Veendam- Canada Place Very Busy on Sept 24

[OldCodger73]

At the end of last week we booked the 4-day Pacific Coast cruise on the Veendam from Vancouver to Los Angeles begining on September 24. This will be our second cruise, the first was an Alaska rountrip out of Vancouver on the Volendam in July. We're really looking forward to giving one of the "S" type ships a try.

I'm still reading the Alaska board and came across a thread stating that there will be 5 ships at Canada Place on September 24. If true, that sounds like embarcation has the potential to become a headache.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=400139

[RuthC]

I don't believe it's possible for five ships to be at Canada Place at the same time. There simply isn't sufficient room for them all.
IIRC, that's the day that 2 ships will be at Ballantyne Pier, and another ship arrives at Canada Place late in the day.

Vancouver itself should be busy, and Canada Place will be, too, but not as bad as you're thinking.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We too will be on the Veendam for the 4 days to Los Angeles. I had originally thought that we would be one of the few ships to be there and that it should not be as hectic as it was when we went out on the Ryndam in May. I just pulled up the Cruise Ship Calander and guess what there is not 5 ships in Vancouver but....SEVEN:eek:

Are you arriving the day before? You should come over to our Roll Call on the Roll Call Board. Aussie Gal started it.

[OldCodger73]

OK, I checked the Port of Vancouver's website and there are six ships in Vancouver, five at Canada Place and one at Ballantyne Pier. Interesting. I guess they're stacking them up, grin.
http://www.portvancouver.com/vanAlaCruise/content/schedule/index.php?

No, we're coming up from Seattle that morning. I noticed the multi-page roll call for that cruise. Most of the posters are doing the whole cruise so I wasn't sure if the short timers were welcome to play in that thread or not.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

OK, I checked the Port of Vancouver's website and there are six ships in Vancouver, five at Canada Place and one at Ballantyne Pier. Interesting. I guess they're stacking them up, grin.
http://www.portvancouver.com/vanAlaCruise/content/schedule/index.php?

No, we're coming up from Seattle that morning. I noticed the multi-page roll call for that cruise. Most of the posters are doing the whole cruise so I wasn't sure if the short timers were welcome to play in that thread or not.

No, You are definitely Welcome:) We are evening having a CC Get Together on Tuesday the first Sea Day.
All I can say about Canada Place What a Mess that is going to be!!!!!:eek: Just get me on the ship and hand me a drink because I think we will all need it:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

You are so right!!

Right now the Norwegian Star, Norwegian Sun, Dawn Princess, Ryndam and Veendam are scheduled to be at Canada Place.

The Serenade of the Seas is scheduled to be at the Ballantyne dock.

There will probably be some changes made by Sept 24.

[Joy2theWorld]

We are going to be on the Ryndam that disembarks on the 24th. What kind of changes could they make? I'm just still trying to make our arrangements to get back to Seattle, so, I'm wondering what kind of changes are possible.

[Aussie Gal]

Old Codger 73,

Please come over to our Roll Call and join us. As Lisa mentioned we have a few cruisers who are doing just the four day cruise and we would love to meet up with you.

Here is the link for our Roll Call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=237360&page=18

Jennie

[CoconutFish]

Have contacted Port of Vancouver.

Four ships will be docked on September 24, with the fifth ariving in the evening.

Confirmed that the Veendam will be at Canada Place.

[Aussie Gal]

Coconut Fish,

Thanks for the confirmation. It will be a busy port on that day but I daresay we will survive!!

Jennie

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I agree it will be extremely hectic and busy. It was a true Mad House in May with just 3 ships there I cannot imagine what having 1 more ships will do. :eek:

[Atomica]

I have my fingers crossed for everyone sailing on September 24th that all goes well!

Although I am a huge fan of printed documents, this is the one time where an on-line checkin process would probably speed things up a lot. Last year things really crunched up not in customs or security, but in the actual check-in staging areas.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Aaron, when you did this same cruise last year was there this many ships at Canada Place? I am just glad that we are staying at the Pan Pacific and I believe they will do like the Fairmont did and take our luggage for us that morning from our hotel room.

[Atomica]

Aaron, when you did this same cruise last year was there this many ships at Canada Place? I am just glad that we are staying at the Pan Pacific and I believe they will do like the Fairmont did and take our luggage for us that morning from our hotel room.

Lisa, yes, there were 4 ships including the Veendam at Canada Place last year - the Veendam and Ryndam, and the NCL Sun & Star.

The difference was last year, the Ryndam was leaving at 2pm for San Diego - the majority of the passengers were already in the checkin area, and they were being let onboard when I sat down at the Veendam ticketing area around noon.

It was fairly orderly though - I think I only waited for 15-20 minutes at customs before being ushered into the checkin area.

The confusion came as Ryndam and Veendam passengers clustered into the same passageway - I remember having to push my way through Ryndam passengers who were standing in the passageway in order to get to the Veendam checkin area. Later on a port official came around and put line barriers up to help the flow of people. The NCL passengers were on the other side of a glass partition, so the two lines never intermingled, which helped prevent the terminal from feeling overcrowded.

Once I was in the checkin area, I was given a number, and I remember not really enjoying that - you couldn't hear what number they were calling, and many people were just going up whenever they felt like, only to be told to have a seat. People were even trying to sneak into the line for suite passengers! However, I probably only had to sit there for 15 minutes before my number was called - I just kept sipping my coffee and reading my paper :)

Overall, I didn't feel it was a bad experience. It was much busier than the other times I've checked in there, but I've had far worse experiences at airports.

This year, the X-factor will be the Norwegian Star - it's not scheduled to arrive until the evening, but there's no telling when passengers will start arriving, so there could be some initial confusion around the outside of the terminal. Still, I think things will be ok! At least by the end of the season they should have checkin down to a science :)

[Atomica]

Just an add-on to my last post: Lisa, you are correct, the Pan Pacific should handle your luggage for you. You can even take the elevators from the hotel directly down to the terminal

[CoconutFish]

Atomica:
Would you be able to remember exactly where the two HAL ships docked last year at Canada Place? I still can't figure out how they will postion the four ships.

[Atomica]

Atomica:
Would you be able to remember exactly where the two HAL ships docked last year at Canada Place? I still can't figure out how they will postion the four ships.

The Ryndam and Veendam were on the longest side of Canada Place (east side - closest to the SeaBus terminal. They were docked bow-to-bow with each other, with the Ryndam being the closest to the street around Canada Place.

I stood on the bow of the Veendam, watching the Ryndam slowly pull away - they did it very carefully and methodically, and maybe only passed 10 feet away or so from us.

I took a couple of pictures of the whole thing, which are on this page:
http://homepage.mac.com/atomicaaron/Veendam1/PhotoAlbum15.html

I'd assume this is where the Veendam/Ryndam will be this year, with the Dawn Princess and Norwegian Sun occupying the two berths on the West side, closest to Stanley Park. Just a guess though!

[Aussie Gal]

Atomica,

Super photos. Thanks for sharing. I hope we get a brilliant sunset like the one you had. It would be a wonderful start to our big adventure.

Jennie

[SDHALFAN]

Hi Aaron,

What fantastic photos. Thanks so much for sharing them. I am even more excited about my next cruise now (coming up in October), and you even got me to thinking that it's time I paid another visit to one of my favorite cities in the world - Vancouver.

Valerie:)

[Atomica]

Thanks Jennie and Valerie!

I love taking pictures so I always think it's great when others can enjoy them as well!

[shipcafe]

I will be aboard Norwegian Sun disembarking in Vancouver on the 24th. Canada Place can definitely accommodate this many ships as I have seen it being done in the past. It might just be a bit busy.

[CoconutFish]

Atomica:

Thanks so very much for your superb photos! It is wonderful to see the ship in advance and in such detail! Wow! Glad to hear that you love taking photos on your cruises -- generous of you for posting them for everyone to enjoy! :)

Thanks also for your reply about where the ships were positioned last year. This makes sense, but I didn't realize that the east side of Canada Place was long enough for two 720' ships. Great!

[Atomica]

You're very welcome, CoconutFish.

To be honest, last year I had my doubts too about how they were going to fit all those ships there, but they did it. I figure the east pier has to be roughly 1600 feet long, because both ships fit there quite nicely.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Aaron, Thanks for your information:) Wow you and Kim have just 4 weeks from Saturday till your cruise. I will take lost of pictures of your Sail Away. After your Sail Away we plan to have an early dinner in Heron's in the Fairmont. We enjoyed Sunday Brunch there in May so want to return.

[ArtM]

Based on our experiences on days with 3 ships at Canada Place, I wouldn't worry about embarcation day.

I would have serious concerns about having any sort of tight schedule on the day I disembarked. For us, it was a scramble getting to the Vancouver Airport for a 3 PM flight. However, I wouldn't expect a lot of ships in Canada Place for a cruise ending mid-week.

The issue is a finite supply of taxis and a 35 to 45 minute drive to the airport. In other words, once a taxi leaves, it is not seen again at Canada Place for a long time. Not like FLL and SAN where a taxi can make at RT to the airport in 20 minutes.

Art

[Atomica]

Aaron, Thanks for your information:) Wow you and Kim have just 4 weeks from Saturday till your cruise. I will take lost of pictures of your Sail Away. After your Sail Away we plan to have an early dinner in Heron's in the Fairmont. We enjoyed Sunday Brunch there in May so want to return.

Lisa, I was just thinking about that today - 4 weeks to go! I look forward to seeing you and Tom at our sailaway - it sounds like you will have a great evening lined up as well. I've heard dinner at Herons is supposed to be very good!

[Kamloops50]

At the end of last week we booked the 4-day Pacific Coast cruise on the Veendam from Vancouver to Los Angeles begining on September 24. This will be our second cruise, the first was an Alaska rountrip out of Vancouver on the Volendam in July. We're really looking forward to giving one of the "S" type ships a try.

I'm still reading the Alaska board and came across a thread stating that there will be 5 ships at Canada Place on September 24. If true, that sounds like embarcation has the potential to become a headache.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=400139
For those that are interested in ships in Vancouver , refer to

Port of Vancouver Site

http://www.portvancouver.com/vanAlaCruise/content/schedule/index.php?