Vancouver Airport and Canadians!!!

[donnaleed]

I need a little help, everyone discussing the hassles of the Vancouver Airport are talking about going through Canadian customs. How is arriving and departing for Canadians? We are flying in from Saskatchewan and are wondering how long it should take us to get out and on our way!

 

Thanks in advance!

[grouchy]

When we travel and return home,we walk miles to get to immigration and stand in line like everyone else. But Jamaica and Morroco were far worse!

[Vanisle]

I need a little help, everyone discussing the hassles of the Vancouver Airport are talking about going through Canadian customs. How is arriving and departing for Canadians? We are flying in from Saskatchewan and are wondering how long it should take us to get out and on our way!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You wont need to go through customs if you are winging it from Sask.Only if you are coming from another country.

Id guess if you are flying with a cruise /air package you go through customs

with the rest of us at the pier.

I havent cruised before but fly in and out of Vancouver all the time

Have fun !!

[FionaM]

As a Canadian flying in Canada you will get off the plane, grab a cab and go directly to the pier. No customs involved. (at the airport)

When you get to the pier you will need to clear American customs. Even though you are still in Canada you will be entering American territory once your ship leaves port. When you arrive back you will need to clear Canadian customs. Grab a cab back to the airport, check your bags with the airline and that will be it.

Anyone who is a non Canadian will have to clear customs twice. Once coming into Canada and again at the pier. (reverse that for going home). Think of it as crossing at the border into the USA and back again.

There can be very long lines at the pier. Depending which pier you are at

Canada Place or Ballentyne. How many ships are in port and what time you are arriving. I would not recommend arriving at peak hours when there are multiple ships at Canada Place - stood in line for an hour waiting to clear customs.

Enjoy your cruise and don't worry about the customs thing.

Cheers

[BCHappyGal]

No customs at the airport for someone flying in from Sask. Just grab your bags and off you go to the dock. Plan to arrive a little early i.e. just before noon and you should miss the huge lineups to embark. Embarkation regardless of from which port is a pain. there are over a 1000 passengers who all have to be processed (tickets taken - room key/shipboard credit card/reboarding card) by the ship before you can board. Ignore the item in the ticket that says boarding is at 2pm and arrive at the dock several hours early and you will be on the ship in about 45 mins (that is about the minimum it takes for a ship to process you and board you) and enjoying lunch while all those who believed what they read int heir tickets and all arrived at the same time are all standing in line waiting for their cabin key.

 

Have you thought of flying via Abbotsford instead of Vancouver international airport. No lineups out at Abbotsford. And althought the distance is a little longer to the dock the ability to drive on the freeway instead of totally in city traffic will make the drive from the airport ot the dock about the same amount of time.

 

We use Abbotsford instead of Vancouver whenever possible. West Jet does a lot of flights out of Abbotsford.

 

Ann

[Cruise Junky]

Have you thought of flying via Abbotsford instead of Vancouver international airport. No lineups out at Abbotsford. And althought the distance is a little longer to the dock the ability to drive on the freeway instead of totally in city traffic will make the drive from the airport ot the dock about the same amount of time.

 

We use Abbotsford instead of Vancouver whenever possible. West Jet does a lot of flights out of Abbotsford.

 

Ann

 

That's not a cab fare I'd like to pay.. middle of the night - no traffic sending a staff member home from downtown to Abbotsford is around $65.

[donnaleed]

Thanks so much for the info - we booked our flight through Airmiles and Air Canada so I don't think Abbotsford was an option for us. Thanks for the tip about heading to the pier early - we arrive in Vancouver at 11:00 and we were wondering how we would kill a few hours - now we know we'll just head for the ship!

[grouchy]

You would have to rent a car or take a major and expensive cab ride.