Walking off self assist ship in Vancouver?

[volk904]

We have never cruised out of Vancouver so I don't know how they operate in Canada.

My question is how early will they let you walk off the ship?  I know in Miami in most cases you can be off by 7:30 or so.

Trying to see if there is any chance we could make the 9:00 AM  Amtrac bus since the 11:30 bus is full. Trying to avoid having to wait to 4:00 pm.  I know the station is less than 2 miles away form the port and I don't believe there is any airport type security to get through.

 

 

 

 

 

[martincath]

1 hour ago, volk904 said:

We have never cruised out of Vancouver so I don't know how they operate in Canada.

My question is how early will they let you walk off the ship?  I know in Miami in most cases you can be off by 7:30 or so.

Trying to see if there is any chance we could make the 9:00 AM  Amtrac bus since the 11:30 bus is full. Trying to avoid having to wait to 4:00 pm.  I know the station is less than 2 miles away form the port and I don't believe there is any airport type security to get through.

While bus security is minimal, since you cross the land border (trains do preclearance here before letting you on, but buses you need to go inside to talk to CBP - almost always with your bags) it's still a bit risky. Self-Disembark slots usually begin after 7am, but depending on demand your vessel might actually enforce multiple self-disembarkation slots (we've had that happen to us, especially after short cruises when almost everyone has minimal baggage).

 

There's a very good chance that even if you are among the latest self-disembarkers you will be walking off before 8am, and worst case you walk all the way that's 30-40mins. You could risk taking SkyTrain - the Expo Line platform is actually right outside the pier, the first set of stairs/escalator that we generally recommend visitors to avoid because it's not the Canada Line to the airport, but for you it's perfect as it heads to within a block of the railway station (Main St/Science World).

 

NB: rush hour there are staff out to enforce rules, and big bags (or anything else that doesn't fit into your personal standing/seating space) are against the transit rules, some commuters do come over on Seabus and transfer to this line heading out of the core if their work is east of downtown so there's a chance you would get hassled about your suitcases - I'd take a cab, but if timing is tight and cab queue is long it may be a risk worth taking for you.

 

Personally though, I'd book QuickShuttle in your situation - there's a 9am departure from right inside the pier. Even paying the bag charge you'll likely end up not far off the Amtrak bus price - weirdly enough Amtrak buses have always been pricier than Saver train tickets! - and if you are heading to SEA rather than downtown, by the time you factor in cost/time to get from Amtrak station in Seattle it might work out very similarly in price.

Edited May 17, 2022 by martincath

[volk904]

The cab would be my choice.  Are you saying Cabs and Ubers are not easy to get ?  

[martincath]

3 hours ago, volk904 said:

The cab would be my choice.  Are you saying Cabs and Ubers are not easy to get ?  

Exactly - if you're here on a 3 or 4 ship day, cab queues peak at over an hour long and have gone over 3 hours in the past (it's almost 90 mins to loop out to YVR and back even if the cab immediately get another fare, we have a restricted number of cabs, and access into the pier is through one ramp for all vehicles so long story short, limited flow of cars...)

 

If you're first off ANY ship, no worries, but you can be first off YOUR ship and have hundreds to thousands of other people who already beat you off self-disembarking other ships... they do not all get cleared at the same time and there's no way to predict if yours would be first or last of the day.

 

Pier schedule is here - it does get updated, and with this being the first restart year there have already been more tweaks than usual, but mostly times of arrival/departure rather than dates.

 

If bussing at 9am is your plan, to be blunt there's no real upside with Amtrak compared to Quickshuttle - unless you are heading to one of towns en route that are served by Amtrak but not QS. Depending on how many bags you might save a buck or three, but the lack of needing to go anywhere makes QS the safer option.

[Ashland]

My concern after self assist is also the taxi line to get to YVR. They'll be 6 of us 4 adults and two kids 5 & 8. I am considering RCI transfer to the airport or would appreciate some private transportation. We're looking at flight back to the US at about noon or 1:40pm. Help and thoughts please.

[volk904]

You have been very helpful.  Looks like 3 ships on our return.  Are the buses about the same between Amtrak and quick shuttle?   

[martincath]

15 hours ago, volk904 said:

You have been very helpful.  Looks like 3 ships on our return.  Are the buses about the same between Amtrak and quick shuttle?   

Quick Shuttle probably have newer buses, but it kinda depends - if it's a Cantrail bus, who operate the service for Amtrak, they're apparently quite new and comfy (a buddy is in a long-term relationship with a Seattleite and used them monthly for about three years, so this is second-hand info but from many trips). If it's an actual Amtrak-owned bus - they have their own fleet which is usually deployed to ferry pax around landslides on the track in this neck of the woods, so if demand is higher than Cantrail can provide on a given departure they might deploy their own too - then I have to say some of those are the crappiest buses I have ever ridden in a first world country!

 

Despite my personal distaste for QS (entirely down to weaselly marketing/service in the past), in your situation I'd have zero hesitation saying they are definitely the safer choice, probably almost as comfy as the best Amtrak buses and very much definitely comfier than the worst Amtrak buses, and overall definitely the bus you should book.

[volk904]

Last question. So you think I can make Quick Shuttle at 9am from the port.  Does it pick up right at the port?

 

 

[martincath]

10 minutes ago, volk904 said:

Last question. So you think I can make Quick Shuttle at 9am from the port.  Does it pick up right at the port?

Literally inside the terminal! As you walk out you'll see signs, possibly already long queues, to board taxis, buses etc. The QS coach will be somewhere in that area, very obvious given their bright colouring (scarlet? one of those 'red unless you are an Interior Designer or Artist' colours anyway!)

 

And if you can't make the QS bus, you'd have already missed the 9am Amtrak anyway...

[volk904]

We booked the Quick Shuttle from the port to Seattle. Sounds like it was the best option but while it takes longer than the plane we don’t have to deal with another Covid test which is a plus.   
 

I am pretty sure you said bus takes us to the border where we take our luggage off and go through customs and then revised for the last hour to Seattle?  

[Ashland]

I'll ask again....Any recommendations for private transportation to take the 6 of us (including 2 kids) to YVR after our Sept cruise. Trying to avoid the long taxi lines.

[martincath]

6 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I'll ask again....Any recommendations for private transportation to take the 6 of us (including 2 kids) to YVR after our Sept cruise. Trying to avoid the long taxi lines.

Apologies - Uber, if you can find an XL, might do the job although I have no idea if we have 6 pax and decent luggage storage volume vehicles being operated locally...

 

A limo rather than cab would certainly fit all of you, but when it comes to those the only one I've used locally is Aerocar, the folks with the YVR franchise - unfortunately they are listed as temporarily not running on the YVR site, and their own website seems to have not had the bills paid... they might be kaput, so I'm therefore in a quandary as I have no specific limo to recommend you!

 

The real downside of limos is the legal minimum pricing - other than Aerocar, who got an exemption on their fixed rates to/from YVR, all private car companies must comply with the rates agreed by the Passenger Transportation board. That includes a minimum hire period of a full hour as well as minimum hourly rate, so any limo not breaking the law will be billing you at least $90 but not more than $160 (1 hour should be ample to get out to YVR. GST of 5% goes on top, many local companies  also seem to set a minimum tip of 20% of base fare, and Meet & Greet fees are not set in the bylaws so they could be potentially hefty - or dirt cheap! - but back in the day Aerocar charged $50 so that's probably not far off what others will. So all-in-all I think you're looking at not an awful lot less than CAD$200 as a ballpark - compared to 2 cabs on meters at around $40-45 each incl reasonable tip. Ubers seem to run a little less than cabs locally when not on Surge, but I would expect on a busy cruise morning that surge is very likely to apply!

 

Hopefully someone else will come along with specific limo companies they have used and vouch for...

 

57 minutes ago, volk904 said:

We booked the Quick Shuttle from the port to Seattle. Sounds like it was the best option but while it takes longer than the plane we don’t have to deal with another Covid test which is a plus.   
 

I am pretty sure you said bus takes us to the border where we take our luggage off and go through customs and then revised for the last hour to Seattle?  

Yes, QS will stop at the border (as well as a few other spots both sides, as noted on the schedule) for you to all get off and be processed. if it's a busy day you're more likely to be allowed to skip the luggage drag, but as US folks returning home they're also likely to be pickier about your customs declaration... so I would assume bag drag, then be pleasantly surprised if you get to leave them onboard.

 

It's much more than an hour to Seattle, though I have no idea what 'revised' might have been changed from by autocorrect? It's an hour or so to the border, then 30 mins assumed processing time, BLI airport at 11am, Tulalip outlet mall noon, the Convention Centre downtown 1pm and SEATAC 1:30pm ETA.

[volk904]

As a follow up we took the suggestion and booked the quick shuttle from the port to the Seattle convention center near our hotel.  We walked off the Serenade at 745 and were through customs before 8:15.  We were on the 9am sold out bus.  Plenty of time to spare.  The bus made a stop downtown for more passengers and we were off.  Nice trip but at the border we were the 3rd of 3 buses and it took about 75 minutes to get through including talking our luggage off the bus to be scanned.  Once in the US bus dropped off about 8 at a small airport and the next stop was ours.  Not a bad trip.  If you are going to take the bus book early.  As I said it was sold out.  There was a family of 5 wanted to go but no seats.  

Edited June 10, 2022 by volk904