What to do with luggage?

[MsMarley]

We disembark Friday morning in Vancouver and our flight does not leave until 11:20pm. We would like to spend some time exploring the city before heading to the airport. I know Royal Caribbean has a post cruise hop on/hop off excursion with airport drop off but I’d like to explore the option of dyi. Are there any luggage storage options available? Or luggage valet to from ship to airport? Also is there any perks to going through the cruise line, like early

Disembarkment?

 

 

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[LeeW]

Check the Vancouver board. I think I remember seeing that there is a storage place at the port but it closes in the afternoon. Might be able to store in the Pan American hotel upstairs.https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

[KiwiGal117]

I believe you could check your luggage with most hotels for the day, just tip them nicely!!

[steveru621]

We haven't tried any other option, only the ship's excursion. The great part is they take your luggage at the terminal and ship it directly to the airport. You spend a great day sightseeing and then take the train to the airport. Very easy.

[rpp77]

We had a 5:40 PM flight last year leaving Miami, we just went from the Cruise port to the Airport and checked in our luggage early. They took it, no questions asked. Spent the rest of the day doing whatever we wanted with no worries about losing anything or it getting stolen from a rental car. The only issue we had was that it didn't show up on the carousel once we got home. We went to the luggage office and there it was. They had sent our luggage home on an earlier flight before we even left. Everything was there, safe and sound.

[steveru621]

We had a 5:40 PM flight last year leaving Miami, we just went from the Cruise port to the Airport and checked in our luggage early. They took it, no questions asked. Spent the rest of the day doing whatever we wanted with no worries about losing anything or it getting stolen from a rental car. The only issue we had was that it didn't show up on the carousel once we got home. We went to the luggage office and there it was. They had sent our luggage home on an earlier flight before we even left. Everything was there, safe and sound.

 

From personal experience. Most airlines will not take your luggage if your flight is more than 4 hours. Vancouver definitely won't. Plus the airport is a long trip from the port which is downtown and where you want to be.

[ONECRUISER]

From personal experience. Most airlines will not take your luggage if your flight is more than 4 hours. Vancouver definitely won't. Plus the airport is a long trip from the port which is downtown and where you want to be.

Agree, not before 4 hrs unless you are First Class

[rpp77]

We flew coach on Delta, got to the airport at about 10am, and the gate agent said it wasn’t an issue. Told us we could check in at anytime that morning and after that we were all set.

[martincath]

We disembark Friday morning in Vancouver and our flight does not leave until 11:20pm. We would like to spend some time exploring the city before heading to the airport. I know Royal Caribbean has a post cruise hop on/hop off excursion with airport drop off but I’d like to explore the option of dyi. Are there any luggage storage options available? Or luggage valet to from ship to airport? Also is there any perks to going through the cruise line, like early

Disembarkment?

DIY is best (cheapest, most flexible, and frankly aside from having to queue to drop your luggage exactly the same service as the cruiseline packaged 'HOHO and airport transport' tours).

 

CDS baggage at the pier will send up to 4 bags to YVR for $40 (CAD or US - make sure to ask to pay in CAD if you're paying with a credit card as the 'convenience' of paying in USD will add 25% to your cost!); the HOHO tour, on either of the two companies, runs ~$45pp (seniors get a few bucks off); SkyTrain to YVR after 6:30pm any day is a whopping $2.85pp. Pay this with credit cards or CAD cash. Total cost for a couple <CAD$140 or around US$50pp (if you only send one big bag each, you can drop the per person rate even lower if you're up to 4 people). If you're so terrified of using public transit that you have to take a cab, budget CAD$40 for the metered ride including tip from downtown. Any flight after 6pm can make use of the 'send bags to the airport' service - with a red eye like yours you have absolutely no worries your bags won't make it on time. Both the luggage offices (one in each terminal) stay open until at least 11:30pm, so you can stay downtown all day, have a good dinner without airport-inflated prices, head out at about 9pm to get your bags and check-in.

 

To bundle these things for you cruiselines seem to charge anywhere from US$80 to over $100pp. Any cruise package including airport transportation in Vancouver is padded to an horrific extent - unlike most US cruise ports and many airports, the distance between your two transport hubs and the touristy stuff most want to do is minuscule here. You walk off into the heart of the downtown core, can board 3 modes of public transit within <400 yards, free shuttle buses to some attractions and all independent bus tours are basically right outside the pier, and you're in what is quite possibly the single most walkable city on the planet for tourist purposes. Even the airport is less than 10 miles drive from the pier - so cab fares cost the same for an entire vehicle as cruise transfers do per person.

[denamo]

We disembarked in Vancouver in August. We were going to use CDS to have our luggage delivered to a designated area at the airport and retrieve it for our flight. We found a better deal through the ship that offered this service through CDS plus the Hop On, Hop Off tour that also included transportation to the airport through the Sky Train.

 

Could check online to see if this is offered or just go to CDS at the pier and check your luggage there and arrange your own sightseeing and transportation to the airport.

 

We really enjoyed the HOHO option. Since we didn't have other transportation, this was a good way for us to see the city. We got off at some stops, saw what we wanted, then waited for the next HOHO bus to show up. One of our best stops was to have Dim Sum in China town. Asked our HOHO driver and his recommendation was awesome.

 

When we bought the package, they gave us new luggage tags for early disembarkation. We were told to meet at a specific location as they considered this an excursion. We were among the first at CDS. Left the building and there was a HOHO bus waiting at the curb. We found it very easy.