YVR to Royal Caribbean ship

I've been all over the Canada Link website and can't seem to find some answers. We (2 adults 65+) want to use the SkyTrain from airport in Vancouver to Waterfront Station, then, as I understand it, we can walk a short distance to the ship.

Do we have to buy a Compass card for a single, one-time ticket, which will be CAD 9?

Is there room for luggage on the train? How many cars is the train and is there a preferred car roomier for luggage?

It's about a 26 minute ride, yes?

At Waterfront Station, is it an easy walk to Canada Place? Is the terminal close to the Canada Place street? It's very hard to tell on a map exactly where the luggage drop-off / check-in point is after we are on Howe St.

I would imagine there are lots of cruisers that do this and we'll probably be in a crowd following along...

Are there shuttles we might consider using, to take us to the ship?

I've been all over the Canada Link website and can't seem to find some answers. We (2 adults 65+) want to use the SkyTrain from airport in Vancouver to Waterfront Station, then, as I understand it, we can walk a short distance to the ship.

Do we have to buy a Compass card for a single, one-time ticket, which will be CAD 9?

Is there room for luggage on the train? How many cars is the train and is there a preferred car roomier for luggage?

It's about a 26 minute ride, yes?

At Waterfront Station, is it an easy walk to Canada Place? Is the terminal close to the Canada Place street? It's very hard to tell on a map exactly where the luggage drop-off / check-in point is after we are on Howe St.

I would imagine there are lots of cruisers that do this and we'll probably be in a crowd following along...

 

Are there shuttles we might consider using, to take us to the ship?

You'll have to buy a day pass for the Canada Line. The cost is $10 per person for the day .Luggage space is tight because the train is so popular with commuters. Why not use a taxi to the port , it is a fixed rate of $35 . It will drop you off right beside the entrance and you don't have carry your bags up to the sky train and up stairs to the street in downtown. Where you'll be maneuvering thru all the other passengers arriving and leaving the ship.

" Luggage space is tight because the train is so popular with commuters. You are getting on at the terminus and getting off at the other terminus - the trains on the Canada Line were designed for luggage and bicycles - there is lots of room for luggage and even if you are taking a taxi you still have to get your luggage to the taxi.

As for payment - no need for the day pass unless you are planning to use other bus services on the same day.

No you don't need to buy a compass card - as seniors you qualify for the reduced rate which I believe is $2.75 weekdays and $1.75 evenings, weekends and holidays.+ $5.00 airport levy = $7.75. You will just buy a compass ticket.

It will cost you about half of what a taxi fare will cost.

Yes it is about 26 minutes from start to finish.

It's about 2 to 3 blocks from Waterfront Station to Canada Place.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers!

Dennis

+1 to what Dennis said, prices etc. bang on - please ignore K50s erroneous info above completely (except about the cab fare - that's correct if you feel the convenience of being taken right into the bag drop area is worth the CAD$35+tip).

Just to clarify - although still called 'compass', the TICKET Dennis refers to is just a regular disposable one-shot pass, as opposed to the reloadable plastic credit-card-like Compass Pass. The latter is worth getting only if you know you'll be a repeat visitor since there's a $6 deposit on the initial purchase - it does save you a little on each virtual ticket you use, but not enough to be worthwhile unless you're going to rack up about 8-10 trips.

Luggage space is the same in all carriages; primarily it's under your seat (there's space for good-sized suitcases) with lots of extra legroom in all seats that makes a carry-on or backpack easy to sit under/between your knees. My wife & I travel with 28" suitcases and 20" carryons when on long trips, and have no problem getting both of us and all our bags into any pair of seats.

As to how to reach the pier - the easiest thing to do is to ignore any signs you see that say 'Canada Place' down on the platform. While you can get to the pier without ever coming above ground, or pop out at an entrance only half a block from the pier, both involve more walking, escalators etc.

Easiest thing is to just follow signs to the exit - from the front of the train you'll get out into the main station concourse (look up - there are paintings all around the top of the room that most people miss entirely, and it's quite a nice old station that's been well renovated).

Walk out the main set of doors - they have pillars right outside. This is Cordova Street. Turn right, walk up two blocks (~500yards) to Howe St, turn right again, and you'll see Canada Place a block ahead of you.

Bag drop is easiest to reach by simply walking down the sloping sidewalk next to where the vehicles enter - there will be people guiding traffic and pedestrians in and out. Once you're downstairs, just keep walking straight ahead and look for your ship's name on signs directing you to the relevant conveyor belt and hand the bags straight over to the guy running the belt.

You can leave bags with the other longshoremen who are rolling cages around to load bags from buses, taxis etc. but getting it to the correct conveyor avoids the very small risk of your bags going onto the wrong ship (it's happened before, but very rarely).

Check-in is nowhere near bag drop. Depending how it's being done you will either go upstairs to a hall in the convention centre and check in there first before coming back down to Security, or else you can just walk straight into Security from bag drop and Check-in will be the very last stage. There should be signs up pointing you up to Check-in if they're doing it that way - this seems to be the new normal on three-ship days. If you don't see a sign, ask someone in uniform whether check-in is before or after Security.

You should not be allowed into the Security queue (there are always people checking!) if you don't have your paperwork so you shouldn't be able to miss check-in if it is first.

NB: paperwork includes suitable documents for US Immigration - so don't put passports etc. in any luggage you hand to the Longshoremen!

Luggage space is the same in all carriages; primarily it's under your seat (there's space for good-sized suitcases) with lots of extra legroom in all seats that makes a carry-on or backpack easy to sit under/between your knees. My wife & I travel with 28" suitcases and 20" carryons when on long trips, and have no problem getting both of us and all our bags into any pair of seats.

• it's correct there's space under the seats for luggage. However rarely anyone uses it because that's were people put there shoes... especially on a rainy day.
  
• If you enter the train by the end doors.... grab the last row of seats by the front or back of the trains. If your luggage needs to block the aisle. Block the last rows at the front and back where there is no need for the general public to walk around you.
  
• If you enter by the center doors adjacent to the bending joint. Grab the seats closest to the bend joint. The trains aisles are widest there for passengers to walk around you. There is a general area marked for bicycles and wheelchairs that some use for luggage to get away from the passengers. You will be asked to move when a rare bicycle or wheelchair shows up.
  
• If you travel with multiple pieces of checked luggage. I prefer the $35 taxi carload ($25 USD) airport to cruise terminal (or hotel) convenience. The taxi allows you to see the city above ground.... not inside a dark tunnel. For two seniors.... you are saving $13 USD to ride the train.
  

Here's a picture of that common area....

"You will be asked to move when a rare bicycle or wheelchair shows up."

Yet in the picture you post - there are two bicycles exiting the train?

Cheers!

Dennis

Thanks to Dennis and Martincath for such great information!!!! You have been very helpful. We probably will do the train simply because where we live we don't have trains to ride and so it's something different for us. We too will be traveling with two 28" suitcases and two 20 inch carryons plus a backpack. We have used trains in Europe with this luggage and managed alright.

I really was curious about exactly where the dropoff and checkin is -- and you have clarified that nicely. Thanks, again!

Susan

My wife and I will be going in the opposite direction.....from the port to the YVR. I have read that it is difficult to get a taxi once you exit the ship. We will disembark (walk off with carry on luggage) once the ship is cleared.

Do you know if it will be that difficult to get a taxi? Is it $25 USD?

We will disembark with one other ship in port on a Sunday, late May. Do you know the time frame to get thru customs/security at YVR on a Sunday morning?

Thanks

The rate from the pier to the airport is about $45 Canadian.if there is a long taxi line just walk up to the front door views of the pan Pacific or the hotel across the street and thus the bell person to order you a taxi. You'll get it almost right away then.

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My wife and I will be going in the opposite direction.....from the port to the YVR. I have read that it is difficult to get a taxi once you exit the ship. We will disembark (walk off with carry on luggage) once the ship is cleared.

 

Do you know if it will be that difficult to get a taxi? Is it $25 USD?

 

We will disembark with one other ship in port on a Sunday, late May. Do you know the time frame to get thru customs/security at YVR on a Sunday morning?

 

Thanks

Difficult? Never. Time-consuming? Depends how many ships and how fast you are off relative to the other pax! Pretty much all walk-offs on a two-ship day should beat the vast majority of pax who need to wait for their slots and for their luggage, so I would expect you to have along taxi queue.

Price is metered TO the airport, fixed FROM. They will take USD, at a not-great to crappy exchange rate - credit card even with a FTF is likely a better deal than cash. The zoned fare prices were chosen because they reflect consistently the average fare price to the zones - i.e the $35 fare zone at the pier means metered cab fare to the airport should be pretty close to that price. Sunday means light outgoing traffic, so if anything I'd expect a fare a couple of bucks less - CAD$40 incl tip should be enough, but no guarantees.

Time through airport security/immigration on a Sunday is also mostly dependent on your fellow cruisers - beat them and you'll sail through in minutes, get caught up among them and you could be looking at an hour or more to get through. Since it's not a three-ship day or a big business travel day, the queues should not be too bad, but I would still suggest checking-in the day before online - use ship internet, you don't have to print your boarding pass which can be a real hassle onboard just get yourselves on the system as checked-in. The kiosks at the airport will print your boarding passes for you if you don't have smartphones to display a soft copy.

Just to clarify, there are two lines so don't mix them up. The Canada Line goes to the airport, Skytrain doesn't. Airport trains are short, only two cars. Also watch out that some Canada Line trains terminate in Richmond, not the airport. Take the "A" train. Couldn't resist that!

" The Canada Line goes to the airport, Skytrain doesn't. "

I posted this same message and was corrected - Skytrain is the name given to our rapid transit system - Canada Line, Expo Line, Millennium line and soon to be Evergreen Line are the routes that make up the Skytrain system which is the name that Grace McCarthy - the government minister at the time nicknamed the system because the Expo Line - the first one in the system- is except for 3 or 4 stations all elevated.

Every 2nd train goes to the airport - all the trains on the Canada Line are the same length.

Cheers!

Dennis

Airport to downtown:

The Skytrain station at YVR is located on top of the parkade across from the exit from the international portion of the terminal. Walk outside, cross the crosswalk and up the elevator to the top. [Highest] price is $9/ea, (4 + 5 airport surcharge) , slightly cheaper for over 65 (concession) or during evenings and weekend (when it's all one zone). As the airport is the very 1st stop, you'll have no problem finding a spot for your bags, and unless your flight happens to arrive between 7-9a, it's unlikely to be that busy. When you get downtown there are two exits off the [Canada Line] waterfront station platform. The best one for heading straight to Canada Place cruise terminal is the one marked "Way Out - W Hastings St", and right on the platform at the south end. Get up onto street level, turn left onto Hastings, walk one block, right onto Howe and it's two blocks straight ahead. Don't go down the long corridor off the platform into the main station, it makes for a longer walk, that is slightly uphill.

If you're heading to a hotel, the City Centre station might be closer, worth checking on a map.

Downtown (Canada Place) to YVR:

Ignore the tempting "Skytrain" entrance by the taxi lineup outside of Canada Place, it leads you to the wrong platform (Expo Line). Instead walk one block to Cordova Street, turn left, walk two blocks and the big brick building on your left is Waterfront Station (weirdly very little signage outside). Once in the building, turn to your left and that's where the entrance to the "Canada Line" (which heads to YVR is). Every OTHER train goes to YVR, don't take the one to "Brighouse". Tickets are [max] $4/ea (as there's no airport surcharge going the other way).