martincath

D-U-R-N has it pretty much down - but with tight control at the pier it's rare for anyone to get off close to 7am, 7:30 is a more normal start time with boot-off time tight at 9:30am due to the need to 'zero out' most vessels for their return into US waters. This tightens the cruise peak from 7:30-9:30 at the pier, 9-11am at the airport, and that's on SLOW days when there are enough cabs - cruise shuttle buses don't go before ~9am which shifts the peak volumes to 9:30am and later as a steady trickle of cabs flows OK, but multiple buses rolling in and unloading 50+ each really makes for log jams! Factor in 3 ships or more and the peak just keeps building (three hour delays even in TheBeforeTimes for a cab not unheard of and 1 hour waits absolutely normal). So basically it used to be a real sh*tstorm from maybe 9:30am to noon, even 1pm, purely because of cruiser volumes! But this year, even with not-remotely-full cruiseships, the time to get through Security at YVR has increased so much that every day is like a three ship day in TheBeforeTimes - even folks working YVR and posting on Reddit say their predictive models are utterly out of whack, partly thanks to their own staffing issues and partly thanks to the airlines - so even if they had all staff available the best guess of not just how many are needed but where they are needed (US. Domestic, Int'l) and how many will get sick at short notice is much harder than it used to be... Until all aspects of this settle down, there will be random peaks and troughs that BeforeTimes algorithms just cannot handle well. If you have a choice of flight times right now, choose one as late in the day as possible that is still before CBP precheck closes at 8:30pm (if you get pre-cleared here you land Domestic, and despite all the furore at the moment preclearance is a crapton more efficient than staffing levels at 99% of any US airport's international arrival gates!) Ideally of course you stay post-cruise, do some sightseeing, relax, then take a super-early flight long before any same-day cruise pax can disembark. There's a big tranche of flights that leave in 6am-9am ballpark, and those are the ones you want to be on.

It's 100% acceptable to Canadian federal authorities - it's one of the ones we took to get back across the land border back when we needed to provide test results for that! Furthermore, you'll find NAAT specifically listed on this page which is the proverbial Horses Mouth for cruise travel restrictions in Canada (sorry, can't link to the exact part of the page, scroll down almost to the bottom or search for the phrase 'Accepted types of tests'). Provided of course that the test was taken no more than 72hrs in advance of your scheduled boarding time... be sure to account for time difference if you are not in the Pacific time zone!

First - relax! Unlike the folks who have been seriously screwed over by their cruiselines abandoning free testing onboard before disembarkation, that extra day of padding is a huge benefit for you. Even if things are truly horrible at YVR, you won't have to bust a gut to get to your flight - arrange your cab in advance, pay attention to signs and announcements when you get to YVR, and try to enjoy your day of sightseeing without stressing about airport morning. Assuming things don't improve on the Security queue front, I would err on the side of caution and stick to being at least 3 hours early - in fact, despite there only being one ship in port you will likely feel more comfortable aiming to get to YVR ~9am, which puts you there ahead of even the earliest cruise shuttles. Some self-disembarkers might beat you there, but with only one ship worth arriving in dribs & drabs rather than busloads at a time, you'll probably end up sailing through everything and having to kill lots of time on the other side. Still, given you're traveling solo and a first-timer in Vancouver better safe than sorry. Ask the bell staff at the PP the night before to call you a cab for 8:30am, and then call down before you leave your room in the morning just to double-check it's in-hand - they'll have a very good idea how long it's taking cabs to get to them, and while cruise taxi fares are nice for drivers maintaining a good relationship with fancy hotel staff brings you reliable income all year round, so leverage that relationship to your benefit! Since you have the day before to organize your Covid test, whereas a lot of folks will be doing it at the airport, you're definitely in a better position than many at YVR, even if your First Class ticket does not expedite you through the queues. TSA Precheck definitely won't help - Global Entry would have, your First Class ticket I'm honestly not sure about. There is a 'short queue but regular security check at the end of it' option for folks with a VISA Infinite card, so that might also be available to 1st class ticket holders too - with the current staffing issues though, there have been all sorts of odd shenanigans happening like routing people through security at the 'wrong' gate wing because they can't man all the checks, so I would plan for the worst (stuck in the same big queue as everyone else) and then any surprises will be pleasant ones!

This is literally a worldwide issue - the whole 'no chips = no cars' thing on top of difficulties with shipping has impacted rental fleets just as it has individuals who were thinking of buying a new car. The 'rent a wreck' end of the scale may be less troubled, as their customers expect older cars with high mileage. I have no doubt that the local franchises WANT to get more cars available as tourist season kicks in for the first time since TheBeforeTimes, but expect limited availability and higher prices across the board - book early, book refundable, join Costco if you aren't already a member (seriously - we've earned back a year's Executive membership on a single car rental in the past, plus a second driver is always free) and just keep checking for deals!

Grrrr - I posted a detailed set of reccos, with links to the restos, in response to this last week but it seems to have disappeared! I'll repeat it after today's answer below... An Izakaya will check off most of those boxes for you, especially on the more budget dish end of things like noodle bowls. Most locals have their own favourite among the various indies and chains, Kingyo usually appearing at least top 3, but you're not going to go wrong visiting any of the Hapa or Guu branches (whichever is nearest your hotel/where you are touring at mealtime) either. In case you're unfamiliar with the concept, Izakaya are sort-of 'Japanese Tapas Pubs' - a bunch of stuff you'd find in a Western pub like chicken wings, sausages, pork chops; sushi; noodles in various forms; yakitori/skewers and so on, in either small portions or big share plates for family-style consumption. Any of our western style pubs will do you a bit more seafood than in most parts - even Fish & Chips here leans toward salmon and halibut being as common as cod. Speaking of F&C, if hubby eats 'regular cooked fish' and just avoids 'weird stuff with too many legs and/or shells' you'll generally get decent quality anywhere, but without getting well outside the core the only really solid, remotely-close-to-classic-British-seaside-casual-but-perfectly-cooked F&C is found by Granville Island - there's a wee shack, Go Fish, on 1st Avenue (so if you ware waling to the island, turn left before you reach it - if you take a water taxi, you need to leave the island and take the first right). Gets hella busy though! Chinese, downtown, value, quality - all of those are found in Chinatown BBQ, a super-casual, super-old-school actually-rather-new place on Pender. Do try the curry brisket unless you really dislike all things remotely spicy! Brunch - my fave remains, as it has since they opened, Medina. If there's one single good thing to come out of Covid, it's the fact that they finally had to start taking resos! Have the waffles with lavender chocolate sauce on the side (unless you're allergic - even then, if it's more of an 'annoying hives' rather than 'throat-closing death' allergy, I'd seriously consider snorting benadryl and still having it!) Phenomenal bang for your buck, a wide menu that lets DH avoid seafood, and if not unique then still pretty rare - Phnom Penh in Chinatown, a 40+ year old rampant success story that literally still has queues outside the door every day. As a couple, you want to order the chicken wings (Canh Ga Lan Bot - large, trust me!), Butter Beef (Marinated Thit Bo - basically thinly sliced raw steak, like carpaccio, but with more interesting flavours...), and Beef on Rice (Com Bo Luc Lac Them Hot Ga - the 2 bucks extra for the fried egg version is worth every penny, golden yolk oozing out just makes this *chef's kiss*); then depending on how much tummy room remains, more wings or whatever else you like. @Cali ViajeraPhnom Penh and Medina both fit your requested 'restos worth returning to'; on the fancier end of the spectrum Barbara offers a rather unique experience - it's a teeny place, Chef does basically all the food with one other staff member handling service & drinks. Very tight menu, tasting only, but each course has a choice of Veggie, Seafoody, Meaty options - a handful of items stay year-round like Arctic Char (which is inland farmed for superlative sustainability) but otherwise it's a constantly changing seasonal selection. For the price it's pretty darn good value, though not cheap and not big portions. Very much about the ridiculously artistic precision - sit at the kitchen side, watch Chef Henessy plate your dishes with tweezers pedantically applying teeny radish slices, and have a chat with him as he does. Lastly, since you're in the Met you should seriously consider Hawksworth in the Hotel Georgia right on your block. The rooftop terrace is also a topnotch evening drinks option - I believe it was voted best patio in the city last year. If Hawksworth looks too swanky or you can't get a reso, Nightingale is their more casual sibling, which offers a much wider menu and solid Happy Hour discounts. The Fried Chicken is especially fantastic, and we've never had a less-than-great pizza or pasta dish there either.

No insider knowledge on ArriveCAN I'm afraid! At least you can include your entire extended family on one entry, as unlike Customs declarations there is no need to live in the same household - as long as you are crossing the border together and spending your vacay time together it's all good... so if you're worried about Great Aunt Mildred McLuddite, as long as you know her travel document details you can do all the techie stuff on her behalf.

Exactly - because it is trip-specific info, it's subject to entry only when you are within the time limit (although to muddy the waters further, it seems that Cruising - and only Cruising - now has a 96 hour cap, possibly to allow for just this sort of 'fly in, hang around just a couple of days, cruise out' situation!)

It's not a cruise version; there's only one app (well, an iOS and an Android version of the same thing) it's just that the OPTIONS within the app now include a specific 'Cruise arrival'. Unless there's been another update since, the summary of the app on the Google store will still mention the recent changes including this extra Cruise option (there's a screenshot kicking around here on CC, but with so darn many threads about ArriveCAN I could not easily find it). Your cruise line won't matter, and the info you got on the phone makes sense in YOUR trip's context - you are only arriving in Canada once as your cruise leaves for the US and finishes there. ArriveCAN is needed for confirmation that all pax onboard have their vaccinations, but since there is no new Arrival port and you are within 72hours all the data actually needed is still live in the system, linked to your passport, which means no second entry needed. Change any one of those variables, like if you were taking a round trip that returned to Vancouver, and you would have needed another entry...

Until the official announcement about what's on when at Canada Place, it's hard to say definitively how big the crowds will be, whether they'll mostly be at that end or over at the Olympic flame/Jack Poole Plaza (multiple stages get set up, and in the past there was even a parade about noon that shut down several extra streets) - but with an arrival in that sort of timeframe I'd plump for a cab too thanks to fixed price fares (just tip generously if your poor driver does end up stuck in traffic!). Both roads and SkyTrain will be busier than normal as all the suburbanites start rolling into downtown (dinner first for many, so passenger volumes on all SkyTrain lines do start increasing again inbound about your timeframe). If there are road closures, there will still be at least one way to access Canada Place by vehicle until after the last cruise departure that day - but even if they have completely barricaded off Canada Place the worst case barriers will be @Howe & Cordova, leaving you a very short 1 block walk with bags whereas SkyTrain it's more like 3 blocks, and wheeling luggage through crowds is a real hassle. On the good news front, if your room has a view of the water look for a big boxy barge just sitting there, very roughly in line with the pier you're on top of - if you can see it then you're guaranteed a good view of the show from your room without any need to fight the crowds!!!

Khutzeymaheen grizzly sanctuary is accessible by boat day trip from Prince Rupert... and if you get lucky and book direct before the cruise line buys up all the local boats, you might only pay ~$500pp instead of potentially seeing that doubled and turned to USD!!!!

Following! Given the dynamic use of space since the rebuild to cope with all the ships post-Ballantyne closure, the reports so far have all been from 'easier' days with just a ship or two so haven't confirmed what to expect on those busier days when multiple levels were essential even in TheBeforeTimes. especially interested in whether boarding slots, at best a suggestion in the past here, are being enforced in an attempt to spread the pax load...

That's definitely wise, given how easy it is to run a comparative 'route X, date Y, gimme a price from all and sundry' search - you could probably do that while waiting on hold to speak to a person easily! I can only say from personal experience here with Air Canada that they are pretty damn good, giving 50% off (which can even be applied retroactively) to Economy fares on any of their subsidaries as well as the main line. Fancier friends using them have also confirmed that flying Business or better still gets the equivalent of half the best economy price they sold on the day you booked.

Hmmm - by any chance are you cruising on a 7-day northbound, all AK ports itinerary or B2B of two such legs Waldos? I have seen another account of someone else saying the same thing in that context - since the ship doesn't visit Canada on the northbound leg, apparently only the southbound folks who would leave from the US and arrive in Canada that need to re-complete ArriveCAN in the context of their future arrival in Canada... which they could do during turnaround at the Alaska end if they're doing B2B and if they get off for good in AK then they never visited Canada again... If you're on a RT Van-Van that isn't a B2B that definitely seems like a new bit of info though!

Ah, gotcha - that depends somewhat on which SkyTrain station and which hotel of course, but given that the really skeevy bits of downtown don't have SkyTrain stations, or really any hotels other than some seriously low-end hostels and SROs, I wouldn't have much concern about that last leg on foot.

The cruise pier literally IS the convention centre (well, one half of it at least)! Canada Place houses all sorts of stuff on the various layers. Just check the street address of your testing location, as there is also the newer Convention Centre West just along the street. 999 is the pier, 1055 is the new West side - and it will almost certainly be faster to walk even with luggage than to wait for a vehicle as this map link should clearly display. We're super good here in Vancouver about making life as easy as possible for tourists, building the pier and most of our hotels within a couple of square miles!

Keep checking, although daily is overkill - follow Amtrak twitter feed or FB page or similar as undoubtedly there will be an announcement when cross-border trains actually start again. The bus services running now are the same ones that always ran, not in any way replacing the train services - so even if trains restart your bus will still run. You will definitely have to drive any changes 100% yourself!

Be careful booking, as there are THREE Pinnacle hotels - two of them are equally-well located (the Pinnacle Harbourfront and the Marriott Pinnacle) literally across the street from one another, but the one over on the North Shore (Pinnacle at the Pier) means a Seabus or a long regular bus/cab ride to get to downtown! There's a reason it's usually by far the cheapest of the three options! We have a few similar issues with other chain hotels, but this is probably the worst example of the lack of originality in naming local municipalities potentially biting tourists... West and North Vancouver just wish they could be real Vancouver;-) Also consider the Blue Horizon - it's an indy hotel, all rooms are corners and it's tall so lots of good views, and all the HOHOs and even the shuttles to Capilano stop right outside. Given your mom, I'm guessing that unless you chose the Pan Pacific or Fairmont across the street you'll be cabbing to the hotel anyway, and the small increase in cab fare to BH (maybe an extra $5) will very likely be offset by lower price.

Perhaps one other tidbit of info that might help reduce your stress KEM - you will probably need to actually call them rather than booking online, but if you find yourself having to head home earlier than planned due to MiL dying most airlines offer generous bereavement fare discounts. So even if your insurance company escapes payment with small print, you can minimise your excess expenditure.

That's not actually a concern any more - given you're obviously fully-vaxxed or you wouldn't be allowed to board a ship up here, you also do not need to show a test result to cross into Canada (as of April 1st). So it might actually be better to schedule a test close to your flight time, so you have more padding on the far end just in case of any travel shenanigans!

You'll need to enter the two 'trips' separately - as once you arrive by plane, but then to board the ship you need to do a 'marine' entry. The most recent update was primarily to resolve issues Cruisers were having, so now ALL the cruise ports are definitely listed and there's a specific 'cruising' option (that should then let you choose only from cruise ports) instead of one generic 'marine entry' with all potential ports of entry... and we have a LOT of coast in Canada!

Global Entry gets you into the short Security lines - which are nothing to do with TSA as they have zero jurisdiction up here, CATSA run all security by Canadian rules (more lenient on stuff like shoes, but pretty much the same deal in terms of liquids etc., we just use Metric measurements so there are 'rounding error' differences in how big a bottle or bag you can take carry-on...). BUT - take your physical card, as the folks guarding entry to the short line do not scan passports, they can only do a visual inspection to see that you have NEXUS/GE! 4am is pointlessly early for a US flight under ANY circumstances - US CBP preclearance agents officially start work at 4:30am and actually start more like 4:40/4:45am in terms of actually processing people. You will easily beat all the cruise pax who are doing a same-day disembark even if Monday is a 4 ship day - none of them roll in until nearer 9am when you'll have taken off already! Given many reports (including some from actual airport staff) on local Reddit threads, 3 hours early at peak times is absolutely a sensible idea - but flights as early as yours are basically just like in TheBeforeTimes with one extra very short step of 'can I see your covid tests results?' Personally I would still be taking the first SkyTrain for a flight that early - which arrives about 5:15am. Even if you need to check bags you have plenty of time to do so, and the huge lineup that always seems to build between 3am until about 30mins after CBP actually open has disappeared. With GE to expedite security - which is the ONLY real problem right now due to staffing issues - provided you have your Covid tests done elsewhere rather than also having to queue for those at YVR I would guess that you will be at your gate, sipping a last Timmies, within 30-40mins of arriving at the airport if you show up 5-5:30am.

Woody's completely correct that the provincial mandates have dropped - but private businesses being what they are, some do still maintain mask requirements if you want to shop/eat/whatever, many still politely request but do not require. So depending on whether you're coming from a viewpoint of 'I hate having to mask and want to avoid it' or 'actually I still feel more comfortable masking up' you may want to do some research. Various threads on Reddit give lists that are decent starting points but should be checked directly with the businesses if you have a strong opinion one way or the other. Oh, and in case you were not aware mask-wearing does remain mandatory at YVR - don't annoy the CBSA agents who can turn you back just because they're having a bad day by being adamant about your freedoms while lining up to be processed!!!!

Safety is frankly just not really a concern riding SkyTrain, ever - on the super-rare occasion of anything criminal going down on the train there are silent contact strips all over the place which notify the police to board at the next stop. Bright lights, cameras, staff at stations... it all makes for a very poor environment to get away with things. And considering how many of our hotels are downtown, even in the wee small hours there are people around. The type of crimes/scams which are very common on transit in some countries, like pickpocketing which we've had to deal with ourselves in Spain, are rare in Vancouver because of the skill component required. A vast proportion of our property theft/muggings crimes are committed by desperate addicts who simply lack the skillset, experience, and ability to teamwork that complex crimes require! Really it's down to relative saving of cash vs spending of time - as noted above, SkyTrain frequency plummets late at night as does traffic volume. If you value your time much at all, the convenience of hopping right in a cab and being at any downtown hotel 30-35mins later compared to potentially a 20min wait, a 26-28min ride, then another walk from station to your hotel can easily add up to having spent about 30mins extra...

Check your ticket status on the website - at least one other person on these boards was able to book train tickets which Amtrak a) cancelled, and b) did not inform them about having cancelled! I've also encountered days when the website said they had trains available after a certain date, only for the site to change within days back to all-bus-service. At this point, using the wrong icon seems entirely within reason for how crappy the Amtrak site is! Handy tidbit of info is that all Thruway buses use a 4 digit service number whereas trains only use 3 digits... much easier to compare the service number length than which icon , especially on a small screen.

Both PCR and NAAT are Molecular tests - and the official Canadian rules use that terminology, so it's 100% a 72hr limit not a 2-day. The crux is that they detect viral RNA itself, rather than the antigens your body produces in response to the virus. Technically all PCRs are actually NAAT - whether a rapid or regular version, the first step before the actual testing part is Amplification of the Nucleic Acid within the sample to make them detectable... and that's what the N A and A stand for, with the T being for 'test'. PCR for some reason seemed to stick in the cultural vocabulary best, indeed I find myself saying PCR as often as not when I mean Molecular v.s. Antigen - maybe it's the couple of syllables saved!