Timing question - disembarkation

[GCS2000]

Going on an Alaska cruise in Sept.

 

We want to attend a Seahawks game the day we get back.  Issue is our trip returns to Vancouver not Seattle.

 

Boat arrives at 7am on Sunday in Vancouver.  Can we make a 9:00am flight from VAN - SEA or is that way too tight?

 

We have global entry and TSA Pre for travelling and of course would request to be one of the first off the boat upon arrival.

 

Honest opinions welcomed.

 

Thanks

 

[klfrodo]

If it matters, when you fly from Vancouver (YVR) back to the US, you clear US Customs and Immigrations while at YVR.

 

Having said that, whew, that is tight.

[GCS2000]

1 minute ago, klfrodo said:

If it matters, when you fly from Vancouver (YVR) back to the US, you clear US Customs and Immigrations while at YVR.

 

Having said that, whew, that is tight.

 

Didn't know that, thanks.

 

But yes it is tight.  I can push the flight to around 9:30 but the flight time is just around 90 mins give or take dropping us in Seattle at 11ish figure out of the airport if we are lucky no later than 12 and we have to drop bags at the hotel and get to the game which starts at 1:30.

 

Only reason to consider this other than my wife is a Seahawks fan is that we are travelling across the country from VA so its not likely we will get back to the left coast again (certainly not anytime soon).

 

 

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, GCS2000 said:

I can push the flight to around 9:30

Even that will be tight - the earliest you can probably get off the ship is 7:30-45. Sunday will make the drive to the airport easier, but still at best 8:15AM to reach the airport.

[GCS2000]

13 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Even that will be tight - the earliest you can probably get off the ship is 7:30-45. Sunday will make the drive to the airport easier, but still at best 8:15AM to reach the airport.

 

I guess if we can find a 10:30ish flight that would be better and just be late to the game.

Either that or we have to cut the cruise a day short and disembark at out last port (last day of our cruise is just on the water) if we want to go to the game.

 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, GCS2000 said:

Either that or we have to cut the cruise a day short and disembark at out last port

RCI has discontinued downline disembarkations.

[time4u2go]

35 minutes ago, GCS2000 said:

We have global entry and TSA Pre for travelling

Do these get you anything in Canada? 

 

Also, I assume you would be doing self assist. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by time4u2go

[GCS2000]

25 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

RCI has discontinued downline disembarkations.

 

wow so no option to leave early that sucks

 

[GCS2000]

30 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Do these get you anything in Canada? 

 

Also, I assume you would be doing self assist. 

 

Not sure what that is

 

[gumshoe958]

7 minutes ago, GCS2000 said:

 

Not sure what that is

 

Take your own bags off the ship rather than leave them out the night before and collect them in the terminal.

[time4u2go]

Consider renting a car and driving. It's only about a 2.5 hour drive. 

[GCS2000]

10 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Consider renting a car and driving. It's only about a 2.5 hour drive. 

 

Can't rent a car from Canada to the US I have looked into it already.  Besides even if I can by the time I get the rental, drive, and arrive in Seattle it will be about the same arrival time as flying.  No I wouldn't have the "tightness" of leaving the ship and airport departure issue but driving doesn't save me much that I can see.

[GCS2000]

20 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

Take your own bags off the ship rather than leave them out the night before and collect them in the terminal.

Yes would have to do this or whatever we need to do to be the first ones off basically

 

[steveru621]

Sorry, no you can't make it.  The airline will want you there at least two hours before your flight.  It will take you at least 10 minutes just to get to the taxi stand and then another 40 minutes to the airport. The Check-in process at YVR is very slow.  You need to bring your own bags to the x-ray device, then, you need to go through security and customs.

 

We just did all this last week.  No one was allowed off the ship until 8AM.

 

The bus may be a better option.

[GCS2000]

1 hour ago, steveru621 said:

Sorry, no you can't make it.  The airline will want you there at least two hours before your flight.  It will take you at least 10 minutes just to get to the taxi stand and then another 40 minutes to the airport. The Check-in process at YVR is very slow.  You need to bring your own bags to the x-ray device, then, you need to go through security and customs.

 

We just did all this last week.  No one was allowed off the ship until 8AM.

 

The bus may be a better option.

 

Thanks Steve.  Very good information and what I needed to know.  Time to switch it up and put the funds to a car rental for the 9 days even though for 90% of it the vehicle will be parked.  Wish the parking at the Vancouver port wasn't so much yikes.

 

[GCS2000]

Seems crazy that Royal won't let you off before 8 with a 7 dock time (yes I know there are procedures etc).

 

I can move us to a 10am flight which gets us back to Seattle in time for the game for sure (need to drop luggage at the hotel and go of course and we might get in right at kickoff but that's ok) but that means we really need to be off the boat as soon as it docks although I firmly believe that the 2 hour before flight deal is not 100% necessary.  However arriving 45 mins or an hour before yeah that might a big problem

 

[steveru621]

1 minute ago, GCS2000 said:

Seems crazy that Royal won't let you off before 8 with a 7 dock time (yes I know there are procedures etc).

 

I can move us to a 10am flight which gets us back to Seattle in time for the game for sure (need to drop luggage at the hotel and go of course and we might get in right at kickoff but that's ok) but that means we really need to be off the boat as soon as it docks although I firmly believe that the 2 hour before flight deal is not 100% necessary.  However arriving 45 mins or an hour before yeah that might a big problem

 

 

I don't think it was RCI.  It probably had something to do with those mysterious authorities.  Arrive-CAN may have factored into the delay.

 

Hopefully by September debark will improve.  

 

Good Luck.

[CGinMTL]

If royal lets you leave the ship in Victoria. There is a ferry from Victoria to Seattle 

[time4u2go]

3 hours ago, GCS2000 said:

Can't rent a car from Canada to the US I have looked into it already. 

I'm not disagreeing with this necessarily, but why do you think this is the case?  I just tried a mock booking from Vancouver to Seattle on Avis and it let me.

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, CGinMTL said:

If royal lets you leave the ship in Victoria. There is a ferry from Victoria to Seattle 

As mentioned, RCI doesn't do downline disembarkations anymore.

[GCS2000]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

I'm not disagreeing with this necessarily, but why do you think this is the case?  I just tried a mock booking from Vancouver to Seattle on Avis and it let me.

because I checked multiple sites - expedia, priceline, enterprise, alamo and none of them let me do a one way booking from Vancouver to Seattle.  I am happy to be wrong but that is what I saw.  I will happily check Avis and see what they say.  Thx

 

[martincath]

3 hours ago, GCS2000 said:

because I checked multiple sites - expedia, priceline, enterprise, alamo and none of them let me do a one way booking from Vancouver to Seattle.  I am happy to be wrong but that is what I saw.  I will happily check Avis and see what they say.  Thx

Check for 2-day rentals - cheaper than a 9 day plus parking rental, but likely still pricey. At least one poster trying to get a one-way car found a 2-day option, for about $600 - last I recall the price was dropping but still yet to get anywhere near the <$100 of TheBeforeTimes! By September, at least we will have had 4 months of cruising, rental franchises will have a much stronger idea of demand for one-ways, prices and restrictions should keep dropping.

 

As to your original query - hellz to the no! Again in TheBeforeTimes, for  self-disembarker a flight as early as 10am was absolutely viable. Right now, with security queues that are woefully understaffed you might as well just burn your ticket for anything booked earlier than noon - even if CATSA can get fully staffed up again by September, unless you cruise with just a carry-on even meeting the minimum pre-flight time for bag drop (an hour to the US with all airlines) is quite likely to be problematic for a flight any earlier than 10am.

 

Good news - Global Entry DOES help out here in Vancouver thanks to Preclearance. You will get access to the dedicated GE/NEXUS screening line at security and you can use your own dedicated bank of Customs & Immigration machines too, so everything except bag check is faster.

 

But if Covid tests are still needed for flights to the US in Sep, you really need to ensure you get your test done onboard or I'd still consider a flight before noon to be very risky even for a GE cardholder (and NB: that you MUST bring the card to show to the person guarding entry to the short line - they don't scan your passport to verify GE status at that stage you have to literally pull your card out and show it to them).

Edited May 14, 2022 by martincath

[texasweather]

I’m in this situation in July. But from what I’ve been told on the West Coast Departures board is that I may even have difficulty making my 12:45 pm flight (after docking at 7am). So much so that I am looking into the costs to rebook my flight. 

[smplybcause]

11 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Do these get you anything in Canada? 

 

Also, I assume you would be doing self assist. 

 

I don't know about Vancouver, but in Toronto global entry gets you into a different security line that has rules pretty much the same as pre check (don't have to take anything out or off), but they don't let you in without your GE card as it's the only way to prove you can go through the line. And then obviously GE kiosks to get you through US customs. There's a decent chance it's similar in Vancouver since it has US customs in the airport too.

 

And on a side note I've seen a lot of articles about delays at the Toronto Airport due to staffing. Not sure if Vancouver is facing the same problem, but it could add a lot of time. 

Edited May 14, 2022 by smplybcause

[Sobro]

I think the two day car rental idea is good if the Amtrak bus arrives in Seattle too late for kickoff.

 

If you can't get a one-way car rental just rent a car and return it to Vancouver then take the bus back to Seattle for your flight home on Monday.