Disembark/Embark by tender in Vancouver. How will Viking handle this?

[Paulchili]

Just now, Heidi13 said:

Vancouver accepts luggage when the Longshoremen are available, normally as early as 10:00, sometimes even by 09:30. You can head down to arrivals, drop bags, then go spend time in Vancouver until you want to check-in.

We are disembarking in Vancouver.

If the luggage is off-loaded during the night and then taken to a hotel for us to pick up, how do we clear customs without luggage?

[Relaxing Rita]

5 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

We are disembarking in Vancouver.

If the luggage is off-loaded during the night and then taken to a hotel for us to pick up, how do we clear customs without luggage?

This is from Heidi1 on the previous page.... hope that helps

"The ship will dock at Canada Place before the other ships to discharge all baggage and depending on time available may also take on stores. The ship will also board some Canada Customs & Immigration Officers. Prior to arrival of the other ships, Orion will vacate the berth and head to an anchorage.

 

All luggage will be taken to a local hotel. Disembarking passengers will clear Canada Customs/Immigration on board the ship, then head ashore by tender. This is similar to cruises ending in Greenwich. They are using the floats I predicted, which are between Canada Place & Seabus Terminal. Viking has a fleet of buses arranged, which will transport passengers to the hotel, where you will collect your baggage."

[Heidi13]

7 minutes ago, Relaxing Rita said:

 

Sorry for the confusion .... We will be disembarking Orion on May 26th. So now we will be going from the ship by tender, bus to a hotel (still to be named), collect our luggage with 900 others and then we need to get to the BC Ferries Connector at Pacific Central Station. I assume now it will be a taxi ride for the 4 of us... just happy I hadn't made any reservations. Just need to get to Victoria sometime that day!!

Guessing it will be one of the waterfront hotels, I concur a taxi will be your best option. Some of the areas before the station are not the nicest parts of the city.

[Paulchili]

6 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

If they were wrong with the dates, all ports before Vancouver and the entire season would be incorrect. I also confirmed it with the port, who I would tend to believe before speculation.

Well, if Viking knew that they were arriving in Vancouver on the 26th, they sure didn’t tell us. Until relatively recently their schedule on Viking.com had our itinerary listed as Day 1 to Day 23 - there were no specific dates on the schedule, only Day 1 and so on to Day 23. Day 1 is May 5th - that would make Day 23 May 27th. What they failed to indicate is that we will have 2 full days of May 14th due to crossing the int. Date line. That is what they should have listed - repeat Day 10 (which is May 14th) - that would have made the last day May 26th

[Heidi13]

10 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

We are disembarking in Vancouver.

If the luggage is off-loaded during the night and then taken to a hotel for us to pick up, how do we clear customs without luggage?

Departing Customs in Vancouver we have never been stopped and searched our bags. My guess is your bags will be inspected by x-ray/dogs and any of interest will be flagged.

[Paulchili]

7 minutes ago, Relaxing Rita said:

Disembarking passengers will clear Canada Customs/Immigration on board the ship,

I can see how you clear immigration on the ship checking your passport but not customs. What if they want to see what’s in your luggage which is by now off-loaded on its way to the hotel. I know they seldom ask to check your luggage but theoretically I can have all sorts of contraband in it if I know that they are not going to check it.

[Heidi13]

5 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Well, if Viking knew that they were arriving in Vancouver on the 26th, they sure didn’t tell us. Until relatively recently their schedule on Viking.com had our itinerary listed as Day 1 to Day 23 - there were no specific dates on the schedule, only Day 1 and so on to Day 23. Day 1 is May 5th - that would make Day 23 May 27th. What they failed to indicate is that we will have 2 full days of May 14th due to crossing the int. Date line. That is what they should have listed - repeat Day 10 (which is May 14th) - that would have made the last day May 26th

Our World Cruise is exactly the same on the website. The number of days is the actual number of days we are aboard. If you check your Viking invoice, it will list the daily schedule, including the date you board and date you disembark.

 

Viking provided this information when we requested a quote and it was confirmed upon booking. You should also have this information on your invoice. When we moved our booking to a T/A we received yet another copy.

[Heidi13]

12 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

I can see how you clear immigration on the ship checking your passport but not customs. What if they want to see what’s in your luggage which is by now off-loaded on its way to the hotel. I know they seldom ask to check your luggage but theoretically I can have all sorts of contraband in it if I know that they are not going to check it.

I have tried to assist by checking with my local contacts in the marine industry, especially those that actually manage Metro Port Vancouver. I have provided the information that was given to me by a chap I have known for many years. He even took the time to check with his staff, who are working with Viking to ensure he had the most up to date info.

 

If this information isn't to your satisfaction you might want to contact Viking directly, or your T/A. I note the great people at tellus@vikingcruises.com are exceptional.

[Pushka]

18 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

I have tried to assist by checking with my local contacts in the marine industry, especially those that actually manage Metro Port Vancouver. I have provided the information that was given to me by a chap I have known for many years. He even took the time to check with his staff, who are working with Viking to ensure he had the most up to date info.

 

If this information isn't to your satisfaction you might want to contact Viking directly, or your T/A. I note the great people at tellus@vikingcruises.com are exceptional.

 

And your information is very helpful indeed. 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

I have tried to assist by checking with my local contacts in the marine industry, especially those that actually manage Metro Port Vancouver. I have provided the information that was given to me by a chap I have known for many years. He even took the time to check with his staff, who are working with Viking to ensure he had the most up to date info.

 

If this information isn't to your satisfaction you might want to contact Viking directly, or your T/A. I note the great people at tellus@vikingcruises.com are exceptional.

We really appreciate your efforts. I just wish Viking would tell us what is going on.  I am disembarking on the 26th and have booked an all day tour with an airport hotel drop off later in the day.  I guess I will cancel the tour since they want me at Canada Place  at 9:30 for pick up.  I think we'll just stay on board until the rush clears out and take a taxi from the unknown hotel to our airport hotel.  We leave for our cruise in two weeks.

Thank you again.

Cynthia

 

[Cienfuegos]

This is an incredible source of information.  Heidi13, thanks for your detailed follow up

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

We really appreciate your efforts. I just wish Viking would tell us what is going on.  I am disembarking on the 26th and have booked an all day tour with an airport hotel drop off later in the day.  I guess I will cancel the tour since they want me at Canada Place  at 9:30 for pick up.  I think we'll just stay on board until the rush clears out and take a taxi from the unknown hotel to our airport hotel.  We leave for our cruise in two weeks.

Thank you again.

Cynthia

 

Cynthia - as was mentioned to me yesterday, Viking are still finalising the plans with the port and local vendors. They are also currently dealing with getting the Viking Sky back into operation, so other issues may have taken priority.

 

I also would not expect them to advise pax of the plans until all contracts are signed, as I suspect the greatest majority of pax have no knowledge of the situation. A very small percentage of cruise pax actually use this website.

 

Might want to check with the tour company if they would pick you up at the hotel where you collect your baggage, as many of them are very flexible. A note to tellus@vikingcruises.com may provide some information, as my understanding is that they are working with one of the big chains on the waterfront.

 

Even if you tender off the ship, having your bags by 09:30 is definitely achievable, as it will only take a few minutes by bus from the Harbourmaster's Wharf, where the tenders dock, to the hotel.

 

Depending on which airport hotel, you may wish to consider the Skytrain rather than a taxi - much cheaper and quicker. Downtown to YVR in under 30 mins. If staying at the Fairmont YVR, it is just as easy as a taxi, if you don't have too many bags.

[Paulchili]

7 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Viking are still finalising the plans with the port and local vendors.

This is exactly my complaint with Viking. They claim they knew a year ago (or more) that they are arriving to Vancouver on May 26th without docking space. Hence they knew that they would have to unload the luggage and store it somewhere and then tender the guests ashore.

Why is this being left to last minute. Never mind that we haven’t heard any of this from Viking only here on CC. This involves luggage for 900 passengers - not something that can easily be negotiated last minute.

I make my hotel reservations well ahead of time - often a year ahead of time - and it is only for 2 people. Making plans for 900 people is a lot more complicated.

This has nothing to do with Viking Sky incident - this should have been taken care of a long time ago.

They want my money 18 months in advance but “are finalising the plans with the port and local vendors” 1 month before the cruise?

I just don’t get this part of their planning.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Paulchili

[Pushka]

3 hours ago, Paulchili said:

This is exactly my complaint with Viking. They claim they knew a year ago (or more) that they are arriving to Vancouver on May 26th without docking space. Hence they knew that they would have to unload the luggage and store it somewhere and then tender the guests ashore.

Why is this being left to last minute. Never mind that we haven’t heard any of this from Viking only here on CC. This involves luggage for 900 passengers - not something that can easily be negotiated last minute.

I make my hotel reservations well ahead of time - often a year ahead of time - and it is only for 2 people. Making plans for 900 people is a lot more complicated.

This has nothing to do with Viking Sky incident - this should have been taken care of a long time ago.

They want my money 18 months in advance but “are finalising the plans with the port and local vendors” 1 month before the cruise?

I just don’t get this part of their planning.

 

Like ive said before, I just hope they don’t use the words “unexpected” when we get closer to departure. And we have 900 passengers to board at once if they don’t allow us to tender onboard and at the time we are supposed to depart. Let alone losing that day onboard. So everyone will be dashing to dinner at the same time, no luggage and goodness knows when they will do muster. 

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Paulchili said:

This is exactly my complaint with Viking. They claim they knew a year ago (or more) that they are arriving to Vancouver on May 26th without docking space. Hence they knew that they would have to unload the luggage and store it somewhere and then tender the guests ashore.

Why is this being left to last minute. Never mind that we haven’t heard any of this from Viking only here on CC. This involves luggage for 900 passengers - not something that can easily be negotiated last minute.

I make my hotel reservations well ahead of time - often a year ahead of time - and it is only for 2 people. Making plans for 900 people is a lot more complicated.

This has nothing to do with Viking Sky incident - this should have been taken care of a long time ago.

They want my money 18 months in advance but “are finalising the plans with the port and local vendors” 1 month before the cruise?

I just don’t get this part of their planning.

Guess when I'm on holiday I have different expectations. When disembarking, I don't expect any notification until receiving the disembarkation note in our cabin, a couple of days before the end of the cruise. Provided we can be ashore between 07:00 & 10:00 and re-united with our bags, I see no need for Viking to advise me how they plan to accomplish the disembarkation. In 40 yrs of cruising, the only information I require in advance is the ship's ETA.

 

We signed up for our World Cruise almost 2 years before departure and knew their was no docking space at the disembarkation port. Personally, I couldn't care less how Viking plan to accomplish it, as I'm more interested spending time researching the ports of call.

 

I expect to receive a note in the cabin a couple of days before Greenwich advising the  disembarkation arrangements.

[Pushka]

6 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Guess when I'm on holiday I have different expectations. When disembarking, I don't expect any notification until receiving the disembarkation note in our cabin, a couple of days before the end of the cruise. Provided we can be ashore between 07:00 & 10:00 and re-united with our bags, I see no need for Viking to advise me how they plan to accomplish the disembarkation. In 40 yrs of cruising, the only information I require in advance is the ship's ETA.

 

We signed up for our World Cruise almost 2 years before departure and knew their was no docking space at the disembarkation port. Personally, I couldn't care less how Viking plan to accomplish it, as I'm more interested spending time researching the ports of call.

 

I expect to receive a note in the cabin a couple of days before Greenwich advising the  disembarkation arrangements.

 

I agree with your philosophy but it seems in this case the arrival and departure time on our itinerary isn’t correct. I’m not sure about the cruise before us as I obviously can’t see those details. Of course the vagaries of weather will always intervene but this seems a forward planning issue. One thing Viking did say is that Orion will definitely be arriving into Vancouver which I actually found a little concerning as I’d assumed that, given it’s the major disembark and embark port and I hadn’t even considered it wouldn’t be coming to pick us up!  It just seems weird and slightly funny theyd even say that, as though it was an option that they wouldn’t be coming!

Edited April 4, 2019 by Pushka

[Heidi13]

6 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

I agree with your philosophy but it seems in this case the arrival and departure time on our itinerary isn’t correct. I’m not sure about the cruise before us as I obviously can’t see those details. Of course the vagaries of weather will always intervene but this seems a forward planning issue. One thing Viking did say is that Orion will definitely be arriving into Vancouver which I actually found a little concerning as I’d assumed that, given it’s the major disembark and embark port and I hadn’t even considered it wouldn’t be coming to pick us up!  It just seems weird and slightly funny theyd even say that, as though it was an option that they wouldn’t be coming!

Totally agree with you for the embarkation.

 

If you have already been advised 11:00 boarding, I would expect to be notified ASAP of any changes to that time. If you can't board until 17:00, I would expect Viking to provide a new time and either a hotel day room or a comp excursion to pass the time.

 

 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

20 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Cynthia - as was mentioned to me yesterday, Viking are still finalising the plans with the port and local vendors. They are also currently dealing with getting the Viking Sky back into operation, so other issues may have taken priority.

 

I also would not expect them to advise pax of the plans until all contracts are signed, as I suspect the greatest majority of pax have no knowledge of the situation. A very small percentage of cruise pax actually use this website.

 

Might want to check with the tour company if they would pick you up at the hotel where you collect your baggage, as many of them are very flexible. A note to tellus@vikingcruises.com may provide some information, as my understanding is that they are working with one of the big chains on the waterfront.

 

Even if you tender off the ship, having your bags by 09:30 is definitely achievable, as it will only take a few minutes by bus from the Harbourmaster's Wharf, where the tenders dock, to the hotel.

 

Depending on which airport hotel, you may wish to consider the Skytrain rather than a taxi - much cheaper and quicker. Downtown to YVR in under 30 mins. If staying at the Fairmont YVR, it is just as easy as a taxi, if you don't have too many bags.

Thanks for the advice.  My plan now is to wait until next week and write to tellus.  If I can't find out the hotel, just before we leave , I'll call the tour company and explain the problem.  This is not a private tour.  I don't want to hold up other travelers because I don't know when I can get off the ship, when I can get to the bus to an unknown hotel, and when I can find my luggage.  I'd rather cancel the tour than inconvenience others. Since we will be traveling a long time in all kinds of weather, I think we will have too much luggage to use the Skytrain.  But think of all the money we'll save by canceling our tour.😊

Thanks again.

Cynthia

[Insanityx4]

Thanks Heidi for all of the information. You are right, we are a small number on this website compared to the 930 booked passengers. By the way, we booked our cruise in November 2017 and in ALL of the paperwork, emails from Viking and our TA, etc., the dates have always been May 5-26th. I don't see any confusion here on Viking's part, even for disembarkation. I assume we will start to disembark by 7am as stated.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Insanityx4

[sunnies]

Curiosity got the better of me so I also decided to check our original Viking  documention. We booked in June 2017 and our guest statement shows embarkation in Yokohama on May 5 and disembarkation in Vancouver on May 26 which is 22 nights. We are very much looking forward to our first Viking cruise. 

[Relaxing Rita]

20 minutes ago, sunnies said:

Curiosity got the better of me so I also decided to check our original Viking  documention. We booked in June 2017 and our guest statement shows embarkation in Yokohama on May 5 and disembarkation in Vancouver on May 26 which is 22 nights. We are very much looking forward to our first Viking cruise. 

 

Yes, we booked ours in July 2017.... also showed embarkation in Yokohama... but that is no longer the case. I can't remember when they changed it to Harumi Port Tokyo but it was a while ago. The VO website now states Tokyo as well.

There has been no separate notification from VO to us of this change I just went looking for Orion in the Yokohama Port Schedule and it wasn't there so I looked further.

Hope you haven't got hotel bookings in Yokohama.

[sunnies]

13 minutes ago, Relaxing Rita said:

 

Yes, we booked ours in July 2017.... also showed embarkation in Yokohama... but that is no longer the case. I can't remember when they changed it to Harumi Port Tokyo but it was a while ago. The VO website now states Tokyo as well.

There has been no separate notification from VO to us of this change I just went looking for Orion in the Yokohama Port Schedule and it wasn't there so I looked further.

Hope you haven't got hotel bookings in Yokohama.

 

We did have two nights booked at Yokohama Intercontinental and it was non refundable and non changeable. However someone nice at Intercontinental agreed to transfer the booking to Tokyo Bay when we said Viking and changed the port. 

[Aussie Cruise Nuts]

26 minutes ago, Relaxing Rita said:

 

Yes, we booked ours in July 2017.... also showed embarkation in Yokohama... but that is no longer the case. I can't remember when they changed it to Harumi Port Tokyo but it was a while ago. The VO website now states Tokyo as well.

There has been no separate notification from VO to us of this change I just went looking for Orion in the Yokohama Port Schedule and it wasn't there so I looked further.

Hope you haven't got hotel bookings in Yokohama.

 

I see you did not receive notification of the change from Yokohama to Harumi - for Tokyo.      We received notification of this change in  January - actually got it twice - once in an email direct from Viking and again in an email from our Travel Agent who handles our cruise bookings.     

 

As we board in Hong Kong the cruise before yours (and stay on to Vancouver), our notification was obviously not as critical as for those pax actually embarking in Tokyo.   Ours was a welcome change as Harumi is far more central and convenient for our 3 days aboard in Tokyo.      Much more important for those embarking in a Tokyo (hotels, transport to the ship etc).   

 

Also, our longer cruise always had the Vancouver disembarkation date correct at 26 May, although others had 27 May on their original docs.   

 

Viking Shoreside do need to improve their communications to their pax which is becoming an ongoing frustration for many  - eg the Vancouver docking vs tender disembarkation issue.  

 

Rod 

[Relaxing Rita]

16 minutes ago, Aussie Cruise Nuts said:

 

I see you did not receive notification of the change from Yokohama to Harumi - for Tokyo.      We received notification of this change in  January - actually got it twice - once in an email direct from Viking and again in an email from our Travel Agent who handles our cruise bookings.     

Rod 

 

Thanks for that info Rob... very interesting that you received the notification from VO and your TA... us... neither! Very strange.

Agree totally that they sure do need to improve their communications. Looking forward to a great cruise anyway!

[Paulchili]

49 minutes ago, Relaxing Rita said:

Thanks for that info Rob... very interesting that you received the notification from VO and your TA... us... neither! Very strange.

Agree totally that they sure do need to improve their communications

Like you we did not receive any notification about changes from Yokohama to Tokyo. In fact, we too had to change our hotel from Yokohama to Tokyo and this was only thanks to the info learned here on CC.

I wonder how Viking decided whom to notify?

Then there was that IT glitch with online booking of restaurant reservations.

Seems to me like VO has a few kinks to work out.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Paulchili