Vancouver Customs can't keep up

How will Vancouver handle the 2010 Olympics, if they can't process three cruise ships?!

We were on the NCL Pearl this weekend. We took a bus arranged by the travel agent, and arrived at Canada place about 11am. There were already VERY long lines, not moving, of people waiting to get through Customs at the port. By the time the doors opened at 12:10, the lines were way out the door. People were complaining mightily. How could they not open earlier?! They moved very very slowly.

The ship was delayed 95 minutes in departure, because at the time to leave, 900 passengers were still outside, in line at Customs! Can't leave that many people on shore, when it was not their fault. The captain came on to say it was not NCL's fault, and apologized profusely, but it was still a bad first impression. I heard some people say "this is our first cruise, and after waiting so long to board, it's our last."

I realize it's early in the Alaska season, but we've sailed out of Vancouver 4 times, and it's been horribly slow every time. This time broke all records, a really negative experience. Wonder how long cruise ships will use Vancouver as port, if Customs can't keep up?

I think you have to look at the big picture...

3 ships in port means around 9000 passengers disembarking and another 9000 embarking, all within a few hours. 18,000 people in one smallish terminal is quite something! They cannot open immigration and customs for passengers to start the check in process if passengers are still disembarking, as there would be nowhere for the embarking passengers to go - you may not realise that the exact same areas where you leave the ship are turned around to become the check in areas immediately after the last passenger gets off. This is why most cruiselines advise you to check in after 2pm to avoid lines...

As for coping with the 2010 Olympics - no idea how Vancouver will manage but I, for one, will be getting out of the city for 2 weeks. No way will I be part of that craziness!

We were on the NCL Pearl this weekend. We took a bus arranged by the travel agent, and arrived at Canada place about 11am. There were already VERY long lines, not moving, of people waiting to get through Customs at the port. By the time the doors opened at 12:10, the lines were way out the door. People were complaining mightily. How could they not open earlier?! They moved very very slowly.

 

The ship was delayed 95 minutes in departure, because at the time to leave, 900 passengers were still outside, in line at Customs! Can't leave that many people on shore, when it was not their fault. The captain came on to say it was not NCL's fault, and apologized profusely, but it was still a bad first impression. I heard some people say "this is our first cruise, and after waiting so long to board, it's our last."

Umm, not wanting to destroy Canadian - USA relations, but you might want to re-think your complaint here.

You would have cleared Canadian customs at the airport or land border. The customs you waited for, is the USA Dept of Homeland Security that would be pre-clearing on your ship so you don't have to clear at your 1st US destination in Alaska. If you'd like to complain, their address is;

How will Vancouver handle the 2010 Olympics, if they can't process three cruise ships?!

Well if you embarking in Vancouver it was US customs that you were dealing with and I would guess that they had not deployed enough officers this weekend to cover the crush of pax that were departing. That is not to say that Canadian customs would have been a whole lot better if you were disembarking as they do rely on a number of summer hires who are university students and likely they are still undergoing training at this point in time. Maybe I am naive, but I would like to think that customs will have their act together for the Olympics.

One more thing... as we arrived at the Port, there were HAL people with signs, waving the departing Holland America cruisers off to the left, behind that partition by the security area. The NCL and RC pasengers were sent to the long line that was not moving. I'm still puzzled as to why they had their own security clearance! The HAL ship was also 90 minutes later leaving Vancouver, though, so it didn't help much.

And I'm confused... you think the US Homeland Security was to blame, inside Canda, on a Bahamian ship, at Canada Place? I thought we we done dealing with the USA folks back at the border.

The anger in the captain's and the cruise director's voices as they made repeated broadcasts telling of delays in crew briefing, the drill, and the departure was almost tangible. I'm pretty sure that behind the scenes, heads were rolling. It was too bad, because it made a seriously bad first impression on an otherwise excellent trip.

Yes when you were boarding the ship it was US Customs that you were going through; as previous poster said, you cleared Canadian Customs when you arrived at the airport.

One more thing... as we arrived at the Port, there were HAL people with signs, waving the departing Holland America cruisers off to the left, behind that partition by the security area. The NCL and RC pasengers were sent to the long line that was not moving. I'm still puzzled as to why they had their own security clearance! The HAL ship was also 90 minutes later leaving Vancouver, though, so it didn't help much.

 

And I'm confused... you think the US Homeland Security was to blame, inside Canda, on a Bahamian ship, at Canada Place? I thought we we done dealing with the USA folks back at the border.

 

The anger in the captain's and the cruise director's voices as they made repeated broadcasts telling of delays in crew briefing, the drill, and the departure was almost tangible. I'm pretty sure that behind the scenes, heads were rolling. It was too bad, because it made a seriously bad first impression on an otherwise excellent trip.

RC doesn't dock at Canada Place - the ships in on the 9th were NCL, HAL, and Princess. I know that Princess passengers didn't even need to clear US customs in Canada Place for this cruise - it was a 1 nighter to Seattle and we were informed that they would do this on arrival in Seattle. Not sure how the other two lines handled that portion. I suspect the hold up was going through security (when your bags are scanned) and not customs/immigration - as I said, lots of people to process in a short space of time! The lines were definitely dwindling by 3:30!!!!!

If you were leaving the ships... that's Canadian customs, but getting on the ships, that's US CBP for preclearance. As others have pointed out... that's the US government, nothing to do with Canada at all.

The airport where you cleared quickly, quietly and with dignity... that's Canada Customs.

And I'm confused... you think the US Homeland Security was to blame, inside Canda, on a Bahamian ship, at Canada Place? I thought we we done dealing with the USA folks back at the border.

Firstly, it's CANADA not CANDA.

Secondly, getting on a ship at Canada Place, you are passing through the US Dept of Homeland Security in order to be pre-cleared at your next US port. If you received a stamp in your passport, you might want to check who's it is.

The Canadian Border Serivices Agency would only be involved if you were entering Canada, which you would have done at the airport or the land border crossings, or arriving at Canada Place by ship, not departing.

If the cruise line tells you to arrive at 12:30PM for boarding especially on the first weekend of the season there is usually a reason for it - it is called common sense BUT as most of us want to be on the first on the ship, the first to the buffet or restaurant WE choose to arrive at 10:30AM or shortly after and wonder why there are long lines.

No mention is made of whether the ship arrived in port on time - often on the repos they can be late in arriving - I had a long wait at Canada Place years ago because the Sun Princess was late arriving and there was a long lineup and mess at Canada Place.

One reason why the Captain is probably mad is that after a certain time the port charges - ie longshoremen's wages - increase greatly thus eating into any incentives he may have to get away on time.

Well at least the whether was great this weekend so the views of the mountains and the snow on the Cut on Grouse should have been worth something.

Also it sound like Seattle had some similar experiences - agree with PD and the summer staff - from training staff throughout my working career the best training is getting your hand dirty on the job not from the ink on a training manual.

As the OP stated - they were late leaving because of customs and that would be a DHS concern not the CBA.

Cheers

Dennis

One more thing... as we arrived at the Port, there were HAL people with signs, waving the departing Holland America cruisers off to the left, behind that partition by the security area. The NCL and RC pasengers were sent to the long line that was not moving. I'm still puzzled as to why they had their own security clearance! The HAL ship was also 90 minutes later leaving Vancouver, though, so it didn't help much.

 

And I'm confused... you think the US Homeland Security was to blame, inside Canda, on a Bahamian ship, at Canada Place? I thought we we done dealing with the USA folks back at the border.

 

The anger in the captain's and the cruise director's voices as they made repeated broadcasts telling of delays in crew briefing, the drill, and the departure was almost tangible. I'm pretty sure that behind the scenes, heads were rolling. It was too bad, because it made a seriously bad first impression on an otherwise excellent trip.

Let's clear this up....

When you flew into Canada did you show your passport and a white card to someone at the Vancouver airport before you picked up your luggage? That's Canada Customs (Really it's Canada Border Services Agency). Then you have to hand that white card to someone as you leave with your luggage, that's Also Canada Border Service Agency.

When you get to the ship, you go through US preclearance. That's US Customs and Border Patrol clearing people to go to Alaska. That is done because it's cheaper and faster than doing this in Vancouver than in Alaska because everyone gets on in Vancouver... but the next port may vary from ship to ship.

Preclearance is done in the following countries: Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg), Ireland (Shannon and Dublin), Bahamas, Bermuda and Aruba. Imagine it this way... covering a few Canadian cities is a lot easier than having CBP officers at all those airports that Canadians fly into. For example, just out of Toronto you can fly to over 40 different cities in the US, including places like Albany, NY. which has no other scheduled International flights. It's just more cost effective to do it this way.

Canada Place is the name of the building.

All Canadians know about the slowness of US CBP. Being that we are foreigners we won't complain about it. That, if you to do.

Tighter customs clearance etc weren't a Canadian idea but rather part of the US War on Terror and if you didn't change your procedures to fall in line with the the US well .......................... don't want to get too political as this is a cruising thread.

Cheers

Dennis

RC doesn't dock at Canada Place - the ships in on the 9th were NCL, HAL, and Princess.

RCCL's Rhapsody of the Seas was at Canada Place one day this weekend with HAL Ryndam and an NCL ship. It was a one time thing as she normally sails from Seattle - again part of the mess this weekend. I believe there was also a ship down at Ballantyne that day.

Don't forget all the behind the scenes stuff that you don't realize and flip the blame on Customs.

- did all the ships come into port on time, if not them embark can not start until all have disembarked. No Commingling!

- how long did it take for the longshoremen to put in the gangways

- did the ship, especially on the first arrival, have all the proper paperwork (usually not). Clearance can not be given by Customs until it is all in order.

- after clearance was given by the officials, how long did it take for the cruiseline to start calling passengers off? Canada Customs is good to go the second clearance is given.

- ship can not call passengers off until the longshoremen have offloaded their luggage and it is on the floor.

When embarking the ship, you are seeing USCBP unless your ship is going to be post-cleared or you are continuing on to another Canadian destination. You will have to go through terminal security and everyone forgets to remove their keys and change from their pockets, slowing down the process. USCBP has totally different entrance requirements (soon to be the passport law for all travellers) where CBSA does not. The onus is on all the cruiselines to ensure they have enough chairs and check-in kiosks, nothing to do with Customs.

If you don't like the process, don't travel!

Forgot to also mention that due to the H1N1 virus and isolated cases of Norwalk, extra care, questioning and monitoring is done by CBSA. This is for your benefit and protection.

International Waste inspections also have to be carried out by the officials upon the first arrival of all the vessels into Canadian waters.

Most of the problems mentioned here are typical for the first full week of ships arriving in Vancouver and Seattle after sailing in southern ports for the winter - some come straight through the Canal and into our ports - these are going to be screened a lot more intensely than one only coming from LA etc.

Cheers

Dennis

Am I wrong to be hoping for another posting from repeater? One that acknowledges the facts set out above.

These facts have hopefully, a) redirected his annoyance to the appropriate Customs Agency, and, b) reassured him that should he choose to visit in 2010 the Canadian clearance will be as friendly and smooth as I've always found it to be.

Go Canucks!

Most of the problems mentioned here are typical for the first full week of ships arriving in Vancouver and Seattle after sailing in southern ports for the winter - some come straight through the Canal and into our ports - these are going to be screened a lot more intensely than one only coming from LA etc.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

I probably shouldn't add fuel to the fire....but you should have seen the way we were held up by DHS in San Pedro after arriving from a Panama cruise in January....we were detained by a young officer for more than five minutes and finally he called an officer who took us into his office and had us sit for about 10 mins while he attended to someother business. Once he was able to deal with us we were out the door in about a minute and a half. I asked him what the problem was...was it something we purchased or what? He was very pleasant and explained that the issue was that as we were going to our AZ home for 3 months, we didn't quite fit the typical Canadian who was flying home that day and the young inspector didn't know how to deal with us.

Without the Clearance by US Customs here is what happens.

Cleared security at Canada Place and went directly onto the ship (BTW Infinity several yrs. ago) works just fine. :)

Went to the great Ports of Nanaimo and Victoria and then we went to....

ASTORIA Oregon USA. Well if you don't think that was fun. Whole ship had to be cleared by two or three USCBP (Was all I could see) agents in the area where the gangway security is normal set up. The lines were down the halls for hours.

There will be some issue's with The borders/airports clearance during the Olympics I'm sure, but there will not be rushes of arrivals and departures as for cruise ships which we (Canada) normally handle fairly well. They are already lowering their estimates for Land Crossing arrival and delays are not expected.

I too expect us to be ready.

Am I wrong to be hoping for another posting from repeater? One that acknowledges the facts set out above.

 

These facts have hopefully, a) redirected his annoyance to the appropriate Customs Agency, and, b) reassured him that should he choose to visit in 2010 the Canadian clearance will be as friendly and smooth as I've always found it to be.

 

Go Canucks!

Amen! On every point!

Perhaps s/he feels a bit sheepish now, knowing s/he was in error, Or embarrassed. I don't know. But sadly, think about how many people s/he is telling - sadly, it doesn't bode well for us here who really had no control over the situation. *sigh*

Having said that, I can totally understand the frustration though, but when one travels, these things happen. :cool:

Amen! On every point!

 

Perhaps s/he feels a bit sheepish now, knowing s/he was in error, Or embarrassed. I don't know. But sadly, think about how many people s/he is telling - sadly, it doesn't bode well for us here who really had no control over the situation. *sigh*

 

Having said that, I can totally understand the frustration though, but when one travels, these things happen. :cool:

I've listened to these same complaints going through US Customs at the Toronto Airport, where people are standing around complaining about Canada being a third world country and why can't they handle border security faster. The poor Air Canada rep was trying to explain, and people were screaming at her for the delays.

Viv

Having said that, I can totally understand the frustration though, but when one travels, these things happen. :cool:

I completely agree about these things happening - they happen very, very frequently when I go through US Customs/Border Security. I'm generally a reasonably laid-back traveller but, I've got to say, a vast majority of my frustrating experiences while travelling involve Border Security. Don't even get me started on LAX and JFK!!!!!!!!!

My husband, he of the wired together hip and the large varicose veins, said that after his last extensive pat-down experience at JFK he expected a proposal of marriage - or a nice dinner at the very least :eek:. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so darned rude and miserable about it all.

Okay, get out the flame-throwers. Just remember, I didn't start this thread.........

I will chime in with two US border stories;

For a number of years my family owned and developed property in the US - close to Vancouver - I would go down periodically to clear my lot - would always get hassle because I was a single white male driving a pickup truck with a few clearing tools in the back - they wanted to know if I was going to be doing any work and about another 10 or so questions added on for good measure.

The following day I would take my elderly mother down to our property with the same border guard and the same tools in the back and they would waive us through.

In another instance instead of asking if I had a criminal record - grounds for not allowing entry - they would get sneaky and ask if you have ever been fingerprinted - so what - many people have finger prints on file for lots of legitimate reasons.

Enough of a rant today - still hung over from the party after the local election here last night - yes my candidate and my party won!!

Cheers

Dennis

Maybe it's an Ontario thing, but I typically find the US border patrol agents friendlier going in, than I find the Canadian agents coming back.

Maybe it's an Ontario thing, but I typically find the US border patrol agents friendlier going in, than I find the Canadian agents coming back.

Yep - definitely an Ontario thing;):).....this from someone who used to live in London & Port Stanley (& Montreal & Toronto & England and now BC).