Vancouver flight time after cruise

I will be departing Radiance of the Seas Cruise on June 16, 2017 in Vancouver. Royal says we will arrive @ 7am. If I self disembark what is the earliest flight time I should book? And, What is the fastest way to travel to the airport? My husband and I will be traveling with 2, 10 year olds. We live on the east coast and after a 2 week Alaska vacation want to try to make it home as soon as possible. Also would be willing to fly out of Seattle, but again need to know the earliest flight and the quickest way there.On a side note: Is the ship arrival time usually the time you can leave the ship? Thanks in advance for all help!

A look down the board would find commonly recommended flights of 11:30 or 12. If you have kids, I would use the 12 figure.

I would take a taxi.

No, the ship arrival time is not the time you can depart the ship, but ships usually arrive a little early. I wouldn't expect, with a 7am arrival, not to be off much before 7:30. Then you have Immigration and Customs. Plus Immigration at the airport.

As Bruce mentioned, the comfortable 'early flight' recommendation is close to or even after noon. Which means for east coasters, you're most likely in fact looking at a red-eye since West-East coast flights from YVR tend to be either early or late (or more expensive).

Depending on your comfort levels, a 10am flight is possible to make. June 16 you have the big advantage of being the only ship in port, so queues for cabs, customs & immigration at both pier and airport will be much lighter than if there were another shipload or two of pax all trying to do the same thing.

With the kids, I'd be tempted to stick to a cab rather than SkyTrain - while the latter is more consistent in timing and faster than a cab unless traffic is light and your driver is heavy on the gas pedal, herding the kids to Waterfront station and using unfamiliar ticket vending machines (no manned booths) will probably waste more time than waiting in line for a cab on a one-ship day.

Actual ship docking time is usually well before the 7am on the schedule - you have to be up really early to watch the ship come under the bridge - so disembarkation usually starts by 7:15am in my experience. As long as you are already lined up and waiting so that you're among the first people off, Canadian customs & immigration should be a handful of minutes. The cab queue should also be minimal, so you will probably be en route to the airport by 7:30am and arriving by 8:00am.

At YVR, again because you're not fighting with thousands of other cruisers, both security and US CBP queues should be quite manageable - I'd be very surprised if it took you more than an hour from arriving at the airport to getting to your gate, even without Global Entry/NEXUS to shorten the process.

NB: while you should have enough time, all it takes is a relatively minor problem and you go from having an hour to spare to missing your flight! If you get pulled for secondary questioning at pier or airport, there's a crash on a bridge, the ship is delayed due to weather or engine issues, YVR systems are down etc. etc. None of these are likely, but they have happened before - so if being 99.999% certain to make your flight as opposed to 99% likely is important to you, book an afternoon one.

The two biggest things under your own control is getting your whole family Trusted Traveller status which will ensure that customs & immigration queues are minimised - NEXUS if you can reach one of the interview offices (Canada and border states, a handful of other major airports) or Global Entry if spending twice the money is worth the convenience of more offices - and your flight routing.

Since you will be pressed for time at YVR, if you fly the first leg domestic Canadian - e.g. to YYZ which has lots of flights from here and also many to east coast airports - you can offload going through US customs & immigration to the connecting airport. This does mean you should look at flights with more ideally 90-120mins to connect, but it gives you a bigger cushion to ensure you get on that first flight.

Seattle - you're looking at a flight no earlier than 3 or 4pm so unless there's a non-stop going to your local airport mid to late afternoon, the 4+hours and $100-200 getting to Seatac seems unlikely to get you home much earlier than a one-stop YVR flight. That said, some folks put $ foremost and you can often save a good chunk of change with a SEA flight vs. YVR, especially on a long domestic route.

TL;DR - unless you're organized and comfortable taking on the risk of missing your flight, stick to the afternoon or evening or stay overnight in Vancouver and be on the first flight next day. We have more stuff to do and see than all Alaskan ports combined, so you certainly won't be bored!

Here's a tentative time line....

• 7am dock
  
• 7:30am first walk offs and customs
  
• 8:15am grab cab for 35 minute drive to airport
  
• 9am arrive at YVR for 3 hours of check-in, US customs, and security searches
  
• 12pm wheels up with dreams on your return back to Vancouver for all the things you didn't have time for.
  

For Seattle

• 7am dock
  
• 7:30am first walk offs and customs
  
• 9am Quick Shuttle departs from cruise terminal
  
• 1:30pm/2:30pm Arrival at SeaTac depending on day of week http://www.quickcoach.com/schedule.htm
  
• 5pm flight????
  

I would not book a flight before 12:30 PM.

I have been to Vancouver several times and most recently last May for disembarkation and last August for embarkation.

Good news is you are the only ship in port.

That is positive.

But you just never know what will happen and if there is a delay in the arrival of the ship.

I would not do it but then again I don't like to spend half my cruise worrying.

Keith

It has been 10 years since we disembarked in Vancouver (Radiance). It was a nightmare--we had a later shuttle to Seattle (10:30) and still had to have agents push us through security/passport control to make it. Problems with customs can delay everyone I guess. Just wondered if it has improved? Should we plan to self-disembark to not have to worry again? Or give Holland a much earlier departure time? I see the time frames here are all showing getting off the ship early. We had a 9:15 time and didn't get off until 10:15 and had to run for the shuttle. We are in no big hurry to Seattle so thus thought of taking a later shuttle. I know the 9:00 is an express but I don't want to have to worry about making it if ship is delayed/or there is custom/immigration issue.Anyone know details on how best to make the Seattle shuttle this September (16th)?

Joyce

Hmmm - just getting off the ship is rarely a problem that folks post about. Personally I always self-disembark, even a three or four ship day isn't problematic when you beat most of your fellow pax off and don't have to find your luggage before leaving the pier.

If you can handle self-disembarking, you should do it - no chance of luggage being lost or damaged, taken by someone else because it looks like theirs etc. as well as the time saving. Earliest QuickShuttle at 9am should be very easily achieved if you are in the self-disembarkation groups.

That said, if you're in no hurry then why not do it in style, more comfortably, and cheaper plus get bonus time in Vancouver? The afternoon Amtrak ticks off all those boxes, and you save more than enough compared to Quick Shuttle even as a solo traveler to pay for storing your suitcase at the pier and a cab to Pacific Central station... with just enough left over for a beer on the train;-)