Immigration & Customs in Vancouver

[marycang]

Just saw a reference to Immigration when boarding the ship in Vancouver. Doesn't clearing immigration & customs happen on arrival at the airport and not at the ship?

 

Thanks for your info.

 

P.S. We are U.S. citizens

[NCCruzQueen]

Mary,

 

When you get on the ship, you are leaving Canada for the US, so will need to go through immigration and customs again.

[Travelcat2]

I find customs in Vancouver interesting. You clear customs when you leave the ship (sometimes) and again when you are boarding your plane back to the U.S. We sailed from San Francisco to Alaska and back to Vancouver. The Customs gentlemen spend the entire afternoon while passengers of the ship went through Passport Control (the ship went from the U.S. to Canada and then back into the U.S. in Alaska). To the best of my knowledge, the Customs Agent spent the night on the Mariner (not a bad job)

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We just went through Canada Place disembarcation.

 

You got through Canadian Customs and Immigration getting off the ship. They have a bypass if you are going right to the YVR Airport from the ship so you go through immigration again for the US. You actually clear US Customs in Canada in that case.

 

It's kind of a dual coming and going.....

[OrpingtonT]

Just saw a reference to Immigration when boarding the ship in Vancouver. Doesn't clearing immigration & customs happen on arrival at the airport and not at the ship?

 

Thanks for your info.

 

P.S. We are U.S. citizens

 

CruzQueen has it right. when you land at Vancouver Airport you are entering Canada (as we are from the UK) and clear Canadian customs and immigration. At Canada Place you are boarding to leave Canada and enter the US territory of Alaska so you endure the US entry procedures which are less onerous for US citizens, but have to be gone through.

[egret]

We did the Mariner to Alaska a few years ago. Immigration at Vancouver Airport was very lengthy, more than an hour in line, then about 45 minute wait for the bus to the ship terminal. We breazed through immigration and customs at the ship terminal. I guess alot is determined by the arrival timing.

[dvalentine823]

Just saw a reference to Immigration when boarding the ship in Vancouver. Doesn't clearing immigration & customs happen on arrival at the airport and not at the ship?

 

Thanks for your info.

 

P.S. We are U.S. citizens

 

You will have to clear customs when your flight lands, of course. Once you are at the port, you will just have to show your passport again during normal boarding procedures.

 

But, during your cruise, you will have to clear customs again when you pass from Canadian waters to the next US port. This was conducted the previous evening on the ship when I sailed.

[dobes4me]

You got through Canadian Customs and Immigration getting off the ship. They have a bypass if you are going right to the YVR Airport from the ship so you go through immigration again for the US. You actually clear US Customs in Canada in that case.

 

So does that mean you don't have to go through customs again once you reach your destination in the US?

[DaveFr]

So does that mean you don't have to go through customs again once you reach your destination in the US?

That's correct. Once you go through US Customs Preclearance in Vancouver, you will not have to go through customs again at your US destination. After preclearance, your flight will be treated as though it is a domestic flight.

 

Dave

[Roland4]

That's correct. Once you go through US Customs Preclearance in Vancouver, you will not have to go through customs again at your US destination. After preclearance, your flight will be treated as though it is a domestic flight.

 

Dave

 

This is common practice in all major Canadian airports. Apparently it has to do with the fact that many non-hub airports in the smaller US centers don't have Customs/Immigration services available. For anyone departing from Vancouver International it's generally a good idea to get to the airport at least two hours in advance to allow enough time to clear US Immigration and Security. Another thing to keep in mind is that you have to keep all your luggage with you until you clear US Customs. At least that is how it works in Toronto and I can't see it being different in Vancouver. I will know for sure by this time next week though.:)

[cruiseej]

CruzQueen has it right. when you land at Vancouver Airport you are entering Canada (as we are from the UK) and clear Canadian customs and immigration. At Canada Place you are boarding to leave Canada and enter the US territory of Alaska so you endure the US entry procedures which are less onerous for US citizens, but have to be gone through.

 

Right. And I'll just add that when we did this two weeks ago to board Mariner in Vancouver, we arrived at Canada Place about 12:15, and there was no line anywhere; going through US customs took about two minutes. The only line we encountered was once we boarded Mariner and were guided to the theater, where it took about 10 minutes of waiting in line to check in.

 

-- Eric

[Grothj]

We just finished our Mariner Alaska cruise in Seward. We flew home through Vancouver - with a day layover. When you leave Vancouver via air, you clear US customs at the Vancouver airport...which for us was a breaze and much easier than usually at home. However, we were on a very early flight (7:06am) so there were no lines.

[verdl]

We will disembark in Vancouver and do not plan to leave via air.

 

When/where will we encounter customs.

 

Thank you

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well, presumably you clear Canadian customs at some point in Vancouver at the end of your cruise (just assuming). If you're driving back to the States you'll hit customs at the border.