10 Acers Common. 

 https://10acres.ca/commons-restaurant/

They operate on the "farm to fork" philosophy.  So the food is good.  The Commons part of the establishment is more Lively the Bistro part quieter.  

The Fairmount has excellent food.  Not as lively as the other locations.

5 hours ago, cdn_tbird said:

I understand that these submissions are not reviewed by a CBSA officer. My comment was in regards to Fouremco's comment "I never had the chance to ask about the potential impact on CBSA resources of thousands upon thousands of unnecessary submissions." which I interpreted as manpower. Given the volume of daily travelers entering Canada (assume half the 126k daily travelers in 2020 are inbound), the impact of a relative handful of false submissions to computing resources would be negligible at most.

Agreed.

You have people who are on flights that get cancelled, miss their connections somewhere overseas or travel plans change before they get to Canada for some reason to add to the mix.  I don't think they they are going to allocate human resources to investigate any of that.  

There is always going to be some Arrive CAN submissions, where the passport is never scanned into Canada.  They probably let those submissions expire and you need to re-submit.

19 hours ago, Larger Bowl said:

Gnome12 is correct…the Arrive Canada app is so easy to use…. It is for arriving back to Canada…I filled in most of the info prior to my trip…I filled the arrival info in needed a day before returning to Canada. There was no wait to clear customs, everything was automated answered a few questions at a kiosk and way on my way. I did however spend 45 minutes clearing US customs going the other way.

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.  

1 hour ago, cdn_tbird said:

IMHO, I get the sense that this is just a case of HAL (and other lines) are taking the easy way out and just forcing everyone to fill it out regardless. It's just easier for their staff if they only have to recite one answer.

 

We just got off the Celebrity (taken hostage) Eclipse, now while this was a close loop itinerary, I do know that on embarkation day staff weren't checking whether we had completed an ArriveCan submission or not. Had we embarked on a Hawaiian itinerary, I doubt they would have checked then either. 

 

While the CBSA agent was definitely rude in hanging up on Fouremco regardless of when they got the call, and I personally don't like the idea of lying to a federal official, I don't think this will cause any extra work for them since nobody actually processes those submissions and even when you arrive the agents aren't actually asking you to show it to them. Heck, @ Canada Place he barely scanned our declaration before he waved us through. Easiest customs encounter ever.

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.   

15 hours ago, mythstera said:

NCL air program gave us ticket that is arriving one day (31st October morning) earlier in Rome for our cruise departing 1st November. I've never requested this. 

 

I actually won't mind coming a day early but how does that work? Do they pay us a hotel? Or do we need to hang out in the airport for 24hrs??

 

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.   

5 hours ago, iancal said:

The real question is the 'they have to' part actually practiced????  No different than the thousands of comp requests that have been turned down.  Or couples who have each claimed but received entirely different reasons why the airline refused their claim.

 

When I pay a premium for my seat on a long trip I am hardly going to give it up to some family member who decided to cheap out and not pay for their specific seats when in reality they all want to sit together.

 

After a 7 hour delayed flight in Faro, as we were in line to board the aircraft, Transat personnel came along and handed each person a one page explanation of their EU261 consumer flight rights...including instructions on how to claim.   

 

Can you just imagine AC, Westjet, Transat, etc doing that for delayed domestic flights???    I certainly cannot.

 

The EU261 rules, IMHO, really demonstrate how truly impotent the Canadian Transport Agency is when it comes to consumer rights and the enforcement of those sub standard  rules in practice.

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.  

On 9/1/2022 at 8:01 AM, Plato123 said:

We were on the Eclipse on the August 21 Sunday departure and were staying in a downtown hotel. We wanted a breakfast before the cruise and did not want to pay ridiculous hotel prices so we checked out a restaurant that was a ten minute walk from Canada Place and open for breakfast at 7:30AM.

The place is called Joyeaux Cafe and is at 551 Howe.  They have a website if you want more info.

They serve western breakfasts but it is really a Vietnamese restaurant and has the full Vietnamese menu available all day, so we each opted for grilled pork bahn mi served with lots of fresh fruit and shared a mango and basil salad roll. I also had an excellent americano coffee.  The bill was $24 CAD total plus tax.

I originally posted this on the Celebrity Forum but it was suggested to move it here.  I should note that this place is open all week but many non hotel restaurants that cater to weekday businesses are not open on Sunday.  This one is, and early too.

 

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.

On 8/31/2022 at 4:09 PM, UKstages said:

 

not to pick nits, but this is - technically - not true.

 

there are daily flights out of LGA to canada, which makes it an international airport, although almost everybody forgets this and considers it a domestic airport. with recent renovations to several terminals, it now provides one of the more pleasant new york metro airport experiences.

 

and it is indeed possible to begin a journey to europe or asia out of LGA. i've done it several times. (of course, you have to fly first to another USA hub, or to canada.)

 

i'm not suggesting that NCL would book someone on such a circuitous journey, but it is possible, especially with the screwy way they try to maximize underutilized flights. (the flights to toronto out of LGA are short and efficient, by the way. and, depending on the day and time of departure, a first leg out of laguardia might actually make sense.)

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.

On 8/23/2022 at 5:55 PM, shof515 said:

 

LGA airport is not an international airport. There is only 2 international airports in the NYC area, that is EWR and JFK

LGA does have international flights to Canada.   

2 hours ago, iancal said:

Our impression is that Canadian airlines are skirting all of the rules ....including rerouting passengers when they can get away with it.

 

In our experience Canadian airlines will usually offer nothing or a small amount hoping that customers are ignorant of their rights.

 

My understanding is that Canadian airlines can cancel a flight.  They have up to 48 hours to provide an alternative without penalty. No so great for someone who is going away for the weekend.

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

6 hours ago, iancal said:

Canada has no real rules.  The rules have been purposely developed by the Transportation Agency to  have huge 'get out of jail' holes for the airlines.

 

It has made it very easy for Canadian airlines to skirt the rules and routinely  deny compensation. 

 

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.

6 hours ago, Kathscof said:

There is always the option of flying to Seattle and taking a bus or train over the border.....though that is adding one more step of traveling, which is not the ideal situation.  Our airfare into Fairbanks and out of Victoria is VERY EXPENSIVE (though Victoria is actually similar cost to Vancouver), but for a 1 way cruise, what can you do?  The cruise itinerary is worth it though, and being able to visit Denali before the trip is our bonus.  

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.  

23 hours ago, endoellen said:

I'm looking at booking an Alaskan cruise in May 2023 & the better itineraries seem to be out of Vancouver or Alaska vs Seattle.  Of course, the air prices are

better roundtrip from Houston, TX to Seattle & I'm not finding good times roundtrip for Vancouver, plus the cost is substantially higher. To find any decent flights it looks like I may have to book one way with 2 different airlines.  Any suggestions would be appreciated! How far in advance do you normally book your airfare?  Maybe I'm looking too far ahead??  Just like everything else, airfare has increased dramatically!

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.

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

LOL

 I guess the agent is not paid enough to deal with those issues

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.  

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

 

 

Given the CBSA representative's assertion that HAL can do what it wants and demand ArriveCAN submissions, even if not required by the GOC, from this point forward my advice to anyone on CC will be to do as HAL requests. I don't agree with CBSA's approach, but it's their policy and they can decide how to implement it. ArriveCAAN comes under fire daily for a host of other reasons, and this issue is rather minor in the greater skeme of things. 

 

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.

3 hours ago, iancal said:

As far as I know this has always been fairly standard.  The only exception was weather delays. In the past we have had airline provided meal vouchers, hotels, and cabs when we have missed connecting flights.

 

Last month we were 7 hours late leaving Faro, Portugal.  It was a daytime flight.  We were given a mail voucher.   I also claimed compensation under the EU airline rules. 

 

 We claimed 600Euro each from the airline in late June.  We each got a cheque in early August for the equiv. of 600euro.

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.  

On 8/7/2022 at 9:09 AM, RMDPhoenix said:

Ok good to know.  Will look into some wifi plans I guess or just tell everyone they can get us during the day while we are in port!  Not a bad thing to be disconnected 🙂

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.   

18 minutes ago, CeeCee59 said:

We are booked on a flight with AC to Vancouver from a small Canadian airport then our next leg is with Air New Zealand to Auckland.  Will our luggage  be able to be checked straight through?

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