Last day dilemma

[simonpjd]

So last day on Coral. Vancouver. Princess have arranged transfer from ship to airport, but our flight is not until 9 that night.

What alternative is there to sitting in the airport all day. This must happen all the time so what do you happy Princess customers do.

[Ron the Rev]

We no longer fly, but when we did, on long haul, we used to take a hotel room on airport so as to crash out. Sometimes Princess have a tour before drop off at the airport later in the day.

[Jetstreamer]

Store your bags in the city and explore!  I definitely wouldn't waste a day in this great city sitting at the airport.

 

CDS Baggage have a storage facility at Canada Place during the summer.  According to their website they offer both storage of bags and also a transfer option to YVR.  There are other storage options around the city or at the airport.

 

When finished take the Canada Line to the airport - quick, easy, cheap and fairly comfortable.

[paul929207]

When we have a late flight, we get a hotel for one night. We go to the hotel from the ship. While it is too early to check in, every hotel has allowed us to drop our luggage.  The next day, we check out in the morning,  and leave the luggage with the hotel until it is time to go to the airport. This way we get two days of sightseeing for the cost of one night in the hotel.

[bemis12]

38 minutes ago, paul929207 said:

When we have a late flight, we get a hotel for one night. We go to the hotel from the ship. While it is too early to check in, every hotel has allowed us to drop our luggage.  The next day, we check out in the morning,  and leave the luggage with the hotel until it is time to go to the airport. This way we get two days of sightseeing for the cost of one night in the hotel.

 

They already have a flight that night, so your solution is not possible.

[Ombud]

How long is the disembarkation tour?

[CruisinFinsUp]

We were in Vancouver in July and on a tour where we were picked up at our hotel - the bus then picked up cruisers at the port with their luggage, the cruisers took the tour and were taken to the airport afterwards.  

 

Www.vancouvertours.com

 

 

We were staying in Vancouver and took two tours on different days - the drivers were great and we really enjoyed both.  Highly recommend this company.  

[janina]

The  easiest solution would be to take the Princess disembarkation tour.  No worries about luggage and get to see a great city in a relaxed way.

[nukesubsailor]

3 hours ago, simonpjd said:

So last day on Coral. Vancouver. Princess have arranged transfer from ship to airport, but our flight is not until 9 that night.

What alternative is there to sitting in the airport all day. This must happen all the time so what do you happy Princess customers do.

No need to worry about sitting all day at the Vancouver airport.  Airport management deems having shops and massage parlors more important than having adequate seating at the gates.

[capriccio]

4 minutes ago, janina said:

The  easiest solution would be to take the Princess disembarkation tour.  No worries about luggage and get to see a great city in a relaxed way.

 

I just looked at the Vancouver Princess post cruise excursions and it seems that there are a number of different ones that will get OP to the airport in the early evening which is much better with a 9 pm flight than those in Fort Lauderdale which get to the airport about 3 pm at the latest.

[martincath]

4 hours ago, Jetstreamer said:

Store your bags in the city and explore!  I definitely wouldn't waste a day in this great city sitting at the airport.

 

CDS Baggage have a storage facility at Canada Place during the summer.  According to their website they offer both storage of bags and also a transfer option to YVR.  There are other storage options around the city or at the airport.

 

When finished take the Canada Line to the airport - quick, easy, cheap and fairly comfortable.

Unfortunately CDS have been replaced at the pier by WestCoast and no longer offer the transfers. It's only come to light very recently, but the CDS booth was shut in April & May when cruise season began and their website remains out of date (they have always been god awful at updating, the prior website took over two years to get turned into the current one with no valid info on the original for that entire time!)

 

The official port website does now list WestCoast as providing on-site storage (see the 'Passenger Services' tab on that page). Prices have gone up a LOT ($12 vs $8) - with a discount to $7 if you take a WestCoast bus tour same day... - making the best storage now beyond a doubt the Pan Pacific hotel bell desk, which remains at just $5 a bag and has no restriction on when they are open. You can get your luggage transferred using PorterGenie; it's a lot more expensive per bag than the old CDS service used to be, but I've only heard good things about their operation.

 

Otherwise though I agree - cancel the useless and overpriced transfers (Princess generally charge US$29pp - that's how much your very own cab costs, but one of those can take 3+ people and goes whenever you want it...), stash your bags at the PP, go touring for the day, have an early-ish dinner downtown (lots of good Happy Hour bargains these days), then head out to YVR for 7pm. A 9pm flight will probably get Precleared - CBP work until 8:30pm - which means arriving in the US as a Domestic flight and no delay for your connecting flight (I assume since you're from Florida OP that you have at least one stop from YVR, nonstops are very rare).

 

There are bus tours to the North Shore and Whistler that are longer - the latter should be getting back to Vancouver c. 5pm, so at YVR before 6pm which isn't terrible timing for a 9pm flight (though bag check often does not allow bags to be dropped more than 3 hours before your flight so you may have a half hour or so to kill) but the biggest downside of those tours is you see almost nothing of Vancouver!!!

Edited August 13, 2019 by martincath

[Mud_Shark]

If you are walkers, consider just walking over from Canada place to Stanley park and walking the complete circuit around the park sea wall (you can see the park on the west side of the the Pier).  It will total over 12 km from start to finish (all the way back to Canada place where you catch the sky train to the airport), but we find it a great walk.  There are bathrooms along the way and a few park style fast food restaurants.  Some great views and even third beach to dip your feet in the ocean if you desire. If you can't handle a walk of that distance, there are several places that rent bicycles and you can do the same circuit (but some of us find riding a bike now harder than walking).

 

Another low cost fun option is to take the sea bus across the bay to the Lonsdale Quay (specialty mall).  The sea bus departs from less than a block away from the cruise ship pier, and runs every 15 mins.

 

Don

Edited August 13, 2019 by Mud_Shark

[simonpjd]

Thank you all for these various suggestions. Looks like we will have to check out the Princess disembarkation tour. Then airport and fly overnight back to London. All starts next week so not long to go now.

[toads45froggy]

Its canada so be wary of the MOOSES and GOOSES. They are like a crime gang they distract and pick pocket you.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I would ask for a refund of the Princess transfer, pay to store your luggage at the port, and then explore Vancouver on your own. There are HOHO buses that start right at the port, Gastown is easily walkable from the port, and there’s a mall a few blocks away. Vancouver is a great city. Steamworks Brewery has yummmmmmmo food and is about a 5 min walk from the port. At the end of the day, collect your luggage, and either catch a taxi from the Pan Pacific above the port, or walk and take the Sky train to the airport. 

[Potstech]

Also to consider is the bus to  Capilono.  You can get the tour bus right outside the PP.  Cost is round trip on a bus that brings you back to PP.  Get your luggage and then walk to the Sky Train to the airport.  If you still have time then a walk thru Gastown is still available.

[martincath]

8 hours ago, simonpjd said:

Thank you all for these various suggestions. Looks like we will have to check out the Princess disembarkation tour. Then airport and fly overnight back to London. All starts next week so not long to go now.

D'oh! I was looking at the poster above me when I mentioned Florida and Preclearance, rather than your post OP. No need to worry about preclearance when you're heading back to Blighty, so 2 hours preflight is even more generous than for US-bound flights.

 

And do seriously consider private alternatives instead of Princess tours - even if you feel more comfortable on a coach from the pier all day, rather than storing your bags and doing your own thing, you can buy the exact same tour that Princess (not just them - ALL the lines do the same...) direct from the folks who actually run it at a fraction of the cost. With Sterling tanking, every penny you can save spending abroad is a Good Thing 😉

Check out LandSea and WestCoast who do the vast majority of local tours - both will pickup right at the pier, and you have to schlep your own bags on cruiseline tours anyway as you have Canadian customs to clear on arrival so you need to get your bags from the holding zones in the pier then move them to the bus yourself. You could plow some of your hefty savings into paying a porter to move the bags for you, and then the private tours becomes less work too!

[Lido deck main]

10 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

If you are walkers, consider just walking over from Canada place to Stanley park and walking the complete circuit around the park sea wall (you can see the park on the west side of the the Pier).  It will total over 12 km from start to finish (all the way back to Canada place where you catch the sky train to the airport), but we find it a great walk.  There are bathrooms along the way and a few park style fast food restaurants.  Some great views and even third beach to dip your feet in the ocean if you desire. If you can't handle a walk of that distance, there are several places that rent bicycles and you can do the same circuit (but some of us find riding a bike now harder than walking).

 

Another low cost fun option is to take the sea bus across the bay to the Lonsdale Quay (specialty mall).  The sea bus departs from less than a block away from the cruise ship pier, and runs every 15 mins.

 

Don

If you are ever short of time, you can get the Stanley Park walk cut in half, just past Lumberman’s Arch, where you can get your fish and chips, there is a road going up the middle of the park called Pipeline Road, take Pipeline you will pass the Stanley Park Train on the left and just past that the Rose Garden on your right then you end up at the entrance to the park on Georgia Street.  

[geoherb]

When I was there last month, I stored my large checked bag at the bike rental place inside the Waterfront Station and then walked to Stanley Park to go the aquarium. I later walked through the city, ate lunch at a nice Asian restaurant, went through a few department stores, and then caught the Skytrain to the airport.