Disembarking in Vancouver

[PhxRain]

Hello,

 

We will be disembarking our cruise ship in Vancouver. Can anyone tell me the procedure for disembarking?

 

Will passports be checked as we are getting off the ship, the night before or after we get off the ship?

 

Is there a "fast lane" for checking passports for those of us going directly from the ship to the airport?

 

Do they do in-depth background checks on everyone getting off the ship? If they do, I imagine the wait time to get off the ship would be crazy long.

 

Thank you!

[cruiseryyc]

Passports will be checked by Canadian Immigration as you get off the ship.

 

No "fast lane" for those going directly to the airport as 95% or more of the passengers will be going directly to the airport.

 

In depth background checks will be done prior getting to Vancouver as your passport information will already have been shared with Canadian Immigration.

 

FYI - you will go through US Customs/Immigration at the Vancouver airport prior boarding your flight; do not book a flight prior noon.

[martincath]

Answers in red

Will passports be checked as we are getting off the ship, the night before or after we get off the ship?

Customs & Immigration staff have a single area inside the terminal - i.e. if there are 3 ships, you all queue up together after disembarking.

 

Is there a "fast lane" for checking passports for those of us going directly from the ship to the airport?

No - it's been confirmed that US Direct program is not operating this year, so everyone queues up together regardless of staying in Canada or travelling elsewhere.

Do they do in-depth background checks on everyone getting off the ship? Background checks no - but if you have a criminal record, even for misdemeanour type offences, these can be linked to your identity via your passport or driving license. If you have a 'flag' like this on your ID you can expect more in-depth questioning, but if not you'll probably receive a very brief Why/When/What/Where/How type query (why are you here, where are you staying, how much currency do you have on you, what goods are you bringing, when do you leave?) and as long as you don't seem shifty you'll be on your way in a minute or so.

 

If it's your first time entering Canada and you have any kind of criminal record it may or may not show up and if it does you may be denied entry. There have been extensive threads about this issue for closed-loop Seattle RTs as well as people flying in to Canada that you can refer to on this board, West Coast, and Alaska just in the last few days. This website has all the official rules.

[PhxRain]

Passports will be checked by Canadian Immigration as you get off the ship.

 

No "fast lane" for those going directly to the airport as 95% or more of the passengers will be going directly to the airport.

 

In depth background checks will be done prior getting to Vancouver as your passport information will already have been shared with Canadian Immigration.

 

FYI - you will go through US Customs/Immigration at the Vancouver airport prior boarding your flight; do not book a flight prior noon.

 

Thank you! :)

 

Our flight is at 1:40 so I was just trying to get an idea of how much time we will need to get out of the terminal & to the airport because I know that it will be a good chunk of time to get through US customs at the airport.

 

 

If it's your first time entering Canada and you have any kind of criminal record it may or may not show up and if it does you may be denied entry. There have been extensive threads about this issue for closed-loop Seattle RTs as well as people flying in to Canada that you can refer to on this board, West Coast, and Alaska just in the last few days. This website has all the official rules.

 

OK, now you've got me curious - so what happens to a person who is denied enrty? Will they be put back on the ship? Will they be sent directly to the airport(which is probably where they were headed anyway), will they be arrested or will it be a Tom Hanks deal where that person has to now live in the cruise terminal? LOL :D

Edited May 1, 2014 by PhxRain

[martincath]

OK, now you've got me curious - so what happens to a person who is denied entry? Will they be put back on the ship? Will they be sent directly to the airport(which is probably where they were headed anyway), will they be arrested or will it be a Tom Hanks deal where that person has to now live in the cruise terminal? LOL :D

 

The clue is in the name - if you're denied entry to a country, you cannot enter it. My only first-hand tales of this were all from people arriving by plane - and they were put back on it. I seem to recall others on these boards saying they knew of people arriving by ship who were allowed to go to the airport if they had tickets, but that still involves passing through Canada so would have to occur under bond (and since there's no bonded traveler program now, perhaps in custody... if we don't trust you enough to let you in, why would we trust you enough to let you make our own way to the airport!?)

[PhxRain]

Ha! That is true!

[Earl Rosebery]

The clue is in the name - if you're denied entry to a country, you cannot enter it. My only first-hand tales of this were all from people arriving by plane - and they were put back on it. I seem to recall others on these boards saying they knew of people arriving by ship who were allowed to go to the airport if they had tickets, but that still involves passing through Canada so would have to occur under bond (and since there's no bonded traveler program now, perhaps in custody... if we don't trust you enough to let you in, why would we trust you enough to let you make our own way to the airport!?)

 

A little common sense is required. Joe six-pack arrives in Vancouver from an Alaska cruise. He has a DUI from 10 years ago and a ticket from Vancouver airport to Chicago or wherever in the states. Does anyone here seriously think they are going to put him back on the ship rather than allow him to go to the airport? Give me a break.

[martincath]

A little common sense is required. Joe six-pack arrives in Vancouver from an Alaska cruise. He has a DUI from 10 years ago and a ticket from Vancouver airport to Chicago or wherever in the states. Does anyone here seriously think they are going to put him back on the ship rather than allow him to go to the airport? Give me a break.

 

And your example is a textbook 'Deemed Rehabilitated' case so Joe would NOT be denied entry. The entire point of the 'Deemed Rehabilitation' rules is to allow in those folks who made a mistake back in the day but have kept their nose clean since.

 

My answer was specific to the question "...so what happens to a person who is denied enrty(sic)?"- immigration staff have a lot of discretion in how they apply the rules, but if they choose to deny a person entry, that person DOES NOT get in.

 

How that person makes their way home, if they lose $ on prepaid flights/hotels/theme park tickets is utterly irrelevant to Canadian immigration officers - their job is to keep out the folks that pose a threat to our country (how well that's assessed is of course a matter for a much different discussion than this!!!)

Edited May 2, 2014 by martincath
spelling

[mhsqb11butterflya320]

So if a person flies to anchorage, spends time there, then embarks on a one way southbound cruise ending in vancouver, might they be denied entry from the cruise port to the airport to return to the US?

 

[mhsqb11butterflya320]

And what does that person do?  Are they able to get off the cruise ship and if not, what happens?

This is for someone who has a DUI from 13 years ago.

 

[martincath]

20 hours ago, mhsqb11butterflya320 said:

And what does that person do?  Are they able to get off the cruise ship and if not, what happens?

This is for someone who has a DUI from 13 years ago.

 

Well, the rules on the DUI thing changed considerably for the worse between this thread's first go-around and your resurrection of it - in 2018 the DUI 'standard tariff' bumped up to include up to 10 years in prison making it now a Serious Crime by Canadian legal standards. While theoretically the date of your offence is taken into account - so at 13 years ago, you should be treated as if the rules in place back then were still in place, i.e. you can still benefit from being 'Deemed Rehabilitated' and all the discussion above applies including most relevantly 'will my DUI even show up during my immigration check?'

 

Not a lawyer, don't even play one on TV, but the obvious new wrinkle from DUIs becoming Serious Crimes for a first-time visitor is that CBSA people are not perfect and any given officer might not know they should check the dates carefully if they see you 'ping' as having a DUI. Even if they do realise your case should be 'grandfathered in' as an older offences, being Deemed Rehabilitated is still entirely at their discretion! When the change first happened, I saw quite a few reports of folks who had been coming and going for years being turned away - and every one of them who tried to fight the system claiming 'you let me in before, you should have applied the old rules this time again!' got nowhere because Deemed is always a 'this time' discretionary entry...

 

However, from the rare, anecdotal reports I've heard since the change nothing has changed in terms of 'common sense' being applied - if you have a flight booked back to the US that day, it's less paperwork and expense to the Canadian taxpayer if you are allowed to simply get yourself to that flight under your own recognizance,and since we share all of our border-crossing info with the US, verifying that you got on a plane that day is a simple matter.

 

But if you are literally denied entry, sending you right back onto the ship would be the cheapest thing for us even if becomes very expensive for you. I think the exact same 'carrier' rules apply as with planes, so by bringing you here they have to take you away again if you're rejected but they can charge you through the nose for doing so!

 

I see you're in Wisconsin, so if you're asking for yourself or someone else local, you could try taking a day trip to the Soo and asking to be assessed at the border - if you successfully get one 'Deemed Rehabilitated' note on your file there's a better chance future CBSA officers will say 'Good enough for Doug, good enough for me, eh?' and continue to allow you entry. And if you get rejected, even if there's a cruise already booked this season you might have time to apply for a TRP (~US$170) - there may not be time to apply for full criminal rehabilitation (~US$840) even if your cruise is next year.