Flights from Vancouver

We’re cruising to Vancover next year and I’m booking our return flight home. Do you think a 1pm flight is safe? I don’t know anything about that cruise port so I want to be sure it’s not cutting it too close.

Thanks

We’re cruising to Vancover next year and I’m booking our return flight home. Do you think a 1pm flight is safe? I don’t know anything about that cruise port so I want to be sure it’s not cutting it too close.

Thanks

What time does your ship come into Vancouver? Are you the only ship in port that day? How do you plan to get to the airport? If you are flying to the US, you will be going through customs at YVR before your flight and that adds a lot of time. Check with your airline to see how early you need to be at the airport, ours wanted 3 hours prior to the flight.

1pm is doable if all goes well. If you have a long wait for a cab or the ship gets in late, you could be cutting it close.

Most of the time it's highly doable. Things do happen. I would book that any day of the week and take my chances, and I would not do the early walk off.

It is a very short walk from the cruise terminal at Canada Place to Waterfront station. The train to the airport goes every 6 minutes and it takes about 25mins. Amazing service. Tickets cost C$2.40 iirc.

However disembarking didn't even start till around 8 last week. It was a very staggered affair and well organised with people to show you the way out of the terminal etc

We never went through any passport control for Canada - either entering the country or when we left and we kept our British passports the whole time

Our ship arrives at 7 and we were thinking of getting a transfer to the airport since we usually do that.

On our cruise last month that ended in Amsterdam, there were delays with customs clearing the ship and I know people were worried that had early flights. Ours was at 12:55 and even with the delay getting off, the long bus ride to the airport and the craziness at the KLM terminal, we still had an hour at the gate.

I want to get feedback to see if that time is doable.

It is a very short walk from the cruise terminal at Canada Place to Waterfront station. The train to the airport goes every 6 minutes and it takes about 25mins. Amazing service. Tickets cost C$2.40 iirc.

 

However disembarking didn't even start till around 8 last week. It was a very staggered affair and well organised with people to show you the way out of the terminal etc

We never went through any passport control for Canada - either entering the country or when we left and we kept our British passports the whole time

No customs there??

If I recall, the distance depending on traffic is between 30 min or longer between the Cruise Terminal to the Airport. Depending on the time you clear and able to go off you could make it. The one time we disembarked in Vancouver, we had to grab a cab over the Cruise transfer as we wouldn't have made it. That was the last time we went with cruise transfer.

No customs there??

No one Canadian looked at our passports!! We had a form to fill in on board about goods etc being bought into the country but that was all.

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The customs process consists of filling out the declaration on te ship and just handing it in to CBSA after getting off lines are short and passengers are not sent to secondary unless needed but is rare. Fridays are usually not busy for cruise ships unless it is the beginning or end of the season. Radiance is often the only ship in. Ether Azamara and Viking are likely to be the other ship in if there is another one schedeuled. Both are less then 1000 passengers. Both taxi and canada line are easy for getting to the airport and would take no longer then 30-40 min unless there is a accident or road work on Howe st Or Granville St as those 2 streets make almost a direct route to the airport

No customs there??

When we went got off our Radiance cruise a couple of weeks ago, we just had to hand our declaration form to an agent as we exited the ship.

We had the first number for independent guests, which was scheduled for and called at 8:20. We got our luggage, turned over our form, grabbed a cab to Marriott Pinnacle, checked in and were in our room at 8:50am. We chose to fly home the next day.

We took a taxi to the airport the next day. Crazy driver who had us there in just over 30 minutes. You just need time to go through customs at the airport, prior to your flight to the states. We had to print our luggage tags for United at a kiosk, check in our bags and then head to security and customs. There were long lines in both places, but they moved quickly. We had to scan our passport at the customs kiosk, take a picture and print it. We then went to an agent who just looked at our passport and took the printed picture and let us through. It is an easy process, but it just takes time.

We’re cruising to Vancover next year and I’m booking our return flight home. Do you think a 1pm flight is safe? I don’t know anything about that cruise port so I want to be sure it’s not cutting it too close.

Thanks

Do a dummy booking on Air2Sea: http://www.cruisingpower.com/choiceair/protected/home.do and see what time in puts in for your flights. If it's 1pm or earlier you'r ok.

That link only works if you are coming from Royal's website and some cookie has been set.

This should work directly: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithGallery.do?pagename=air_travel_programs

That link only works if you are coming from Royal's website and some cookie has been set.

 

This should work directly: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithGallery.do?pagename=air_travel_programs

I use the 6-7 hours as a good guidance from when ship docks to having a flight. Yours is on the border. And try to find out how many other ships will be in port also.

If you can get one that is later do so. I know a lot of flights leave around noon - 1 and then later in the evening.

If so then book a day excursion with airport drop off. I did one in 2012 and got up to where they had the olympics and scenary along the way. was nice.

I'm guessing you are coming in from Hawaii on Radiance with us since the flights for 17 May 2019 just opened today. ;)

We booked our flights this afternoon and I booked a flight that leaves at 1:00 PM. We've done the first cruise into Vancouver several times, and I think 1:00 is perfect.

We had an 11:15 booked several years ago and made it by the skin of our teeth, but there was a delay getting the ship cleared AND the airport was being remodeled so it was a mess. We got to the gate just as they started boarding.

We may take the Light Rail... super easy... and we have enough time.

We thought a 1:30 flight was doable using an RCI bus transfer.

We missed our flight. Why? There were 6 ships in port that day. All cruise companies use the same bus service. There were literally a thousand passengers waiting for 4-5 buses. Total chaos as queue lines shifted and people were bumped by others behind them when NEW lines were started.

RCI told us for one full week not to take a taxi because there weren't enough and lines would be long.

Forget the trains. They are packed. Try getting 2 suitcases on before the doors close is very difficult. We have used the trains on 2 trips with no luggage. Both times the car doors hit my shoulder because the trains were packed and boarding was very difficult. There is barely enough room for people, let alone luggage.

You need to be at the airport 2-3 hours before your flight to the USA.

I believe the OP is on the same sailing that we are... We're fortunate that Radiance is the only ship in Vancouver on 17 May 2019.

We’re cruising to Vancover next year and I’m booking our return flight home. Do you think a 1pm flight is safe? I don’t know anything about that cruise port so I want to be sure it’s not cutting it too close.

Thanks

1pm is ridiculously safe - you could saunter off your ship at 8am and WALK to the airport in time! even cruise transfers would be safe - the general cutoff for those is 12:30pm, although if your trip is offering a 'sealed bus' transfer they could be willing to sell you the transfer with a flight at noon.

Personally I'd never do a cruiseline transfer purely for reasons of cost and efficiency - unless you are a solo, they are significantly (at least double) the price of a cab, charging the same per person as an entire cab that could hold up to 4 people plus their luggage. Secondly, while they may be faster than waiting for a cab on very busy days, that's the only time - you sit and wait for a bus to fill, whereas when cab queues are light you hop in and leave right away.

SkyTrain is however consistently the fastest and by far the cheapest way to YVR - regardless of how many ships dock, end to end travel time remains 26mins and walk time to the platform from the pier <10 minutes for regular joes dragging a bag. Plus, outbound travel is at most just over CAD$4pp (inbound adds a $5 per ticket surcharge, in case you're doing an RT cruise and also want to know about getting to the pier from the airport OP).

We thought a 1:30 flight was doable using an RCI bus transfer.

 

We missed our flight. Why? There were 6 ships in port that day. All cruise companies use the same bus service. There were literally a thousand passengers waiting for 4-5 buses. Total chaos as queue lines shifted and people were bumped by others behind them when NEW lines were started.

 

RCI told us for one full week not to take a taxi because there weren't enough and lines would be long.

 

Forget the trains. They are packed. Try getting 2 suitcases on before the doors close is very difficult. We have used the trains on 2 trips with no luggage. Both times the car doors hit my shoulder because the trains were packed and boarding was very difficult. There is barely enough room for people, let alone luggage.

 

You need to be at the airport 2-3 hours before your flight to the USA.

Multiple factual inaccuracies here I'm afraid.

There have never been 6 cruise ships docked at Vancouver, let alone at Canada Place. This season is the first there have even been 4 cruise vessels docked at CP, and the only reason that is possible is the extensive renovation undertaken since they shut the other pier 3 years back. When that pier, Ballantyne, was operational it could handle 2 ships and Canada Place 3 more ships for a maximum of 5 in the entire city, ever.

Plus, I've always seen at least two or three different liveried buses with 'Transfer to YVR' signs stuck in their windows - perhaps RCI minions lied to you about the extent of the logistical challenges so you'd be less annoyed at their incompetence and you are simply passing along the (wrong) info you were told - simply put, they fudged it up for you.

You are also mistaken about the issues you describe with SkyTrain to or from YVR, which is really the only relevant line and routing for cruisers. What you describe is impossible on both ends - airport and Waterfront are terminus stations, so there is literally nobody on the train already taking up seats. The train actually sits there for one full frequency interval with its doors open the whole time, as the station platform alternates sides at Waterfront so there is always a train waiting until after the next train pulls in and all pax get off. That's at least 2 minutes even in absolute peak rush hour conditions, and is normally more like 7 minutes.

Even if you are heading out in evening rushhour and many commuters are also boarding such that you don't think you can get a seat, it's very easy to just wait for the next YVR train - local commuters are very civilized, if you are standing at the front of the folks waiting you will get on first and have ample opportunity to find a seat and stow your bags. Since YVR is the end of the line you'll also have ample time to retrieve them. Nobody goes to that station unless they are going to the airport, as there are no homes nearby nor useful transfers available. Since every second train goes to the airport, simply remaining standing in front of where the door was will ensure that another train rolls in with it's door in exactly the same place a few minutes later - while the commuters have all moved to the other side of the platform, as that train will be the next one to leave and they want to get home to the 'burbs, not out to the airport.

On the luggage front literally every seat on the train has space underneath it for a large bag, plus extra legroom. I travel with a 28" roller and a carryon or backpack and have no problems - and I'm 6'1" and 250lbs. We've taken SkyTrain to the airport every single time we've flown anywhere from YVR - while I always recommend folks avoid the older lines (Expo/Millennium) with bags as they have no storage room, the Canada Line was built from day one as an airport user train so luggage is easily catered to - even down to flat floors that align exactly with station platforms so even tiny wheels can roll over the gap without getting stuck. If you've been schlepping bags all over town and try boarding at an in-between station at rush hour, yes, definitely could have trouble getting on, but at Waterfront or YVR it's just not an issue in the slightest.

Unless you're physically incapable of moving your own bags 400 yards, SkyTrain is not just a viable option - it's the best option when you need to get yourself and your stuff to YVR fast. Ticket machines are easy to use, you can now even tap credit cards with a chip - even those without a PIN! - directly on the fare gate sensors to get onboard, and it'll cost you the same as the regular adult fare (so really only Seniors & kids who get discounts should bother using the ticket machines). Search the boards and you'll find multiple reports this season alone of cruisers, not locals, self-disembarking and being at the airport before 8:30am!

 

We missed our flight. Why? There were 6 ships in port that day. All cruise companies use the same bus service. There were literally a thousand passengers waiting for 4-5 buses. Total chaos as queue lines shifted and people were bumped by others behind them when NEW lines were started.

 

RCI told us for one full week not to take a taxi because there weren't enough and lines would be long.

.

FYI.... Uber is available in Vancouver. We used it several times during our recent precruise visit, including getting from our hotel to the port.

1pm is ridiculously safe - you could saunter off your ship at 8am and WALK to the airport in time! even cruise transfers would be safe - the general cutoff for those is 12:30pm, although if your trip is offering a 'sealed bus' transfer they could be willing to sell you the transfer with a flight at noon.

 

Personally I'd never do a cruiseline transfer purely for reasons of cost and efficiency - unless you are a solo, they are significantly (at least double) the price of a cab, charging the same per person as an entire cab that could hold up to 4 people plus their luggage. Secondly, while they may be faster than waiting for a cab on very busy days, that's the only time - you sit and wait for a bus to fill, whereas when cab queues are light you hop in and leave right away.

 

SkyTrain is however consistently the fastest and by far the cheapest way to YVR - regardless of how many ships dock, end to end travel time remains 26mins and walk time to the platform from the pier <10 minutes for regular joes dragging a bag. Plus, outbound travel is at most just over CAD$4pp (inbound adds a $5 per ticket surcharge, in case you're doing an RT cruise and also want to know about getting to the pier from the airport OP).

 

 

Multiple factual inaccuracies here I'm afraid.

 

There have never been 6 cruise ships docked at Vancouver, let alone at Canada Place. This season is the first there have even been 4 cruise vessels docked at CP, and the only reason that is possible is the extensive renovation undertaken since they shut the other pier 3 years back. When that pier, Ballantyne, was operational it could handle 2 ships and Canada Place 3 more ships for a maximum of 5 in the entire city, ever.

 

Plus, I've always seen at least two or three different liveried buses with 'Transfer to YVR' signs stuck in their windows - perhaps RCI minions lied to you about the extent of the logistical challenges so you'd be less annoyed at their incompetence and you are simply passing along the (wrong) info you were told - simply put, they fudged it up for you.

 

You are also mistaken about the issues you describe with SkyTrain to or from YVR, which is really the only relevant line and routing for cruisers. What you describe is impossible on both ends - airport and Waterfront are terminus stations, so there is literally nobody on the train already taking up seats. The train actually sits there for one full frequency interval with its doors open the whole time, as the station platform alternates sides at Waterfront so there is always a train waiting until after the next train pulls in and all pax get off. That's at least 2 minutes even in absolute peak rush hour conditions, and is normally more like 7 minutes.

 

Even if you are heading out in evening rushhour and many commuters are also boarding such that you don't think you can get a seat, it's very easy to just wait for the next YVR train - local commuters are very civilized, if you are standing at the front of the folks waiting you will get on first and have ample opportunity to find a seat and stow your bags. Since YVR is the end of the line you'll also have ample time to retrieve them. Nobody goes to that station unless they are going to the airport, as there are no homes nearby nor useful transfers available. Since every second train goes to the airport, simply remaining standing in front of where the door was will ensure that another train rolls in with it's door in exactly the same place a few minutes later - while the commuters have all moved to the other side of the platform, as that train will be the next one to leave and they want to get home to the 'burbs, not out to the airport.

 

On the luggage front literally every seat on the train has space underneath it for a large bag, plus extra legroom. I travel with a 28" roller and a carryon or backpack and have no problems - and I'm 6'1" and 250lbs. We've taken SkyTrain to the airport every single time we've flown anywhere from YVR - while I always recommend folks avoid the older lines (Expo/Millennium) with bags as they have no storage room, the Canada Line was built from day one as an airport user train so luggage is easily catered to - even down to flat floors that align exactly with station platforms so even tiny wheels can roll over the gap without getting stuck. If you've been schlepping bags all over town and try boarding at an in-between station at rush hour, yes, definitely could have trouble getting on, but at Waterfront or YVR it's just not an issue in the slightest.

 

Unless you're physically incapable of moving your own bags 400 yards, SkyTrain is not just a viable option - it's the best option when you need to get yourself and your stuff to YVR fast. Ticket machines are easy to use, you can now even tap credit cards with a chip - even those without a PIN! - directly on the fare gate sensors to get onboard, and it'll cost you the same as the regular adult fare (so really only Seniors & kids who get discounts should bother using the ticket machines). Search the boards and you'll find multiple reports this season alone of cruisers, not locals, self-disembarking and being at the airport before 8:30am!

Sorry but you are completely totally wrong! My family experienced this. I have been to port Vancouver three times.

You are assuming there will be seats during rush hour AM and PM. Last time we used the train I literally had to force my way onto the train to stay with my wife. The doors open and close quickly and I was hit in the shoulder by the door, and I had no luggage. I can't even imagine trying to get two people and 4 pieces of luggage on a commuter train. We stood for the entire trip to the airport because no one would offer two seniors their seat.

As for 6 ships. I have an email from the CEO's office explaining and apologizing for the chaos at the port. Check these boards.

We were told over and over in the Cruise compass there would be no cabs because the port would be very congested because of the number of ships. We always take a cab but were concerned RCI was correct; or at Vancouver did a HOHO twice where our luggage was shipped to the airport.

You are thoroughly misleading people with YOUR factually incorrect information.

Thoroughly disgusted in being called a liar. I was asked for my opinion and I gave it.

After 30 cruises I believe I at least know a little. Don't tell me now what I should have done.

Sorry but you are completely totally wrong! My family experienced this. I have been to port Vancouver three times.

 

You are assuming there will be seats during rush hour AM and PM. Last time we used the train I literally had to force my way onto the train to stay with my wife. The doors open and close quickly and I was hit in the shoulder by the door, and I had no luggage. I can't even imagine trying to get two people and 4 pieces of luggage on a commuter train. We stood for the entire trip to the airport because no one would offer two seniors their seat.

 

As for 6 ships. I have an email from the CEO's office explaining and apologizing for the chaos at the port. Check these boards.

 

We were told over and over in the Cruise compass there would be no cabs because the port would be very congested because of the number of ships. We always take a cab but were concerned RCI was correct; or at Vancouver did a HOHO twice where our luggage was shipped to the airport.

 

You are thoroughly misleading people with YOUR factually incorrect information.

Steve, I did not accuse you of lying - in fact I gave you an 'out' as to how your most definitely incorrect info could have been passed on 100% correctly by you, when I said that RCI could have told you about the ships (which you have confirmed right here). Port capacity info is verifiable by Port of Vancouver who run the place - regardless of what you were told by someone at RCI there were NOT six ships in at the same time. It's literally impossible. There are not enough berths now nor have there ever been since Canada Place was built.

You are not the first person to have claimed there were six ships at Canada Place - I've corrected others too, so it's very likely they were also lied to by whomever told them that! This is something that anyone local and familiar with the ports is aware of, and if you really want proof that it's true I suggest you contact Port of Vancouver yourself if me reporting facts is not good enough for you - get it straight from the horses mouth. 'Six ship days' have never happened.

On the SkyTrain front, again I did not say you lied - I said that your info was not relevant to cruisers heading straight to YVR from the ship, thus using Waterfront (which is a terminus station). Since you have not actually confirmed which station(s) you boarded at, not only have I not called you a liar but we may not even be disagreeing at all! I would never assume that seats would be available in rush hour on SkyTrain - EXCEPT at the start of the line of course, the exact circumstances I detailed in my post. I even allowed for the fact that there might be so many folks waiting to board that you might not get a seat at first attempt - IIRC there are 88 seats, but standing room for over 300, on the current 2-car trains - and explained you could choose to wait for the next train, that the doors would open in exactly the same place, so you'd be able to be the first folks on if you refused to travel standing.

NB: since folks heading straight to YVR are doing so in the morning, they are ALWAYS against the flow of commuters - those outbound trains run almost empty in morning rush so your experience, even if it was described 100% perfectly by you, is not relevant to the poster I was replying to.

You originally said that you had used the train two times, both without luggage - I'll admit to having assumed that meant you did a pre- or post-cruise stay during which you used SkyTrain. From your additional info supplied for the first time above, it sounds like you could actually have been heading to the airport on disembarkation day, having sent your luggage on ahead, and those were actually your two SkyTrain trips. Without luggage to return for though, you could have boarded at ANY station rather than needing to come back to the pier... boarding at a downline station, in rush hour, I totally believe you could have easily faced a very full train indeed, no arguments there at all.

Even if it was actually Waterfront you're claiming that you boarded at, then I'm still not calling you a liar. If you walked onto the platform just before the train was about to leave, of course people could have already boarded the train - the ones who arrived there before you did, but after the previous train had left. Re-read what I posted though - in these circumstances, you have a choice of pushing on with everyone else, even though you can see it's standing room only already through the many windows of the train - which is why I went on to say that you don't have to board the first train! Instead I explained how folks in that situation could ensure they did get a seat if they didn't want to stand - by simply waiting on the platform, where thanks to the automated trains the next one on that side will have the doors exactly where the last one did, so you can easily be waiting ready to board it as the first folks through the door and have your choice of seats.

My correcting your statement about there not being enough room for luggage also doesn't mean you were lying, it simply means you were wrong: you didn't notice the available luggage space among the seats. There's no law forcing people to be observant on vacation. My correction is easily verifiable by anyone who ever rides the Canada Line simply by looking at the seats, their ridiculously oversized legroom and the space underneath, and imagining sliding your suitcase(s) in that available space even if there isn't a single person on the train with any luggage to actually watch do it. Plus of course there's the fact that the design info for the trains is readily available online, and if you still don't believe me you can go ask the engineers of Hyundai Rotem why there are so many fewer seats on these trains compared to the other lines which don't go to the airport...

I'm certain enough that I'm reporting the real facts that next time you come to Vancouver, I will personally come and meet you at the pier, escort you to Waterfront SkyTrain, and wait with you as you we both watch a few trains come & go. If a train rolls in already full of people who don't get off it and leave it nice & empty, and if it doesn't sit there at least 2 minutes to allow easy boarding with luggage, I will hand you $50 to compensate for your SkyTrain tickets and let you pay for a cab to YVR instead.

Thoroughly disgusted in being called a liar. I was asked for my opinion and I gave it.

 

After 30 cruises I believe I at least know a little. Don't tell me now what I should have done.

As stated - just because you were wrong does not mean you were lying, and I did not accuse you of doing so. If after 30 cruises, only 3 of which involved Vancouver, and only 2 of those involved a single use of SkyTrain each means your opinion is worthwhile - then surely my hundreds of times greater experience of riding SkyTrain means I know more?

I experienced rows of empty seats on the train, and, as you are boarding at the start of the route there should be no issues. However, if it is busy you just wait just a few minutes until the next one. Fabulous service.

Just my experience.

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