Vancouver Customs on B2B cruises

[Baileybasset]

Next May we are on a Princess Coastal from LA to Vancouver where we will disembark Princess and get on Holland for Alaska the same day.

 

This year on the same weekend we will arrive in port, the Princess people had extremely early disembark times (6:45 AM) due to 4 ships and 19,000 being in port. We are wondering how the customs/immigration procedures will work for us and is there a comfortable and dry place for us to wait with our luggage until we can embark on Holland?

[Putterdude]

I don't have a crystal ball for next year but those May cruises at Canada Place can be a real bear-cat with inexperienced staff and not enough US customs officers to handle the load of up to 4 ships doing repositioning. You will have to to clear Canadian customs as you did this year then go through the whole procedure of checking in with HAL, security, and then clearing US customs at Canada Place.

Once on the Princess ship you could check and see if they will transfer your luggage over to the HAL ship but somehow I doubt they will and on that weekend I not sure that I would trust them to do so. Beyond that I have no secret plan, when we did it, we did it Princess to Princess and it was pretty simple.

However what I would be inclined to do would be to try and get a disembarkation time of about 0900, clear Canadian customs then give my luggage to the HAL porters at the entrance to Canada Place, they will start accepting luggage about 0930 then get in line. As you know Canada Place is completely enclosed, warm and dry....finding a place to sit and be comfortable is another matter. However you could go into the Pan Pacific and sit in their lobby....but that could be a bit of a sit and then you still have to face the lines.

If you wanted you would pass your luggage off to the HAL porters at about 0930 and take a tour, walk into historic Gastown, go up in the Vancouver Lookout, take a walk to Stanley Park along the seawall, have lunch, come back to Canada Place and do the check-in procedure but the lines are still going to be inevitable.

[Baileybasset]

Thank you for responding so quickly. :) We have only cruised from Vancouver in 1993 and I don't remember too much. I've been following the CC boards for our 2013 ships and found this potential dilemma that may affect us next year.

 

Your suggestions are good and I will contact Princess both prior to sailing and once on board to see about later disembarkation times. I've also contacted Holland and am waiting to hear back. We'd love to wander a bit in Vancouver on a nice day without luggage.

[Urban trekker]

You could walk from Canada Place through to the Waterfront Food court and spend time there - a variety of food choices and a Tim Horton's - as you walk along the corridor between this two buildings there are a number of murals on the walk depicting both early First Nations of the region and the early days of the City itself.

 

If it is nice day and you want some fresh air - walking along the seawall that encircles the new Convention center has even more info posts - you will see first hand the sea plane terminal for downtown Vancouver and then finish your leg stretching and fresh air experience by posing in front of the Olympic cauldron in Jack Poole Plaza.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Baileybasset]

Sounds like a good plan! I'll check it out.:D

 

Thanks!

[Smokeyham]

Next May we are on a Princess Coastal from LA to Vancouver where we will disembark Princess and get on Holland for Alaska the same day.

 

This year on the same weekend we will arrive in port, the Princess people had extremely early disembark times (6:45 AM) due to 4 ships and 19,000 being in port. We are wondering how the customs/immigration procedures will work for us and is there a comfortable and dry place for us to wait with our luggage until we can embark on Holland?

 

 

This sounds similiar to a situation some friends of mine were in a few years back. They arrived at Vancouver from L.A. on NCL and then were returning to the US (Seattle) on a HAL ship.

 

They got off the ship, and started towards Customs. Just as they arrived, they were informed that they could be classed as "In Transit" passengers, and that there was an area for them to wait in so they did not have to go out through customs, and then join lines to get back again.

 

Unfortunately, one person in their group had already walked across a line painted on the floor, and so they had officially entered Canada. They had to go through the whole process. Canada Place was absolutely full of people (four ships in port) and it took them many hours to get on board their new (HAL) ship. This was especially frustrating since they were only on board for one night.

 

I would ask to see if they have some sort of "In Transit" location to allow you to avoid having to stand in lines.

 

Actually, I would ask a number of people, since there was a lot of confusion ashore, and you may get a "no" from one person, to be followed by a "yes" from another.

[Keith1010]

There are many places to grab something to eat or to relax. The Pan Pacific Hotel is right adjacent to the terminal. They have places to eat and also you could relax in their lobby area.

 

Keith

[Urban trekker]

Keith - those are basically the shops and eateries that I mentioned in my post.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Keith1010]

Keith - those are basically the shops and eateries that I mentioned in my post.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Dennis, I hadn't seen where you mentioned the Pan Pacific Hotel unless you did an I missed it.

 

Keith

[Putterdude]

I think we have have two locations in play here, one in the lobby of the Pan Pacific where thee is kind of a café/deli (or there used to be) and the food court is in Waterfront Centre which across the street from the Pan Pacific but is connected via an underground pedestrian walk way.

[Keith1010]

I think we have have two locations in play here, one in the lobby of the Pan Pacific where thee is kind of a café/deli (or there used to be) and the food court is in Waterfront Centre which across the street from the Pan Pacific but is connected via an underground pedestrian walk way.

 

We do have two locations.

 

The good news is that the Original Poster will have lots of options and if it is raining the Pan Pacific Hotel will be a nice option as they can get there without walking in the open.

 

Keith

[Urban trekker]

PD - there is a cafe-deli in the hallway leading from the Pan Pacific entrance to the exhibition halls of the convention center but if there is any kind of a trade show on it is usually packed.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[scottbee]

Next May we are on a Princess Coastal from LA to Vancouver where we will disembark Princess and get on Holland for Alaska the same day.

 

This year on the same weekend we will arrive in port, the Princess people had extremely early disembark times (6:45 AM) due to 4 ships and 19,000 being in port. We are wondering how the customs/immigration procedures will work for us and is there a comfortable and dry place for us to wait with our luggage until we can embark on Holland?

 

Before you start making too many plans; I would wait and see both how many; and where the ships are docked. it's entirely possible that if there are 4 ships in that day, that you may be at Ballantyne not Canada Place, in which case, transferring is going to require more than walking out and back in. I would expect Port Metro Vancouver to have their schedule up some time in early 2013 for May 2013

[Urban trekker]

Princess has priority rights on the east side of Canada Place and HAL on the west side so they are unlikely to use Ballantyne pier - NCL which hasn't homeported here for a couple of years is the only cruise line to Ballantyne this year.

 

Perhaps PD who has cruised more with Princess can remember the last time that a Princess ship use Ballantyne.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

I am not sure that I have ever seen a Princess ship at Ballantyne...there is is the remote possibility that a repositioning Princess ship has used it years back but not as I recall.

On May 14, 2011 the Golden Princess was on the west side of Canada Place, the Sapphire was on the east side and the Zuderdam was on the north end. May 19th this year the Diamond was on the east side, the Zudy was on the west side and the Sapphire was hung off the north end. I would think that it is a pretty safe bet that next year both Princess and HAL will use Canada Place even on those busy May weekends.