Airport to Canada Place 4:30 sailing

One of our party will be arriving the the afternoon of the sailing (July 22) and I am wondering how lat she can arrive in Vancouver. I am thinking she would need to be on the ship (Coral Princess) by 3pm. Do you recommend she takes the Skytrain? How long would that take?

Thanks

One of our party will be arriving the the afternoon of the sailing (July 22) and I am wondering how lat she can arrive in Vancouver. I am thinking she would need to be on the ship (Coral Princess) by 3pm. Do you recommend she takes the Skytrain? How long would that take?

 

Thanks

From the time she exits the airport building to the time she gets to Canada Place should be less than one hour (the Skytrain ride is a bit over 20 minutes as I recall). A taxi should be about the same, assuming weekday and early afternoon, but would be easier to accomplish if you are not familiar with the Skytrain.

Of course it depends on whether the luggage is slow and if you have to go through Customs. And of course, if the plan arrives on time.

Personally, I would arrive as early as possible and not chance it. Getting in the night before is even better IMO.

I see you're from Ontario - if your other party member is also (or is arriving on a domestic flight at least) they won't need to go through customs/immigration at YVR, saving some time. Still, I think getting to the pier is realistically going to be at least 45mins after touchdown even if they are carry-on only travelers and run through the airport to cab/SkyTrain.

Personally I wouldn't risk a same-afternoon arrival to any cruise, anywhere unless I was able to walk to the pier from my home. If something goes screwy with her flight, is there another she can get on and still make it?

July 22nd means either Volendam 7day RT or Coral one-way to Whittier - if she misses departure on the Coral she cannot join it at a later port as it's all US ports after leaving Vancouver. Volendam in theory she could join at at Juneau since she's coming back to Canada, but it ain't going to be cheap and she'll already have missed Tracy Arm and a whole sea day...

If there is any way she can get on an earlier flight, even a red-eye after work the day before, it would be a very, very good idea to change her flight.

Working backwards....

• 2pm may be the latest to board
  
• 1:15 may be the latest I want to be in a cab
  
• 12pm may be the latest I want to land
  

In general... I would not want to be on a plane arriving later than 10am. As others have said.... any flight delays will seriously mess up your vacation. The earlier the arrival time the better.

BTW.... West Coast people are very friendly... no need skip Vancouver! Then again if you do miss the boat.... Vancouver has lots of things to keep you entertained for the week while you wait for your Alaska friends to return from their great cruise.

She works as a nurse so her shift would end at 7am. She could basically travel with nothing as my son would bring her things earlier. I am hoping she gets out of this Tuesday shift but it does not look good. It is also a PITA to get to Pearson from DT Toronto during morning rush hour so I am reluctant to book a flight earlier than 10am. Although her shift ends at 7am they rarely leave then, usually about 30-45 to update the next shift. There is a flight at 10am that arrives at 12:02 or 11:15 and arrives at 1:17

So I actually checked the Princess site (what an idea..lol) and they say the latest time to arrive is 2pm for a flight. that would allow her to take the 11:15am flight. It will cost be more but I will probably book EZair and then they will get her to the next port.

doesnt leave any time for airline delays. She needs to change her shift and fly in the day before or at least a much earlier flight.

So I actually checked the Princess site (what an idea..lol) and they say the latest time to arrive is 2pm for a flight. that would allow her to take the 11:15am flight. It will cost be more but I will probably book EZair and then they will get her to the next port.

As has already been pointed out, if she misses the ship in Vancouver as the itinerary is all US ports after departure, therefore would be a violation of the PVSA to join at any other port - it's make the departure or lose the cruise, unfortunately. EZair won't be able to help in this circumstance, so might as well just book directly with AC.

Perhaps because you're searching on EZair, you're missing the 10:30 departure on AC - yeah, it's more expensive, but for me gives you that bit more of a cushion at either end, so worth the hundred or so extra.

Note that the UP Express train from downtown Toronto to YYZ is scheduled to launch sometime this spring, so might be a quicker option for her to get to the airport.

doesnt leave any time for airline delays. She needs to change her shift and fly in the day before or at least a much earlier flight.

Agreed! The subway/taxi is the last thing to be concerned about.

Agreed x 2! Oh my goodness....

OP, seriously - she can't find another nurse to take her shift? Yeah, I have been stuck in Toronto traffic trying to get to the airport. We missed check-in once by 5 minutes. You say she may not leave her workplace until almost 8 am... yeah, she won't make that flight.

Seriously - unless she is *hated* by all her colleagues someone will swap shifts with her under the circumstances. I know a lot of medics and have never met a single shift-worker who didn't regard vacation as secondary only to weddings & funerals and bend over backwards to help colleagues (especially since the same will happen for them down the line).

If she's just unwilling to fly in the day before for whatever reason, any of the 10/10:30AC or 10:15 WestJet flights would be absolutely fine to book - check-in online right at the 24hour before threshold, then even if she can't leave downtown before 8am, the UP train is not yet running, taxi takes an hour (scratch that, cabs are metered - book a fixed price towncar with Aerofleet, their drivers are usually the most aggressive vehicles on the roads around the GTA!), she'll be escorted to the front of the security queue if needed to ensure she gets on. You already mentioned that her big stuff can come on ahead so she'll be able to fly with minimal carryons only.

Personally, if changing days is out and I were her, I'd book 10:00am AC flight just so that if anything goes pear-shaped there's a chance she can get bumped onto the 10:30am flight - and I'd also keep my uniform on while traveling to the airport to maximise the chance of being the person who gets that standby seat; folks are generally even nicer than normal to medical personnel with a tale of being late because they were stuck saving lives at work!

Thank you for all the responses. She absolutely wants to come early but she is a 3rd year nursing student so I do not think she has a lot of flexibility to change her schedule.

Thanks for saving me the cost of EZAir I will just wait a bit and see when her schedule is finalized for the summer.

After a lengthy phone call with Princess they said if the delay was a result of an airline issue the Jones Act would not apply and they would get her to the next port. Hmmm...will try and avoid that and they do make interpretation mistakes

You are correct - there has already been a mistake because it's not the Jones Act that applies but the PAssenger Services Vessel Act. It does apply to missed flights, the cruise line would be paying a hefty fine if they allowed her to board.

Once again customer service not giving out correct info.

All turned out well - Our future DIL got her schedule and we can all leave on July 20 - 2 days early so we can spend a couple days in vancouver. Thanks for all the advice.