What time should I have private tour guide meet at Vancouver port for 8 am arrival

Hi,

We are looking at a 7 hr tour with airport drop off and cruise port pickup.

NCL Jewel is supposed to dock 8 am. If I walk off what is in general earliest time I can do this?

This cruise starts in Anchorage, so I customs will have to be done in terminal.

What time should I have driver meet us?

Any experience with NCL debarkatukn in Vancouver..... Smooth?

Thanks

Kerri

If you walk off, first disembark slots likely to be 8:15 - but complicating factor about how fast you get through customs/immigration is presence of other ships. Looks like Jewel shares the pier with Disney Wonder much of the summer, and occasional a Seabourn or Regatta ship (smaller, but still extra people). All of those dock earlier - 5:45am for Wonder, 7am for the others I can see on the draft schedule - which means all their pax are already getting off before any of you jewel folks can! Draft sched is exactly that - so could change, you may all arrive much closer together in time and maybe even not be the last ship.

Still, I'd err on the side of sensibleness - figure out what time you need to be at the airport, and work the tour start time backwards from that. Even if that makes it a 10 or 11am pickup, you can then have a leisurely breakfast and disembark among the last people off, and if you still need to kill time go ride FlyOverCanada on the pier - they store bags while riding, total program time about 30mins, without a reso maybe 15mins queue time, so a great way to kill an hour.

If you walk off, first disembark slots likely to be 8:15 - but complicating factor about how fast you get through customs/immigration is presence of other ships. Looks like Jewel shares the pier with Disney Wonder much of the summer, and occasional a Seabourn or Regatta ship (smaller, but still extra people). All of those dock earlier - 5:45am for Wonder, 7am for the others I can see on the draft schedule - which means all their pax are already getting off before any of you jewel folks can! Draft sched is exactly that - so could change, you may all arrive much closer together in time and maybe even not be the last ship.

 

Still, I'd err on the side of sensibleness - figure out what time you need to be at the airport, and work the tour start time backwards from that. Even if that makes it a 10 or 11am pickup, you can then have a leisurely breakfast and disembark among the last people off, and if you still need to kill time go ride FlyOverCanada on the pier - they store bags while riding, total program time about 30mins, without a reso maybe 15mins queue time, so a great way to kill an hour.

Thanks for all the great info!!!

We have a red eye flight 10:55.

We were debating on getting a dayroom for a 3 hrs before flight to rest freshen up.

If we start tour by 9.... back at airport at 4 then would be worth it.

Or maybe a spa treatment.

Must’ve trying to have a nice travel day without extra airport sitting:-)

If we straggle off ship later.... prob won’t need room. Maybe we just have nice dinner in airport hotel.

Thanks

Kerri

Alternative suggestion - ditch the airport transfer (if it's a private tour you're paying by the hour, so either spend the same but see more of cut the airport travel time off the end).

1. Disembark after breakfast
   
2. Hand bags over to CDS at the pier, pay them CAD$40, and your bags will be transferred to YVR for you to collect there (up to 4; $10 per extra bag)
   
3. Do your tour, and get dropped back downtown 4pm-ish
   
4. Hit up a local spa which will be MUCH cheaper than services onboard or at the airport
   
5. Have a nice dinner downtown (more options and again better value than airport dining)
   
6. Head to airport around 8pm - arriving there around 8:30pm - giving more than enough time to collect your bags then go through the whole bag check/security/US preclearance rigamarole. SkyTrain is the fastest and cheapest way - and only $2.85pp in the evening.