BabySarge Posted July 9 #1 Share Posted July 9 I hope this is the correct place to ask this question. We are arriving for a port call in Vancouver on HAL ship the Westerdam in September and friends from Australia visiting Vancouver while waiting to board a Princess ship a few days later want to meet and spend the day with us. (So excited to see them!!) At any rate, wondering if anyone could give some helpful information as to where within the terminal would be a good place or landmark for us to meet each other as neither of us is familiar with the terminal, and what I found online was not particularly helpful. Would it be better to pick somewhere outside to meet rather than inside the terminal? Any help is greatly appreciated and thanked for in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 9 #2 Share Posted July 9 You would most likely need to meet outside the terminal. Is this an actual port day, or a turnaround day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfaaa Posted July 9 #3 Share Posted July 9 Inside Vancouver Convention Center entrance next door. September can be rainy and cool to wait outside. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Milhouse Posted July 9 #4 Share Posted July 9 The cruise terminal is below the combined Pan Pacific Hotel (level 2) and Convention Centre East (street level). I'd suggest exiting the terminal up to street level. Inside at the front (ie towards the street) of the Convention Centre East, there's a tourism kiosk which can serve as an easily identifiable landmark but there's no proper seating. There is also a Starbucks at street level with some covered sidewalk seating right beside the Pan Pacific entrance/doormen/bell staff too which might be a good option. Along the west side of the Convention Centre East (along the corridor that leads you to all the exhibit halls/ballrooms), there's the Coal Harbour Cafe which has seating and has washrooms nearby. (The missus says the food is only ok tho.) If the weather's nice, there's also some seating just outside along the Canada Trail promenade. There's also a lower level food court across the street that might be a good place to meet up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9tee2Sea Posted July 10 #5 Share Posted July 10 text them on your phone. tell them your location. they can use GPS to find you. Or better yet, find a coffee shop ( starbucks or whatever) close by and have them meet you there. You can find that stuff on Google Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban trekker Posted July 10 #6 Share Posted July 10 Inside the terminal - ie the disembarking level can be a zoo depending on how many ships are in port so as Milhouse states the travel info area would be one area that would be a good place to meet but another on the same level and close to the info booth is the large indigenous totem pole in the main entrance way to the Convention center. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabySarge Posted July 10 Author #7 Share Posted July 10 21 hours ago, 1025cruise said: You would most likely need to meet outside the terminal. Is this an actual port day, or a turnaround day? Port day for DH and me, but there will be passengers embarking to start the cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabySarge Posted July 10 Author #8 Share Posted July 10 (edited) 14 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said: text them on your phone. tell them your location. they can use GPS to find you. Or better yet, find a coffee shop ( starbucks or whatever) close by and have them meet you there. You can find that stuff on Google Maps Not sure if they will have ability to receive text on their phones as they are from Australia but I'll check. Also not sure if my plan covers me in Canada so need to check that also. Gah, something else to add to my "To Do List". Okay, going to sound really, really stupid here probably but how would they use GPS to find me if they aren't in a car? Edited July 10 by BabySarge complete post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 10 #9 Share Posted July 10 3 hours ago, BabySarge said: Port day for DH and me, but there will be passengers embarking to start the cruise. OK, this is important information. I would skip meeting your friends. To get off the ship, you will need to clear Canadian Immigration (just like all other disembarking passengers). Then, when you get back on, you will most likely need to clear US Immigration (just like all other embarking passengers, assuming you are doing a RT to Alaska). It's not like getting on/off for a port day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabySarge Posted July 10 Author #10 Share Posted July 10 Won't we have cleared Canadian immigration in Victoria, our first Canadian port? Not doing an RT to Alaska - doing a 53-day Alaska, Japan, and Hawaii originating and ending in Seattle so doubtful about the US immigration also. Plus, why would we need to skip meeting our friends? We are in port from 0700 until 1600 which means probably be able to get off the ship by 0900 and have to be back NLT 1500. Surely even if we have to go through Canadian immigration, they can't be that inefficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Milhouse Posted July 10 #11 Share Posted July 10 6 hours ago, BabySarge said: Not sure if they will have ability to receive text on their phones as they are from Australia but I'll check. Also not sure if my plan covers me in Canada so need to check that also. Gah, something else to add to my "To Do List". Okay, going to sound really, really stupid here probably but how would they use GPS to find me if they aren't in a car? Ideally, set up data access for your phones and your friends' phones either via free wifi at Canada Place or mobile data off your home carrier (may or may not be expensive depending on your carrier) or via some third party travel sim. Then align on using some third party messaging app like Whatsapp, Signal, Google Chat, etc so you can message each other on the fly. Many apps have a feature where you can send your current location info. Otherwise you can just send a message advising where you are at a landmark/business. Your friend can then enter that landmark/business into their mapping app (like Google Maps) and click the option for routing/navigation on foot (versus car, public transit, etc). The mapping app should then provide a walking route to that location. However, the navigation might get finicky if the destination isn't at street level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 11 #12 Share Posted July 11 3 hours ago, BabySarge said: Won't we have cleared Canadian immigration in Victoria, our first Canadian port? Not doing an RT to Alaska - doing a 53-day Alaska, Japan, and Hawaii originating and ending in Seattle so doubtful about the US immigration also. Plus, why would we need to skip meeting our friends? We are in port from 0700 until 1600 which means probably be able to get off the ship by 0900 and have to be back NLT 1500. Surely even if we have to go through Canadian immigration, they can't be that inefficient. Your entire itinerary makes no difference, just the cruise coming in to Vancouver and the one leaving Vancouver. Generally speaking, cruises ending in Vancouver start in Alaska and are one way. So there is no stop in Victoria. So getting off the ship you clear immigration. On the reverse, leaving Vancouver you only go back to US ports in Alaska heading north, so you clear US Immigration before checking in. Without knowing your specific itinerary, I can't answer whether or not you'll need to clear or not if using Vancouver as a port day and what the rules will be for B2B customers. My point is that you can't treat it like a traditional port day where you just get off and back on before the ship leaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW Pacific Posted July 11 #13 Share Posted July 11 ?? If you embarked in Seattle and Vancouver is one of your Ports along the way on your cruise, I don't' understand why you would not be able to get off and back on the Ship, as in any other Port along the way. I would look up a restaurant close by to meet up with friends. Since there ship doesn't leave for a couple days, they may not be allowed access to the terminal?? Sure you can figure this out, without a GPS, good luck maybe I am missing something, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 11 #14 Share Posted July 11 11 hours ago, NW Pacific said: ?? If you embarked in Seattle and Vancouver is one of your Ports along the way on your cruise, I don't' understand why you would not be able to get off and back on the Ship, as in any other Port along the way. I would look up a restaurant close by to meet up with friends. Since there ship doesn't leave for a couple days, they may not be allowed access to the terminal?? Sure you can figure this out, without a GPS, good luck maybe I am missing something, Vancouver is only one of their ports because they are doing a B2B. For others on the cruise, it's a disembarkation/embarkation port. In their case, they can't treat Vancouver just as a port day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabySarge Posted July 11 Author #15 Share Posted July 11 16 hours ago, Milhouse said: Ideally, set up data access for your phones and your friends' phones either via free wifi at Canada Place or mobile data off your home carrier (may or may not be expensive depending on your carrier) or via some third party travel sim. Then align on using some third party messaging app like Whatsapp, Signal, Google Chat, etc so you can message each other on the fly. Many apps have a feature where you can send your current location info. Otherwise you can just send a message advising where you are at a landmark/business. Your friend can then enter that landmark/business into their mapping app (like Google Maps) and click the option for routing/navigation on foot (versus car, public transit, etc). The mapping app should then provide a walking route to that location. However, the navigation might get finicky if the destination isn't at street level. Thank you for this, made the penny finally drop for me. My brain went immediately to On Star and car when GPS was mentioned and got stuck there. I worry about myself sometimes 🙃. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabySarge Posted July 11 Author #16 Share Posted July 11 Thank you to everyone for your helpful suggestions. At least now we are armed with more information and options and can make a plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabySarge Posted July 11 Author #17 Share Posted July 11 12 hours ago, NW Pacific said: ?? If you embarked in Seattle and Vancouver is one of your Ports along the way on your cruise, I don't' understand why you would not be able to get off and back on the Ship, as in any other Port along the way. I would look up a restaurant close by to meet up with friends. Since there ship doesn't leave for a couple days, they may not be allowed access to the terminal?? Sure you can figure this out, without a GPS, good luck maybe I am missing something, @NW Pacific you didn't miss anything. We are not on a B2B but rather what I would call a full-circle cruise for 53 days leaving Seattle and returning to Seattle making port stops in Canada, Alaska, Japan, and Hawaii. There were two options for booking this cruise; the one we booked and then the other was Vancouver to Seattle which is why there will be people embarking when the ship is in Vancouver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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