Alaska Cruise Departing From Vancouver

[mrgreentank]

We (4 seniors) are taking our first cruise on the Celebrity Infinity in June, departing from Vancouver. Can we please have some guidance as to what time we should arrive at the port, what to expect as far as where to proceed to, what to expect etc. It appears from our itinerary that boarding occurs between 12-3:00 pm.

 

Also, when we arrive back in Vancouver a week later, what is the procedure for disembarking?

[rnrcruzin]

The choke point in boarding in Vancouver Place is clearing US Custom's first. Then it's fairly easy after that.

[mrgreentank]

So what time would you suggest that we arrive?

[Christine Frances]

I am planning on arriving before 11am:)

[Montana]

A leisurely check out at my hotel dictates my cruise arrival between noon and 1. Lunch when we get onboard and room check in about 1. Arriving too early involves too much waiting around for me.

[ldock]

After 4 Alaska cruises out of van, I wouldn't suggest going early. Line ups can get long and very backed up. I would suggest eating lunch, then hour prior to boarding end, you should be able to get on quickly without the long line or wait.

 

Vancouver port is also very beautiful, so another idea is to drop off bags. Take a peak at the lines, if they r clear up to the doors just past shop on the right ( line continues for good stretch after doors) then get in line, otherwise enjoy a nice walk near pier, before boarding.

[mrgreentank]

Is there any shelter at the port if it is raining? Or do we and our baggage get soaked?

[PEDK]

Is it possible to drop off our bags, explore the city for a few hours, then return to Canada Place for check in? If so, what is the earliest time we can drop off our bags?

[4774Papa]

We are staying in the Pan Pacific Hotel at Canada Place, where I understand we can check our luggage for the ship at the hotel.

Where is the line for US Customs?

[K.T.B.]

For cruises that leave between 4PM and 5PM, as this one does, I am always at the port by 10:30AM. That's just my own personal preference. I've found that, despite some lines, things move very quickly. The latest I've ever gotten on board is 12:30, and that was because the ship I was getting on was late in arriving into port that morning.

 

As far as I am concerned, better to be very early and be there, rather than take your time in arriving.

[Cruise Junky]

Is there any shelter at the port if it is raining? Or do we and our baggage get soaked?

 

Completely indoors and you drop your luggage underground

[Jane2357]

Completely indoors and you drop your luggage underground

 

We are close to our first sailing out of Vancouver and lucky for us the only ship sailing that day, so hopefully the crowds won't be too terrible.

 

We will arrive to Canada Place by cab - this underground area - do we get dropped at street level and have to wrestle the luggage down to the underground ourselves? Are their porters? Is there drop off on the underground level?

 

Also is there clear signage on where to go? Nothing worse than dragging luggage only to find yourself not in the right place.

 

Any help or advice is welcome. :D

 

[Cruise Junky]

Cab should drop you off down below and it's easy to get around.

[rnrcruzin]

As someone stated earlier, the taxi's and baggage drop off is completely covered. We dropped our bags and went for a walkabout. I've heard, can't confirm personally, that those that are staying in the Pan Pacific, can check their bags up in the hotel. I'm sure there are links in the West Coast Departures that go into much more detail. I can tell you the sail away from Van is beautiful.

[K.T.B.]

We are close to our first sailing out of Vancouver and lucky for us the only ship sailing that day, so hopefully the crowds won't be too terrible.

 

We will arrive to Canada Place by cab - this underground area - do we get dropped at street level and have to wrestle the luggage down to the underground ourselves? Are their porters? Is there drop off on the underground level?

 

Also is there clear signage on where to go? Nothing worse than dragging luggage only to find yourself not in the right place.

 

Any help or advice is welcome. :D

 

 

We're going to be on our own, Jane. No one will help us. :D

 

 

 

(We're on the same cruise, so a little teasing is needed.... :p)

[Christine Frances]

A leisurely check out at my hotel dictates my cruise arrival between noon and 1. Lunch when we get onboard and room check in about 1. Arriving too early involves too much waiting around for me.

 

Last weekend people who arrived before 11 were on the ship by 12. People who arrives after 12 waited in line for 4 hrs to board. See post #13 and following posts. We board on the 22nd and there are 4 ships in port and we will be there at the crack of dawn lol

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2352784

[paulajj]

Last year we arrived at 10:30 and I had a martini in hand at 11:00 :)

[Christine Frances]

Last year we arrived at 10:30 and I had a martini in hand at 11:00 :)

 

That's the way we do it as well!!!

[martincath]

We (4 seniors) are taking our first cruise on the Celebrity Infinity in June, departing from Vancouver. Can we please have some guidance as to what time we should arrive at the port, what to expect as far as where to proceed to, what to expect etc. It appears from our itinerary that boarding occurs between 12-3:00 pm.

 

Also, when we arrive back in Vancouver a week later, what is the procedure for disembarking?

Lots of feedback about boarding - but none on disembarking! When the ship comes back in, you need to officially enter Canada. So it's Immigration and Customs time - just like arriving at the airport really. The ship issues your declaration cards on board in advance, so no hunting for pens and scribbling on cards while queuing unless you forget to fill them out! If your route has Victoria before Vancouver - probably not for a Van RT - you hand in customs cards at front desk of ship and they're passed along to CBSA there, one less thing to do in Vancouver.

 

I haven't done Celeb myself, so can't say if they do anything special with disembarkation timing, but most lines seem to do much the same thing - you get assigned to groups, which meet in a particular spot onboard and all leave together. If you choose 'walk-off' or 'self-disembarkation' you can go pretty much any time you like - if you have an early flight this can be a huge help, but you absolutely MUST be able to handle all your own luggage, with one hand free if you want to use escalators (elevators are a massive bottleneck at Canada Place).

 

If you do need to have your luggage handled for you, then you'll have to stick to your group timeslot - you can negotiate with the front desk if the time is too early/late for you, but there are limits to how many pax are allowed off at a time. You'll come off the ship, have to find your bags which should be sitting in a little subdivided area and marked with your group colour/number/letter so you can find them more easily.

 

CBSA will take your declaration cards, maybe ask some questions if you are bringing in vast amounts of jewels and rolexes or booze and tobacco or they just don't like the look of you, and then usually welcome you to Canada and you can walk out of the terminal.

 

I always self-disembark so don't pay attention to where the bags are stashed, but I think you'll do Immigration interview first, then get bags, then hand over customs card. Past cruisers will hopefully chime in if I've got that in the wrong order.

 

As already mentioned - embarking is best done early or late, not in the middle. Always avoid noon-1pm, and add about an hour onto that per ship in port (~2pm on 2-ship days, ~3pm on 3-ship days should minimise queuing). Getting on board ASAP means 'free' lunch, but also means you miss out on the chance to do some sightseeing around Vancouver - one of the best cities on the planet.

 

A later embarkation can give you as much as six hours of sightseeing time - unless you are a frequent visitor here, you really should make time to see the city. We've got more stuff to see and do than all the Alaskan ports put together.

[ccotting]

We are staying in the Pan Pacific Hotel at Canada Place, where I understand we can check our luggage for the ship at the hotel.

Where is the line for US Customs?

 

It's part of the line for the ship so once you start the process of going through to the ship you are in the line. Pan Pacific is part of the cruise terminal building so your process should be really smooth.

 

Great view from that hotel. Enjoy!

[bearjr]

The entrance to security/customs/check-in is underground parking level of the Pan Pacific hotel. We arrived at 10:30am and saw lots of traffic from people still disembarking from previous cruises. Still, the process went smoothly.

 

The porters are actually outside the entrance into the security area, out by the sidewalk. As long as you have the Celebrity luggage tags, you can drop off your bags and wonder around town without going into the building at all.