Moving from San Diego to Vancouver on the Zuiderdam

[cruisemover]

Planning to book a verandah room on the Zuiderdam to move from San Diego to Vancouver on the April repositioning cruise.

 

If some of the bags do not fit inside the stateroom, can they be left on the balcony for the duration of the cruise?

 

Do the San Diego and Vancouver cruise ship terminals have luggage carts or porters to help move the luggage from and to the curb?

 

The cruise is only 5 nights long so I do not mind some discomfort, and will probably spend most of the day outside the stateroom.

 

Any other suggestions or tips are appreciated!

[visagrunt]

I advise carefully researching your documentary requirements.  There is detailed customs paperwork required and CBSA are very likely to insist on a full inspection.

Your port of entry into Canada on most coastal voyages this spring will be Victoria, not Vancouver.  That means that you and all of the effects that you are importing into Canada as a settler or returning resident are subject to inspection at Victoria, rather than upon disembarkation.  That will mean disembarking all of your luggage at Victoria for inspection, and (assuming that it is all cleared) returning it to the ship.

The rules regarding duty free entry of personal effects vary depending upon whether you are a settler (establishing residence for the first time), a returning resident who has been out of the country for less than one year, between 1 and five years or more than five years.  In some cases you must be able to demonstrate that you have owned items for more than six months prior to your entry to Canada, and you must have that documentation with you upon landing in Canada (both for goods you are carrying and for your goods to follow).

You must prepare two copies of your BSF186 form (Personal Effects Accounting Document) fully completed prior to arrival including the value of each item that you are importing into the country.  An aggregated "household goods and personal effects" is not, generally, acceptable.  Items with fair market values must be separately listed, and make, model and serial numbers are required for goods that have these (all of your electronics, for example).

If you have goods to follow (with movers, for example), you must prepare a second BCF186 and declare those on your first arrival or you will not be provided with free importation of those goods when they follow you.

Technically, the port of entry at Victoria can process this, but it is very much out of the ordinary at the cruise pier.  They may have to bring someone in to handle this, and if you haven't notified them in advance, they could be calling someone in from the airport, which is a minimum half hour away at the best of times.  You have a 4 pm arrival time and a six hour call at Victoria.  The ship is unlikely to facilitate you disembarking all of your baggage until shore excursion and walk-off passengers are off the ship, which is going to eat a good hour of your available time.  I would be loathe to bet on whether you can be cleared and carrying all your goods back on board in time.

If you do not have all of your paperwork in order you may potentially find your goods impounded in Victoria while you carry on (or not) to Vancouver.

[ski ww]

How much luggage are you bringing if you have to leave some on the balcony?? Yes there are carts & porters.

[Alberta Quilter]

I have never had to pack up my belongings to clear customs in Victoria when Victoria was my first Canadian port.  Nor in Halifax or Saint John.  On the one occasion when I did an early disembark in Victoria and did pack up, the formalities were little more than finding my customs form, waving us through, and welcoming us back to Canada.

[Alberta Quilter]

Luggage can fit underneath the beds.  If you have hard sided luggage that is higher than the gap, just store them open.  I would not recommend storing the luggage on the balcony.  If there are storms enroute, it could get wet.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Alberta Quilter

[visagrunt]

13 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

I have never had to pack up my belongings to clear customs in Victoria when Victoria was my first Canadian port.  Nor in Halifax or Saint John.  On the one occasion when I did an early disembark in Victoria and did pack up, the formalities were little more than finding my customs form, waving us through, and welcoming us back to Canada.

I assume that you were not moving to, or moving back to Canada at the time.

Visitors to Canada and Canadian residents returning on pleasure travel are a very different customs experience than settlers and returning residents.

[whogo]

Holland America may limit what you bring aboard. Clothes would be okay, TVs, lamps, furniture, probably not.

[Alberta Quilter]

13 hours ago, visagrunt said:

I assume that you were not moving to, or moving back to Canada at the time.

Visitors to Canada and Canadian residents returning on pleasure travel are a very different customs experience than settlers and returning residents.

Correct.  I was not moving residences.  Perhaps I misunderstood the OP's headline but I thought they were just cruising, not actually moving residences from one country to another.  

[*Miss G*]

Assuming you have all your legal affairs in order, I would contact Holland America about storing your extra cases in the hold vs your room. Also keep in mind that sometimes the ship can’t make it into the harbour at Victoria so not sure how that impacts your time with Canada Border Services. Perhaps someone at Holland America has experience with this and can advise. Good luck. 

[cruisemover]

20 hours ago, visagrunt said:

I advise carefully researching your documentary requirements.  There is detailed customs paperwork required and CBSA are very likely to insist on a full inspection.

Thank you so much visagrunt for detailing the process! I had not considered the ship arriving in Victoria first would cause any issues.

 

So usually a visitor would clear immigration in Victoria and customs in Vancouver, but a settler or returning resident would clear both immigration and customs in Victoria?

 

I assume the cruise ship terminal in Victoria probably does not see too many passengers unloading and reloading a bunch of luggage to clear customs. Are carts or porters available in Victoria too?

 

Does clearing customs in Victoria mean I can skip through customs when disembarking in Vancouver?

 

Would the customs process be any easier if I arrived in Canada by land or air first, so only BSF186A is needed for the later cruise arrival? Would it be possible to clear customs in Vancouver in this case?

[cruisemover]

8 hours ago, whogo said:

Holland America may limit what you bring aboard. Clothes would be okay, TVs, lamps, furniture, probably not.

I was planning to bring my kitchen sink, since that is not on Holland America's list of prohibited items. Plus a chargoal grill and some patio furniture for a BBQ on the private balcony. 

[cruisemover]

5 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Assuming you have all your legal affairs in order, I would contact Holland America about storing your extra cases in the hold vs your room. Also keep in mind that sometimes the ship can’t make it into the harbour at Victoria so not sure how that impacts your time with Canada Border Services. Perhaps someone at Holland America has experience with this and can advise. Good luck. 

On a more serious note, it will probably just be a dozen bags that would cost a fortune to check on an airline. I would rather not bring too much attention to the fact that I am using the cruise as a moving truck. What is the process for requesting storage in the hold?

 

What happens if a bag is checked curbside with a porter at embarkation and Holland America does not like what is inside, when I am no longer physically with the bag?

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, cruisemover said:

On a more serious note, it will probably just be a dozen bags that would cost a fortune to check on an airline. I would rather not bring too much attention to the fact that I am using the cruise as a moving truck. What is the process for requesting storage in the hold?

 

What happens if a bag is checked curbside with a porter at embarkation and Holland America does not like what is inside, when I am no longer physically with the bag?

Assuming that the luggage makes it to the ship, if HAL has a problem with something in your luggage they will send it to the security area and then contact you to come there (this happened to me once).

[Caribbean Chris]

This is an interesting list from Carnival’s website which might help guide your packing for the “moving truck cruise.” It covers a lot of household items:

https://help.carnival.com.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/129/~/are-there-restrictions-on-what-i-can-bring-on-board%3F

Edited November 20, 2021 by Caribbean Chris

[*Miss G*]

5 hours ago, cruisemover said:

On a more serious note, it will probably just be a dozen bags that would cost a fortune to check on an airline. I would rather not bring too much attention to the fact that I am using the cruise as a moving truck. What is the process for requesting storage in the hold?

 

Lots of people use ships as a way to relocate or move possessions. A few years ago I recall reading lots of helpful hints on the Cunard board, for example. The best place for answers is HAL. 

[chengkp75]

13 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

I would contact Holland America about storing your extra cases in the hold vs your room.

 

8 hours ago, cruisemover said:

What is the process for requesting storage in the hold?

I have not heard of ships storing luggage anywhere.  I have not heard of a cruise ship that had a "hold" since the QE2.  Moving back from Scotland to the US, we were allowed storage space in the "baggage room" as well as in the "hold" (which was forward of the superstructure, and had cranes to handle the cargo).

[Ferry_Watcher]

Back in the day, some passengers on long cruises would also book the inside cabin across the corridor from their suite/verandah to use as a extension of their cabin.  Basically it became a huge closet/storage area. 

 

OP, sorry if I missed this info, but are you a Canadian sunbird/snowbird just returning home, or are you another nationality planning on relocating?

[thinfool]

Consider Amtrak.

[ShipWalker]

Taking Amtrak would entail using three different trains  between San Diego and Vancouver, BC. (As well as potential overnight layovers.) In addition Amtrak will not resume service between Seattle and Vancouver until "sometime" in 2022.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I also think that Amtrak has luggage restrictions.

 

[visagrunt]

15 hours ago, cruisemover said:

Thank you so much visagrunt for detailing the process! I had not considered the ship arriving in Victoria first would cause any issues.

 

So usually a visitor would clear immigration in Victoria and customs in Vancouver, but a settler or returning resident would clear both immigration and customs in Victoria?

 

I assume the cruise ship terminal in Victoria probably does not see too many passengers unloading and reloading a bunch of luggage to clear customs. Are carts or porters available in Victoria too?

 

Does clearing customs in Victoria mean I can skip through customs when disembarking in Vancouver?

 

Would the customs process be any easier if I arrived in Canada by land or air first, so only BSF186A is needed for the later cruise arrival? Would it be possible to clear customs in Vancouver in this case?

Everyone--crew and passengers, both visitors and residents--clears customs and immigration in the first port of entry.  For 99% of people, they fill in their customs declaration, hand it in at the Front Desk, and that's the extent of the process.  However, if you're establishing (or reestablishing) residence in Canada, you're in that minority for whom secondary inspection is required.   

There are no immigration or customs inspections in Vancouver if the ship and all its passengers and crew have been cleared and have not subsequently made a call outside of Canada.  (This is why the shops don't reopen after the ship leaves Victoria--you can't buy duty free merchandise after you have arrived.)

If you land by air (or land) first, you can facilitate goods to follow, but this only applies to goods that you have already shipped by a commercial carrier, such as a moving company.  If you land and then depart and reenter with goods in your possession, then they are subject to duties and taxes like any other Canadian resident returning after a temporary absence.

[RGEDad]

On 11/20/2021 at 4:15 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

I also think that Amtrak has luggage restrictions.

Amtrak does have Checked luggage restrictions, and as I recall - no checked luggage between SD to LA - where you change trains to Seattle. And still no train from Seattle to Vancouver - Bus Only.

Amtrack Checked Baggage

 

2 Bags Free
Up to 50 lbs. and 75 linear inches*

2 Additional Bags
$20 each

Oversized Baggage (76-100 linear inches*)
$20 each

---

I was about to suggest using AMTRAK freight service (I used it several times ship a couple of pallets from DFW to NYC for my daughter) - but I just checked - and bad news - it is no-go.

Amtrak Express shipping is suspended until further notice.

Edited November 22, 2021 by RGEDad

[cruisemover]

On 11/20/2021 at 2:48 AM, DaveOKC said:

Assuming that the luggage makes it to the ship, if HAL has a problem with something in your luggage they will send it to the security area and then contact you to come there (this happened to me once).

Did this happen before or after the ship left the port? How was it resolved in your case? Hopefully they would not just dump the offending items overboard!

[cruisemover]

On 11/20/2021 at 6:27 AM, *Miss G* said:

Lots of people use ships as a way to relocate or move possessions. A few years ago I recall reading lots of helpful hints on the Cunard board, for example. The best place for answers is HAL. 

Do you happen to remember what the thread was titled? I tried searching the Cunard board but could not find anything on the topic. So cruise lines do not frown upon passengers using them as moving trucks as long as the restrictions are followed?

[cruisemover]

On 11/20/2021 at 10:16 AM, Ferry_Watcher said:

Back in the day, some passengers on long cruises would also book the inside cabin across the corridor from their suite/verandah to use as a extension of their cabin.  Basically it became a huge closet/storage area. 

 

OP, sorry if I missed this info, but are you a Canadian sunbird/snowbird just returning home, or are you another nationality planning on relocating?

I only have maybe a dozen bags to bring onto the cruise, so hoping to use a corner of the balcony instead of another cabin as the "overflow" area. As long as the cruise line has no issues with leaving some bags on the balcony, I can cover them with a tarp and would not mind if they get a bit wet. I read I should avoid the balconies under the lido deck since cleaning water may get onto the balcony?

 

I am a Canadian bird who got stranded in California for several years but looking to migrate north again. I am planning to do a road trip before or after the cruise to bring the remaining bulky and/or prohibited items.