Wheelchairs at Canada Place?

[mattR]

Leaving on Saturday for a cruise out of Vancouver.  Mom is in the hospital with knee pain right now.  Do they have wheelchairs available at Canada Place if she needs one to get through all the lines at Canada Place? 

[david,Mississauga]

Indeed they do.  As much as I love Vancouver and cruising from there, the Canada Place terminal is as inconvenient as an airport.  Definitely request wheelchair assistance.  We have done four embarkations from Vancouver in recent years and always have the cruise line's file marked that assistance is needed for my wife.

 

Unless the situation has changed since last year - and I will know a week from Sunday when we board the Queen Elizabeth again - this is the routine. You go to the baggage drop-off area on the P1 level, one below street level.  Tell someone from the staff that you need a wheelchair.  A staff member will take you up to the convention centre at street level for check-in; then it is back where you started on the lower level to go through security then US border control.  If you are early you may have to wait for boarding but there are seats.  In our experience the shore staff can't take you on to the ship so it will  be necessary to change to a ship's wheelchair at the gangway. 

 

This sounds like a lot, but anyone who has difficulty walking fairly long distances and standing for what could be a very long time needs to request wheelchair assistance.  It may be necessary to inform the cruise line in advance that a wheelchair is needed.