Vancouver airport-long lines, long waits

[Putterdude]

We will be booking airfare from Vancouver to Boston this coming week. We will be getting off the Coral on a Monday and heading straight to the airport. What would be the earliest flight you would book? As others have mentioned, all the flights to the East Coast are on the early side.

 

I am hoping that since it is a Monday it will not be as crowded, but don't know that for sure. Also, there will be 9 of us - 4 are kids (between 8-13), so that may slow us a little, but hopefully not too much.

 

Would you suggest that we hire a car since we have a larger group? Would that speed anything up?

 

Thanks.

 

My guess is that you are speaking of next year and unfortunately next seasons docking sked will not be available until early in the new year...however Mondays are often a pretty light day. You would feel less pressure if you booked a flight after say 1230 and anything before 1130 would be difficult trying to keep 9 people heading in the same direction at the same time.

You have the option of walking the 2.5 blocks over to Waterfront Station and taking the Canada Line out to the airport at a cost of $3.75 for adults and children under 13 are $2.50.

With those numbers you would need 3 cabs at a cost of about $35 each.

Here is a link to that limo company that provides contracted service to & from the airport...the rates shown are a walk-up rate and a reservation for the vehicle you need would likely be double the shown rate. You can contact them for a quote. http://www.aerocar.ca/

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We had no problems twice...

[jewel_beth]

quote=Putterdude;30535682]My guess is that you are speaking of next year and unfortunately next seasons docking sked will not be available until early in the new year...however Mondays are often a pretty light day. You would feel less pressure if you booked a flight after say 1230 and anything before 1130 would be difficult trying to keep 9 people heading in the same direction at the same time.

 

You have the option of walking the 2.5 blocks over to Waterfront Station and taking the Canada Line out to the airport at a cost of $3.75 for adults and children under 13 are $2.50.

 

With those numbers you would need 3 cabs at a cost of about $35 each.

 

Here is a link to that limo company that provides contracted service to & from the airport...the rates shown are a walk-up rate and a reservation for the vehicle you need would likely be double the shown rate. You can contact them for a quote. http://www.aerocar.ca/

 

Yes. It is next year. Thank you for the info - there is a 12:45 flight and I'll grab that one then.

[lotsofkids]

Jewel Beth:

 

A 12:45 should work out fine. I say that because our cruise line "would" have offered transfers to YVR for any passengers with flights after 1pm.

 

We didn't realize this when we booked my sister for an 11:16 flight to Boston on 9/25. She is now in a stressful precarious position. (because she going solo, we hope, she will be able to "just" make it)

 

Do call tour cruise line and see if they would offer Airport transfers for a 12:45 flight as that would be the most reasonable cost and they shuttle you into a cruise holding area at YVR for expediting your customs experience. The cost on NCL is only $25pp.

 

If you take the SkyTrain, it is only 2 blocks from Canada Place and would be very cost effective for your large group, but if your ship docks at Ballentyne Pier you would need to take a taxi the short ride to the SkyTrain and have to factor that into your costs! (then the cruise transfer might be attractive from both streamlining and price.)

[theZsatsea]

Our 9/16 experience was as follows:

 

Arrived in Vancouver on Radiance at 7:00 AM. IT WAS THE ONLY SHIP IN PORT THAT DAY. Our flight was scheduled to depart YVR at 11:16 AM.

 

Our "Independent" get-off number, 12, was called at about 8:15. We had to clear the ship, pass through Canadian Customs and claim our luggage. Luggage carts were provided for free. If you are retrieving Ulu knives, etc., it will take extra time. With our luggage, we followed signs to the taxis. They were inside the building, backed up to a curb. All we needed to do was have our luggage loaded and we were off. Time at this point was about 8:35.

 

The trip to YVR took about a half hour.

 

First stop, United Airlines for boarding passes and to check luggage. United's space was very restricted and they did not have many positions for luggage checking. As a consequence, the line moved very slowly. Again, luggage carts were available and free.

 

Second stop, was the luggage drop. This went quickly.

 

Third stop, TSA. This took a bit of time as it seemed that they were particularly dilligent as compared to other airports we have experienced.

 

Last stop, US Customs. Not a big problem and the line moved fairly quickly.

 

Finally, we went to our gate, 78. Quite a walk. After a pit stop, we arrived as the flight was boarding. The boarding process appeared to have been started about 10 minutes earlier than the posted of 10:46 AM.

 

Summary, we made it, but not by much!

 

As most of you know, US Direct no longer exists and Luggage Valet was not offered.

 

Hope this helps. Keep in mind that next year could bring more changes which could be good or bad.

[scottbee]

Our 9/16 experience was as follows:

 

Arrived in Vancouver on Radiance at 7:00 AM. IT WAS THE ONLY SHIP IN PORT THAT DAY. Our flight was scheduled to depart YVR at 11:16 AM.

 

Our "Independent" get-off number, 12, was called at about 8:15. We had to clear the ship, pass through Canadian Customs and claim our luggage. Luggage carts were provided for free. If you are retrieving Ulu knives, etc., it will take extra time. With our luggage, we followed signs to the taxis. They were inside the building, backed up to a curb. All we needed to do was have our luggage loaded and we were off. Time at this point was about 8:35.

 

The trip to YVR took about a half hour.

 

First stop, United Airlines for boarding passes and to check luggage. United's space was very restricted and they did not have many positions for luggage checking. As a consequence, the line moved very slowly. Again, luggage carts were available and free.

 

Second stop, was the luggage drop. This went quickly.

 

Third stop, TSA. This took a bit of time as it seemed that they were particularly dilligent as compared to other airports we have experienced.

 

You would have passed through CATSA; the TSA is an American agency.

[Thurston Howell lll]

Vacations are not for rushing! We have found that Vancouver is a wonderful place to spend some time before and or after a cruise. Why rush around and fight it trying to make that early flight or racing around to get to the ship with minutes to spare? Just arrive a day or even two early and then stay over at the end of your cruise and see some new sights.

 

Putterdude or some of the other locals probably would be happy to post a list of places to see that you would never think of.

Stop and smell the roses!:)

[lotsofkids]

Happy to announce my sister MADE IT for her 11:16am flight out of YVR. she was able to leave the Pearl right at 8am with her luggage in hand and cleared Canadian customs quickly and immediately found taxi shuttles offering $14.95 fares to the airport and she shared a ride with one other passenger. As she was a solo traveler, she was able to make good time and caught her first flight YVR to ORD.... she then had a connecting flight from Chicago to Boston that was overbooked and she gave up her seat in exchange for a $400 future travel voucher! They put her on the following flight (3 hrs later) and she arrived in Boston approx 2:00 am (which is the time she would have arrived if she flew out of YVR on the 1:30pm flight in the first place) So, a bit tired, but it ended up being a free flight after getting the voucher! A real HAPPY ENDING!

[Putterdude]

Glad things worked out so well, with 5 ships in port on Saturday I have been holding my breath as to how people made out.:)

[lotsofkids]

As we docked at Ballentyne pier there were only two of us at that pier for customs. Canada place had three ships and might have been a bit longer lines. Overall, she was very lucky and I certainly would recommend booking later flights for those reading this post.

[lotsofkids]

Oh...and a big THANKS for all your input Putterdude!