Disembarkation in Vancouver — Luggage storage for late departing flight?

[AlabamaSolo]

I'm on the Seward to Vancouver cruise, 8/30-9/6. Port time at the disembarkation port (Vancouver) is 7:00 a.m., and our flight out of Vancouver isn't until 10:35 p.m. Does anyone know if Regent is helpful in finding a place to stash luggage so we can see a museum and get something to eat or something during the day? 

And if Regent is not helpful, does anyone have any tips for this kind of destination layover? 

[martincath]

Regent might offer some sort of 'transfer bags to the airport' as part of a sightseeing excursion - but simplest and cheapest is best IMO, which means heading upstairs to the Pan Pacific hotel lobby and storing your bags with the bell staff. There is an official pier storage - but because it's signposted it has longer queues than any other option, is the most expensive option at $12 a bag, and worst of all makes you return by no later than 4:30pm to collect them again which is worthless for someone with a flight as late as yours...

 

Enjoy a day in Vancouver, have dinner downtown, get bags again at ~8pm, head out to YVR (whether a taxi, uber, limo or SkyTrain it'll all take about 35 minutes end to end that time of day) and check-in, CBP stop work at 8:30pm, so no preclearance for your flight, it will be a 'regular' international one with immigration and customs on your arrival in the US - which does mean that arriving more than a couple of hours early is pointless, it's never busy for these red eyes.

 

Your bag check time cap will be much more of a limiting factor than airport procedures - most airlines it's at least a full hour pre-flight. If you're flying with just carry-on I would honestly not be worried showing up 45mins early for a 10:35pm flight!

[tobewan]

On 8/25/2023 at 1:42 PM, martincath said:

Pan Pacific hotel lobby and storing your bags with the bell staff...

official pier storage ... makes you return by no later than 4:30pm to collect them...

get bags again at ~8pm, head out to YVR...

We will likely have the same situation next year.  So you're suggesting leaving bags at Pan Pacific - but their policy (in FAQ) is "5. Is there a place to store luggage? ... This service is available for hotel guests only."  Is your experience that the bell staff will store luggage even if you are not a guest?  Thanks!

[ChatKat in Ca.]

2 hours ago, tobewan said:

We will likely have the same situation next year.  So you're suggesting leaving bags at Pan Pacific - but their policy (in FAQ) is "5. Is there a place to store luggage? ... This service is available for hotel guests only."  Is your experience that the bell staff will store luggage even if you are not a guest?  Thanks!

I have been a guest several times of the Pan Pacific. I was less than thrilled to see that they left guest luggage right at the curb with one bellman to observe.  He would leave the luggage to attend other guests.  The last time they did put some plastic mesh over the group of bags.  I've also seen bags left unsecured along a wall by an entrance.  I would not be comfortable doing this again.

[martincath]

I live locally, so my knowledge of bag storage anywhere is from other folks reports and research rather than personal experience! Suffice to say that the PP has been storing non-guests bags for literally decades whatever their official policy is - they also offer a special, much more expensive, cruise room rate with bag transfer yet also offer that transfer on a tips-only basis  to folks not on that rate, so they are very consistent in not applying their own policies about bags 😉

 

But for folks who would rather have an official warranty to cover any potential losses, multiple online storage brokers operate locally too - in various hotels, restos, and stores near the port. Googling "Vancouver luggage storage" will pop services like bounce, luggage hero etc. all of whom require prebooking but are still much cheaper than the pier storage with rates mostly $8-10 per bags and significant $ coverage for losses. Each facility determines their own hours, but you can see what they are before booking - at worst they are similar to the pier, 9-5ish, but mostly it's convenience stores in the 8am-10pm range or hotels offering a full 24hr service. Some of the brokerage services refuse to give exact locations, but others happily provide maps showing exactly where each storage location is - so while I have no recommendation for a specific service, I would personally suggest using one which does show the locations so you can choose one convenient for the pier or one of the downtown SkyTrain stations if you plan to use transit to YVR.

[AlabamaSolo]

Thank y’all for your help. I appreciate it! 

[tobewan]

@martincath - Awesome! Thanks for the insight!