Debarkation - Vancouver flight times

[andylas]

First time on a cruise.  What time can I realistically book my flight if the cruise ship arrives at 7:30 am?

This is a southbound Princess Alaska cruise from Whittier to Vancouver arriving in Vancouver on a Saturday at 7:30 am.  How long do they usually hold the ship in customs before allowing passengers to debark?  We would probably self checkout as we are a family of four but won’t have an issue carrying our own bags. We’ll be flying to Boston so it will be an international flight.

Is 11 am cutting it too close?  Sadly, the only nonstop is at 8:40 so we won’t make that.  But if we can’t realistically make a flight until afternoon... maybe we get the nonstop the next day.

[CruiserBruce]

First, as Vancouver is not in Alaska, I would be researching on the West Coast Departures board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

 

where Vancouver is covered, and all your options are discussed extensively. You will see that 11am is the absolute earliest flight recommended. Unless you are very familiar with the process, I wouldn't be booking an 11am flight.

 

If you have any issue at Vancouver, it is going to be Immigration, not Customs. And also, be aware, you will be clearing US IMmigration and Customs at the Vancouver airport (unless your flight includes a stop at another Canadian airport). So you have to be considering that when you book your flights.

[andylas]

Ahh yes.  I will re-post on the Vancouver port of call forum.  Figured because it was mainly an Alaska cruise, I should post here.  

[martincath]

9 minutes ago, andylas said:

Ahh yes.  I will re-post on the Vancouver port of call forum.  Figured because it was mainly an Alaska cruise, I should post here.  

And many people think the same, so don't feel bad. Personally I see the same folks posting here and in West Coast Departures (which is the best choice of board for questions around pre/post cruise time, including airport Qs, as technically only ports you visit rather than embark in are 'ports of call')

 

Since you mentioned considering a flight next morning, i'd 100% recommend that - not just because you can get a less-hassle non-stop flight, but also because far too many folks forget to schedule time in Vancouver and it's one of the best cities on the planet! If you can afford the extra day of time and cost of a hotel, you absolutely will not regret staying one extra night - though you may regret not extending it to a week when you leave having barely scratched the surface 😉

 

But worst-case, an 11am flight is minimal risk IF you self-disembark and are ready to take SkyTrain (if the cab queue is short, great, hop in - but you may have up to three other ships worth of folks to fight with for cabs, this will be the very first season that Uber/Lyft are operating so how they will function for the pier is still unknown, and even if they are allowed to pick up inside their fleets are both tiny and likely to stay that way due to needing commercial licenses for the drivers - so it's unlikely they will significantly shorten delays caused by insufficient cabs on busy days at the pier). You can reduce your risk even further by ensuring that everyone gets Global Entry or NEXUS cards - if you apply now, you should have time for the interviews even if you're cruising fairly early in the season...

[Crew News]

Perhaps a short 1:00 PM flight to Seattle airport, or another US port, and short stroll/train to Southwest Airlines will give you more flight choices.  I have done this in the past.

[Negril60]

I have been following this post. So we can use our Global Entry leaving Vancouver back to the US.

[CruiserBruce]

58 minutes ago, Negril60 said:

I have been following this post. So we can use our Global Entry leaving Vancouver back to the US.

Yes.

[Crew News]

59 minutes ago, Negril60 said:

I have been following this post. So we can use our Global Entry leaving Vancouver back to the US.

 

The Global Entry(GE) line does save a lot of time.  When I left Vancouver last June, my GE line had 12 passengers and the regular line had hundreds.  

[martincath]

16 hours ago, Negril60 said:

I have been following this post. So we can use our Global Entry leaving Vancouver back to the US.

Minor clarification - you can use the CARDS in Vancouver. Relying on it being 'linked to your passport' won't help a jot, as our queue control minions do not scan passports, only visually check boarding passes and GE/NEXUS cards (we don't have TSA, therefore TSA Precheck does not help here, so even if your boarding pass prints with 'TSA Pre' on it you won't be allowed in the short queue).

 

So if you're one of those folks without a permanent slot in your wallet allocated to your GE card, make room for it in advance of your trip to ensure you don't forget to bring it... if it's a Vancouver RT cruise you may even be able to use it at the pier as they sometimes have a GE queue there too, since you get Precleared at the port as well as the airport.