Airport from Port of Montreal - Least $$ ?

[cruisepup28]

Does anyone know if there are vans/taxis waiting curbside at the Port of Montreal to take disembarking passengers to the Montreal airport? The Port Authority website is not helpful on this subject. HAL charges $56 per couple for one-way transfers, and I have a party of 8 traveling together. Thanks in advance!

[aloisia]

Does anyone know if there are vans/taxis waiting curbside at the Port of Montreal to take disembarking passengers to the Montreal airport? The Port Authority website is not helpful on this subject. HAL charges $56 per couple for one-way transfers, and I have a party of 8 traveling together. Thanks in advance!

 

Perhaps look at this link.... http://www.airportshuttleexpress.com/Canadian%20Shuttles1.htm

 

A limo would probably be less expensive with 8 + you could have one waiting.

[Ephraim]

Does anyone know if there are vans/taxis waiting curbside at the Port of Montreal to take disembarking passengers to the Montreal airport? The Port Authority website is not helpful on this subject. HAL charges $56 per couple for one-way transfers, and I have a party of 8 traveling together. Thanks in advance!

 

It's hard to explain to people outside of the country how things work in Canada sometimes and this is one of them. The port is on the St. Lawrence seaway which means that it is Federal territory and the federal government is in charge. So the port authority is the government of Canada. But they don't really deal with tourism, which is a provincial and a city jurisdiction.

 

There should be plenty of taxis and they should be charging the standard fare of CAD$38 for a trip to the airport (and if they don't, call a cop, there will be plenty around the airport.) But that's a normal taxi which MIGHT fit four squishy people.

 

You should be able to preorder a limo. The standard fare to the airport is CAD$49.50. The phone number for the airports information line is (514) 394-7377. They should be able to tell you what limo lines offer the fixed rates from downtown. At least one company has a "limo bus" that can take up to 15 people.

 

The shuttle service from downtown to the airport called L'Aerobus is CAD$15 per person, but you will have to get to one of their pickup points.

 

I would suggest the limo. A few calls or website visits should get you a few quotes and certainly more reasonable than HAL's prices.

 

The absolutely CHEAPEST way to go would be the city bus at CAD$2.75 a person. Would I suggest it? Not on your life. It will take about an hour and you would start with a 15 minute walk to the metro. Taking your luggage down the escalators and stairs. Then up the escalators and stairs to take a bus to the airport. Google Maps can actually plan the route for you, if that's what you want to do.

[Acey]

It's hard to explain to people outside of the country how things work in Canada sometimes and this is one of them. The port is on the St. Lawrence seaway which means that it is Federal territory and the federal government is in charge. So the port authority is the government of Canada. But they don't really deal with tourism, which is a provincial and a city jurisdiction.

 

Actually the federal government does not own or operate the Port of Montreal. The 1995 National Marine Policy included a Port Divestiture Program that transferred ownership to local authorities to put decision making and control locally - best called an autonomous federal agency. The ports in Canada are regulated by the Canada Marine Act - so that may be a source of some confusion as whether they are a govn't agency or autonomous. Many ports in Canada partner with local tourism agencies and operators to deliver services to arriving passengers - I can't imagine Montreal not doing that.

[Ephraim]

Actually the federal government does not own or operate the Port of Montreal. The 1995 National Marine Policy included a Port Divestiture Program that transferred ownership to local authorities to put decision making and control locally - best called an autonomous federal agency. The ports in Canada are regulated by the Canada Marine Act - so that may be a source of some confusion as whether they are a govn't agency or autonomous. Many ports in Canada partner with local tourism agencies and operators to deliver services to arriving passengers - I can't imagine Montreal not doing that.

 

The seaway is federal territory. The bridges over the seaway, the Jacques Cartier, the Champlain and the Victoria are federal bridges. The city police can't stop you or give you a ticket on the bridges, it has to be the SQ because it's federal territory. The signs over the highway are bilingual (when most highway signs in Quebec are unilingually French.) The port authority is definitely independent financially. It's as independent as the airport is. But just like the airport it's still federal territory, not provincial. Just the the frontiers with the US. There is a small federal territory that surrounds the province at the frontier. They can't actually even arrest someone, they hold people until the SQ can get there. (I was actually at the border once when someone went by drinking and driving and they basically could do nothing more than call the SQ.)

[princessrebe]

im trying to book my flights...how long does it take from the airport to the port of montreal?

 

thanks

[PaulaW]

im trying to book my flights...how long does it take from the airport to the port of montreal?

 

thanks

 

 

I was wondering the same thing. Can anyone help?

[Ephraim]

The least amount of time that it can take travelling at the legal speed limit is about 25 minutes from the port. Google Map. That assumes little or no traffic.

 

I would at least double that amount of time during the late afternoon rush hour because the route goes right by the exit for the Mercier bridge. Montreal being an island, the congestion is always around the bridges. Also, in the late spring to summer you need to add a bit of time for construction.

[PaulaW]

Thanks Ephraim!

 

I will be arriving on a Saturday. The ship is scheduled to dock at 7 am-- do you think I can safely make a 11:30 am flight? I will plan to take a cab-- assuming that's the fastest way.

[Twickenham]

Thanks Ephraim!

 

I will be arriving on a Saturday. The ship is scheduled to dock at 7 am-- do you think I can safely make a 11:30 am flight? I will plan to take a cab-- assuming that's the fastest way.

 

What makes this a tight flight to try and catch is that you're doing customs/immigration twice - once getting off the ship, once before boarding your flight.

It's makeable, but I wouldn't attempt it.

[Ephraim]

What makes this a tight flight to try and catch is that you're doing customs/immigration twice - once getting off the ship, once before boarding your flight.

 

It's makeable, but I wouldn't attempt it.

 

Are you sure that they do customs/immigration in Montreal? They entered Canada much before that. I would have thought you had to do at the first Canadian port, no?

[Ephraim]

Thanks Ephraim!

 

I will be arriving on a Saturday. The ship is scheduled to dock at 7 am-- do you think I can safely make a 11:30 am flight? I will plan to take a cab-- assuming that's the fastest way.

 

That's tight, but should be doable if you are first off the ship....

 

Remember that at the airport not only do you have to check in, you then have to drag your luggage through US CBP and do the immigration thing. Then you deposit your luggage, then you go through CATSA (Canadian security) and then US Customs and then finally through to your gate. All that takes time. I usually suggest that you be at the airport about 2 hours ahead of time for US flights. You just never know how long it will take because of US CBP. If there are a lot of people and they switch security levels it can go quite slowly.

[Twickenham]

Are you sure that they do customs/immigration in Montreal? They entered Canada much before that. I would have thought you had to do at the first Canadian port, no?

 

I was basing my comment on my experiences disembarking from cruises, but as all of those were US disembarkations without having had a previous US port, it might not be the same. Would have to have the imput of someone who has done this cruise before...

[PaulaW]

Thanks to both of you! You make very valid points and I am very undecided as what to do. I do not have a lot of great options for flights. Basically, my two best options are to take this early flight (and risk missing it) or take a later flight (around 2pm) and have a very tight connection(less than a hour) at Dulles on the way home. So, I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils!

 

I appreciate your input!

[Ephraim]

Thanks to both of you! You make very valid points and I am very undecided as what to do. I do not have a lot of great options for flights. Basically, my two best options are to take this early flight (and risk missing it) or take a later flight (around 2pm) and have a very tight connection(less than a hour) at Dulles on the way home. So, I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils!

 

I appreciate your input!

 

Well, once you leave Montreal, your flight is considered domestic, so a one hour connection shouldn't normally be a problem.. Anything over 45 minutes is a legal connection for Dulles.

[Ephraim]

I was basing my comment on my experiences disembarking from cruises, but as all of those were US disembarkations without having had a previous US port, it might not be the same. Would have to have the input of someone who has done this cruise before...

 

I'm in the same boat... never cruise like this before.

 

I was one a cruise that left YVR and then did Alaska and finally ended in LAX. We clear immigration in YVR before we boarded the ship but walked through customs at LAX. Which I thought was odd. But everyone must have gone through immigration in this case when they entered the first Canadian port. The ship is entirely in Canada from that point and doesn't really go into International waters as far as I know. But do they just do the customs part when they disembark with their luggage in Montreal? How do they keep them from taking something off the ship before that? Very odd...

 

We definitely need someone with experience in this.

[Twickenham]

I've asked the question on the Holland America board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=19002678#post19002678

[PaulaW]

Thanks for checking into things. I decided to book the later flight and hope for the best with the tight connection. It will be interesting to see what kind of answers are posted as far as customs and immigration procedures.

[Helluvaengineer]

I read the inputs on time to get to the airport. It seems it can be "legally" as short as 25mins, but double that at peak times.

 

Was wondering how it would be at ~ 10-11AM on a Saturday morning going from Cruise Terminal to YUL airport?

 

We have plenty of time before our flight, and thought that if traffic was better a bit later in the morning we would just be the last to get off the ship when it docks.

[Ephraim]

That highway is well travelled at all times, but should be relatively clear at that time.... except of course for highway construction. I wouldn't place bets on anything under a minimum of 35 minutes to get to the airport. The interchange in front of the airport is also under construction.

 

In the summer and fall we deal with road construction and the winter and spring we deal with snow, sleet and rain.

[Helluvaengineer]

Thanks Ephraim - There are 6 of us and will probably rather pre-order a limo that can handle us and our luggage rather than get split up in 2 cabs.

 

Is there a "waiting area" that limos wait if you pre-order them? I know that at alot of the ports there can be quite a bit of confusion when it comes to people jockeying for taxis and trying to get home. The friendliness of the vacation spirit is soon lost !!

 

I'd rather pay a bit more and avoid the anguish.

 

I will try to google some of the agencies on line. Is the price you quoted "fixed" by the government ($49.50CAD)??

[Ephraim]

I've never actually arrived at the port of Montreal, but I have worked in one of the other dock buildings. There is ample space for some cars, so I imagine that they have a waiting area. But that is just supposition, it's an area that is closed to the public, so I just can't be sure.

 

Yes, the $49.50 is a government set price. You ca see it on the airport website at http://www.admtl.com/passager/acces_et_stationnement/taxisAndLimousines.aspx but if you want to see the original tariffs (in French) they are at http://www.ctq.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/documents/secteurs/taxi/MPTC0700398-A02.pdf Call (514) 394-7377 for Taxi/Limo information. These aren't standard limousines, these are specialized limousines that have taxi permits.