Rare drpclarke Posted July 6 #1 Share Posted July 6 Hi all! I am a travel agent and I have a client who is taking an Alaska cruise with embarkation/disembarkation in Vancouver. She will be flying to Vancouver from Charlotte. She does not have global entry, and has heard that customs in Vancouver is just a NIGHTMARE. Anyone have recent experience with this? Thanks! Rachel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted July 6 #2 Share Posted July 6 1 hour ago, drpclarke said: Hi all! I am a travel agent and I have a client who is taking an Alaska cruise with embarkation/disembarkation in Vancouver. She will be flying to Vancouver from Charlotte. She does not have global entry, and has heard that customs in Vancouver is just a NIGHTMARE. Anyone have recent experience with this? Thanks! Rachel As with many airports around the World, it depends on the number of International flights that have arrived recently and the size of the aircraft. Have flown into Vancouver many times and experienced everything from virtually no delay to an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 7 #3 Share Posted July 7 Customs is rarely the problem. Immigration is usually the more complicated issue. There is a difference, please educate your client on the differences. Customs is rarely "a thing" any more, but they can be very serious about Immigration. As discussed here frequently, your client will have Canadian Immigration and Customs if they fly into Vancouver. They will then have US Immigration and Customs at the pier before boarding the ship. Returning to Vancouver, they will have Canadian Immigration and Customs at the pier, and US Immigration and Customs at Vancouver airport before they fly back to the US. In our experiences with the two systems over the last couple of years, the US procedures are easier, usually. Facial rec has improved the process a considerable amount. But, on any given day.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david,Mississauga Posted July 7 #4 Share Posted July 7 The one consolation is the ease of arrival in Vancouver from the cruise. We have done this recently four times; once on Holland America and three times on Cunard. For the Cunard cruises our customs declarations were handed into the pursers office two days before arrival. With HAL we retained them and handed them to an agent as we exited the baggage area. At no time did we even speak to an agent. From the Cunard cruises we simply walked off the ship, collected our luggage and proceeded to the taxi/shuttle transfer area. If the situation is different for other cruise lines I hope someone will post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ferry_Watcher Posted July 7 #5 Share Posted July 7 I think your client needs to be aware that summer travel in the Pacific Northwest during the summer months (cruise season) is very busy, very crowded and expensive. This is true both in Vancouver and Seattle. I would prepare your client for a busy airport experience, and a very long and a somewhat convoluted check-in process at Canada Place. If possible, I would try to book her a room at the Pan Pacific Hotel so she can take advantage of their bellman luggage to cruise ship drop off service. The Pan Pacific is very pricey during the cruise season, but the convivence might be worth it (assuming you could even still book a room). That said, Vancouver is a stunning city, and their public transportation system is wonderful. Hopefully, she will travel with an open mind, and realistic expectations, and she will just roll with whatever she encounters. Just a side note, I am super impressed that as a travel agent that you reached out to travelers on Cruise Critic. You are serving your client well.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare drpclarke Posted July 7 Author #6 Share Posted July 7 Thank you everyone for responding!!!! I will share all of this information with her. You all are amazing! Thanks! Rachel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david,Mississauga Posted July 13 #7 Share Posted July 13 We almost always stay at the Pan Pacific, but one year we couldn't get a booking so we stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront directly across the street. The same convenient luggage transfer from hotel room to ship is available there. There is an underground connection from the Fairmont to Canada Place which is handy if it should rain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare dna1990 Posted July 14 #8 Share Posted July 14 I can only attest to returning into Vancouver and flying back to US, just this past Friday. Filled out Canadian customs form while on ship, answer no/zero to everything - as not staying. Did the RCCL bus transfer option, so was off ship in Group 2 and very little crowd at Canada Place that early. Handed form to agent and waved thru no questions. At airport, used a porter which helped stayed organized thru airline baggage tags and check in. Quick check of passport. Porter handled checked bags all the way to the conveyor. Super friendly staff at xray stations, no wait. Then had less than 2 min wait at US Immigration, did facial rec, didn't examine physical passport. No US customs form or anyone asking questions, but everything we bought was from US Alaska anyway. No cigs or alcohol. So for us, Friday 9:20am arriving at YVR, we were resting at the gate by 9:45am. But everywhere we looked at both YVR and Canada Place - were stanchions for making the zigzag lines. So the crowds do get big at some point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now