Regent Flights - with and without deviation

This is exactly what we ran into flying from FLL to ATL to YVR when taking our Regent arranged flight for our Vancouver to Seward cruise late last month. Global Entry is not accepted by Canadian immigration, but there were numerous immigration officials waiting for Nexus, with no one in line. I don't know why. We arrived at the same time as 3 very large flights from China, and several other flights from the US. We spent 2 and 1/2 hours in line. Luckily, we had spent a large amount of money to stay overnight in Vancouver before our cruise. If we had not, it would have been a very close call to get onboard on time since we had to go through US customs and immigration before boarding the ship. I would never take a cruise out of Vancouver again.

While Vancouver is our closest airport, have to agree that boarding a ship in Vancouver is a mess most of the time. We have also said "never again" until cruises come up that we can't pass up because we are only 50 miles from the port.

Nexus is used mostly by people like us that cross the border frequently (we live 21 miles from the border in Washington state -- it is connected to the Global Entry program but you would need both in Vancouver to avoid the long lines)). When we returned from a cruise earlier this month, the Nexus lines were almost empty. However, for the rest of the people arriving in Vancouver, it was awful!

Actually Nexus and Global Entry are almost completely different and not connected at all. Nexus requires an in person visit at a US Canadian Border crossing with interview with both US and Canadian Customs officials and approval by both country. It is mostly for people living close to the border and those traveling between the two countries often and who can make a visit to a land crossing office for the interview. Works for both land and air crossings.

Global Entry is strictly a US Entry by air and in at least one location, Port Everglades and only for entry to the US as information is only reviewed by US Border personnel. Thus why Global Entry will not work for entry into any other country other than the US. They both give you TSA-Pre but, only for departures from US Airports.

The only commonality is they both in the US under US Customs and Border Protection while Nexus requires Canadian review and approval only with the in person interview at a land crossing between the two countries.

Global Entry is strictly a US Entry by air and in at least one location, Port Everglades and only for entry to the US as information is only reviewed by US Border personnel.

Not quite. GE is good for land entry as well - you get to use the Nexus lane, even though you only have GE. But as noted, it doesn't work in reverse. You do need the actual GE card, not just your passport as with air entry.

This is exactly what we ran into flying from FLL to ATL to YVR when taking our Regent arranged flight for our Vancouver to Seward cruise late last month. Global Entry is not accepted by Canadian immigration, but there were numerous immigration officials waiting for Nexus, with no one in line. I don't know why. We arrived at the same time as 3 very large flights from China, and several other flights from the US. We spent 2 and 1/2 hours in line. Luckily, we had spent a large amount of money to stay overnight in Vancouver before our cruise. If we had not, it would have been a very close call to get onboard on time since we had to go through US customs and immigration before boarding the ship. I would never take a cruise out of Vancouver again.

Did you have GE? Did you expect it to work going into Canada, as it does going in the USA? There is nothing inherently bad about cruising out of Vancouver, but I suspect that your expectations of the travel process didn't match with reality.

I think you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Actually Nexus and Global Entry are almost completely different and not connected at all. Nexus requires an in person visit at a US Canadian Border crossing with interview with both US and Canadian Customs officials and approval by both country. It is mostly for people living close to the border and those traveling between the two countries often and who can make a visit to a land crossing office for the interview. Works for both land and air crossings.

 

Global Entry is strictly a US Entry by air and in at least one location, Port Everglades and only for entry to the US as information is only reviewed by US Border personnel. Thus why Global Entry will not work for entry into any other country other than the US. They both give you TSA-Pre but, only for departures from US Airports.

 

The only commonality is they both in the US under US Customs and Border Protection while Nexus requires Canadian review and approval only with the in person interview at a land crossing between the two countries.

They are absolutely connected! We have had Nexus for 10+ years and Global Entry for about 6 years. You only pay once for both Nexus and Global Entry (and it is reimbursable when you had certain credit cards). Initially we applied for our Nexus card at the U.S./Canadian border (since moved to the U.S.) and Global Entry at Vancouver Airport. Global Entry and Nexus are ONE card so it is completely incorrect to say that they are not connected.

They do work differently but the connection is not debatable.

FlyerTalker - based on our experience in Vancouver over the past year, it was indeed a nightmare as they put all cruise line passengers in the same line which was an extremely long line. It is too bad that they cannot separate cruise lines since Regent is so small and other ships are huge.

While I am far from an expert on this topic, I definitely know how it works at the Canadian border when driving from the U.S. to Canada and back and when you are at the cruise port to board a ship.

It is a bit strange for us because when we return from anywhere internationally we need to clear customs/immigration at YVR and again when we drive over the border. Fortunately, the line going to the U.S. in the Nexus line are quite a bit shorter than the regular line. What is frustrating is the the Nexus line going into Canada (manned by Canadian officers) is open until midnight while returning from Canada (U.S. Officers), the Nexus line closes at 9:00 p.m.

Since Nexus is intended for people who live near the border and cross it frequently, it makes no sense to have a large number of agents at the airport in Vancouver, waiting for a Nexus passenger to arrive by air. It was certainly annoying to see agents doing nothing while thousands of people waited in line for hours. I don't remember seeing a Global Entry line at the port in Vancouver. There were 2 lines, both long with 5 ships getting ready to depart, but the one for US passports moved pretty quickly.

Since Nexus is intended for people who live near the border and cross it frequently, it makes no sense to have a large number of agents at the airport in Vancouver, waiting for a Nexus passenger to arrive by air. It was certainly annoying to see agents doing nothing while thousands of people waited in line for hours. I don't remember seeing a Global Entry line at the port in Vancouver. There were 2 lines, both long with 5 ships getting ready to depart, but the one for US passports moved pretty quickly.

When was your experience at YVR? I ask because they just changed things around (I had difficulty finding the Nexus line earlier this month). Were they using machines or were the two lines to meet with an agent?

When we check in at YVR there is quite a long Nexus line for security but not as long as the regular line. There are also lines for the Nexus machines.

Unfortunately there are few (if any) ports that have Global Entry. Hopefully this will happen in the future.

In any case, as you know, Vancouver airport can be a nightmare if you do not have a Nexus pass and the port of Vancouver is equally difficult on a regular basis during Alaska season.

It was last month. At YVR, people with Nexus were directed down the escalator while those without it had to stand in very long lines before going down to customs/immigration. The 2 lines that I mentioned were at the cruise port, not YVR.

At YVR, there was no line at all for Nexus entry to Canada. There were no more than a couple of people at any time waiting for an agent. I think they went directly to the agents and bypassed the kiosks. There were also some free roaming agents that were looking for very old people, and people with a number of young children, in the non-Nexus line. They were pulling them out of the long line and sending them to the kiosks, and then on to the Nexus agents. Unfortunately, the people they chose had no idea how to use a kiosk and ended up taking a long time and needed assistance from the roaming agents to move on.

From what I've read, the cruise port in Fort Lauderdale usually has a Global Entry line, and that's the port we would be most likely to sail into. There was some mention of Miami starting it in the near future, and that's the only other port we would use to reenter the US.

It was last month. At YVR, people with Nexus were directed down the escalator while those without it had to stand in very long lines before going down to customs/immigration. The 2 lines that I mentioned were at the cruise port, not YVR.

 

At YVR, there was no line at all for Nexus entry to Canada. There were no more than a couple of people at any time waiting for an agent. I think they went directly to the agents and bypassed the kiosks. There were also some free roaming agents that were looking for very old people, and people with a number of young children, in the non-Nexus line. They were pulling them out of the long line and sending them to the kiosks, and then on to the Nexus agents. Unfortunately, the people they chose had no idea how to use a kiosk and ended up taking a long time and needed assistance from the roaming agents to move on.

From what I've read, the cruise port in Fort Lauderdale usually has a Global Entry line, and that's the port we would be most likely to sail into. There was some mention of Miami starting it in the near future, and that's the only other port we would use to reenter the US.

Thank you for explaining the situation. It sounds as if you went through quite a mess at the cruise port. We have experienced that previously.

Really hope that MIA will have a Global Entry line. It is long overdue.

After TA on Mariner in April, there was a Global Entry line in Miami.

That is really good news. We will be disembarking in MIA in November and this is a welcome change!

Wanted to report in on our air deviation. Our TA did a fantastic job in getting our flights accepted. He had asked us to pick the exact flights and dates that we wanted ahead of time. We are flying from SEA-CDG-NICE, and then BCN-CDG-SEA in June-July. We were going to ask for a several day lay-over in CDG, but decided not to overcomplicate things. We will just catch the high-speed rail from NICE to CDG when we land. We did go with Delta and the lowest rate possible. We did do our air deviation exactly at the 270 day air deviation request point. Regent accepted our itinerary without requesting anything besides the air deviation fees. We are extremely happy! Hopefully if we sail on further Regent cruises, our TA and Regent will continue to be able to provide the same kind of service. As our TA said, "Well, you are paying for it." LOL.

Sounds as if you have a good TA. Glad that you were able to book the flights that you wanted!

Sounds as if you have a good TA. Glad that you were able to book the flights that you wanted!

Thanks TravelCat!

We were going to ask for a several day lay-over in CDG, but decided not to overcomplicate things.

I think that everyone should know that when you put extra time/days into a "connection", it stops being a "connection" and becomes a "stopover". Unless a particular fare (and that does NOT mean "price") allows for stopovers, you will be "breaking" the fare, and the resulting price will be on the basis of the two parts - priced individually - and then added together. So what would be a through fare SEA-NCE with a CDG connection, now becomes a SEA-CDG fare added to a CDG-NCE fare.

Now, some caveats and details. First, some fares allow for free stopovers, others may allow stopover(s) for a fee (while maintaining the original fare basis). Further, the rules for when a "connection" becomes a "stopover" are different for domestic and international fares. On a domestic itinerary, the rule is a max of 4 hours OR the first onward flight, whichever is longer. On an international itinerary, the rule is 24 hours or the first onward flight, whichever is longer.

So, if you made it so your "connection" was 23 and a half hours, it would not break the fare and become a stopover. If it was over 24 hours, it is no longer a "connection" and is now a "stopover". These are terms of art in the industry and are what are detailed in contracts of carriage and in fare rules. (There is no official term "layover").

Hopefully that will assist folks when planning itineraries.

Very informative, FlyerTalker.

Thx.

This is exactly what we ran into flying from FLL to ATL to YVR when taking our Regent arranged flight for our Vancouver to Seward cruise late last month. Global Entry is not accepted by Canadian immigration, but there were numerous immigration officials waiting for Nexus, with no one in line. I don't know why. We arrived at the same time as 3 very large flights from China, and several other flights from the US. We spent 2 and 1/2 hours in line. Luckily, we had spent a large amount of money to stay overnight in Vancouver before our cruise. If we had not, it would have been a very close call to get onboard on time since we had to go through US customs and immigration before boarding the ship. I would never take a cruise out of Vancouver again.

You might want to check on this again, online. There are most definitely Global Entry kiosks in all major Canadian airports. I just double checked by going to CBP.ca and doing a search of airports with global entry. It may say only Nexus on the airport arrivals sign, but it includes Global Entry. Just ask the agent directing people in the customs area. I am a Nexus card holder in Canada (US Citizens can also apply for Nexus for half the cost of Global entry, but one must apply online and attend an interview center near the border. My Nexus card allows me to use both Nexus and Global Entry when entering the US from any country.

You might want to check on this again, online. There are most definitely Global Entry kiosks in all major Canadian airports. I just double checked by going to CBP.ca and doing a search of airports with global entry. It may say only Nexus on the airport arrivals sign, but it includes Global Entry. Just ask the agent directing people in the customs area. I am a Nexus card holder in Canada (US Citizens can also apply for Nexus for half the cost of Global entry, but one must apply online and attend an interview center near the border. My Nexus card allows me to use both Nexus and Global Entry when entering the US from any country.

The OP was concerned about getting into Canada and NOT going to the US. Yes, there are Global Entry Kiosks at major Canadian airports in the pre clearance for flights to the US but, NOT in Canadian Immigration. Global entry can only be used for entry into the US and NOT entry into Canada or ANY other country. Global Entry is only approved by US Customs while Nexus is a two way approval into Canada and the US. If gotten at the US Mexico border, it also is good to enter Mexico.

You might want to check on this again, online. There are most definitely Global Entry kiosks in all major Canadian airports. I just double checked by going to CBP.ca and doing a search of airports with global entry. It may say only Nexus on the airport arrivals sign, but it includes Global Entry. Just ask the agent directing people in the customs area. I am a Nexus card holder in Canada (US Citizens can also apply for Nexus for half the cost of Global entry, but one must apply online and attend an interview center near the border. My Nexus card allows me to use both Nexus and Global Entry when entering the US from any country.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is get the Nexus pass and Global Entry (one card). This works perfectly when entering Canada and/or the U.S. Plus the cost of the Nexus pass is included in the cost of Global Entry. The only difficulty for some people is getting to the places where they can be interviewed. I love the fact that our backgrounds have been thoroughly checked and we reap the benefits by having this dual card.

Rallydave, my understanding from what I read on Global Entry was that kiosks were also available entering Canada, not just leaving. But I’ll check that again.

Rallydave, my understanding from what I read on Global Entry was that kiosks were also available entering Canada, not just leaving. But I’ll check that again.

Thanks nanook, believe they are open for Nexus since that has to be approved by both the US and Canada however, Global Entry is only for entering the US.no Canadian involvement or approval

Are airport transfers still included when using Regent Air with deviation when the deviated flights are arrive on embarkation day and leave debarkation day? Or are all bets off when deviating?

thx

I’d like to know,this too.  My TA said if we deviate and arrive days early, and depart the day after debarking, we are on our own.  But I don’t know about arriving/departing same day.

For our cruise next April we deviated to get the flights we wanted. We are in Concierge with the included hotel so we are arriving the day before embarkation. We will be leaving on debarkation day.  

Our Guest Statement shows transfers from and to the airport.  So I would say it’s at least likely that you will also get your transfers.