transportation from Vancouver cruise terminal to airport

I have an early 11:00 a.m. flight out of Vancouver and am a bit concerned about getting to the airport in time. I am thinking I will need to be at the airport about 9 or 9:30 to allow for check in time as well as security lines. The ship is scheduled to dock at 7:00 a.m. but there will be customs etc. to allow for. I see that it about a 30 or 40 minute drive to the airport from the terminal which means I need to get off the ship a little after 8 a.m. My question is if there will be a problem getting a taxi or shuttle quickly or do I need to book my transfer with Princess to insure I am at the airport early enough? I have read some reviews that said the lines are really long to get a taxi and others that said they had no problem -- any advice would sure be welcome!!! Thanks!!

As for the Taxi lines - it will depend on how many ships are in port that day - if it is a three ship day there are likely to be long lineups - only so many taxis are allowed down the ramp and into the terminal proper - the others wait up at the top and are send down as others leave. One ship day you should be fine and on most two ship days the lineups aren't too bad but you don't have any room for error with that flight time.

Some on here suggest walking out of the terminal and getting either the Pan Pacific or Faormont Waterfront bellhops to hail a taxi for you.

If you don't have a lot of luggage and don't have any mobility problems you could take rapid transit - called Skytrain and the Canada Line to the airport - its about a two - three block walk to the terminal and takes about 25 minutes. The trains were designed to handle large suitcases etc.

Hope this helps some and the other locals will be along with their take on this request.

Cheers!

Dennis

Are you flying domestic or international??? IF going back to the US, you need to be there at 9am. You will NOT be able to book any cruise transfer, your flight time is outside their guidelines. An option would be to take the Sky Train, since there isn't any traffic to deal with and it runs frequently. You can get snagged in cab lines, so if you see it backed up. Go upstairs to the Pan Pacific- tip the doorman and get a faster cab there.

However- the only recommendation I have is you HAVE to self disembark. Meaning- haul off all your own luggage and be ready to go, before the posted time (not up in the lido eating breakfast, or leaving your bags in your room etc)

There is no guarantee you will make this flight, so, know the details of the ticket you purchased. Some are very restrictive and require notification prior to the flight time- if you aren't going to make it. Be WELL prepared, to not make it out that day. There aren't a lot of flights (with the same airline) going out of Vancouver and flights, on a cruise ship day are full. There may be additional fees involved.

You may want to consider changing this flight, if you aren't organized and can move quickly.

On my recent return to Vancouver, the disembarking didn't start until almost 8a, and luggage was slow being placed out, as there were numerous people, who thought the luggage tag color order didn't apply to them. :) They were all lined up against a wall, "waiting" for their bags.

On our recent return from Vancouver there was a problem with the airport computer system and it was taking ages to go through security and US immigration--really long lines. Global Entry helped at the immigration step.

Totally agree with BQ about everything else.

As for the Taxi lines - it will depend on how many ships are in port that day - if it is a three ship day there are likely to be long lineups - only so many taxis are allowed down the ramp and into the terminal proper - the others wait up at the top and are send down as others leave.

 

Dennis

When we disembarked May 14th, 2016, taxis were not allowed under the terminal to pick up passengers. Only buses were permitted there. The taxis were all lined up in front of the Pan Pacific Hotel on the street where taxi managers controlled the line.

We heard the snaking taxi line was over one and a half hour wait.

Perhaps whatever bureaucrat decided to move the taxis from under the terminal pickup location to the street had a change of mind.

I have an early 11:00 a.m. flight out of Vancouver and am a bit concerned about getting to the airport in time. I am thinking I will need to be at the airport about 9 or 9:30 to allow for check in time as well as security lines. The ship is scheduled to dock at 7:00 a.m. but there will be customs etc. to allow for. I see that it about a 30 or 40 minute drive to the airport from the terminal which means I need to get off the ship a little after 8 a.m. My question is if there will be a problem getting a taxi or shuttle quickly or do I need to book my transfer with Princess to insure I am at the airport early enough? I have read some reviews that said the lines are really long to get a taxi and others that said they had no problem -- any advice would sure be welcome!!! Thanks!!

I can't speak for all the INs & OUTs of getting off the ship on arrival day in Vancouver but I do know who I would get in contact with for the ride to the airport. AeroCar. I took the NCL Pearl May 5-15 to Alaska out of Vancouver and used AeroCar a total of three transactions. I was VERY impressed with the drivers and the people I spoke with at the offices. I have no doubt these folks would be the most dependable choice.

I arrived around 12:30 PM on May 4th and had pre-paid a car to my downtown Vancouver hotel. It appeared that all their cars were either black Lincoln Towncars or black Escalades or Suburbans. My driver was very courteous and didn't drive like a maniac. My cruise mate wasn't landing until 5:30 PM so I did a pre-paid ride for her with a meet (with her name on a sign) at the exit from international arrivals so she wouldn't have to wonder where to go and would have help with her luggage. I estimated them arriving to the hotel at around 7:00 PM and I was almost exactly right to the minute. She told me that driver was also very courteous and helpful.

For our third ride we had them pick us up at the hotel and take us the mile or so to Canada Place for our cruise departure. I had asked for a 11:00 AM pickup and I think the driver pulled up about 10:55 AM. When we got to Canada Place the driver pulled down into the lower level and backed right into a space where the porters unloaded our luggage and took it away - we were literally steps from the entrance to check-in and security.

You can contact them at http://aerocar.ca/ I made my reservations online at that web page. They will send an email with contact information to call with your credit card number. I actually spoke with them about three times because of some changes in my flight information and everyone was very nice and helpful. Very important: The cars were immaculately clean.

I have thought several times that it would be nice if every car hire I've ever used had the excellent service we received on that trip! Seriously!

Good luck!

I can't speak for all the INs & OUTs of getting off the ship on arrival day in Vancouver but I do know who I would get in contact with for the ride to the airport. AeroCar. I took the NCL Pearl May 5-15 to Alaska out of Vancouver and used AeroCar a total of three transactions. I was VERY impressed with the drivers and the people I spoke with at the offices. I have no doubt these folks would be the most dependable choice.

 

I arrived around 12:30 PM on May 4th and had pre-paid a car to my downtown Vancouver hotel. It appeared that all their cars were either black Lincoln Towncars or black Escalades or Suburbans. My driver was very courteous and didn't drive like a maniac. My cruise mate wasn't landing until 5:30 PM so I did a pre-paid ride for her with a meet (with her name on a sign) at the exit from international arrivals so she wouldn't have to wonder where to go and would have help with her luggage. I estimated them arriving to the hotel at around 7:00 PM and I was almost exactly right to the minute. She told me that driver was also very courteous and helpful.

 

For our third ride we had them pick us up at the hotel and take us the mile or so to Canada Place for our cruise departure. I had asked for a 11:00 AM pickup and I think the driver pulled up about 10:55 AM. When we got to Canada Place the driver pulled down into the lower level and backed right into a space where the porters unloaded our luggage and took it away - we were literally steps from the entrance to check-in and security.

 

You can contact them at http://aerocar.ca/ I made my reservations online at that web page. They will send an email with contact information to call with your credit card number. I actually spoke with them about three times because of some changes in my flight information and everyone was very nice and helpful. Very important: The cars were immaculately clean.

 

I have thought several times that it would be nice if every car hire I've ever used had the excellent service we received on that trip! Seriously!

 

Good luck!

Yikes, quite high prices. They'd have to offer excellent service to stay in business. :)

Yikes, quite high prices. They'd have to offer excellent service to stay in business. :)

I don't mind paying for excellent service. Excellent service is all we received. When taking into consideration how much our entire cruise vacation cost the three AeroCar rides was absolutely a drop in the bucket. There was no tipping necessary either - it stated this on my confirmations and a note to the driver to not request or expect a tip.

Crew News - May 14, 2016 was a three ship day and early in the season and usually when the sh__ hits the fan and different procedures are in place on three ship days to try and control the chaos and confusion at the Port as it looks like they had the taxis queue outside the terminal.

I have been down to Canada Place and the Port several times in the past week and in all case taxis were doing their regular procedure as I noted in my original post.

Thanks for the info about the three ship day - it will help us locals alert cruisers that things might be different on three ship days - don't believe we have another three ship day until September.

Cheers!

Dennis

I think that we are all assuming that you are returning to the US and if that is the case then arriving at YVR much later than 2 hours pre-flight time is pushing the envelope. However, unless your cruise is between now and early September then you should be able to make your flight if you can manage all of your own luggage and walk of the ship which should occur at about 0730. With walk off and customs clearance you should be in a cab shortly after 0800 and with a 35 min ride out to YVR you will be there before 0900.

If you are unable to walk off with your luggage then you can request to disembark in the first group but then it becomes more of a crap shoot, it can be done but it is extremely stressful and not recommended. I can all but assure you that Princess transfers will not support an 1100 flight. Bottom line, if you can't do the "walk off" you probably should consider a later flight.

What is the cost of a taxi (van) from cruise pier to airport? There will be 4 of us with probably 8-10 bags of varying sizes.

We walked off a ship on a three ship day on June 18 around 8:30. It was very organized. Waited in line to get through customs and was in the taxi line in no time. We were at our downtown hotel by 9am.

Leaving YVR for a US City, we did all the immigration stuff at the US city, not YVR. Two hours would have been plenty of time. YMMV.

 

Leaving YVR for a US City, we did all the immigration stuff at the US city, not YVR. Two hours would have been plenty of time. YMMV.

What exactly did you "do" re "US city". AND you did not go through any US entry at YVR? How is that possible? USDirect was discontinued years ago. Unless you flew domestic from YVR? Explain please. This would be a special circumstance as most flights clear at YVR

What exactly did you "do" re "US city". AND you did not go through any US entry at YVR? How is that possible? USDirect was discontinued years ago. Unless you flew domestic from YVR? Explain please. This would be a special circumstance as most flights clear at YVR

On this thread, Zoedokey said that the city they flew to was Dallas:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2506427

It seems like it must have been some very unusual circumstance. In many trips to Vancouver and other Canadian airports, I've always cleared US customs and immigration at the Canadian airport except for one time when I flew from Victoria airport. That's a very small airport so probably doesn't have enough traffic to support putting US border staff there.

@ skiergirl, rather than tagging your question onto an old thread on the Alaska board, you might get an answer more efficiently by posting it on the Canada (Alaska/Pacific Coastal) board. You might find it by searching on that board too as I recall recent discussions on the topic. IIRC the fare from downtown Vancouver to the airport is around $30-40 but I haven't done that in quite a while as usually I take SkyTrain so my memory may be wrong or the rates could have changed.

What exactly did you "do" re "US city". AND you did not go through any US entry at YVR? How is that possible? USDirect was discontinued years ago. Unless you flew domestic from YVR? Explain please. This would be a special circumstance as most flights clear at YVR

When we checked in at the airport in Vancouver and were handing over our luggage, staff said that since Dallas was our first US entry, that we would be doing all immigration there. When we landed in Dallas we had to retrieve our luggage at the baggage claim, then take it through the checkpoint and after clearing we had to take it down the hall to hand it in again for the next leg of our travels. Then we had to go through TSA security again to get back into the terminal in Dallas.

It was a very late departure from YVR, 11:25 pm.

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What is the cost of a taxi (van) from cruise pier to airport? There will be 4 of us with probably 8-10 bags of varying sizes.

Metered, but same rates as any other cab. Ballpark CAD$35 on the meter (pay with credit card or local cash, or else pay a hefty markup for the privilege of using USD)

When we checked in at the airport in Vancouver and were handing over our luggage, staff said that since Dallas was our first US entry, that we would be doing all immigration there. When we landed in Dallas we had to retrieve our luggage at the baggage claim, then take it through the checkpoint and after clearing we had to take it down the hall to hand it in again for the next leg of our travels. Then we had to go through TSA security again to get back into the terminal in Dallas.

 

It was a very late departure from YVR, 11:25 pm.

CBP close at approx. 8:30pm each night as there are very few flights after 11pm (and folks generally show up 2-3 hours preflight). So there are definitely red-eyes that mean you have to clear on arrival in the US instead of at YVR.

 

@ skiergirl, rather than tagging your question onto an old thread on the Alaska board, you might get an answer more efficiently by posting it on the Canada (Alaska/Pacific Coastal) board. You might find it by searching on that board too as I recall recent discussions on the topic. IIRC the fare from downtown Vancouver to the airport is around $30-40 but I haven't done that in quite a while as usually I take SkyTrain so my memory may be wrong or the rates could have changed.

Thanks so much. I didn't realize there was another Alaska forum.

Metered, but same rates as any other cab. Ballpark CAD$35 on the meter (pay with credit card or local cash, or else pay a hefty markup for the privilege of using USD)

 

 

 

CBP close at approx. 8:30pm each night as there are very few flights after 11pm (and folks generally show up 2-3 hours preflight). So there are definitely red-eyes that mean you have to clear on arrival in the US instead of at YVR.

Thanks

Thanks so much. I didn't realize there was another Alaska forum.

I think they shouldn't have put Alaska in the name of the Canada (Alaska/Pacific Costal) board. It makes it confusing. I guess they did it because almost all the cruises that hit ports on the Pacific Coast of Canada are Alaska Cruises.

For quite a while, I didn't notice that board either, but if one has questions about Vancouver or Victoria, a search of that board usually finds more answers. If a search doesn't work and you post a new thread, answers generally come more quickly.

Metered, but same rates as any other cab. Ballpark CAD$35 on the meter (pay with credit card or local cash, or else pay a hefty markup for the privilege of using USD)

 

CBP close at approx. 8:30pm each night as there are very few flights after 11pm (and folks generally show up 2-3 hours preflight). So there are definitely red-eyes that mean you have to clear on arrival in the US instead of at YVR.

Nice to hear that my memory was approximately correct about the taxi fare.

Thanks for the explanation about the airport - I guess that's why I've never encountered it as I'm usually taking a morning or afternoon flight out of Canada.

Nice to hear that my memory was approximately correct about the taxi fare.

Thanks for the explanation about the airport - I guess that's why I've never encountered it as I'm usually taking a morning or afternoon flight out of Canada.

It's usually the fact they don't open until 4:30am that tourists fall foul of - there are daily US flights ~6am which do pre-clearance, and if one follows the usual recommendation of 3 hours pre-flight arrival for those then there's an awful lot of standing around in a queue that doesn't even start moving until after CBP have finished their morning shift briefing approx. 4:40am... I think the local CBP officers really enjoy being stationed in Vancouver as they get to live somewhere awesome and they never have to work overnight! And their USD wage packets go pretty far up here...