Canada Place Two-Ship Day Expectation

[Sea-n-Ease]

We are sailing out of Vancouver in early summer 2024.  There are only two ships currently scheduled at Canada Place the day we leave.  Royal Princess (3600 passengers) and Koningsdam (2650 passengers). 
 

What should we expect in terms of embarkation madness (or ease? 😊)

 

Thanks!

[suekel]

I board next month with only 2 ships.  I'll report back.  

[MBP&O2/O]

I have a bee in my bonnet about this and, researching and reading between the lines  I am of the impression that it will be 'challenging' 😤 ... especially if you are not a US Citizen and have all the ESTA palaver today with.

Some one quoted over 3hrs last month..

Deep joy awaits 🙄

Edited August 14, 2023 by MBP&O2/O

[martincath]

Over 6,000 pax so that's a BIG two ship day thanks to Royal... given that many three-ship days include two vessels in the ~2500 pax range plus a wee small luxury ship with ~700 or less, I'd be playing safe and treating it as a three-shipper in terms of passenger numbers. Only after CBP do the passengers separate, so it's really just the total number of pax that is relevant until the very last stage (which is only relevant for early-embarkers - if you are sensible and show up late, you will walk straight onboard rather than hang around near your ship!)

 

Be either very, very early (11am is probably too late) or else be very, very late - for only the cost of missing a 'free' sit-down lunch onboard, by boarding late you have a much more pleasant day (more time to see Vancouver, less time spent in queues) provided you don't do something silly like take a trip to the North Shore - as long as you can walk to the pier from wherever you spend your time mid-afternoon, you remove all risks of traffic problems and especially bridge-crossings.

 

The important time to be aware of is All Aboard - deduct two hours from scheduled sailaway for this, the hard cap you should aim to arrive before so that CBP allow you to board. Also be aware that if you are sailing Royal rather than Koningsdam, you may end up with a very weird sailaway time issued not long before your trip - Princess are apparently incapable of referring to tide timetables in advance, so even though they are officially published over a year in advance in books (even longer online) they insist on claiming a typical 4:30-5:30pm departure is the plan then blame (God? Poseidon? Aquaman? Take your pick!) when it turns out that they can only get under Lion's Gate bridge at 3am or whenever... CBP don't like working O/T though, so even if you won't leave port until the wee small hours All Aboard Time will probably remain no later than 5pm.

 

At this point in time, the only real planning that makes sense is to arrange NEXUS or Global Entry if you are entitled to apply and have not yet acquired one of them - you may actually have time to get a card even as a first-timer! While not guaranteed to be available, there's a good chance there will be an expedited lane through the biggest bottleneck (CBP) at Canada Place and definitely at YVR if you are flying in from anywhere outside Canada. NEXUS is the single best value spend in travel if you are able to get to the interview locations - $10 a year for all benefits of TSA Pre, the extra GE stuff, and also extra Canada-specific benefits by land and air (and sometimes sea depending on the port).

[Blocks]

I boarded Celebrity Eclipse in June 2023 with 3 medium sized ships in port. We arrived at Canada Place at 11:30 joined a large but reasonable fast moving queue to drop off luggage, then upstairs for cruise line specific checkin with minimal queue, joined a fast moving queue to get back downstairs for security and then passport control. This was the slowest part but even then it wasn't too bad. After passport control we immediately boarded the ship with no further wait. 

 

It is a bit muddled with crossing of various queues but time wise it wasn't too bad. 

[westcoasttech]

As recommended above, go early (before 11 am ... ideally around 10:30am) and be prepared to wait (after security/customs) before boarding starts, or go late (around 2 - 2:30pm) and miss the lunch time rush, and probably onboard lunch too!

 

Another combination is to head to the port, drop your bags, do the check-in process, and then, if the security line looks long, head out to downtown Vancouver for a stroll and a leisurely lunch (on your own dime!), before heading back around 2 pm to go through security/customs.  There are several nice dining options in close proximity to Canada Place ... Coal Harbour area or Gastown.  Just make sure to check the cruiseline recommended last boarding times ... In past years I have seen people running up at 4:30pm and still getting on, but I would not recommend testing that out!