Canada Place Cruise Terminal tips?

[samchico]

We're sailing from there tomorrow, first time in Vancouver and first time cruisers. We walked down tonight for a quick recon ;) Any tips or hints for tomorrow when we get there?

 

TIA Samantha

[scottbee]

We're sailing from there tomorrow, first time in Vancouver and first time cruisers. We walked down tonight for a quick recon ;) Any tips or hints for tomorrow when we get there?

 

TIA Samantha

 

The quick entrance into the cruise port is very unobvious. There's a narrow path to the left of the car ramp down into the parkade, and that's the best route in vs going into the hotel and taking the elevator down.

 

Also, remember to wave to those of us that work in the downtown core. We'll promise to be unimpressed that you're on a ship having fun and we're at work.

[Arusha]

Here's my experience embarking from Canada Place last May. Your experience may vary:

• Don't get there too early. At 10 AM, porters are still dealing with disembarking pax and won't be ready to take your bags. Security and Immigration won't be ready until 11-ish, either. The only advantage to getting there early is that you'll be in the front of the one, looooong line (for all pax for all ships, not separated by cruise line).
  
• The terminal does not separate disembarking pax from embarking pax. Again, if you get there too early, you'll be fighting upstream against the disembarking crowd going in the other direction.
  
• All embarking pax from all cruise lines/ships are in one big comingled crowd as you go through Security first (bags checked thru xray machines), then through US Immigration. After Immigration, if the cruise lines aren't ready to do their onboarding, then the portside personnel will put all pax in a seated waiting area. When the cruise lines are ready, then the port personnel will dismiss one row at a time from the waiting area.
  
• At that point, you go to the separate onboarding area for your cruise line.
  

[Urban trekker]

There is only one ship in port today so it shouldn't be a zoo.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

[LukeSkywalker]

Thanks Arusha, these comments are very helpful. Boarding the Millennium in Vancouver on 06 June...

[Arusha]

Thanks Arusha, these comments are very helpful. Boarding the Millennium in Vancouver on 06 June...

 

 

You're welcome! You're in luck - only one other ship scheduled at Canada Place that day, HAL Zaandam with 1,432 passengers. You should have a better experience than I did when 3 ships were there. Have a great cruise!

[squadron]

Here's my experience embarking from Canada Place last May. Your experience may vary:

• Don't get there too early. At 10 AM, porters are still dealing with disembarking pax and won't be ready to take your bags. Security and Immigration won't be ready until 11-ish, either. The only advantage to getting there early is that you'll be in the front of the one, looooong line (for all pax for all ships, not separated by cruise line).
  
• The terminal does not separate disembarking pax from embarking pax. Again, if you get there too early, you'll be fighting upstream against the disembarking crowd going in the other direction.
  
• All embarking pax from all cruise lines/ships are in one big comingled crowd as you go through Security first (bags checked thru xray machines), then through US Immigration. After Immigration, if the cruise lines aren't ready to do their onboarding, then the portside personnel will put all pax in a seated waiting area. When the cruise lines are ready, then the port personnel will dismiss one row at a time from the waiting area.
  
• At that point, you go to the separate onboarding area for your cruise line.
  

 

For some reason Vancouver cruise port is chaos - I'm always afraid my luggage will get on the wrong ship. Don't understand why they have not worked out how to cope with more than one ship at a time.