ccotting

We like a table for 4 or 6. We enjoy meeting the others. 6 is nice because sometimes folks will go to a speciality restaurant so you are left with company. 8 is hard to have a conversation with the whole table.

We were once on a cruise where we had a table for 2 and really were enjoying our time together. However..... the table of 8 next to us took a particular interest in us which was sometimes uncomfortable. We missed a dinner to go to the speciality restaurant, it was "where were you". Sometimes they would try to engage us in their conversation "what do you think?". It's to each his own but I do find folks who lean over from the next table and join the conversation annoying......

Yes, but in fairness the tour operator could not have known. We took a private tour, small bus size for a full day. A family from our cruise booked, 5 people. They were late and came loaded with luggage. Only as we were about an hour in did it become clear that their toddler child had a significant health problem that required speciality food and a direct catheter to her stomach. Hence the luggage, it was all the special equipment and food. They said to us it would only need to be dealt with every 2 hours. Not so.... Then the ugly tourist came out and one of the pax attempted at more than one stop to get the tour guide to leave this family behind. In addition, we had the loud insistent tourist who wanted stops not in the itinerary (as described by others in the thread). It was a miserable tour. We all felt very sad and sorry for the impacted family but all of us felt that they needed to have taken a private, not a group tour to accommodate the challenges of the poor little one. The two other passengers really made it hard. As DH said, once we knew, we needed to operate as a team. They didn't.... And we missed one major stop on the tour as we were so late because of the stops to support feeding the small one. We coped, we thanked God we had not had the challenges this family had but we wished for a different tour experience.

My grand daughter had her 21st birthday on day 3 of a 7 day cruise last year. RCI would not serve her any alcoholic beverages during any part of the cruise.

This surprises me. Our daughter was able to drink at age 19 on an RCI cruise provided we signed an undertaking for her to do so. It was some years ago. Has the policy tightened? It used to be that 18 and above could drink with parents on board who had signed. Legal drinking age where we lived in Canada at the time was 18.

Dont mean to be harsh. The concierge was following the rules and your daughter was not diamond at the time. So she was not allowed access. She can join you in the d lounge on your next cruise together. We boarded a cruise at 74 points and did not expect access to d lounge until we made diamond. Which would have been after the completion of that cruise.

 

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Actually even with Diamond status this is a discretionary matter for the ship. The child is below the age RCI permits alcoholic beverages and must be supervised in what is essentially a bar area. I have been on a ship where a child had Diamond status and was permitted but that was considered exceptional. He was an only (as I have been) and therefore closely supervised and more "adult" for his age. A real treat to have with the group. But that said, it was made very clear by the staff that his attendance was an exception. The parents could not leave him unsupervised and so could not themselves participate in the Diamond lounge if he did not attend. I grew up with a European perspective and do not consider his attendance inappropriate but it is important for those who might have expectations to understand that it is up to the individual ship and circumstance.

Thanks for valuable insights.

Cincy, the difficulties at Canada Place are related to immigration. You will process through US immigration prior to boarding the ship. The passengers who had the most lengthy wait were those who were not US or Canadian citizens, they were separated to another area as current US practice requires fingerprinting etc for non nationals. As a US citizen you can expect a wait but it should not be quite so long. Consider going at a time when you think there will not be the most people arriving to Board.

If you take a cab, you are taken right inside the pier area to get into the Boarding area. It will be the easiest. Those pax who arrive on the street level compete with tour buses, hotel guests and leaving pax from the ship so that can be quite a busy mix depending on your timing. Then you have to proceed to the Boarding area which is something of a walk.

Cab will be your best bet for ease and personal comfort. If there are 4 of you plus luggage, you can ask for a van, there is no extra charge for a van and it will be more roomy.

We stayed in the historic Sylvia Hotel and walked around Stanley Park and to some of the quaint shops and restaurants. It's worth the added expense.

 

 

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The Sylvia does a lovely traditional afternoon tea and is well located next to English Bay for a lovely view of the water.

I love Vancouver and in no way blame them for delays caused by US immigration. However, if you wish me to be totally honest, they could be held responsible for the horrendous queues for taxis on disembarkation which, in my experience, are the longest seen at any port (including Miami and Fort Lauderdale). These will not help people remember Vancouver with any affection if it is their last memory of Canada.

Agreed. Vancouver needs to clear the way for Uber, or something similar.

Ditto. Issue is Vancouver is not one municipality but many altogether. Actual Vancouver municipality is just the peninsula you see on the map (where the cruise terminal is) but many municipal governments together form greater Vancouver that you perceive as a tourist. The taxi lobby in Vancouver central is strong. Still no uber. Airport taxis, the other municipalities (that you as a tourist would still think are part of Vancouver) have successfully lobbied so when you come to the airport you can get a taxi from North Shore or Burnaby or Surrey which greatly increased availability. Mind you the airport is in a different municipality than central Vancouver. It would be lovely if the cruise port were able to negotiate a similar deal.

I speak as someone who had to call the mother in law at 3 am to get a drive home on New Years because none of the city cabs would take anyone off central peninsular Vancouver. So, yes, tourists, I feel this pain too. For those earlier complaining Brits, consider Vancouver municipal government as a Labour government. I trust this will explain......

That said, personally our worst immigration experiences have been Heathrow and New York. I love to travel but there are parts that ( as my Grandma used to put it) I would sell you for a nickel! Hasn't stopped me yet!

Thank you all for the encouragement. We will go early. Yes, we are sailing on the Radiance of the Seas.

 

We sailed on this ship to Alaska and look forward to this cruise.

 

Our first port of call is Maui. I do not think they have immigration/customs there. So I feel we will need to do this in Vancouver.

You will go through immigration in Vancouver. If Lahaina is your first port, it is a tender port and you will have had an advantage to have already cleared immigration. Tendering is always time consuming and no one wants to spend time tendering then going through customs. Are you planning a Luau? Our favourite is the 'old Lahaina luau' which you book on your own, it is not offered through the ship. Easy to book on line though and to get a cab to the location. Wonderful show, great food and drinks included.

OK--I have a cruise leaving Vancouver going to Hawaii in 4 weeks. We are staying at a YVR airport hotel. [4 of us] What time should we plan to arrive via taxi at Canada Place? . . .I am getting concerned after reading this thread. [it is a Royal Caribbean cruise--yes, I know I am on the Celebrity board.]

 

We sailed from Vancouver to Alaska 5 years ago and it was a relatively smooth and painless process. We arrived around 10:30 that time because the later hotel shuttle was full. [we stayed downtown] We were on the ship before the buffet opened at 11:30 am.

 

We are US citizens. TIA

I agree you will be fine heading early. The challenges have been on days when there are 3 ships sailing and more later afternoon when the max pax arrive. You will pre-clear customs in Vancouver prior to Hawaii ( I have done this cruise more than once with Royal). Are you travelling Radiance? We love her, she is our favourite Royal ship and she has a wonderful crew. You will have a super time. And I will wish I were with you!

There appears to be a huge amount of confusion on this thread - although, I accept, if you have to wait in line for a long time it may not really matter why. There are three reasons you may be held up whilst travelling:

1. Security - you need to go through this before boarding a 'plane or ship to ensure that you are not carrying a weapon or bomb making equipment. (This is the cause of the queue this poster is speaking of.) When there is new intelligence, this screening may need to change and there tends to be longer queues until the new procedures bed in.
   
2. Immigration - you need to pass through this before entering a country usually at the port of entry but sometimes (eg Vancouver cruise port for Alaska or Calais for Dover) at the port of exit. The reason for this screening is for the country you are entering to determine if you are a person they wish to allow into the country. It appears from this thread that this may also happen in US states close to the Mexican (and Canadian?) boarder.
   
3. Customs - this is a check on the goods you are brining into a country that may be prohibited or be subject to taxes. In some places, Immigration and Customs may be combined especially where the Customs procedure is simply collecting a form - this often happens at US cruise ports - but usually Immigration is before baggage claim and Customs after.
   

Yes, but there is confusion about port boarding at Vancouver which perhaps you don't realize. In Vancouver you process through US customs prior to boarding your cruise ship to Alaska. Canada and the US have an unusual relationship of strong friendship which has resulted in an accommodation for some departure destinations of a 'preclearance' of US customs (immigration). If you fly to the US from many major Canadian airports, you pre-clear US customs at the airport prior to boarding your flight. This same service is provided for the Alaska cruise season at Vancouver cruise terminal. It is however, not clear to many patrons that is happening. In their mind they are going to board the ship and the process takes a long time and is difficult. Really what is happening is that they are lining up to go through US customs. The ship boarding process comes after and is actually pretty fast (from my own experience). It is very frustrating as a proud Vancouverite to hear US citizens announce they will never sail from Vancouver again because the lines are long and the process is slow. The cruise line can ask for speedier service but the process owner for the first portion is the US government and there is an increased vigilance now that has added pressure to the customs/immigration assessment. Our airline has sent notice that for US flights we now need to arrive earlier due to increased time needed for this clearance. So, as many posters have remarked, this is happening elsewhere. But I feel very sad to hear people blame poor tourist accommodation in Vancouver when it is a matter over which the port has no control.

Bit confused by the comments around Breakfast. Can you not have breakfast in your cabin if you are not in a suite? Room service breakfast?

I'm one of those who will never sail out of Vancouver again. The port knows how many ships and passengers will sail in any given day, they should pay for the proper amount of agents to process passengers or stagger the ships throughout the week.

Remember this is US Customs. Not the port, not Canada. It is an advantage to go through the US customs prior to Boarding and makes your first stop from Canada in the US/Alaska smoother. That said, they make their own decisions about staffing and time to process. All US Customs areas are slower since recent political decisions in the US. Write your hometown politician, this is an area the port nor Celebrity control.

I lived on the Island for 5 years. The Gardens are a distance from the cruise dock. I agree with the comments about cabs. Butchart gardens has a lovely full service restaurant with very nice English style teas, a cafeteria restaurant and a lovely gift shop.

I very much enjoy going myself. The gardens are a former quarry in a more rural area. Get a bunch together and take a cab. Have a grand time. I go when I get to Victoria. Enjoy!

Did this cruise 2 years ago. Recommend Busybus if you are doing tours outside of the ship. We used them and they were excellent. Also, for Belfast, the ship's tour only reflected Protestant Ireland. As a Catholic, I was disappointed and, have been told that, if that is your interest, to book a Black Cab private tour.

I am a Vancouverite but I have stayed in many of these hotels as I lived East for some years.

I think you want to be very thoughtful about location. Vancouver's West End has lovely walks along the beach area of English Bay and is close to Stanley Park but it is a distance from town centre. A few miles walk. Robson west end is several blocks up a gentle hill to the beach area. The main drag to downtown is West Georgia which does get very busy for rush hours. Bus service is regular and there are bus lanes but expect to stand without a seat at busy times.

All this to say, consider what's important and how much walking you are capable of.

The Westin Bayshore is an absolute personal favourite. Very close to Stanley Park, a major tourist attraction, lovely harbour views and, used by many cruise lines so if you book through Celebrity, you might want to check pricing and availability. Some really nice restaurants nearby. But, caveats re distance above apply. A solid walk to the park sites (although the park is close) and cab or bus to downtown unless you are a strong walker.

Pan Pacific is lovely. Even if you don't stay, going to the Terrace restaurant for the view is lovely on a sunny day. Fairmont Waterfront is a personal favourite. Both of these hotels are pricey but right at the cruise dock. The dock is connected to the Pan Pacific, the Fairmont right across the street.

More reasonable but a few blocks further from the dock is a Marriott, the Delta Suites (generous room sizes), a Days Inn. Farther up the hill (4-6 blocks), a 4 Seasons, a Hyatt and another Fairmont. Sutton Place is very downtown and has a really great chocolate buffet! (YUM)

I would not recommend trying to get accommodation close to Granville Market. Take the bus or cab there. You want to decide: close to port and downtown (both essentially together) or close to Stanley Park (west end in any capacity). Then to consider your price bracket. Book soon, there are lots of cruise pax and conventions.

Try the restaurant at the Vancouver Art Gallery, a sunny terrace and very reasonable prices. A Monet exhibit on now.

Enjoy!

Other that the DVD's available to borrow, the DL has all the amenities of the CL.

and you can pick those up at Breakfast!

I echo previous comments. The concierge lounge is an interior lounge with no windows and in our experience with Explorer it was packed with suite guests always.

We went to the Diamond lounge although we could have gone to concierge, for the better view and the expansion space into the lounge the Diamond lounge offered.

Both Diamond and suites concierges were excellent, we worked with both.

We loved Explorer, you will too!

The list was posted by user 'supersaramoon' on May 7 to this Board. I haven't figured out how to link the thread.

The thread is called 'Classic Bev Package-drink list document' and you can find it with search.

We just did this cruise in April with Vision. I very much enjoyed it. The Canal is open with 2 lanes and so there is traffic both ways. We went through in the day. It is not a canal with locks so what you see is largely desert and a lot of military establishments but I found it all very interesting. We did have a lot of dust in the air from dust storms so the views were not very very clear but everything could be seen. The canal is at both ends and in between are the 'bitter lakes' which is what a previous poster referred to.

We enjoyed Jordan very much taking the trip to Petra which was very much worth the effort although you must be prepared for a lot of walking. Wear good shoes and take lots of water and a sun hat. One of the highlights of the trip.

Dubai is a large city and the sites are city oriented, views and shopping. Because we had the dust issues we didn't bother with the skyscraper views. Hotels, cabs and service were all excellent.

I really liked that we had port, a few sea days and port again, etc. Last year we were on a cruise that was a port every day. Quite worn out by the end. Needed another vacation.

There is lots to see in Israel and we stopped in 2 ports there. You need to think about whether you want the biblical view or a more modern one. Israeli tours tend to focus on Biblical times and, given we had 2 ports, one visit was more biblical one more modern.

I think you will enjoy the trip. We also enjoyed that the passengers were not all from one country. There were many Europeans (especially Spain and Portugal) and a lot of Australians.

We did a b2b on Millennium last August with the turnaround day in Vancouver. We had a great leisurely day. Walked to Stanly Park, did a carriage ride/tour. Took a bus to the area with the antique clock, had a fine lunch. Walked back to the pier. Fortunately we had about 2 hours before boarding closed! I am a fairly clever guy and quite well traveled. But it took 30-45 minutes to find our way into that place. Walked in. No indication of where to go to get on a ship. After asking several people, we were directed to an elevator to the parking garage. Really? We are supposed to walk in through the parking garage? Once in the garage we more or less followed the other clueless-but-hopeful cruisers, went up a few levels and then an escalator IIRC to the customs clearance area where we were told to go back down and check in. We went back down, eventually found a check-in line that we didn't need to be in because were b2b. That was straightened out 10-15 minutes later and we went back up the escalator and assured the guards at the top that we had properly checked in. I don't recall the whole sequence now but I think it was at that point that a Celebrity staff took us past several long lines to a desk where they we were holding our new Sea Passes. From there our In Transit pass allowed us to magically bypass the remaining lines.

How much of our adventure was due to the very poor signage and lack of any provisions for pedestrians, and how much was due to Celebrity, I don't know. All I know is that what should have been a simple walk in, show our pass and ID, and walk on turned into a rats-in-a-maze experience. Only saving grace was that we had plenty of time.

I might like to go back and spend more time in your city. But I don't ever want to see that cruise port again!

 

Stan

You can get in through the building and should not have been directed through the parking. Your point about the signage is entirely fair however the facility serves 3 purposes which means the focus of the site is not just on the cruise port. The ship is docked at a Convention centre with an attached hotel. Pedestrian entrance is through the convention centre. Conventions are all year, the cruise period in Vancouver is generally May to September. Ground staff support is the responsibility of the cruise line.

Personally I like that facility a whole lot better than many cruise ports I have been in. I have been in much worse in many other countries. Places where you bussed from the ship to the terminal then walked an age through various confusing corners to get out. Immigration that took forever with only 1 or 2 agents for a large ship.... The Vancouver cruise terminal was not built for 3 larger ships of today's size at once. Cruise traffic in Vancouver has exploded from when the facility was envisioned and built in 1986. Did you cruise in 86? How big was the ship? In Vancouver we are now at a point where the cruise traffic requires an additional facility (no downtown land available) or major changes so large ships could dock (think way way out at Point Roberts container pier). The larger ships such as the RCI Voyager class cannot clear the bridge. So one option is to put passengers away from the city centre which is not the best for passenger experience.

And, one of the advantages the port has, the ability to clear US customs prior to boarding the ship is one of the biggest causes of congestion. They are not generously staffed nor do they hustle.... My sympathies remain to the OP and the poor ground service they received.

I agree with the post that says this is an issue with the land based team. We live in Vancouver and (ahem) never travel light for our cruises. When we arrive home at the airport we ask the cab line attendant for a van and cab service calls one up for us. Your Celebrity arrival agent should have done that.

Vancouver city council has a very strong political commitment to environmental issues and has strongly supported the move to hybrid vehicles. The cab companies have found the Prius vehicles very economical but they are small. There are always vans available even if not visible in the cab line.

Equally, it is hard to believe the cabbie didn't know how to get to the cruise terminal and didn't know the process. I am really sorry to hear you had to drag your bags a distance. The entrance to the cruise is through the car park under the Pan Pacific hotel. There is always an attendant at the parkade entrance when there are cruise ships loading/unloading and all the cabbie has to say is that he is taking in cruise passengers, you go right inside to an area where the porters are taking the luggage for the cruise.

One feedback to anyone who has a similar issue, ask the cabbie to call dispatch for directions.

I hope this didn't affect your perception of Vancouver. This is not the first thread I have seem regarding airport transfer issues with Celebrity in Vancouver and I find it very concerning. I want you all to have the best time ever in my home town!

Hello, we are travelling on Canadian passports on the Nov 12 Celebrity sailing with stops in Oman, Jordan and the UAE. When we get off in Abu Dhabi, UAE we plan to stay a few days and fly home from Dubai. Do I need to prepurchase a visa for any of these areas? Tks

We just went in April, we are Canadian. UAE does require a visa but you get it through the immigration process on arrival. So not to worry, no prepurchase needed. Take a sun hat though, super hot! We enjoyed our visits very much.

As a Vancouverite, yes sky train/ Canada line is excellent and easy. However (as someone who fails to pack lite) it really only is effective if you have 1 case because you will have to manage your luggage.

When you book a service, you expect it to deliver. I find it very interesting that there are no similar complaints on the RCI Board although there was an RCI ship docking at the same time. It may be folks just haven't posted, but I am guessing that their ship did not have similar problems and so the comments about Celebrity need to be addressed by the corporation.

"Taxis are lined up and ready but it could be difficult to get one in downtown Vancouver as a record number of cruise ship passengers are expected to arrive Wednesday and by this weekend.

Three cruise ships will be docking at the Canada Place terminal in the Port of Vancouver today – the Celebrity Solstice, the Volendam and the Radiance of the Seas – bringing 12,800 passengers in total.

Then on Saturday, May 20, a record number will arrive aboard the Emerald Princess, the Star Princess and the Nieuw Amsterdam, with 15,800 passengers in total."

From our news channel. Vancouver restricts the number of taxi licenses and has not permitted Uber. Sore point with us locals. So, when an unusually large number of passengers arrives whether for a cruise or a convention, taxi service is not readily to be found. I expect that Celebrity knowing the above planned for shuttle transfers and in some way the planning was problematic. I am so sorry your experience was unhappy. I hope you will visit Vancouver again.

We did Brilliance last September had a cool aft GS , breakfast at chops was excellent, great staff ( sister ship of Radiance) , wish they had pool reserved seating which they do not have, maybe if we complain enough?

The reserved seating on any of the ships always seems to be in the hot sun, no shade at all. Never any use if you aren't looking to bake like a potato!