Vancouver port - finish one cruise and start another on the same day - How to do it?

[poohbear8]

I will arrive in Vancouver at the end of my Alaska trip (Royal Caribbean / Seward - Vancouver) and will be getting on another ship (Celebrity / Vancouver - Honolulu) the same day.

 

I have never been to the Vancouver port. Will I need to go to another port or are all ships at the same area? Should I take my luggage off the Royal ship myself or will it be so early, I might as well take my time since I probably can't get on Celebrity until late morning?

 

Any hints on how to make this a smooth transition?

[Cbtours]

3 minutes ago, poohbear8 said:

I will arrive in Vancouver at the end of my Alaska trip (Royal Caribbean / Seward - Vancouver) and will be getting on another ship (Celebrity / Vancouver - Honolulu) the same day.

 

I have never been to the Vancouver port. Will I need to go to another port or are all ships at the same area? Should I take my luggage off the Royal ship myself or will it be so early, I might as well take my time since I probably can't get on Celebrity until late morning?

 

Any hints on how to make this a smooth transition?

Prob best port to to this. Vancouver can take four ships docked at once. Everything is signposted very well and plenty of info people around.

[martincath]

45 minutes ago, poohbear8 said:

I have never been to the Vancouver port. Will I need to go to another port or are all ships at the same area? Should I take my luggage off the Royal ship myself or will it be so early, I might as well take my time since I probably can't get on Celebrity until late morning?

 

Any hints on how to make this a smooth transition?

There are a few options here - depending whether you want to actually get out and about in Vancouver a lot, a little, or none at all.

 

No interest whatsoever in seeing one of the best cities on earth? Personally I think that's a horrible mistake, but you do you! Stay onboard as late as possible by requesting the last possible 'take my bags off for me' disembarkation slot, enjoy a leisurely brekkie onboard, disembark after 9am, find your bags, then take them straight downstairs to the bag drop for your next cruise (make sure that you put the new tags on!!!!). Head back upstairs to check-in (usually in Hall C), and be prepared to wait until somewhere in the ballpark of 11am before you are invited to move out of this room through Security, probably CBP (if your cruise hits Victoria right after Vancouver you won't need to do this, but most cruises to the USA screen pax at the port before boarding), then sit around again in a a lounge until the ship is ready to let you onboard. If you have high Status you might get snacks here!

 

Want to do some sightseeing? Same as above until Bag Drop, then just leave the pier - go see some stuff for a few hours, maybe take a bus tour if you've never been before and want a general overview, but be sure to come back at least 2 hours before your ship is scheduled to leave to do check-in etc. The Post-Cruise trips are pretty good for this - they usually leave the pier at 10am, last 4 hours, and drop folks at downtown hotels (like the Pan Pacific right on top of the pier!) or take them out to the airport - while not as flexible as HOHOs, with a short time they ensure you're not standing around at a HOHO stop only to find the next bus is full. Be aware that any time you choose to check-in between 11am and as late as 2pm on even a two ship day there's a good chance you will face long queues, shuffling around and randomly stopping, with no chance to sit down at all until you get onboard - so bus tours that drop you back at the pier approx 2pm usually mean the queues have declined to board.

 

Want to squeeze every possible minute out of Vancouver, you very smart and attractive person you? Self-disembark as early as possible, pay a few bucks to stash your bag at the Pan Pacific hotel bell desk (literally on top of the pier) as bag drop officially starts no earlier than 10am (in practise there's an early bag drop somewhere down in the parking levels from at least 9:30am, but since you can Self-Disembark as early as 7:15am with a bit of luck that's still no good to you!). Run around madly (or rent a bike, book a tour, etc. etc.) and enjoy fabulous views, excellent dining, loads of parks and gardens and museums etc. etc. etc. for most of your day, then ensure that ~3 hours before your ship is due to leave you are back near the pier - spend an hour e.g. exploring Gastown or Coal Harbour, the  'hoods an easy walk away, or even ride FlyOverCanada on the pier itself. This ensures that as your hard deadline approaches for boarding you have no worries about traffic, finding a cab etc. but know that you can walk back to the pier in minutes. Grab your stored bags, head downstairs to bag drop, continue as above - but this time you will have no waiting whatsoever, expect to be constantly moving except when you have to actually interact with staff or kiosks. 20 minutes curb to cabin is the norm when you are sensibly-late - compared to two hours+ if you just move straight from ship to check-in!

[poohbear8]

@martincath thank you for spelling it all out for me! This is exactly what I was hoping for! I hadn't considered exploring because I didn't know it was an option. Definitely, need to do some research!

 

 

[martincath]

26 minutes ago, poohbear8 said:

@martincath thank you for spelling it all out for me! This is exactly what I was hoping for! I hadn't considered exploring because I didn't know it was an option. Definitely, need to do some research!

The pier's right in the heart of downtown, with many popular tourist attractions a very easy walk away. Get stuck into Tripadvisor - as well as individual site reviews there are various 'things to do in Vancouver in one day' type lists.

 

Google Maps has our transit system fully-integrated, bike routes, elevation changes etc. etc. and free city wifi (broadcasts as #VanWiFi) means even without a phone data package you can use live maps to avoid getting lost or message other folks in your party if you all want to see different stuff but get back together for lunch etc.

 

With only a few hours at most, it's crucial to figure out the stuff that's most likely to be enjoyed by you, not what Rando McGee deems a 'Must See' - especially since we've got more stuff to do than all the AK ports you'll have visited on the way down put together!

 

Next time, skip one of the cruise legs and hang out here for a week! 😉