11AM Flight from Vancouver. Possible?

[Guindalf]

Hi all,

 

We're sailing Alaska at the end of August on the Eclipse and have found a flight time of 11am to get us back to Georgia (We always fly the day before going out so we have a buffer!).

 

Not knowing how far the port is from the airport, is this doable or will it be a rush? We could add a day of sightseeing on the end if we have to.

 

TIA.

[Jim_Iain]

I think it is possible but would not think too much of a  rush.    I found Vancouver to be a very efficient airport and easy to get to via Subway system or Taxi.  

 

There is a lot of security and immigration checking.   You will need to go through Canadian Departure Immigration control.   After this you will have to go through U.S. Customs and Immigration.    Last time we came through there was a huge line at U.S. clearance.     If you have Nexus or Global Entry it will speed you through.    Unless you have priority on Celebrity for getting off the ship I think you might want to do walk off.   

 

 

[Cruise Junky]

Just keep in mind that you've got the added wait time of going through US Customs and Immigration in Vancouver. It won't be the same timing as a domestic flight, you'll do all of your US clearing in Canada.  Getting to the Airport shouldn't take more than 30/35 mins. you're going against rush hour.  August should be fine, we have two crunch weekends a year with repo cruises adding a gazillion passengers, but that's usually May and September. 

 

You'll want to be at the airport no later than 9/9:30 for an 11:00 am flight.  Your call whether you want to risk that.  I've always been home by about 9:30 which is not far from the airport.

[CRZR58]

Take the extra day in Vancouver. It's a great city to visit.

[TeaBag]

45 minutes ago, CRZR58 said:

Take the extra day in Vancouver. It's a great city to visit.

I agree with this.

If you are able to handle your own luggage, I would take the self debarkation which enables you to be first off the ship.  Then I would walk to the skytrain which is not far and get the train to the airport.  It is cheap, fast and efficient with only about 15 mins of travel time.

 

I have seen many posts of people complaining about having to wait forever for a taxi.  What day of the week do you arrive?  How many ships are in port that day? 

[martincath]

5 hours ago, Guindalf said:

... We could add a day of sightseeing on the end if we have to.

11am is totes possible but since you COULD add a day, you SHOULD add a day. I may be a tad biased, but Vancouver has more people, museums, galleries, restos, etc. etc. etc. than every AK port put together - you'd have to be insane NOT to stay on if you have the $ and time budget to do so;-)

[Guindalf]

THanks for the advise, people.

 

Sadly, adding the extra day increases the airfare by well over $300, so I guess it's going to be a flying visit (pun intended!).

 

Later flights on that day come with an arrival back in ATL the next morning, so it looks like we have little choice but to walk off and make the 11AM flight.

 

 

[WAVTAM]

20 hours ago, TeaBag said:

I agree with this.

If you are able to handle your own luggage, I would take the self debarkation which enables you to be first off the ship.  Then I would walk to the skytrain which is not far and get the train to the airport.  It is cheap, fast and efficient with only about 15 mins of travel time.

 

I have seen many posts of people complaining about having to wait forever for a taxi.  What day of the week do you arrive?  How many ships are in port that day? 

Second this...……. Early off and take the train.

[Gimpy McFarlan]

We are seriously considering taking Millie on a B2B leaving Vancouver on 5/10 and returning to Vancouver on 5/24. The ship arrives at 7am and there is an Canada Air flight to Toronto at 10am. The later flights are all red eyes AND more expensive. The flights the following day are A LOT more expensive since it is a Saturday so staying overnight is not economical. We prefer walking off the ship ourselves. We would not need to go thru US Immigration until Toronto. Is making a 10am flight possible? 😬

[Locksmth]

34 minutes ago, Gimpy McFarlan said:

We are seriously considering taking Millie on a B2B leaving Vancouver on 5/10 and returning to Vancouver on 5/24. The ship arrives at 7am and there is an Canada Air flight to Toronto at 10am. The later flights are all red eyes AND more expensive. The flights the following day are A LOT more expensive since it is a Saturday so staying overnight is not economical. We prefer walking off the ship ourselves. We would not need to go thru US Immigration until Toronto. Is making a 10am flight possible? 😬

I doubt if you would make your flight.  It takes 30 minutes to get from the cruise ship terminal to YVR via Canada Line rapid transit.  Budget 90 minutes to clear security etc and you'd have to be off the ship and moving by 8AM.

[Mark_K]

On 2/7/2019 at 11:37 AM, Cruise Junky said:

Just keep in mind that you've got the added wait time of going through US Customs and Immigration in Vancouver. It won't be the same timing as a domestic flight, you'll do all of your US clearing in Canada.  Getting to the Airport shouldn't take more than 30/35 mins. you're going against rush hour.  August should be fine, we have two crunch weekends a year with repo cruises adding a gazillion passengers, but that's usually May and September. 

 

You'll want to be at the airport no later than 9/9:30 for an 11:00 am flight.  Your call whether you want to risk that.  I've always been home by about 9:30 which is not far from the airport.

I can understand having to go through US customs to get on the ship in Vancouver, but why would have to do it to get off the ship there?

[Cruise Junky]

1 hour ago, Mark_K said:

I can understand having to go through US customs to get on the ship in Vancouver, but why would have to do it to get off the ship there?

 

at the airport, not off the ship.  You preclear in Vancouver. When you land it`s just like a domestic flight, you walk right off in the US.

[martincath]

19 hours ago, Gimpy McFarlan said:

We are seriously considering taking Millie on a B2B leaving Vancouver on 5/10 and returning to Vancouver on 5/24. The ship arrives at 7am and there is an Canada Air flight to Toronto at 10am. The later flights are all red eyes AND more expensive. The flights the following day are A LOT more expensive since it is a Saturday so staying overnight is not economical. We prefer walking off the ship ourselves. We would not need to go thru US Immigration until Toronto. Is making a 10am flight possible? 😬

A 10am domestic flight is absolutely possible, but you need to have your shiznit together! First, you absolutely MUST self-disembark so that you're among the first folks off and there is no delay waiting for your bags.

 

Then hustle to the cab line - if it's short, get in it as a cab is faster than SkyTrain end-to-end if you don't have to wait. Cab line looks more than 5mins though, SkyTrain is faster (it's 26mins total travel time, but with a potential delay of up to ~7 minutes getting a YVR-bound train on top of the ~7min walk whereas a cab is 30-35mins drive time). Buying tickets on SkyTrain is a zero delay these days IF you have a credit card for EACH person traveling that is Paywave/Tap & Go enabled, as you can just tap these on the entry gates and again when you exit at YVR and you'll be automatically billed the correct Adult Single Fare - $4.20pp. If you want a Concession fare, or not everyone has their own card with NFC, then you have to use a ticket vending machine to buy tickets - call that 2 minutes for a first-time user as the screens are very large and simple (2 Zone Fare x as many of you as are traveling, and Concessions would be valid for >65 or <14)

 

Realistically with self-disembarkation you can expect to be waiting in the cab line or hustling out to Waterfront for SkyTrain by 7:45am - every time we've disembarked at home my wife has been sitting at her desk with a coffee before 8am, and her office is 14mins walk from the pier. That puts you at YVR somewhere in the 8:15 to 8:30am range, which is plenty time to get to a Domestic flight even without NEXUS to get through the queues fast - because you beat all the non-self-disembarkers, even if this is a 3 or 4 ship day there should be VERY few people ahead of you at YVR as all those incredibly-annoying cruisers😁 will start arriving in bulk at 9:30am onward, a full hour after you make it there as even the earliest cruise transfers don't get away much before 9am as they have to assume folks are doing the 'pick up my bags in the terminal' thing.

 

I still wouldn't recommend it of course - even one relatively minor thing going wrong could screw up your entire plan (if your ship arrives even 30mins late, potentially 3 other ships have already spewed forth a thousand or more people to clog the taxi line, airport check-in and security etc. - if you're in a cab and there's a traffic issue with one of the bridges - if you get hauled into secondary inspection at the pier etc. etc.) but it's definitely doable.