Vancouver airport with 2 small ships in port and US direct

[WeRockChalkKU]

I'll be arriving in Vancouver when 2 fairly small ships are embarking - The Tahitian Princess 670 pax and Silver Shadow 388 pax. Will the airport still be as hectic/congested as I've read about or will I be able to move through without too much delay?

 

We arrive @ 10:30 AM and hope to participate in the US Direct program. Does anyone have a guesstimate as to how soon we'd actually be at the port?

 

Thanks for any help/thoughts/insight.

[scottbee]

I'll be arriving in Vancouver when 2 fairly small ships are embarking - The Tahitian Princess 670 pax and Silver Shadow 388 pax. Will the airport still be as hectic/congested as I've read about or will I be able to move through without too much delay?

 

We arrive @ 10:30 AM and hope to participate in the US Direct program. Does anyone have a guesstimate as to how soon we'd actually be at the port?

 

Thanks for any help/thoughts/insight.

 

Maybe it's because I live here, but I never find the airport hectic/congested compared with airports of its size (or larger). With two ships that have less than 1/2 of the capacity of a Panamax vessel, I'm sure it'll be pretty quiet.

 

arriving at 10:30 you'll have plenty of time to get to the cruise terminal with lots of time to spare.

[Putterdude]

To answer your first question, the 1000 or so pax from those 2 ships should be processed much faster then on days that we have 6000 or 7000 pax but of course customs and airline people will be scheduling their people accordingly. You will be arriving against the traffic so to speak so things should move fairly well for you. I would think that the "US Direct" program should have you at the cruise terminal in about 2 hrs +/-.

[TCF]

You'll be in great shape!

My understanding...because I have never had to use it...is that your feet barely touch the ground at the airport if you are on the US Direct program!! It's off the plane....a quick walk-by an immigration officer...on to the bus with another immigration officer...and out the gate! I am NOT sure but I THINK they even load your baggage direct from the plane to the bus! But you can check out the details when you sign up for the program.

Then depending on traffic you're about 30-45 minutes to Canada Place.

[YVRCruisin]

To answer your question, U.S. Direct is not in operation on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Although the Tahitian Princess is in port, the ship is not large enough to sustain a U.S. Direct operation on this day. However, if you are arriving on the day of sailing and tag your checked luggage with the Tahitian tags, those bags will be automatically transferred to the ship. Upon arrival into YVR, you will proceed down some escalators to Canada Customs. After clearing Customs a Princess representative will be off to the left-hand side of the carousels wearing navy blue and white. He or she will then direct you out to the arrivals area where their colleagues will meet up with you and place you on one of their busses that is bound for Canada Place pier. This bus ride takes approxiamtely 45 minutes. Enjoy your cruise!!