Can we make this flight?

[Sunshine91]

John & I are sailing on Ryndam's last Alaskan voyage into Vancouver at the end of September. Are we crazy to book a 12noon flight from that airport? :confused:

 

So far it's looking like it's either that noon cross-continental trip, or we take ground transport to Seattle to fly home from there.

 

Any other suggestions? Thanks much. We are soooooo looking forward to this trip. :)

[wrp96]

I would book a later flight. Typically Vancouver is a mess on the first few days and the last few days of the cruise season, with more ships in port than normal. Book something later and don't stress yourself out. Even on a normal cruise day, I would only recommend a noon flight if you can use US Direct and that isn't always available on the last sailings of the season.

[Budget Queen]

The ONLY way you will make this flight is with US Direct. Verify the airline, via the cruiseline participates.

[CruisinRoxy]

Oh boy. We booked a noon flight from Vancouver after getting off Radiance. But I did call and ask RCL, and they said it should be no problem. The only other choice, for us, was to wait around til 5 pm, then spend 4 hours at Salt Lake, then the red eye to Atlanta, arriving back in Buffalo the next am:eek: Not appealing at all, IMHO. So hopefully, this will work!

[wrp96]

Oh boy. We booked a noon flight from Vancouver after getting off Radiance. But I did call and ask RCL, and they said it should be no problem. The only other choice, for us, was to wait around til 5 pm, then spend 4 hours at Salt Lake, then the red eye to Atlanta, arriving back in Buffalo the next am:eek: Not appealing at all, IMHO. So hopefully, this will work!

 

 

Please check to make sure your airline participates in US Direct. http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/cruiseandtourism/usdirectprocess.aspx That is your best chance of making that flight.

[CruisinRoxy]

Thanks so much for the great link. Turns out our airline does participate and I will book this asap!:)

[Putterdude]

The Ryndam is the only ship in port on 9/25 so that is the good news; the bad news is that US Direct does tend to ramp down towards the end of September so it may not be available...you need to check this with HAL. But that aside your ship will be in at 7:30, with your flight time you should be off the ship before 9 likely about 8:30...allow 30 mins to get your bags and clear CDN customs so you should be in a cab by not later than 9:30 and at YVR at 10 am so you will have the 2 hrs to clear US customs and security. On Monday this week with only one ship in port, we were off the Coral Princess, thru customs and in a cab within 15 mins and being locals we were among the last groups to be disembarked. So it is tight but doable.

[whale-watcher]

We easily made a 12:05pm flight without US Direct last summer (with plenty of time to spare), BUT we were on the "tiny" Tahitian princess, which was the only ship unloading that date. I was nervous about making our flight the entire cruise, and considered rebooking on a later flight, but in the end, everything worked out well for us (I had assumed that we would be able to use US Direct, but it turned out that this was not offered for our sailing; go figure!)

[RC_BC]

The Ryndam is the only ship in port on 9/25 so that is the good news; the bad news is that US Direct does tend to ramp down towards the end of September so it may not be available...you need to check this with HAL. But that aside your ship will be in at 7:30, with your flight time you should be off the ship before 9 likely about 8:30...allow 30 mins to get your bags and clear CDN customs so you should be in a cab by not later than 9:30 and at YVR at 10 am so you will have the 2 hrs to clear US customs and security. On Monday this week with only one ship in port, we were off the Coral Princess, thru customs and in a cab within 15 mins and being locals we were among the last groups to be disembarked. So it is tight but doable.

 

We will be on the Island Princess in July, which also will be the only ship in port on a Monday. We have a 12:00 flight from YVR on Air Canada that makes a stop in Toronto so we will not be able to use US Direct. Will we be OK if we can get to YVR by 10 AM? We usually would just take a cab (just 2 of us) but I was wondering if I should pursue other options.

 

Rosemary

[Putterdude]

We will be on the Island Princess in July, which also will be the only ship in port on a Monday. We have a 12:00 flight from YVR on Air Canada that makes a stop in Toronto so we will not be able to use US Direct. Will we be OK if we can get to YVR by 10 AM? We usually would just take a cab (just 2 of us) but I was wondering if I should pursue other options.

 

Rosemary

 

You should be just fine with that flight. I would assume and I could be wrong on this, but you likely won't clear US customs until you get to TO so as a domestic flight you only need to be at YVR 1 hr pre-flight time...but double check this with Air Canada.

[jmarks]

I posted about this a few months ago, and as our sailing date approaches, I'm still confused. We are sailing on the Island Princess and will be in port on Monday, 8/3. Have no idea how many ships will be in port, but our TA insists we'll have no trouble making a 12:05 flight. I want to access the service that Princess offers that is like US Direct, and again the TA says we can only do that once we board the ship. Can anyone clarify? Also, our other option is going on to Seattle, booking a hotel for the night, and flying out the next morning. So it would be worth extra $$ to us to ensure we are on the flight.

Thanks.

[CruisinRoxy]

Wow, it seems like this is so complicated. The US Direct thing sounds great, but I cannot get any straight answers, either. My TA called Royal (we're on Radiance in August) 4 times and got 3 different answers! Ranging from "I have no idea" to "No, you can't do that". But the one that made most sense was: If you pre-purchase the cruiseline's bus shuttle ticket to the airport, you can then - when you are onboard the ship - arrange to do what Vancouver calls the "Onboard Check-in" (US Direct refers to getting you from airport to ship, Onboard Check-in refers to the oppposite - getting you from ship to airport. However, (and I con't know if this is just a ploy to get you to spend more $ or what), my TA was told, that with Royal, we have to purchase the "luggage valet" in order for that to work - to the tune of $20 per person. But, my DH said, hey, what's $100 more on top the the thousands we are already spending, if that gets our luggage from ship to home, and us from ship to airport with no stress;) So we will buy luggage valet on the ship. Hope this helps, but I doubt it.

[butterbean68]

Please check to make sure your airline participates in US Direct. http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/cruiseandtourism/usdirectprocess.aspx That is your best chance of making that flight.

 

 

This would be the same thing as "disembarkation with express departure option"?

[jmarks]

Well, I just spoke to Princess about EZCheck. The agent told me it might be just as fast to carry our own bags off and grab a taxi. You still have to wait in the Customs Line; you just won't have your bags with you. It saves you checking in with your bag and presenting a boarding pass, but you have to wait for the bus to fill up, etc. Anyone have any recent experience with this?

[Budget Queen]

Well, I just spoke to Princess about EZCheck. The agent told me it might be just as fast to carry our own bags off and grab a taxi. You still have to wait in the Customs Line; you just won't have your bags with you. It saves you checking in with your bag and presenting a boarding pass, but you have to wait for the bus to fill up, etc. Anyone have any recent experience with this?

 

IF you carry off your own bags, then you go through customs at Canada Place AND the airport. With EZcheck, you save time with NO customs at Vancouver airport, which CAN have big lines with bigger waits. I have personally been in this line for 1 1/2 hours, security was about 45 minutes. Plus checked bags.

 

If you self disembark, I would be sure to be ready to go and near the exit right when it opens and head direct for a cab.

[jmarks]

Thanks BQ; I didn't realize that we'd be going through Customs twice, once at Canada Place and the second time at the airport. Is that correct? If so, sounds like EZ check would definitely be worth it.

[PennyAgain]

If you can get EZ check (or whatever your cruise line calls their program) it is easier and simplier, but no cruise line will promise that you can make this arrangement until you are on board attempting to do so. There are only so many seats on so many buses and lots more people who want to make the booking.

 

Take care of this as soon as you can!

 

The wait in lines at the Vancouver airport are often ridiculous. You can't get cuts in the line even if you are about to miss your flight.

[red knight]

I know that on HAL in the Caribbean and Princess in Alaska (Vancouver) they have an early departure where you are good to go early if you can carry your own bags off with you. Last week in Vancouver I was off Sapphire Princess just before 8:00 A.M. and was through Customs by 8:10. Your mileage may vary, but I can tell you it should be doable no problem. I have been first off here in Vancouver before and been in my office jsut after 8:30 A.M. having first had to wait for my car from the Cruise Park people and driving 20 minutes to the office!

[frugaltravel]

Thanks BQ; I didn't realize that we'd be going through Customs twice, once at Canada Place and the second time at the airport. Is that correct? If so, sounds like EZ check would definitely be worth it.

 

You would go through Canadian immigration and customs at Canada Place then at the airport you go through US immigration and customs since the US has "pre-clearance" from Vancouver - so once you arrive at the US airport it is like you arrived on a domestic flight, i.e. no more immigration or customs procedures.

[jmarks]

Aahhhh, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

[Travel Time]

I just got off the Diamond Princess on Saturday. I had a 12:30 flight boarding at noon. There were no issues catching this flight. I took the transportation provided by Princess. We were at the airport by 9:00am.

[Putterdude]

Thats good to know, thanks for sharing this with us.:)

[jmarks]

Well, since first researching this issue, I've learned a couple of things. I'm leaning toward carrying our bags and getting off the ship first, then taking a cab to the Vancouver airport for our 12:00 flight. What I've learned is that ours is the only ship in port that day, and our cruisetour included a coach to Seattle, which I would guess several on the boat would be taking, so there shouldn't be any massive crowds. If I do EZ check, it's going to be an extra $150 at least to get transfers for three of us, plus the EZ check cost. Our ship is in port at 7:30. Does this sound logical?

[Putterdude]

You have done a great job with your research...self disembark and you should not have any problem with that noon flight.:)