Departing cruise ship in montreal questions

[MARLEY225]

U.S. Citizen -- What is the order of procedures at the cruise ship terminal? Also, same question - once you get to the Montreal airport? How long would all these procedures approximately take? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I have found that the forum Ports of Call and then Canada/New England to be very helpful when it comes to any question about Montreal. There are Canadians who monitor that site and will answer anything you want to know. Try going over there.

[shipgeeks]

We did that, from Veendam, in May. At that time, due to high river, we ported a couple of miles from the main terminal. We were glad we had ship transfer booked, as it gave us priority departure. The ride was a long one; probably close to an hour. We were glad we hadn't planned to take a taxi!

[DaveOKC]

We really dislike Montreal as a port. Embarkation was a mess - 2 hours late getting onboard with very limited seating available - due to Customs being the holdup for disembarking passengers.

 

Then when disembarking (different cruise) we decided to take a later flight and use HAL transfers and were sure glad we did. First the disembarking took forever and then the Montreal traffic was a real mess (glad we were not in a taxi).

[sail7seas]

If You a re flying to U.S. you likely will clear U.S. Customs in Montreal[/u] Airport before your flight.

[Fouremco]

We've had early disembarkation times and have been able to grab a taxi and be at the airport in under 30 minutes. Those were with Saturday morning arrivals, so little traffic in the early morning. Later disembarkation times or weekday arrivals would entail a longer ride. Road construction can have an impact too.

 

At the airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection provide customs and immigration preclearance for all US destinations. NEXUS and similar programs will provide a speedier processing. This link to the airport website should provide you with further useful information: https://www.admtl.com/en

[avian777]

... when disembarking (different cruise) we decided to take a later flight and use HAL transfers and were sure glad we did. First the disembarking took forever and then the Montreal traffic was a real mess (glad we were not in a taxi).

 

(y)(y)(y) Thanks for sharing this very invaluable piece of advice. IMO & based on our several experiences, anyone with a cruise ending in Montreal should definitely purchase the HAL transfers - they are a dependable and reasonably priced way to eliminate/avoid most of the needless stress of "navigating" your way to/through Trudeau Airport.