Disembarkation in Vancouver and time to get to airport...

[Jenhilmc]

We did no lifting or stairs. We walked off the ship, down the ramps, down Canada Place pier to the street. We then walked about two blocks to the Uber pickup spot. There was a slight upward slant to the ramps. We are 65 and 66. My husband pulled our 48 lb checked bag and I handled the carryon. 

[Desert Dawg14]

I know this is quite a bit after the last post but maybe someone with experience will see this and offer some advice.

 

Wondering if we can make an 11:20a flight out of YVR from our disembark off Holland Alaska cruise next year at Canada Place.  I already learned that we need to do our own disembark with luggage asap at 7:30a (or when first available) and we will take the SkyTrain from the Cordova St station to YVR as suggested above.  I estimated we would arrive at YVR at 8:15a or so, as long as there are no delays in docking etc of course.

 

So will this allow for enough time to clear security AND US Customs??  We are trying to hop a flight back to the east coast and trying to avoid long waits at the airport, BUT dont want to push it time-wise either if it's cutting it too close based on past experiences or delays.

 

Thanks for any help!

[martincath]

18 minutes ago, Desert Dawg14 said:

...I already learned that we need to do our own disembark with luggage asap at 7:30a (or when first available) and we will take the SkyTrain from the Cordova St station to YVR as suggested above.  I estimated we would arrive at YVR at 8:15a or so, as long as there are no delays in docking etc of course.

 

So will this allow for enough time to clear security AND US Customs?? ...

Even with 4 ships in port, SkyTrain can handle the traffic levels just fine - while there's no such thing as a 100% guarantee (ship might have a propulsion failure and arrive very late, SkyTrain does have very occasional failures, YVR had a massive power cut once in the last decade, another occasion the computer systems all went down causing multiple-hour delays) this is as close to a sure thing as you can plan for! Even if you had a flight at 1pm, any really disastrous thing going wrong could also mean you miss that.

 

The only time you ever really need more than two hours at YVR, even for US preclearance flights, would be on multiship days after the busloads of cruise transfer pax start rolling in which isn't until ~9:30am.

 

If you do much international travel - even literally one foreign trip a year - then NEXUS or Global Entry are money well spent, and both would expedite you through CBP and Security when heading south. If you don't already have an application under way it's probably too late for the 2024 cruise season - but there's also YVRs 'prebook your security slot' Express service which anyone can use, and just on the offchance that Something Unexpected Crops Up you can at least hedge your bets for the Security queue.

 

Of course, the best advice I can offer is always the same - stay overnight for as many days as your time and $ budgets can handle, as Vancouver is an outstanding place to visit, then book a flight in the first tranche of day before 9am. You'll likely be in the air then before the first same-day-disembarkers even arrive at YVR, fly home in daylight, and more often that not pay less for the flight too as everyone and their granny wants the 'no need to get up early, can get to it after a cruise' noonish to mid-afternoon flights so they usually carry a premium cost...

[Crew News]

22 minutes ago, Desert Dawg14 said:

I know this is quite a bit after the last post but maybe someone with experience will see this and offer some advice.

 

Wondering if we can make an 11:20a flight out of YVR from our disembark off Holland Alaska cruise next year at Canada Place.  I already learned that we need to do our own disembark with luggage asap at 7:30a (or when first available) and we will take the SkyTrain from the Cordova St station to YVR as suggested above.  I estimated we would arrive at YVR at 8:15a or so, as long as there are no delays in docking etc of course.

 

So will this allow for enough time to clear security AND US Customs??  We are trying to hop a flight back to the east coast and trying to avoid long waits at the airport, BUT dont want to push it time-wise either if it's cutting it too close based on past experiences or delays.

 

Thanks for any help!

Self Disembarkation BEGINS at 7:30, and in my experience, lasts for about 45 minutes because there are so many passengers choosing this option.  Add the time to get to the Skytrain and the train schedule (every 7 minutes).  The lines at the airport for airline check-in are very long as is the Security screening line, especially on cruise days.   The plane closes its doors about 10 minutes before departure.

 

An 11:20 AM flight is possible if all goes well.  I would not risk a flight before noon.

 

[Desert Dawg14]

Thanks martincath and Crew News.  Really appreciate the advice.

 

I hadn't factored in the time involved for other passengers who may also want to self disembark and realize that delay could really push our time schedule back if there is a large group.  Since the later flight departure times involve long connections, we are limited in our choices.

 

I think we will take martincath's suggestion and look into staying that extra night and fly out early the next morning instead.  It would definitely make for a less hectic disembark off the ship that last morning.  And save us from maybe having to run through the airport with luggage in tow and hurdling chairs to make the gate like in those old car rental TV commercials...'cause I know who would be carrying all the luggage...

 

Thanks again for your help.  I'm sure I'll be back with more questions about Vancouver as we get closer to the trip.

 

 

[Crew News]

34 minutes ago, Desert Dawg14 said:

Thanks martincath and Crew News.  Really appreciate the advice.

 

I hadn't factored in the time involved for other passengers who may also want to self disembark and realize that delay could really push our time schedule back if there is a large group.  Since the later flight departure times involve long connections, we are limited in our choices.

 

I think we will take martincath's suggestion and look into staying that extra night and fly out early the next morning instead.  It would definitely make for a less hectic disembark off the ship that last morning.  And save us from maybe having to run through the airport with luggage in tow and hurdling chairs to make the gate like in those old car rental TV commercials...'cause I know who would be carrying all the luggage...

 

Thanks again for your help.  I'm sure I'll be back with more questions about Vancouver as we get closer to the trip.

 

Another option is to take the HAL bus ($79) from the Vancouver cruise terminal to the Seattle airport (arrive around 3:00 PM), utilize a nearby hotel 's (Marriott) free shuttle, spend the night at a lower cost (Marriott), and fly home in the morning at a lot cheaper airfare (Southwest).  A few years ago, staying in Seattle for two nights cut the Southwest Airlines fare nearly in half.

 

The same process also works on cruise day:  Catch the HAL bus ($79) at the Seattle airport at 8:30 AM and arrive at the Vancouver cruise terminal around 1:00 PM.  Cheaper airfares to Seattle as well as hotels.