Suggestions to do post cruise when flight leaves at 11pm the day of disembarkation?

[jjswiech]

We will be arriving at Canada Place, Vancouver BC, Canada - after a 10 day cruise in April.  Our flight does not leave until 10:30 PM so we will have about 12 hours to explore Vancouver before we have to get to the airport.  The cruise ship offers a tour and airport transfer but that will get us to the airport by 1.  We don't want to get there that early.  We are a family of 4 with 2 teenagers.  After a 10 day cruise we will have 4 large wheeled bags and probably 4 backpacks.  Does anyone know of a tour company that would allow us to keep our luggage in the van, explore the city, and then get us to the airport around 8 pm?  Any ideas of what others have done when they have had a late flight?  We could always rent a car I suppose.

[Sea Hag]

I think I'd rent a car if I were you. Gives you the flexibility to go where and when you wish.

 

The only time we've ever been in this situation was in Hawaii, where I had an agreeable and handy nephew and his wife living there. They dropped everything and devoted the day to driving us around. Best tour ever. Don't suppose you have a nephew in Vancouver?

[LynnTTT]

Have you looked into any tours of Vancouver.  There is a Hop on Hop Off bus tour and many other more day tours.  It's possible that hotel would store your luggage for a fee.  Or maybe take a shuttle to the airport and get a tour from there.

Just takes a little research.

[hallux]

Most of the tours end around 5 I think.  The one I took did not allow me to bring my suitcase on the bus if they were not going to bring me to the airport, you can bring backpacks though.  Fortunately - the Pan Pacific Hotel at Canada Place will store your bags for $5 CAD each.  The bus will drop you off anywhere you want to be dropped off, generally downtown.  I grabbed dinner downtown before grabbing my bag then took the SkyTrain (less than $3 at that time of day) out to the airport.

 

I took this tour when I had the same timeline, I did not do the boat variation.  https://vancouvertours.com/tour/sea-to-sky-tour/

A word of caution - if your kids are at all sensitive to noise the Brittania Mine Museum portion does have some loud noises.  The Gondola was spectacular (though if anyone is afraid of heights it may be a challenge), Shannon Falls was also gorgeous but I was there in the Spring when it was still getting snowmelt runoff from the mountains.

[clo]

31 minutes ago, LynnTTT said:

Or maybe take a shuttle to the airport and get a tour from there.

Depending on the airline their check in may not be open that early.

 

 

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

I would look at booking a hotel for the day. 

 

Try to find one that would allow you a somewhat early check in. Either way, they would hold your bags till you did check in. Go to the hotel right from the ship. Then you could go about seeing the city. Use public transport. Check the West coast departure threads on this site as well as the internet for things to do and find a convenient hotel to stay at. In the afternoon you could get back to the hotel, rest up, shower, see how much energy you still have. Either take it easy or try  to take in something else until you need to head to the airport.

 

have a great cruise

 

 

[ed01106]

I would inquire with the cruise line if they would transport your luggage to the airport even if they don’t transport you.  I am sure there would be a cost.  

 

Or maybe they would be willing to let you do the tour/airport transfer, but rather than you continuing all the way to the airport with them, you remain at the one of the stops on the tour with your luggage continuing to the airport.  

[jjswiech]

2 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

I think I'd rent a car if I were you. Gives you the flexibility to go where and when you wish.

 

The only time we've ever been in this situation was in Hawaii, where I had an agreeable and handy nephew and his wife living there. They dropped everything and devoted the day to driving us around. Best tour ever. Don't suppose you have a nephew in Vancouver?

Sadly no - but what an awesome experience for you!  Those are definitely the best kind of tours.

 

[Shmoo here]

48 minutes ago, ed01106 said:

I would inquire with the cruise line if they would transport your luggage to the airport even if they don’t transport you.  I am sure there would be a cost.  

 

Or maybe they would be willing to let you do the tour/airport transfer, but rather than you continuing all the way to the airport with them, you remain at the one of the stops on the tour with your luggage continuing to the airport.  

I would doubt it.  Unaccompanied luggage just being dropped off at airports isn't generally accepted now.

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

In Boston, I have stopped at a hotel in a chain frequently used and left bags with them - after lining up in advance, then checked out areas of interest.  If you cannot set that up, it is probably best to rent a car - to get around as well as hold luggage.  I do not believe any airports will accept checked baggage more than a couple of hours before flight time.

[clo]

1 hour ago, ed01106 said:

I would inquire with the cruise line if they would transport your luggage to the airport even if they don’t transport you.  I am sure there would be a cost.  

 

Do any actually do that?  That would be cool.

[clo]

BTW, Vancouver has GREAT food.  All sorts of food.  And especially, IMO, Chinese food.  Midday - dim sum.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

I would doubt it.  Unaccompanied luggage just being dropped off at airports isn't generally accepted now.

 

 

Right — and even if it was, you would be begging for one or more bags to go missing - relying on the bus driver (or who?) to take your bag once he got to the airport and do what with it?

[jjswiech]

3 hours ago, ed01106 said:

I would inquire with the cruise line if they would transport your luggage to the airport even if they don’t transport you.  I am sure there would be a cost.  

 

Or maybe they would be willing to let you do the tour/airport transfer, but rather than you continuing all the way to the airport with them, you remain at the one of the stops on the tour with your luggage continuing to the airport.  

 I have done research on how early you can check luggage before a flight, I can have my bags checked. The most I have found is 4 hours in advance ~ I couldn't find the info for Air Transat.  I was thinking a rental car might be the way to go but I am not sure where we should go or what we would want to see.  I will have to explore the hotel idea in more depth.  

 

Thank you for all of your responses.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by jjswiech
addition

[CPT Trips]

Google is your friend "luggage service Vancouver pier airport." 

https://www.portergenie.com/how.html

[japlanet]

Definitely just rent a car (actually probably a van for all the luggage). Much more flexibility and will be significantly cheaper than any sort of organized tour for 4 people. Driving in Vancouver is very easy, just plan in advance what sights you want to hit up. 

 

You can rent a car from Canada Place and depending on how you plot out your day, either return it to the airport or return back to Canada Place then grab the skytrain from there to the airport. 

[tak81288]

7 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

Hi

 

I would look at booking a hotel for the day. 

 

Try to find one that would allow you a somewhat early check in. Either way, they would hold your bags till you did check in. Go to the hotel right from the ship. Then you could go about seeing the city. Use public transport. Check the West coast departure threads on this site as well as the internet for things to do and find a convenient hotel to stay at. In the afternoon you could get back to the hotel, rest up, shower, see how much energy you still have. Either take it easy or try  to take in something else until you need to head to the airport.

 

have a great cruise

 

 

I would go with this idea too.

 

I've been to Vancouver twice within the last year. Once we had a car and other time we did not. Driving was easy but so was public transportation/walking around. Each of those visits were totally different so whether or not you will want car will depend on what you decide to do while you are there. For example, in my opinion, if you decide to stay in the downtown area, a car really isn't necessary.

 

If I had 12 hours to kill after a cruise, even if I had a vehicle or went the organize tour route, it would still be nice to have a "home base" to be able to go back to later in the afternoon/early evening. I'd freshen up, maybe rest a little..etc.. before heading to the airport since this will turn out to be a fairly long day.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

[sverigecruiser]

7 hours ago, jjswiech said:

 I have done research on how early you can check luggage before a flight, I can have my bags checked. The most I have found is 4 hours in advance

 

 

 

I fly with British Airways and have been able to check in luggage at least 9 hours before the flight in Miami. I know that is not the normal time but sometimes it is possible to drop luggage very early. 

[MicCanberra]

Luggage storage at Canada Place - 

We have one seasonal location right in Canada Place on the cruise terminal level. Operating May until the end of September with both storage and YVR baggage transfers available

 

We are located between the information counter and the car rentals right in the cruise terminal

 

Hours: 07:30 AM - 4:30 PM closed Tuesday/Thursday

Phone: 604-683-3696

 

All storage prices are based per 24 hours and you need to bring your photo ID and travel itinerary to drop off you baggage as per Transport Canada

http://www.cdsbaggage.ca/

[hallux]

8 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Right — and even if it was, you would be begging for one or more bags to go missing - relying on the bus driver (or who?) to take your bag once he got to the airport and do what with it?

Yet there are (or have been) baggage services offering this exact service.  In the past it's been CDS (www.cdsbaggage.ca) but it may be different this year at Canada Place.  They, for a fee, transported your bags to the airport and store them in a secured room, to be picked up when you get to the airport to board your flight.

[navybankerteacher]

13 minutes ago, hallux said:

Yet there are (or have been) baggage services offering this exact service.  In the past it's been CDS (www.cdsbaggage.ca) but it may be different this year at Canada Place.  They, for a fee, transported your bags to the airport and store them in a secured room, to be picked up when you get to the airport to board your flight.

Well, this is the kind of advice these boards should provide.  Hopefully the fee (for having a reliable pick-up, transfer, delivery to the airport, storage there, and retrieval at check-in time) would be acceptable to OP.

[paul929207]

Get a hotel room for one night. Most will allow you to check out and check your luggage with them. Come back whenever in the second evening to pick up the stuff. This gives you two days to tour this beautiful city.

[hallux]

4 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Well, this is the kind of advice these boards should provide.  Hopefully the fee (for having a reliable pick-up, transfer, delivery to the airport, storage there, and retrieval at check-in time) would be acceptable to OP.

It was suggested to me on the roll call for my cruise, on this very web site.  However - the company suggested (CDS) was not operating at the time of my trip, that's when I had to pivot and use the Pan Pacific to store my bag until I was ready to pick it up and make my way to the airport, an option that saved me $35 CAD.  What I ended up doing was not something I found out from this board, it was something I discovered "in the moment" when I disembarked in Vancouver and I couldn't proceed in the way I had planned.

 

I get that people like to plan, I certainly TRIED, but sometimes you just need to ask questions once you have your "boots on the ground" and go with what you find.  I ended up doing that and it worked out just fine.

[ed01106]

By the way the mere existence of this thread is a great argument for packing light.  If everyone was to pack light and use one of these

 

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/classic-backpack

 

You wouldn’t need to even worry about this.

Edited July 2, 2019 by ed01106

[MicCanberra]

I certainly do not pack heavy and am a capably fit large male, and I still wouldn't want to be touring around all day with that on my back.