Embarkation time from Canada Place

[johnkylie]

We are booked on the Ruby Princess for an Alaskian cruise departing Vancouver in June. Our travel summary shows the ship departing at 4pm but on the Princess app it says the arrival time in Vancouver is 1pm on day 1. Does that mean that they will board everyone between 1 and 4pm? Or does that indicate a later departure time?

We are trying to determine when to get to the cruise terminal.

[Mark_K]

The ship actually gets into Vancouver at 7:30, so they have plenty of time to get everyone off the ship.  They may start boarding at one, or they may start it earlier.  It would be unusual for them to alter the departure time.

[johnkylie]

Thanks so much for the reply. Much appreciated.  We were planning to have lunch in the city and then go to the cruise terminal after that so looks like that will work.

[Coral]

I think I got there at 9:30 and was onboard by 11:30 or so.

 

We had a bunch of us on CC who were together waiting to board and we enjoyed chatting with each other. We had met the night before.

 

This was last May.

[johnkylie]

41 minutes ago, Coral said:

I think I got there at 9:30 and was onboard by 11:30 or so.

 

We had a bunch of us on CC who were together waiting to board and we enjoyed chatting with each other. We had met the night before.

 

This was last May.

Thanks. This is our first Alaska cruise so we are really looking forward to it.

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, johnkylie said:

Thanks. This is our first Alaska cruise so we are really looking forward to it.

I should clarify that I am Elite so I was one of the first onboard but there were individuals I knew who were not Elite and they did get on shortly after me.

 

They did check people in quickly and then we sat for awhile. Then we moved to another area to sit until we were ready to board.

[NavyVeteran]

Your Travel Summary does NOT show an arrival time on embarkation day, since the ship's arrival is not part of your cruise. It shows a time when boarding starts, which would be after all the passengers from the previous cruise have left the ship. Sometimes they will start boarding before the stated time.

[nini]

Personally, boarding day is for boarding. Canada Place tends to not be a pleasant boarding experience. In September 2022, we arrived in the morning and went through the process. THAT is where you want to have lunch, IMHO. 

After boarding, you can relax, enjoy lunch and beverages, complete the muster process, and then sail away.

[Essex Racer]

Tuesday 21st May - we arrived at CP around 10:30am with UK passports and Elite / Platinum, very swift boarding experience, short while spent sitting waiting to board having gone through check in / immigration, and onboard just after 11am.

Edited May 23 by Essex Racer

[memoak]

We always board early afternoon after a late breakfast or early lunch on shore. Don’t need to fight the crowds or stand in lines. Just walk in and get on board within a few minutes after 1:00 or so

[NavyVeteran]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

We always board early afternoon after a late breakfast or early lunch on shore. Don’t need to fight the crowds or stand in lines. Just walk in and get on board within a few minutes after 1:00 or so

I would much rather have lunch in the MDR on the ship. Once I'm sitting down in the MDR for lunch, I know I've started my vacation.

[BDevilCruiser]

Boarded the (then broken) Sapphire Princess on May 11th.  The ship was late, with the last passengers disembarking just before noon.  The email told us boarding would start around 3PM.  I walked over and got to the terminal about 2:45 (ready to stand outside if not allowed in yet) and people had already embarked.  So I walked into the parking deck to start the process.  (Signs clearly marked the baggage drop-off area.)

 

Because we were so late in starting boarding, almost all of the passengers in the terminal were for the Sapphire, not the two (larger) ships also in port.  That helped the crowds at the two common pinch points (customs and security.)  But also meant that Sapphire passengers were "compressed" into a smaller time window.

 

There are lines for: baggage drop-off (very minor), getting your medallion (longest line, maybe 25 minutes), customs (very short), security (also very short), check-in (second longest) and boarding.  Based on my photo time stamp, I was at my cabin at 3:32PM.  Everything was organized and kept moving.

[johnkylie]

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences.