Boarding in vancouver

This will be my first HAL cruise and would like to hear your experiences on boarding. Do they tell you a time to check in at the port and if so do you have to stick to that time? I am always excited to board and start enjoying my cruise as early as possible.

Also, I have checked and there will be 3 ships on that day so I am expecting a madhouse, so earlier may be better.

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This will be my first HAL cruise and would like to hear your experiences on boarding. Do they tell you a time to check in at the port and if so do you have to stick to that time? I am always excited to board and start enjoying my cruise as early as possible.

Also, I have checked and there will be 3 ships on that day so I am expecting a madhouse, so earlier may be better.

 

 

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11:30 AM is generally the earliest you will be able to check in. You can get there (Canada Place in Vancouver) sooner but just be advised that you'll be waiting until 1130

11:30 AM is generally the earliest you will be able to check in. You can get there (Canada Place in Vancouver) sooner but just be advised that you'll be waiting until 1130

Is this new since April?

We are used to getting through the baggage drop-off, X-ray, customs, wine desk :) and actual check-in by/before 11 am. Boarding with Stateroom Direct at 11:30 - noon.

We went down to the port at around 10 and were on board well before 11:30. We were never given a specific time to arrive at the port. It was all first-come, first-served and we were led to the waiting area based on when we had arrived.

When we boarded we were told the rooms wouldn't be ready until after 11:30. I believe it was announced the rooms were ready at exactly 11:30.

We went down to the port at around 10 and were on board well before 11:30. We were never given a specific time to arrive at the port. It was all first-come, first-served and we were led to the waiting area based on when we had arrived.

 

When we boarded we were told the rooms wouldn't be ready until after 11:30. I believe it was announced the rooms were ready at exactly 11:30.

This sounds like what we are used to. Thanks for the info!

Is this new since April?

 

We are used to getting through the baggage drop-off, X-ray, customs, wine desk :) and actual check-in by/before 11 am. Boarding with Stateroom Direct at 11:30 - noon.

That was our experience this last April as well.

Is this new since April?

 

We are used to getting through the baggage drop-off, X-ray, customs, wine desk :) and actual check-in by/before 11 am. Boarding with Stateroom Direct at 11:30 - noon.

Sorry; Mea Culpa :o I am referring to boarding, which is at 11:30

Sorry; Mea Culpa :o I am referring to boarding, which is at 11:30

Thought so. Too many technical terms lurking around here! Thanks for your help!!!

We live in White Rock, BC and hired a shuttle to take us to the Noordam for our Alaska cruise. He dropped us about 11 AM. He was able to take us right to where there were porters to take our luggage to the ship. We had a short walk to the security clearance area and ship check in with our rolling carry on bags. There were several ships leaving and it seemed masses of people, but it all was very fast. I do believe we sat in a room waiting for the appropriate time i.e. 11:30 and then it all moved very quickly and efficiently.

We were boarding last October on a 3 ship day. We stayed at Pan Pacific and headed downstairs at just after 10:00 am. Bell staff had already taken our bags to the ship so we only had our carry ons. We had a few short lines and were on board about 11:30 (were in NS so they took us first). We were heading south and our first stop was Victoria so no US Customs in Vancouver. We had a separate security checkpoint that bypassed Customs

Many told us that they had arrived later and spent over 2 hours in different lines and holding areas. We watched all of the snaking lines in the afternoon from our veranda with a glass of bubbly.

Our boarding experience in Vancouver in May of 2017 was not good. We arrived at 2:00 PM following a morning tour and were not on board until almost 6:00 PM and departure was delayed over 2 hours until after 7:00 PM. We were told nothing at the time as to what caused the delays. We later found out there were several issues: 1. It was the first 3 ship day of the season. 2. Customs was understaffed. They eventually brought more from the airport to assist. 3. 2 of the 3 ships arrived in port late and they had to clear those ships and passengers from the ships and through customs before allowing new passengers to board.

I later read that delays early in the season seem to be common in Vancouver. I loved our cruise and the time of year, but would be hesitant to cruise from Vancouver again on a 3 ship day early in the season.

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We got an email from HAL a couple of days ago giving us a specific boarding time for our upcoming Westerdam cruise because there are three ships in Vancouver on our departure day. The times are specific to your stateroom; I think the first boarding started at 10:30; then 11:30; 12:30 and last at 1:30.

I've been in Vancouver before on a three ship day and the processing takes longer so I don't mind having a specific boarding time. Now I just hope everyone pays attention to their boarding time and everything should go smoothly.

Nighthawk, what day do you leave? We are on Zaandam, embarking on September 25th

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Nighthawk, what day do you leave? We are on Zaandam, embarking on September 25th

 

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We have been on the Zaandam twice on Tues departures and arrivals. Both times it was very easy and not crowded. Plus, the ports seemed to be less busy, as you do not have as many ships in them (due to offset schedule).

We just got the multi boarding time email today...

Has anyone gone through this experience? Is it working? Are people following the requests?

I also received a notice this past week of our upcoming cruise (N Amsterdam), departing on Friday.

They have broken down boarding by deck. Not sure if anyone actually will follow this, but I'm planning on following their request.

11:00am - Deck 8 Navigation Deck & Deck 10 Panorama Deck

12:00pm - Deck 7 Rotterdam Deck & Deck 6 Upper Verandah Deck

1:00pm - Deck 5 Verandah Deck & Deck 11 Observation Deck

2:00pm - Deck 1 Main Deck & Deck 4 Upper Promenade Deck