Does a porter help ease immigration process at Vancouver cruise port?

[Lazz]

When disembarking at a US port, I have always used a porter to help speed me through Immigration and get me to the correct bus or get a quick taxi.  Does this work at the Vancouver cruise port?  We are disembarking from a Princess Cruise and have Princess transportation to the airport.

[martincath]

Not really - for us locals, Customs can be an issue, but for you visitors leaving straightaway with your stuff, not so much, which means it's only the Immigration aspects (are you deemed fit to be allowed into Canada?)

 

Whether you're on a one-way or a return trip, everyone onboard is assessed for that while still at sea - and usually even Customs is dealt with by handing in forms onboard for remote checking. All the info about you and your fellow pax is sent to CBSA well in advance of your arrival, so it's a really token check.

 

As to the transport - a porter will ensure you get to the right place, but Canada Place isn't really that big and transportation, security etc. is a shared-by-all-berths setup so every ship has their disembarking pax end up in the same place.

 

You didn't ask, but I always suggest it - cancel the cruise transportation. Unless you feel overpaying for a worse-in-almost-every-way service is worth it of course! Airport and pier are not very distant, we have superb public transportation, every sign is in English, and even paying for a cab/Uber etc. usually works out the same or less than a PER PERSON cruiseline transfer price.

 

If you are a solo traveler unable to carry their own bags - even then. although the fixed-cost option of a cruise transfer might be financially a wash for you compared to a cab, you'll still wait longer to get to YVR and then be stuck with a bunch of fellow cruisers in all the queues for bag drop, security, and US Pre-screening... buses only go when full, almost never before 9am, so by the time you get to YVR it will likely be an hour after all the self-disembarking folks.

[david,Mississauga]

On 11/27/2022 at 1:32 PM, martincath said:

 

 

...

 

You didn't ask, but I always suggest it - cancel the cruise transportation. Unless you feel overpaying for a worse-in-almost-every-way service is worth it of course! Airport and pier are not very distant, we have superb public transportation, every sign is in English, and even paying for a cab/Uber etc. usually works out the same or less than a PER PERSON cruiseline transfer price.

 

...

 

Indeed, a taxi is cheaper than the cruise line's bus, but getting a taxi can be difficult. In 2019 we got a taxi quite easily, but this past June the queue for taxis was immense. There was one other ship in addition to  the Queen Elizabeth. Only a few taxis at a time can come into the loading area.  It appeared we would be there for a long time, so our friend suggested we take our luggage up to the street level, cross the street to the Fairmont Waterfront where we had stayed before the cruise and ask them to get us a taxi. The two doormen recognised us and were glad to get us a taxi, which took only 15 minutes to arrive.  

 

For next year's cruise we will book the usually expensive Cunard transfer bus which will be more convenient.  It won't actually cost us anything as we have a lot of OBC.

[martincath]

1 hour ago, david,Mississauga said:

For next year's cruise we will book the usually expensive Cunard transfer bus which will be more convenient.  It won't actually cost us anything as we have a lot of OBC.

If you literally have OBC going spare, then absolutely the cost factor might drop out of the equation - a two ship day with a taxi queue long enough to become slower than a cruise bus seems unusual, and with Uber/Lyft available to reduce demand on cabs even more unusual... Given Cunard pricepoints, prebooking a limo to meet you might break even compared to two bus seats!

 

But you did absolutely the best thing tactically - heading upstairs to the PP (or across the road to the Waterfront) makes for quicker cab-calling even if the bell staff don't recognise you... as long as you peel off your cruise tags from suitcases, who's to say you were not actually coming down from your PP room rather than up from the terminal level? 😉

[david,Mississauga]

 

The time factor is not as important to us as the convenience of not having to stand in a lengthy queue. My wife has poor mobility, although she requests wheelchair assistance only rarely. For boarding in Vancouver a wheelchair is helpful given the start at lower level, then going up to the convention level, then back down, then security, then dealing with U.S. immigration. Disembarking is much easier, although we will request wheelchair assistance if we are going to take a taxi. 

 

The cost of the transfer with Cunard is high: it is Can.$60 pp if booked in advance or US$60 pp if booked on board. I recall the taxi was about $40.

 

As for the original question, we have had three arrivals in Vancouver (one on HAL, two on Cunard) over the past six years and there has been no immigration/customs procedure at all. Even this year with ArriveCan in effect, Cunard had all our information which was given to the Canadian officials so we simply walked off the ship as if it was a ferry boat. 

[Lazz]

7 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

The time factor is not as important to us as the convenience of not having to stand in a lengthy queue. My wife has poor mobility, although she requests wheelchair assistance only rarely. For boarding in Vancouver a wheelchair is helpful given the start at lower level, then going up to the convention level, then back down, then security, then dealing with U.S. immigration. Disembarking is much easier, although we will request wheelchair assistance if we are going to take a taxi. 

 

The cost of the transfer with Cunard is high: it is Can.$60 pp if booked in advance or US$60 pp if booked on board. I recall the taxi was about $40.

 

As for the original question, we have had three arrivals in Vancouver (one on HAL, two on Cunard) over the past six years and there has been no immigration/customs procedure at all. Even this year with ArriveCan in effect, Cunard had all our information which was given to the Canadian officials so we simply walked off the ship as if it was a ferry boat. 

All the information on this thread is very helpful.  We have Princess transportation to the airport as part of our package.  Our flight does not leave until 1:255pm, so we do not have to rush.  

[martincath]

8 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

The time factor is not as important to us as the convenience of not having to stand in a lengthy queue. ...

 

As for the original question, we have had three arrivals in Vancouver (one on HAL, two on Cunard) over the past six years and there has been no immigration/customs procedure at all.

Understandable then - there are very narrow sets of circumstances where I do recommend just using a transfer, and this is one of them. Someone else schlepping your bags is built-in, whereas we do have issues with insufficient porters on busy days so finding someone to help you get your bags to cab/uber etc. might be a hassle. Otherwise, for folks on a really busy day with a higher chance of missing their flight, if they also bought the flight via the cruiseline then at least the line is on the hook to get them home if their transfer fails to have them at the airport quickly enough, so that certainty might be worth it - but it's going to mean more time waiting in queues overall than arranging your own transport!

 

Compared to even 2pax at $60, I'd be inclined to book a limo with a Meet'n'Greet - standard fees for that run about the same price (including all taxes and expected tip) for a towncar, you'd be met by a uniformed driver with your name on a sign who can take your bags for you, and you'd be off on your merry way before they even finished loading the bus... since it sounds like taking transit isn't at all feasible for you, the most consistently quick way is out but a limo booked for before 9am would get you to YVR before the buses, even if you can't beat the self-disembarkers.

 

49 minutes ago, Lazz said:

All the information on this thread is very helpful.  We have Princess transportation to the airport as part of our package.  Our flight does not leave until 1:255pm, so we do not have to rush.  

Whether the colon position or an extra 5 was the mis-key, either way you are probably safe with a cruise transfer - flights 12:30pm and later usually work. BUT if it's one of our early-season 3 or 4 ship days, be aware that even cruise transfers are not always able to get you to YVR in time! By rushing, you guarantee sitting around at the airport - but fail to rush and instead you face a much less pleasant standing-around-in-various-queues at the airport, for a total wait time that ends up far greater.

 

You should be at the airport, checking in, 3 hours in advance to be fully-compliant with YVRs standards for US or international departures. Even that is not enough when things go terribly wrong - while this summers multiple-hour Security queues in theory won't happen again now that staffing-up again post-Covid flight shutdowns has happened, things do still get a little worse than in TheBeforeTimes as staff levels topped out slightly lower - fundamentally it's a stressful job with relatively crappy pay, so fewer interested people!

 

A flight that early means zero time to actually go sightseeing - so you may as well be at the airport ASAP. The biggest downside of cruise transfers is that you simply CANNOT arrive early enough to beat the queues - as soon as the first bus rolls in more people are arriving than can be processed efficiently through the queues, so Check-in, Bag Drop, Security, and CBP Preclearance all start to get longer and longer... and none of them start dropping in volume until the buses stop, late morning.

 

Unless you are physically incapable of handling your own bags, the most efficient way to minimise all your queue time is by self-disembarking - this basically guarantees you are off your ship before all of the 'we need help with bags' groups from ALL of the ships in port. If it's a 3 or 4 ship day you still have to fight with the other self-disembarkers of course - but if you can manage to walk ~400 yards with your bags then you can use SkyTrain to avoid a long cab queue and save both time and money. If the cab queue is short, timing is very comparable - driving takes about 5-10 mins longer than the train, but you skip the walk to the station.

 

Waterfront is the start of the line, commuter flow is mostly inbound, so you can find seats easily - and even big suitcases fit under them on the Canada Line trains, which have extra legroom that fits your carryon and yourself too. Plus fully automated trains mean that travel time varies only by seconds - and the cost is dirt-cheap (about US$3.25pp for an adult weekday fare, less on weekends, even less for Seniors/kids).

 

Get to YVR before 9am and you will probably spend a total of 20-30mins in all of the queues - arrive on anything after the very first cruise bus of the day and those times will be two or three times longer!

 

Another big timesaver that might be available to you - gain Trusted Traveler status. Either NEXUS or Global Entry work when departing YVR - only NEXUS helps when arriving. TSA Pre is worthless - no TSA up here! If you do not already have one of these cards, the best time to apply is right now - backlogs from no interviews during the Pandemic are starting to be addressed, but for first-time applicants the delays are many months long. If you can manage to get to the Canadian border conveniently, NEXUS is the best option - it gives you all Global Entry benefits for a lower price, as well as quicker entry to Canada (we even have our very own bridge at Niagara Falls which nobody except NEXUS members can use!) but if you don't come to Canada often GE is less hassle to get and just as good everywhere else.

 

Having NEXUS/GE enables two of the queues to be expedited - Security and Preclearance - and if you ever have issues with e.g. Real ID compliant driving licenses not being available in your state, you gain a wallet-size Gov't issued photo ID that proves both ID and citizenship to a better-than-Real ID standard.

[Lazz]

10 minutes ago, martincath said:

Understandable then - there are very narrow sets of circumstances where I do recommend just using a transfer, and this is one of them. Someone else schlepping your bags is built-in, whereas we do have issues with insufficient porters on busy days so finding someone to help you get your bags to cab/uber etc. might be a hassle. Otherwise, for folks on a really busy day with a higher chance of missing their flight, if they also bought the flight via the cruiseline then at least the line is on the hook to get them home if their transfer fails to have them at the airport quickly enough, so that certainty might be worth it - but it's going to mean more time waiting in queues overall than arranging your own transport!

 

Compared to even 2pax at $60, I'd be inclined to book a limo with a Meet'n'Greet - standard fees for that run about the same price (including all taxes and expected tip) for a towncar, you'd be met by a uniformed driver with your name on a sign who can take your bags for you, and you'd be off on your merry way before they even finished loading the bus... since it sounds like taking transit isn't at all feasible for you, the most consistently quick way is out but a limo booked for before 9am would get you to YVR before the buses, even if you can't beat the self-disembarkers.

 

Whether the colon position or an extra 5 was the mis-key, either way you are probably safe with a cruise transfer - flights 12:30pm and later usually work. BUT if it's one of our early-season 3 or 4 ship days, be aware that even cruise transfers are not always able to get you to YVR in time! By rushing, you guarantee sitting around at the airport - but fail to rush and instead you face a much less pleasant standing-around-in-various-queues at the airport, for a total wait time that ends up far greater.

 

You should be at the airport, checking in, 3 hours in advance to be fully-compliant with YVRs standards for US or international departures. Even that is not enough when things go terribly wrong - while this summers multiple-hour Security queues in theory won't happen again now that staffing-up again post-Covid flight shutdowns has happened, things do still get a little worse than in TheBeforeTimes as staff levels topped out slightly lower - fundamentally it's a stressful job with relatively crappy pay, so fewer interested people!

 

A flight that early means zero time to actually go sightseeing - so you may as well be at the airport ASAP. The biggest downside of cruise transfers is that you simply CANNOT arrive early enough to beat the queues - as soon as the first bus rolls in more people are arriving than can be processed efficiently through the queues, so Check-in, Bag Drop, Security, and CBP Preclearance all start to get longer and longer... and none of them start dropping in volume until the buses stop, late morning.

 

Unless you are physically incapable of handling your own bags, the most efficient way to minimise all your queue time is by self-disembarking - this basically guarantees you are off your ship before all of the 'we need help with bags' groups from ALL of the ships in port. If it's a 3 or 4 ship day you still have to fight with the other self-disembarkers of course - but if you can manage to walk ~400 yards with your bags then you can use SkyTrain to avoid a long cab queue and save both time and money. If the cab queue is short, timing is very comparable - driving takes about 5-10 mins longer than the train, but you skip the walk to the station.

 

Waterfront is the start of the line, commuter flow is mostly inbound, so you can find seats easily - and even big suitcases fit under them on the Canada Line trains, which have extra legroom that fits your carryon and yourself too. Plus fully automated trains mean that travel time varies only by seconds - and the cost is dirt-cheap (about US$3.25pp for an adult weekday fare, less on weekends, even less for Seniors/kids).

 

Get to YVR before 9am and you will probably spend a total of 20-30mins in all of the queues - arrive on anything after the very first cruise bus of the day and those times will be two or three times longer!

 

Another big timesaver that might be available to you - gain Trusted Traveler status. Either NEXUS or Global Entry work when departing YVR - only NEXUS helps when arriving. TSA Pre is worthless - no TSA up here! If you do not already have one of these cards, the best time to apply is right now - backlogs from no interviews during the Pandemic are starting to be addressed, but for first-time applicants the delays are many months long. If you can manage to get to the Canadian border conveniently, NEXUS is the best option - it gives you all Global Entry benefits for a lower price, as well as quicker entry to Canada (we even have our very own bridge at Niagara Falls which nobody except NEXUS members can use!) but if you don't come to Canada often GE is less hassle to get and just as good everywhere else.

 

Having NEXUS/GE enables two of the queues to be expedited - Security and Preclearance - and if you ever have issues with e.g. Real ID compliant driving licenses not being available in your state, you gain a wallet-size Gov't issued photo ID that proves both ID and citizenship to a better-than-Real ID standard.

Can you reccommend a good limo company for 5 people to take to the airport?

 

[martincath]

17 minutes ago, Lazz said:

Can you reccommend a good limo company for 5 people to take to the airport?

Unfortunately I cannot - the only limo company we ever used local, Aerocar, went belly-up during the pandemic (they had the franchise at the airport, and that was probably 95% of their business). The good news is that pricing tends to be near-identical (there are legal minima and maxima per size of vehicle, and everyone works under the same local laws) so I'd suggest Google, Yelp, and maybe Tripadvisor reviews to cut down your options then booking the biggest company you can find a satisfactory rating for (no matter how good Joe* is, if he gets sick and he's the only employee you're hooped - a big firm with multiple cars at least can try to get another driver to cover Joe!)

 

*This generic Joe is not the same as any real Joe; your Joe might be better or worse than a theoretical Average one; past performance is no guide to future Joe-nitude; Joe might be short for Josephine not just Joebert...

[stooth]

Martincath....you seem to be very knowledgeable about Vancouver...can I ask a question?

We have a late flight 10:35 pm back to East Coast on a Friday(6/9) and want to do something during

the time off the ship and going to the airport.  Our problem is our luggage, that we don't want to

pull/lug around after our cruise.  Is there somewhere besides the airport that you know of that is worth trusting with our luggage near the port? 

We think we want to keep them close to port and then we are going to buy day passes for rail/bus service and try to see some sites.  We first thought about taking them somewhere close to the airport, but thought that would make us waist time.  

Thanks in advance for any info...Lynn

[martincath]

1 hour ago, stooth said:

...We have a late flight 10:35 pm back to East Coast on a Friday(6/9)...  Is there somewhere besides the airport that you know of that is worth trusting with our luggage near the port? 

... We first thought about taking them somewhere close to the airport, but thought that would make us waist time. 

You're absolutely right - heading out to YVR and back, even though it wouldn't cost extra cash with a Daypass, would suck away valuable time! Realistically it's a 90min round trip to head out, check bags, get back downtown and that's a big proportion of your limited hours.

 

Unfortunately the two prior options for 'get bags to airport from downtown without needing to schlep them yourself' disappeared - but it's possible that after the 2022 cruise season succeeded, PorterGenie might start up again (the site remains paid for, but still says 'closed due to Covid' on the booking page - reach out to them if it sounds like the kind of thing you want to do).

 

Specific bag stash locations - the Pan Pacific hotel remains the easiest 'leave and come back to same place' option, as it's right above the pier but with better hours at a lower price than the pier storage! There are also now many locations - hotels, shops, newsagents etc. - who have signed up with various different online storage sites that are cheaper and should be safe (they all have insurance guarantees for lost luggage), but like Bidding sites for hotels you often can't see exactly where they are until you pay and they do need booked in advance... I can't give a personal recommendation for any Vancouver location myself unfortunately, given I live close enough to walk to the pier!

 

Note that your flight is late enough Preclearance has closed - so you can push the margins more for when you head to YVR. As long as you arrive at least an hour early (bag drop closes an hour before departure for all the airlines I've flown on to the US) Security won't take long and no CBP queues here. Unfortunately that does mean your first US airport will be where you do Immigration & Customs - so unless you're on a nonstop flight, make sure you factor in connecting airport timelines that allow you not to stress about CBP queues!