What if we misis the boat

[MsBST2]

The only flight we could get has us arriving in Vancouver at 2pm.  Last Princess bus is 12:30pm.  Ship leaves for Victoria at 5pm.

If we miss the boat, will they allow us to get on in Victoria?

Also if you take a tour of the city of disembarkation and delivery to the airport after the tour ---  does the tour bus keep your luggage locked up on the bus?

 

Thank you

[chrysalis]

If the ship leaves at 5PM, all aboard is likely 4PM (or earlier)….and depending on where you are flying from, you might have to clear Canadian Customs and Immigration, and pick up your bag, and get to the ship. I doubt that you will make it.

 

Why are you not flying in the day before?

[Sea Hag]

A flight time that late in the day of departure wouldn't work for me!  And I really doubt it's going to work for you either. Can't you fly in the day before?

[cruisinsc1]

Sounds like you need to look for another flight

[Cruise Raider]

Wow ... that is cutting it close but I think you already know that so am not making any judgement.  I think all aboard will be at 3:30 PM, give or take a half an hour.  

As to whether or not you can embark in Victoria, the answer is yes but it is best to let them know of that plan asap.  Be sure to have their number on hand so you can contact them.  If there are a lot of passengers that are late, they may try to wait but not for long.  

I met up with a friend to sail from Vancouver down the coast but her husband had a meeting the day of embarkation.  He arranged to meet up with us onboard in Victoria ... so I know that is possible.  Since it is still in Canada, he didn't break any PVSA rules.  

 

In terms of the ship's excursions that drop you off at the airport at the end of the cruise, yes, they do lock up your luggage while you are out touring.  That's the way it has always worked for us when taking this final excursions prior to being dropped off at the airport.  

 

Good luck and enjoy your sailing.  

 

[CruzR887]

I would defiantly hire a private transfer to get you to the cruise terminal. You don't want to waste even a few minutes waiting in a taxi cue. It takes about 30 mines from airport to cruise port so even if it takes an hour to get your bags and go through customs you have a reasonable shot at making it if your flight is on time. Good luck and try not to get too anxious. 

[Cruiserkenn]

Do you have a plan C?  Sometimes due to rough seas, ships miss the stop in Victoria.  Last September, our Emerald Princess cruise could not stop in Victoria, due to rough seas.  We have been to Victoria about 12 times, and we only missed it once.  But it can happen.

 

Good luck and please let us know how it all goes.

[martincath]

As already noted, you don't have the PVSA to worry about if Victoria is the next stop - so yes, it's possible to travel on to Victoria independently and board. But I would first look at any and all alternatives to that flight, e.g. a red-eye flight the night before, even alternative airports (Seattle is most likely, Abbotsford and Bellingham are also international airports and closer to Vancouver, though much less busy). Even if you have to suck up an overnight flight to Seattle then a rental car/bus/train to Vancouver on the morning of the cruise it will be less risky than your current flight.

 

No idea where you're coming from, but I find it very difficult to believe you have literally no alternative options - unless you are leaving work that you cannot reschedule and heading straight to the airport from there to meet the first leg of your travel you can definitely find some other options, they might cost more - but do they cost more than all the time & hassle as well as transportation/hotel costs to get yourselves to Victoria?

 

If you do stick to your plan, make sure you not only warn the cruise line in advance that you might have problems getting to the port, be sure to bring a phone that will work in Vancouver and all the contact numbers you need for Princess, port operations etc. Call them as soon as you're allowed to do so on landing! If they tell you 'too late, ships locked down or already left' you can avoid driving downtown and back and instead head straight to the BC ferry terminal at Tsawwassen. It would also be a good idea to have the info on transit route to there, and from Swartz Bay to Victoria on the other end - or just rent a car for the trip if you can't easily manage your luggage. Amend the info on those links with your dates to get better schedule info.

 

Ballpark price would be about $30 each to get transit to and from the ferry plus the ride itself as a foot passenger - if you drive it's an extra ~$60 for the car but you save ~$10pp as you don't need transit tickets. There is also a scheduled coach which goes to downtown Victoria via the ferry, and will pick up at the airport as well as downtown, but unless you make a booking in advance as insurance (I'd suggest on the last one of the day, so if you are late you don't also miss that!) there's no guarantee they can seat you, and if nobody has booked from the airport they probably won't even stop there.

 

If your flight actually arrives on time, you don't spend too long waiting for bags (and being processed at immigration if you're not coming from another part of Canada), and you manage to get out of the airport with enough time to get to the pier (realistically if it's 3pm by now you are too late - which is why you want to be on the phone as soon as you land to find out if the ship can and will wait for you!) then the last thing you want is a prebooked transfer - instead run straight to the walk-up Limo queue. This is always super-quiet compared to the taxi queue so you'll very likely walk straight into a vehicle. It will cost about twice as much as a cab, ~$70 incl tax, but it's the fastest way to go end-to-end (prebooking limos is actually slower - they are not allowed to wait in the lineup but instead have to park around back, so your driver has to meet you then walk back to the car and bring it up to the front for you, plus there's a $50 extra charge and that only covers 1 hour of wait time).

 

I really hope none of the above local info is useful to you because you change your flights!!!!

[Grburkart]

From what I understand, if you book your flight through EZAIR, they have a “make it to ship” guarantee. 

 

Glenn

[cheeseclan]

Princess will not allow you to book an EZ air flight that gets in that late on embarkation day.  They have flight guidelines for arrivals and departures.

[Grburkart]

4 minutes ago, cheeseclan said:

Princess will not allow you to book an EZ air flight that gets in that late on embarkation day.  They have flight guidelines for arrivals and departures.

Fair enough but they may have alternate flights with more suitable times. 

 

Glenn

[cheeseclan]

Glenn I agree but it sounds like the OP made this on his own.  I was just saying it could not have been booked with Princess.

[cr8tiv1]

martincath description is spot on.  That's a lot of pre-planning and additional costs for missing your cruise.  

 

Please return to your thread and answer some of the questions such as where are you flying in from.  

[donaldsc]

The OP has also not told us where they are flying from and whether they are flying nonstop.  Also, what if there are weather delays.  I would agree w Martincath.  There has to be some other arrangements.  With regard to the OP phoning the ship to tell them that they have arrived and can they hold the ship until they get there - that idea is ridiculous.  Why should they delay ship departure just because 2 passengers have made bad travel arrangements.

 

DON

[martincath]

44 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

With regard to the OP phoning the ship to tell them that they have arrived and can they hold the ship until they get there - that idea is ridiculous.  Why should they delay ship departure just because 2 passengers have made bad travel arrangements.

 

DON

Absolutely agree that they're not going to hold the ship just for 2 numpties Don, but the call is to see if perhaps a planeload of Princess EZ-Air folks have also been delayed or some other 'worth waiting for' event has occurred. With the next port Victoria, which takes less than four hours to cruise to and has no tide-related issues unlike sailing up to Alaska from Vancouver, the only actual costs would be additional port fees if they exceed their already-paid-for time. Basically if enough other people get unlucky, OP could be saved from their own errors;-)

[bbum]

That is cutting it really close but if you land at 2 I would suggest grabbing your luggage, go up to level 4, purchase tickets (about $8 per person) at the kiosk, get on the Canada Line (I believe that is what it's called) and ride it all the way to Waterfront station. Waterfront Station is the end of the line. The ride takes aprox. 26 minutes. From there you will exit Waterfront station, turn right, walk about 2 blocks make another right, and you are at Canada Place where the ship is. I think it's cutting it a bit close, but we've done the Canada Line to Waterfront station a few times and it's quick, cheap, and no worries about traffic problems, but you will have to manage your luggage for a couple of blocks on your own.  After taking the Canada Line I wouldn't take a chance on a ground transportation, as you never know what the traffic will be like in Vancouver.

[skynight]

20 hours ago, MsBST2 said:

The only flight we could get has us arriving in Vancouver at 2pm.  Last Princess bus is 12:30pm.  Ship leaves for Victoria at 5pm.

If we miss the boat, will they allow us to get on in Victoria?

Also if you take a tour of the city of disembarkation and delivery to the airport after the tour ---  does the tour bus keep your luggage locked up on the bus?

 

Thank you

Check Princess EZ Air. Also, would strongly suggest you arrange arrive a day early or fly over night.

With disembarkation tours your luggage remains on the bus until you get to the airport.

[Potstech]

Does not sound like a good beginning to a cruise. Have taken 30 minutes just to get thru customs.  Never sure how long baggage claim will be.  Would definitely make other arrangements.

[satxdiver]

If the OP has not already purchased his airline ticket, I along with others would strongly suggest they look at EZair where they will guarantee you will make the sailing.  I have found that EZair is either less or worst case the same as booking the air travel myself and the guarantee clinches the deal.  We always arrive at least the day before so that we can board the ship relaxed and ready to party.  I realize though that some may not have this luxury.  If the OP goes ahead with the 2 PM arrival time at the airport, I would recommend having a set of beads to start pressing hard and an alternative plan for when they miss the sailing.  For ships sailing out of US ports or to US ports, the government requires the pax manifest be transmitted to them long before leaving port meaning all pax have to be on the ship at that time.  

[mcrcruiser]

 

The only flight we could get has us arriving in Vancouver at 2pm.  Last Princess bus is 12:30pm.  Ship leaves for Victoria at 5pm.

If we miss the boat, will they allow us to get on in Victoria?

Also if you take a tour of the city of disembarkation and delivery to the airport after the tour ---  does the tour bus keep your luggage locked up on the bus?

 

Thank you

Get a taxi or rent a car if you can turn in at the pier . It is about 30 to 40 minute drive to the pier .Probably taxi is best . But at the high taxi cost why not fly in a day earlier & relax  before boarding  .That is what we always do  .We even stay a night before when we drive up to San Pedro ,park our car for free for the cruise when we book the hotel  ,Much more relaxing & No anxiety of missing the ship & going bonkers trying to catch up 

 

 Hope this helps 

[RMMariner]

I agree with the other posters. I think there is a good chance you will miss the boat. 

 

As others have said, if there is a flight involved, we always fly in a day early. 

 

If you can, change your flight!

[Pickels]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 11:03 AM, MsBST2 said:

The only flight we could get has us arriving in Vancouver at 2pm.  Last Princess bus is 12:30pm.  Ship leaves for Victoria at 5pm.

If we miss the boat, will they allow us to get on in Victoria?

Also if you take a tour of the city of disembarkation and delivery to the airport after the tour ---  does the tour bus keep your luggage locked up on the bus?

 

Thank you

Make it a habit to travel to the departure port the day before!  It just makes the whole travel issue much easier!

[TracieABD]

I agree with what others have written about traveling in a day early, if possible. 

If it is not possible- then definitely have a private car hired. They will be able to pick you up and you will not have to wait in the taxi queue.

Also, I am not sure if this will impact you- but if you have Global Entry or Nexxus, you may be able to negotiate customs faster.

You also may want to consider doing carry on bags only- that way you will not have to wait for your luggage...

[Coral]

I just can't see this is possible if you are from the US. I would rank it at about 30% chance of success.

 

You have to claim luggage and go through customs if you are not from Canada which is incredibly unpredictable plus take a 30 minute taxi to the pier and then check in there. Thankfully there are no customs at the pier if Victoria is your next port.

 

Maybe if you are from Canada and do a carry on and don't have to do Customs it is probable. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Coral

[Grburkart]

The OP hasn’t responded yet so I’m calling shenanigans. There are hundreds upon hundreds of flights going to Vancouver daily. There has to be more to this story than we’re being told. 

Just my thoughts.

 

Glenn