Leaving from Vancouver

[Cruise2010]

We are leaving on the Golden Princess this Saturday and were wondering what would be the best time to arrive at the pier?

[Putterdude]

We will be coming off the Golden, then getting on the Sapphire, we will wave to you.:)

It is going to be a zoo on Saturday, there are going to be 3 ships at Canada Place and 4th at Balantyne Pier. Throw in the fact that there are going to be lot of new-hires at the pier and.....

If I wasn't already going to be there I would plan to arrive about 12:30 to 1:00 to try to avoid the lines. Earlier, I can assure you there are going to be long lines, short tempers and these threads will be full of how bad things were at Canada Place.

[Keith1010]

I would get there around 11:00 AM.

 

Keith

[Cruise2010]

Thank you very much for the replies.

[Urban trekker]

I agree with Putterdude - figured you would come on and post since I knew you and the DW are on that sailing - and another thing to keep in mind that repo cruises have been known to be late arriving for any number of reasons although the Golden is only coming up from LA so it shouldn`t be a problem arriving late into YVR - however - random Coast Guard inspection - Customs once over could lead to later disembarking times thereby making the embarking more of a zoo.

 

Cheers and happy sailing PD and you won`t miss too many hockey games either as the next series won`t start until either Saturday or Sunday.

 

Dennis

[chinita415]

Thank goodness we are on the Zaandam on Sunday... the only ship that day. We want to eat lunch on board. Arrive at noon should be good?

[erewhon]

Thank goodness we are on the Zaandam on Sunday... the only ship that day. We want to eat lunch on board. Arrive at noon should be good?

 

HAL commences to board passengers at approximately 11.30 am, at which time the cabins should be ready.

I would be arriving at Canada Place before 11am.

[chinita415]

HAL commences to board passengers at approximately 11.30 am, at which time the cabins should be ready.

I would be arriving at Canada Place before 11am.

 

If we do arrive later, what time do they end lunch at the Lido?

[browniegirl]

We don't cruise out of Ballyntyne Pier on the NCL Pearl until Sept 25th but are trying to figure out the whole travel and accommodation thing. has anyone stayed at the Sandman Signature in Richmond before? We are a family of 5, 2 adults, 3 kids, so it's harder to find a good park and fly rate.....theirs isn't bad, looks decent. We live on Vanc. Island so need to catch ferry day before, stay over and park our vehicle for 11 nights, find a transfer to Ballyntyne pier, cruise, disneyland, then fly back to YVR. From YVR we can get hotel shuttle back to hotel to pick up our vehicle.

 

I'm going cross eyed looking at hotels, so think that one will be it but as far as transportation........Aerocar? $65 from hotel to pier plus tax and gratuity, is that reasonable? Or Vanc. Shuttle bus (lots of stops) at $14 a head.......I am SO confused.......lol:confused:

 

Leah

[cruiseryyc]

Pacific Coach Lines runs a cruise shuttle from the bus depot in Victoria to the cruise terminal in Vancouver - don't know if Ballyntyne is included or just Canada Place. Worth checking out their website. Then you can go over the day your cruise departs and save the hotel cost.

[scottbee]

We don't cruise out of Ballyntyne Pier on the NCL Pearl until Sept 25th but are trying to figure out the whole travel and accommodation thing. has anyone stayed at the Sandman Signature in Richmond before? We are a family of 5, 2 adults, 3 kids, so it's harder to find a good park and fly rate.....theirs isn't bad, looks decent. We live on Vanc. Island so need to catch ferry day before, stay over and park our vehicle for 11 nights, find a transfer to Ballyntyne pier, cruise, disneyland, then fly back to YVR. From YVR we can get hotel shuttle back to hotel to pick up our vehicle.

 

I'm going cross eyed looking at hotels, so think that one will be it but as far as transportation........Aerocar? $65 from hotel to pier plus tax and gratuity, is that reasonable? Or Vanc. Shuttle bus (lots of stops) at $14 a head.......I am SO confused.......lol:confused:

 

Leah

 

If you haven't booked your flight yet, you're better off flying straight back into YYJ, it's often not much difference in price than into YVR. Fly AS (for example) SNA-SEA-YYJ

 

For Victoria->Ballantyne; the best bet is walk on the ferry at Swartz Bay; take the #620 bus to Bridgeport (and/or stay near there). On cruise day, take the new Skytrain from Bridgeport to Waterfront and grab a taxi to Ballantyne. While your Skytrain ticket would be good on the #10 Hastings, and it is *possible* to walk into Ballantyne I wouldn't recommend it

 

From someone who has taken BC Ferries SWB-TSW enough to know the announcements off by heart, this really is the best way. While PCL will get you a bit closer (to Ballantyne as PCL go to Pacific Station), it's double the cost, and if you're looking at staying over in Richmond anyway.....

[browniegirl]

Thanks!!! Unfortunately, our flight bad from LA is booked into YVR so we are pretty much stuck there. We live north Island so we need to catch the Nanaimo - Horseshoe bay ferry or Duke pt to Tswassen, that is a problem of flying into YVR and being from the Island. I like to fly from the Island to Vancouver but the flights for 5 of us are outrageous from any place on the island, cheaper to do the ferry, hotel, etc. I am one of those people who research our trips to death....lol...........and I currently have 3 hotels booked in Richmond.......haha. I can't decide, we like nice hotels but want a good price, so I booked the Accent Inn and the Best Western but have also booked the Sandman Signature (they comped us to a suite instead of the 2 queens for the size of our family which was very nice of them!!!). The Sandman signature has a nice waterslide, denny's attached, so good for the kids. The price is a little higher and we'd have to get downtown from Richmond...........the shuttle for 5 of us is approx $14 each and a car service I found is $65 plus tax and tip........hmmm.....what to choose.........tee hee. The price is adding up isn't it! Still WAY cheaper than flights from the Island. So many decisions..........

 

Leah

[Cruise2010]

Keith1010 Thank you very much for suggesting 11am, we arrived at 10:45 and were onboard by noon, if we would have arrived at 1 we would have had to wait about 4 or 5 hours.

[Putterdude]

No question, it turned into a huge zoo, worse than anyone could have possibly expected. We were fortunate coming off the Golden about 10:30 we were the first on the Sapphire at 11:30 when it became available for embarkation. The breakdown seemed to be in the central security area where only 5 scanners were available for all 3 ships....throw in the the new-hires and the cruiseline shore people not being on the same page as the Canada Place people and it was a recipe for a perfect storm.