Vancouver 11:30am Flight?

[LF23]

Hi, one of our party is wondering if it’s possible to make an 11:30am flight to the US out of YVR, and if so, how to go about it.

 

The ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, docks at 7am on a Saturday and self-disembarking allows for “first off”.  The Golden Princess docks at the same time; a Seven Seas ship docks earlier at 6am, and another ship docks later at 9:30.  

 

Feasible? If so, best way to proceed?  (BTW, no GOES/Nexus.) Thank you. 

[RocketMan275]

Holland will allow you to book an 1100 flight out of Vancouver on their Flight Ease website.  Not saying it's workable, just saying that's the earliest flights Holland will book.  Unfortunately, the earliest flight for my cruise, that leaves after 1100, is at 6:55PM.  we won't get home until 0930, the next day.

[martincath]

32 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Holland will allow you to book an 1100 flight out of Vancouver on their Flight Ease website.  ...

If so, that's a HUGE change of policy on HALs part... in the past all the major cruiselines have never accepted flights before 12:30pm generally (first cruise transfer buses tend to leave at ~9am, arriving at YVR ~9:30am, and on a three or four ship day the queues at Check-in, Security, Preclearance really do get bad enough that folks can need the full three hours recommended pre-flight time to make it to their plane).

 

An 11:30am flight is however absolutely trivial to make if you can self-disembark. The 7 seas vessel is comparatively tiny, so first folks off NA/Golden should all be hitting the pier about the same time (usually as early as 7:15am, as virtually every ship arrives early in Vancouver). You may find that there is a wait for cabs that's already up to the 15min+ mark (no guarantees whethere Golden or NA will clear first, so you may have enough folks ahead of you that the cab queue is building up) but if you walk to SkyTrain you can basically guarantee a pier to airport time no worse than 45 mins (and that would involve just missing a YVR train and having to wait for the next one).

 

The crucial thing you need to do at YVR on busy cruise days is actually very simple - other cruisers are the enemy, so if you beat most of them to the airport you will waltz through all the lines. Basically if you get there before the first cruise shuttle you will be at your gate in an hour or less - so anyone self-disembarking even as late as 8am and taking SkyTrain can expect to be through all of the required steps and sitting with a Timmies breakfast at their gate when the first folks using cruiseline shuttles are just beginning to hit Security.

 

If you're scared of public transit and demand to take a cab, just make sure you're off as soon as you possibly can to minimise wasted time waiting in the cab line - but unless the cab line is over an hour you'll still handily beat anyone using shuttles.

 

[LF23]

3 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Holland will allow you to book an 1100 flight out of Vancouver 

 

Wow, that’s great to know.  Everything I’ve been able to find says at least noon.  That concrete info is peace of mind!  I too can’t get out before 11pm and on a lousy route, especially for a red eye, so we defaulted to the next morning.  Many thanks for that info. Enjoy your cruise. 

 

@martincath thank you for the details. I’m sure public trans won’t be an issue, but best to know the options. Sky train to YVR is right around the corner from Canada Place, correct? I know I’ve seen discussion of different entries. 

[martincath]

Yup - Waterfront Station. Simplest way is to walk out of Canada Place, turn left and follow the sidewalk around the curve (Howe St), take first left (Cordova St) and walk a couple of blocks until you see the many pillars at the front of the station. Any of these doors lead straight into the ticket vending machine foyer, and any of the downward options (stairs, escalator, and elevator) from that room lead right to the Canada Line platform. Every second train (~7mins) goes to YVR - with train and boards all clearly displaying the destination and how long until the next train.

[LF23]

2 minutes ago, martincath said:

ticket vending machine foyer

Thank you, clear as a bell now and I see it on google maps. Vending brings up another point. I have a feeling they, like many down here, have only signature/non-PIN credit cards, will they work in the vending machines?  Could they use CDN if necessary?  

[hallux]

45 minutes ago, LF23 said:

I have a feeling they, like many down here, have only signature/non-PIN credit cards, will they work in the vending machines?

I used a US card (no PIN set up) in the machine without an issue, everywhere I tried actually.  Pick a card with no foreign transaction fees and your ride on the SkyTrain costs less than advertised once your bank converts it.

 

Once you dip the card, the pad down to the left activates to handle that part of the transaction (look for it, I spent 5 minutes confused about why it wasn't working until I stepped away and saw it).  Then turn left (if your back is still to the door) and head downstairs for the train.

[martincath]

And to add the last tidbit to the detailed info above - yes, the machines take Canadian cash!

[LF23]

21 hours ago, hallux said:

pad down to the left activates

Thank you hallux, that’s great news and great directions. I’m not following what you mean about the pad activating? 

 

And nice about the cash @martincath, thanks. 

[hallux]

2 hours ago, LF23 said:

I’m not following what you mean about the pad activating? 

The card slot is chest/eye level, the keypad for PIN entry or confirmation of the purchase is lower (separate from the interactive screen on which you make the ticket selections).

[LF23]

Ah, got it. Thank you!