Interesting Boarding Announcement for Vancouver

[zgscl]

Off to Vancouver on Monday to board Koningsdam for a short trip down the West Coast. I have booked the pre-cruise hotel which usually puts you in group A & 11 or so. When I downloaded my boarding pass I am in group F at 11:40, which is strange because at 20 minute intervals that would put group A at 10 AM. I am not particularly worried as the pre-cruise transfer always takes care of everything & we depart at 11PM so there is truly no rush. That being said I got this notification asking us to come an hour later than the assigned boarding time and between 11 & 6 and to not leave the ship after boarding despite being in port until 11. I guess the boarding assignments glitched out and gave everyone an hour earlier boarding time??  They also indicate we will go through Immigration (I presume US immigration?) which also is strange as we dock in Victoria on Tuesday. I guess it will be fun to see how this all ends up working out. 

 

"Please be advised that guests embarking Koningsdam in Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, October 24, 2022 are strongly encouraged to arrive one hour after your pre-assigned embarkation time stated on your boarding pass, or to arrive at the terminal between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM for security screening and immigration clearance. Once embarkation formalities have been completed in the terminal, all guests will be encouraged to remain on board the ship per
immigration and security regulations in Vancouver."

[HAL4NOW]

Koningsdam may need more time to clear the ship because of how many Covid cases they have had. No numbers have been given, but the medical technician is doing a couple of long shifts each day testing roommates of Covid positive passengers and newly reported symptoms. I don’t think disembarkation will be complete until after 10:00 AM.

[Florida_gal_50]

I have read on cruise critic of people having really early embarkation times.  No recent experience myself.  If I remember correctly you do US immigration before you get on the ship even though you go to Victoria.  I’ve done this cruise a few times in conjunction with a Mexican cruise.  That said I have gotten off the ship after embarkation in Vancouver so that part is odd.  My cruises were before the pandemic. 

[BetsyS.]

17 hours ago, zgscl said:

Off to Vancouver on Monday to board Koningsdam for a short trip down the West Coast. I have booked the pre-cruise hotel which usually puts you in group A & 11 or so. When I downloaded my boarding pass I am in group F at 11:40, which is strange because at 20 minute intervals that would put group A at 10 AM. I am not particularly worried as the pre-cruise transfer always takes care of everything & we depart at 11PM so there is truly no rush. That being said I got this notification asking us to come an hour later than the assigned boarding time and between 11 & 6 and to not leave the ship after boarding despite being in port until 11. I guess the boarding assignments glitched out and gave everyone an hour earlier boarding time??  They also indicate we will go through Immigration (I presume US immigration?) which also is strange as we dock in Victoria on Tuesday. I guess it will be fun to see how this all ends up working out. 

 

"Please be advised that guests embarking Koningsdam in Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, October 24, 2022 are strongly encouraged to arrive one hour after your pre-assigned embarkation time stated on your boarding pass, or to arrive at the terminal between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM for security screening and immigration clearance. Once embarkation formalities have been completed in the terminal, all guests will be encouraged to remain on board the ship per
immigration and security regulations in Vancouver."

Do you know why the ship is leaving at 11 PM? Thst seems very late.

[Florida_gal_50]

30 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Do you know why the ship is leaving at 11 PM? Thst seems very late.

The last time I did this cruise it left at  11pm as well.  The reason I remember is because I flew in the day of, something I never do but I thought I had enough wiggle room and I did a very early flight. Also it's just going to Victoria.  They'll be doing doughnuts in the ocean all night.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[zgscl]

19 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Do you know why the ship is leaving at 11 PM? Thst seems very late.

I booked about a month ago and I believe 11PM has always been the scheduled departure time, but we are only going to Victoria so we do not have far to go. Not sure what they have done historically, maybe with gas prices they want to minimize their time idling. 

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, HAL4NOW said:

Koningsdam may need more time to clear the ship because of how many Covid cases they have had. No numbers have been given, but the medical technician is doing a couple of long shifts each day testing roommates of Covid positive passengers and newly reported symptoms. I don’t think disembarkation will be complete until after 10:00 AM.

Well that is good to know. It will be interesting to see if they transfer us over a bit on the later side. If the boarding times start at 10, I am sure many folks will ignore the notice and get there early. 

 

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I have read on cruise critic of people having really early embarkation times.  No recent experience myself.  If I remember correctly you do US immigration before you get on the ship even though you go to Victoria.  I’ve done this cruise a few times in conjunction with a Mexican cruise.  That said I have gotten off the ship after embarkation in Vancouver so that part is odd.  My cruises were before the pandemic. 

When we sailed out of Seattle in July they kept us all in the terminal until 11:30 or so. When I sailed earlier this month from Seattle I walked on around 11 as I recall. Interesting to know we go through US immigration first. Hopefully that streamlines things in San Diego. 

[HAL4NOW]

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

Well that is good to know. It will be interesting to see if they transfer us over a bit on the later side. If the boarding times start at 10, I am sure many folks will ignore the notice and get there early. 

When we boarded in Vancouver on October 8th, everyone was held in the terminal before boarding began. It was shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall people with lots of signs about social distancing, and no chance to keep any space between us. Boarding began late, about 1:00, if I remember correctly. It was done in an orderly manner but still took a long time. 

[julia]

Ditto the above post....

We boarded at Canada Place on Oct 2nd, with a 10:20 boarding time, and that was a total joke.  (I was NOT happy, as we could have stayed in our lovely hotel room til noon, but thought we'd follow HAL's boarding time).  After clearing lines at check in and crowded security, it was then endless rows of uncomfortable folding chairs and a long two hour wait before boarding.   My advice to the OP?  Enjoy your day in Vancouver and board later in the day....

Edited October 23, 2022 by julia

[Homosassa]

Someone has to state the obvious:

 

You are assigned a check in time at the pier, not a time to board the ship.

 

Given the limited road access to the pier and limited drop off area at the terminal in Vancouver, I can see where check in times are spread out to avoid traffic tie ups.

 

As for going through US Customs and Immigration, before boarding the ship, that seems to be standard SOP for cruises starting in Vancouver and ending in a US port.

 

We flew in for our cruise in June that started in Vancouver and ended in Seward. We went through US I&C at the airport before leaving the airport terminal.

 

We did  not have to do it at the pier as it was somehow electronically tracked and attached to our passports.

[bz]

Just left Vancouver on a Noodam cruise 2 weeks ago.  You do NOT go thru US customs & immigration in Vancouver.  In Astoria (first US stop), they came on board (late) and everyone was processed with an assigned time to report.  You got a sticker on your sea pass. 

[jimgev]

We sailed from Vancouver in June. We had an 10:00 AM Boarding Time. We went through all the check-in process and then waited and waited. They began boarding at 11:30 AM.

I spoke with one of the security people while we were waiting to board, he told me that no one could understand why HAL was giving out such early boarding times. He said there was no way that a ship could disembark everyone from the previous cruise, clean all the cabins, and be cleared to board for the new cruise until after 11:00 AM at the very earliest.

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by jimgev

[Cruise Junky]

20 minutes ago, bz said:

Just left Vancouver on a Noodam cruise 2 weeks ago.  You do NOT go thru US customs & immigration in Vancouver.  In Astoria (first US stop), they came on board (late) and everyone was processed with an assigned time to report.  You got a sticker on your sea pass. 

You didn’t on that cruise, you usually do leaving Vancouver.  

[zgscl]

23 hours ago, julia said:

Ditto the above post....

We boarded at Canada Place on Oct 2nd, with a 10:20 boarding time, and that was a total joke.  (I was NOT happy, as we could have stayed in our lovely hotel room til noon, but thought we'd follow HAL's boarding time).  After clearing lines at check in and crowded security, it was then endless rows of uncomfortable folding chairs and a long two hour wait before boarding.   My advice to the OP?  Enjoy your day in Vancouver and board later in the day....

Thanks so much for this advice. I will find out in the AM what time the transfer is. I think I probably will let them take my bag and just make my own way over in the early afternoon. I have a beautiful room at the fairmont and I’m sure their lunch is also beautiful and without a crowd 🙂

[martincath]

Hoping OP comes back to tell us what actually happens after tomorrow!

 

Preclearance almost always happens on cruises that head straight to US waters - it's so much more efficient than staffing up tiny ports with CBP agents. The cruises that do not preclear are those which hit another Canadian port after Vancouver, usually Victoria - the laws that enable Preclearance require the vessel to immediately head 'over the border' so any Canadian stop means Preclearance cannot happen... I think that the wording from HAL is most likely just a poor bit of communication.

 

Security will of course happen so getting off and on is a bit of a hassle even without an Immigration step, and frankly like was already advised above it's always best to board as late as you can anyway - crowds are lighter, no wait to get onboard once you have gone through all the needed check-in, security, etc., and more time in Vancouver to Do Stuff!

[zgscl]

On 10/22/2022 at 6:54 PM, HAL4NOW said:

When we boarded in Vancouver on October 8th, everyone was held in the terminal before boarding began. It was shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall people with lots of signs about social distancing, and no chance to keep any space between us. Boarding began late, about 1:00, if I remember correctly. It was done in an orderly manner but still took a long time. 

This sounds like a not very fun experience. Appreciate the heads up. I usually aim to get to the terminal around 11 or so but based on the recent experiences I think later may be the winning option. Fortunately I had an embarkation lunch 2 weeks ago so I will not miss it if I board late. 

 

11 hours ago, jimgev said:

We sailed from Vancouver in June. We had an 10:00 AM Boarding Time. We went through all the check-in process and then waited and waited. They began boarding at 11:30 AM.

I spoke with one of the security people while we were waiting to board, he told me that no one could understand why HAL was giving out such early boarding times. He said there was no way that a ship could disembark everyone from the previous cruise, clean all the cabins, and be cleared to board for the new cruise until after 11:00 AM at the very earliest.

 

Honestly I have no idea why they would tell people come at 10. People are always anxious to get on the ship so I would bet people started showing up at 9 or 9:30. I usually expect them to start boarding at 11:30 so assuming all goes well so I’ve never seen a point in coming much earlier than that. I would much rather be able to walk on after getting through the check in process than go sit in a room and wait with hundreds of other people. 
 

9 minutes ago, martincath said:

Hoping OP comes back to tell us what actually happens after tomorrow!

 

Preclearance almost always happens on cruises that head straight to US waters - it's so much more efficient than staffing up tiny ports with CBP agents. The cruises that do not preclear are those which hit another Canadian port after Vancouver, usually Victoria - the laws that enable Preclearance require the vessel to immediately head 'over the border' so any Canadian stop means Preclearance cannot happen... I think that the wording from HAL is most likely just a poor bit of communication.

 

Security will of course happen so getting off and on is a bit of a hassle even without an Immigration step, and frankly like was already advised above it's always best to board as late as you can anyway - crowds are lighter, no wait to get onboard once you have gone through all the needed check-in, security, etc., and more time in Vancouver to Do Stuff!

I definitely will report back! It will be an interesting experience regardless of what happens. I just don’t get why they would even start assigning check in times at 10…since the restart I’ve always seen either 11 or 12 as the earliest check in time. 

[HAL4NOW]

We have arrived in Vancouver on the Koningsdam this morning. In our case, we have been instructed to wait in our cabin until 10:00 or 10:30 when someone from the ship’s staff will come and escort us into the terminal to catch the taxi they have ordered for us. Don’t expect early boarding.

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, HAL4NOW said:

We have arrived in Vancouver on the Koningsdam this morning. In our case, we have been instructed to wait in our cabin until 10:00 or 10:30 when someone from the ship’s staff will come and escort us into the terminal to catch the taxi they have ordered for us. Don’t expect early boarding.

Thanks for the update! HAL wants us to take a bus to the terminal at 11...thank goodness for cruise critic. Fairmont has given me a 1 PM late check out and I will just make my own way over this afternoon. No reason to crowd in with everyone else. 

 

Hope your trip onwards goes smoothly! 

[Guest ldtr]

On 10/22/2022 at 4:27 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

I have read on cruise critic of people having really early embarkation times.  No recent experience myself.  If I remember correctly you do US immigration before you get on the ship even though you go to Victoria.  I’ve done this cruise a few times in conjunction with a Mexican cruise.  That said I have gotten off the ship after embarkation in Vancouver so that part is odd.  My cruises were before the pandemic. 

I expect it is because if you get off, then you have to go back through US customs again, since if you leave the customs cleared area you have basically returned to Canada.  The delays in clearing customs has been one of the major headaches when sailing out of Vancouver.  The hour delay might be due to when customs will be staffed.  If the ship is expecting a backlog there, they would not want people to get off and have to get cleared twice.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

I expect it is because if you get off, then you have to go back through US customs again, since if you leave the customs cleared area you have basically returned to Canada.  The delays in clearing customs has been one of the major headaches when sailing out of Vancouver.  The hour delay might be due to when customs will be staffed.  If the ship is expecting a backlog there, they would not want people to get off and have to get cleared twice.

Well I guess it's changed on the last few years. I only had to go through security. I'm a Canadian citizen.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Well I guess it's changed on the last few years. I only had to go through security. I'm a Canadian citizen.

Does not make any difference, the primary reason why there is US  is to process immigration prior to arrival at US ports.  Just as flights from Vancouver to the US clear US immigration at Vancouver airport rather than upon arrival in the US.

 

Does not matter which country you are a citizen you have to clear US immigration on cruises departing Vancouver that are going directly to a US port.  It is largely because most of the cruises leaving Vancouver go to Alaska.  If you get off the ship and return outside of the immigration cleared area you must be processed by immigration again.  Been that way for quite a few years

[Florida_gal_50]

23 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Does not make any difference, the primary reason why there is US  is to process immigration prior to arrival at US ports.  Just as flights from Vancouver to the US clear US immigration at Vancouver airport rather than upon arrival in the US.

 

Does not matter which country you are a citizen you have to clear US immigration on cruises departing Vancouver that are going directly to a US port.  It is largely because most of the cruises leaving Vancouver go to Alaska.  If you get off the ship and return outside of the immigration cleared area you must be processed by immigration again.  Been that way for quite a few years

It wasn’t for me.  I’ve never heard of this before either so I’m not buying it.  People leave the ship all the time after embarkation.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[Guest ldtr]

21 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

It wasn’t for me.  I’ve never heard of this before either so I’m not buying it.  People leave the ship all the time after embarkation.

Too funny.  Quite sure others that have sailed out of Vancouver going to Alaska or directly to a US port heading south are pretty sure of the process as well.

 

Yes people leave the ship, but if they leave the immigration cleared area in the terminal they will have to go back through US immigration again.  As many people know US immigration is usually the biggest hold up of the boarding process. 

 

 

The following is an extraction from the port web site

https://www.portvancouver.com/cruise/passenger-information/

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

As passengers embarking in Vancouver are considered to be entering U.S. jurisdiction once they board the cruise ship, you will go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection immediately following the passenger screening process. Ten BorderXpress Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks are available for use by eligible US and Canadian passengers at the Canada Place cruise terminal with the goal of improving passenger experience. US Customs and Border protection is the final step before boarding your vessel.

Edited October 25, 2022 by ldtr

[zgscl]

So glad for the advice to come late. I arrived at the pier at 1:30. Walked through the vaccine/VeriFLY check, security and checkin. Sat in the folding chairs for about 20 mins before being released to stand in the boarding line. Walked on the ship at 2:04 which is really not bad. They were putting half the folding chairs away when I got there. I asked how it was earlier and they said it was completely full. Not sure what time they actually started boarding. 
 

As to customs there were signs saying we would pre-clear US customs, however we did not need to. As it turns out they are canceling Victoria tomorrow so we actually are heading directly to the US

[Florida_gal_50]

32 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Too funny.  Quite sure others that have sailed out of Vancouver going to Alaska or directly to a US port heading south are pretty sure of the process as well.

 

Yes people leave the ship, but if they leave the immigration cleared area in the terminal they will have to go back through US immigration again.  As many people know US immigration is usually the biggest hold up of the boarding process. 

 

 

The following is an extraction from the port web site

https://www.portvancouver.com/cruise/passenger-information/

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

As passengers embarking in Vancouver are considered to be entering U.S. jurisdiction once they board the cruise ship, you will go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection immediately following the passenger screening process. Ten BorderXpress Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks are available for use by eligible US and Canadian passengers at the Canada Place cruise terminal with the goal of improving passenger experience. US Customs and Border protection is the final step before boarding your vessel.

I’m not disputing you go through it when you initially embark.  What I’m not buying is if you leave and come back you will have to do it again.  I see nothing in your post that proves that.