Vancouver arrival & airport transfer Help

[martylup]

We are scheduled to arrive in Vancouver on Saturday (7:00AM??) AM. August 11. I haven't yet arranged for any transfer from the cruise dock to the airport. My flight departs at 2:35 PM.

 

When I go to the HAL Excursion website they list a transfer departing at 8:00AM .

 

I would really like to see a little of Vancouver on my way to the airport. I would also not want to arrive at the airport 5 1/2 hours before my flight! Any suggesstions on what I can do?

 

Thanks

 

Marty

[Cruising Carol]

Check shore excursion listings. Most cruiselines offer a tour combined with airport transfer on day of debarkation. If not listed now, check with shore excursion desk on the ship. Otherwise, you may be considered an independent passenger. On our recent Princess cruise, those passengers had a 10 am departure from the ship.

[gg3]

We are scheduled to arrive in Vancouver on Saturday (7:00AM??) AM. August 11. I haven't yet arranged for any transfer from the cruise dock to the airport. My flight departs at 2:35 PM.

 

When I go to the HAL Excursion website they list a transfer departing at 8:00AM .

 

I would really like to see a little of Vancouver on my way to the airport. I would also not want to arrive at the airport 5 1/2 hours before my flight! Any suggesstions on what I can do?

 

Thanks

 

Marty

 

I would bet the HAL transfer from ship to airport, includes a tour of the city, inclu. Stanley Park, China Town, Robson Street, Gastown, etc. We used Hal transfers from airport to hotel, hotel to ship, ship to hotel and hotel to airport, enjoyed three city wide excursions. Very nice tour busses with huge windows, great views, and good commentaries. You do pay for these transfers, but golly darn, HAL does it up right. They took care of our luggage and their employees in red jackets are posted everywhere. Certainly, I would just email HAL and ask. I have found their response time to be very quick via email. gg

[martylup]

They do offer a city tour but it leaves at 10:30 and takes 31/2 hours they won't book it unless your flight leaves later than 4 PM

[cjnky]

We had this problem going the opposite direction. Check out www.vancouvertours.com - they will pick us up at our airport hotel and deliver us to the cruise ship after the tour, and they probably do it in reverse since it's a tour arranged to go along with cruise ship schedules.

[martylup]

Does anyone know anything about HAL's Signature Express Baggage Service and who is eligible for it? I called HAL and couldn't get an answer other than I would find out on board my ship (Zuiderdam).

 

I'm flying on United departing from Vancouver at 2:35 PM. If I could use this service I could explore some of Vancouver before taking a cab to the airport. My understanding there is a Hop-on /Hop-off narrated bus tour of Vancouver which lasts about 2 /12 hours that I could pick-up near Canada Place. If I don't have to worry about luggage I could take this to see some of Vancouver.

 

Another option would be to store my luggage at the Canada Place while I either try that tour or simply walk around a little on my own before cacthing a cab to the airport.

 

How does this sound as a plan?

 

Thanks

 

Marty

[fti]

I would really like to see a little of Vancouver on my way to the airport. I would also not want to arrive at the airport 5 1/2 hours before my flight! Any suggesstions on what I can do?

 

Thanks

 

Marty

 

I assume you arrive into Canada Place at 7am. Is your flight at 12.30pm? If so, I would not spend much time sightseeing in Vancouver. My flight is at noon and by the time you get off the ship, it will be well after 8am. Figure 1/2 hour to the airport and minimum 2 hours to check in and go through the (long) immigration line. That is already 10.30am for a 12.30pm flight. That means you might have 1-1/2 hours absolute max to spend in town. If you have elite status with the airline or alliance in question you can easily cut off 1/2 hour or more from that time since you avoid some lines.

[martylup]

My flight is at 2:35 PM I figure I have to arrive at the airport by 12:30 so if I can get off the ship and through customs by 9 I have about 2 hours for some sight seeing :)

[fti]

My flight is at 2:35 PM I figure I have to arrive at the airport by 12:30 so if I can get off the ship and through customs by 9 I have about 2 hours for some sight seeing :)

 

Yes, with a departure time that late you have at least 2 hours. Plus, hopefully by 12.30 or so the crowds at the airport will not be so bad. On our arrival day, there are several other cruise ships in Vancouver.

[Jeeden]

My flight is at 2:35 PM I figure I have to arrive at the airport by 12:30 so if I can get off the ship and through customs by 9 I have about 2 hours for some sight seeing :)

 

 

No way, as much as I like that airport, it's a zoo on Saturday morning. When we left 2 weeks ago, we stood in line for about an hour to check in, then another 45 to get through customs, another 30 to get through security, then another 30 to turn our bags in. You EASILY use every bit of the 3 hours just getting to the gate from the curb. We arrived at the airport at 9am for our 12:30 flight and had about 40 minutes to spare for getting some food, etc.

 

We flew delta, but all the airline lines were the length of the airport. I would make sure you are at the airport by 10:30 on the dot. Take 35 minutes from that to get to the airport and you need to leave for the airport by 10:00am max from the pier (or whatever your location at that time is).

 

I don't think I would enjoy sightseeing on a timetable like that.

 

Also, don't you have luggage to carry around with you?

[Xiabelle]

We used the baggage express service on Carnival and couldn't have been happier. Seriously, it was worth that 30 bucks to not have to worry about our luggage on the all-day excursion.

 

When everyone else had to wait for their luggage to be unloaded from the bus, we just sauntered in, walked up to the ticketing booth and made sure we had assigned seats. They provided us with boarding passes, we just didn't have seats assigned on ours for some reason so we had to get those, and they swapped out our boarding pass.

 

I'm assuming it works the same on HAL. If so, you'd probably have time to take a quick tour of Vancouver, there's lots to see right around Canada Place. However, the airport is about a 45 minute drive from the pier.

[martylup]

Here is an e-mail from Vancouver Port.

 

Thanks for your email. You should have time for a city tour. Tourism Vancouver has a booth located in Canada Place that you can visit either prior to boarding the ship, or on disembarkment back in Vancouver. There is a storage facility for your bags at Canada Place as well which Tourism Vancouver will be able to point you in the direction of their outlet in the terminal.



Regards,

 

 

 

Hi,

My wife and I are scheduled to disembark from the Zuiderdam on Saturday morning August 11, 2007. We have a flight booked out of Vancouver Airport departing at 2:35 PM.

Do you have any estimate as to when we will actually be able to get off the ship and get through customs?

We would like to be able to see some of the city before we check into the airport. Is there any ability to store our luggage short term while we either walk around or take the Hop-on/hop-off bus tour which I understand departs near the terminal?

If I have not pre-arranged transfers from the dock to the airport are cabs available to make those transfers and what would the going rate be?

Thanks for any information you can give me.