Port of Vancouver

[kruisey]

An advantage for Cruise Terminal at Canada Place is that it is in Center of Vancouver.

Unfortunately volumes are starting to squeeze existing facilities.On May 12th 13,000 passengers are expected to be debarking then embarked.On May 13 14,500.Therefore will be long line ups.With the old ships being retired and the new ones much larger with increase of passengers.Some of the newer ships are too large to fit under the Lionsgate Bridge.They are thinking of the future and maybe a new Cruise Terminal.This in a way will probably be the the end of City Center arrivals. Folks have complained about delays at times in Vancouver's Terminal.It is a sign of the times as cruising is much more affordable to everyone the volumes increase.

[calvin31]

I do hope they build a new terminal far from the downtown core as sometimes the volume is unmanageable. I live here and would rather embark Alaska cruises from Seattle for my own sanity. Canada Place and the Lions Gate bridge/Stanley Park passing will be heavily missed cruising features of our great city, however.

 

 

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[kruisey]

I do hope they build a new terminal far from the downtown core as sometimes the volume is unmanageable. I live here and would rather embark Alaska cruises from Seattle for my own sanity. Canada Place and the Lions Gate bridge/Stanley Park passing will be heavily missed cruising features of our great city, however.

 

 

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The views coming into port via Stanley Park by sea would be sourly missed, weather permitting, if the terminal were changed.

[wheezedr]

I do hope they build a new terminal far from the downtown core as sometimes the volume is unmanageable. I live here and would rather embark Alaska cruises from Seattle for my own sanity. Canada Place and the Lions Gate bridge/Stanley Park passing will be heavily missed cruising features of our great city, however.

 

 

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American cabotage laws, the PVSA, as currently written will always require a one way cruise to Alaska to embark from a foriegn port. Since I doubt Victoria could handle the load that will leave the onus on Vancouver to handle it, whether at the current dock or elsewhere. Seattle is only viable for closed loops under the law, as are SF or LA. Don’t see cruise lines marketing the cruise tour from Ensenada to Anchorage.

[Coral]

Didn't they create this problem by closing Balantyne pier for cruise ships? I embarked there once. It was a poor substitute for Canada Place.

 

A lot of the much larger ships are departing from Seattle.

[sergeant655]

If they build a terminal in a place where ship do not have to go under the bridge it will be a expansion of capacity as Canada place would remain open for ships that can fit under the bridge

[kruisey]

Yes some other countries have two cruise ship areas one for the smaller ships.Canada Place is so convenient for everyone being within the town center.The younger local generation might prefer those larger ships with all the added activities they can cater for.In that way the two cruise centers would satisfy everyone.

[InAlabama]

I would hate to see the terminal moved further out as we have enjoyed downtown Vancouver. We are actually flying in this Saturday to join the masses on the 13th. I promise to have a smile on my face and thank you residents of Vancouver for putting up with the madness on ship turnaround days.

 

I've never understood how you could cruise from Hawaii to LA by stopping in Ensenada, but aren't allowed to go from Alaska to the lower 48 with a stop in Vancouver or Victoria. :rolleyes:

[RMMariner]

The plan, I believe, is to create a cruise ship terminal in Delta (which is about 30 km) from Vancouver. It already has facilities for freighters, you would not have to go under the Lions Gate and the water is much deeper than the Port of Vancouver.

 

The downside is you would be landing in Delta. It would make it harder to embark for those of us who live here, but there really is no alternative. Canada Place is just not capable of handling the volume of passengers anymore.

[Coral]

 

The downside is you would be landing in Delta. It would make it harder to embark for those of us who live here, but there really is no alternative. Canada Place is just not capable of handling the volume of passengers anymore.

 

Didn't they create the problem by expanding Canada Place?

 

I just remember when RCCL and Celebrity embarked at Ballantyne Pier and then they decided to expand Canada Place. I agree, it is crazy and a lot of people and at the beginning of season when I have gone, just pure chaos but you would think they would have known this when they decided to expand Canada Place.

 

I sort of like the idea of keeping Canada Place and only ships that fit under Lions Gate Bridge and sail from there. All big ships out of Seattle.

[beg3yrs]

...

I've never understood how you could cruise from Hawaii to LA by stopping in Ensenada, but aren't allowed to go from Alaska to the lower 48 with a stop in Vancouver or Victoria. :rolleyes:

 

The reason you don't understand is that you can't cruise from Hawaii to LA with a stop in Ensenada. Near foreign port trips must be closed loop, i.e. you can go from LA to Hawaii to Ensenada and back to LA.

[InAlabama]

Well, how far does a port have to be in order to be distant? Ensenada is less than 75miles..

[beg3yrs]

Well, how far does a port have to be in order to be distant? Ensenada is less than 75miles..

 

"However, in order to embark in a U.S. port and disembark in a second U.S. port, the vessel must visit a distant foreign port outside of North America (Central America, Bermuda. the Bahamas, and all of the Caribbean except Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, count as part of North America);"

 

Not wanting to completely hijack this thread, you should go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Vessel_Services_Act_of_1886

[gerelmx]

An advantage for Cruise Terminal at Canada Place is that it is in Center of Vancouver.

Unfortunately volumes are starting to squeeze existing facilities.On May 12th 13,000 passengers are expected to be debarking then embarked.On May 13 14,500.Therefore will be long line ups.With the old ships being retired and the new ones much larger with increase of passengers.Some of the newer ships are too large to fit under the Lionsgate Bridge.They are thinking of the future and maybe a new Cruise Terminal.This in a way will probably be the the end of City Center arrivals. Folks have complained about delays at times in Vancouver's Terminal.It is a sign of the times as cruising is much more affordable to everyone the volumes increase.

where do you get that numbers?

 

May 13 Emerald Princess & ms Westerdam

 

May 12 Star Princess , ms Nieuw Amsterdam & ms Noordam

[cdngrl]

vancouver is so pretty to sail by but downtown is nuts on turnaround day! there's been buzz about victoria expanding ogden point, which would make me very happy, but i don't think it will fly without some big changes like a protected harbour so the ships can dock regardless of the wind. it also means very few people would be able to drive to the port without a costly ferry fare. there is buzz about expanding the runway at YYJ to accommodate larger planes. it sure won't be anything happening soon. i'd love for you to all spend more time than from 7pm- midnight here!

[Renmar]

where do you get that numbers?

 

May 13 Emerald Princess & ms Westerdam

 

May 12 Star Princess , ms Nieuw Amsterdam & ms Noordam

 

 

Radiance of the Sea (2500 passengers) is also in port May 13 although they are probably not embarking new passengers because it is sailing from Hawai.

 

Theo

[Potstech]

Whatever Vancouver decides to do it is many years in the future if they started today. Downtown merchants would scream at the lose of revenue and transportation to a remote location would be a nightmare for quite awhile as the Skytrain probably would not reach there. Have embarked there one time and hope never to get into that mess every again. Love to go by and watch it when I am visiting though. It makes me so glad that it is not me there.

[cruisingrob21]

Ironically, princess is reducing capacity in Seattle and moving that to Vancouver in 2019. The blog post discusses it a bit and looks at the weekly capacity from SEA, SFO, and VAN. Princesses biggest gear ever from VAN combined with the lowest SEA capacity since 2014. Much can be related to the Royal coming to VAN and the Star replacing one of the Crown class ships in SEA.

 

http://cruisingrobsblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/princess-alaska-deployment-for-2019.html?m=1

[InAlabama]

Radiance of the Sea (2500 passengers) is also in port May 13 although they are probably not embarking new passengers because it is sailing from Hawai.

 

Theo

 

Looks like Vancouver is the end of the 10-day cruise from Hawaii and the next itinerary I can find is Vancouver to Seward on the 18th. Maybe a short maintenance break???

It will be ok with me not to have to battle the extra 2,500 Pax

[Coral]

Looks like Vancouver is the end of the 10-day cruise from Hawaii and the next itinerary I can find is Vancouver to Seward on the 18th. Maybe a short maintenance break???

It will be ok with me not to have to battle the extra 2,500 Pax

 

A ship can not carry people from Hawaii to Seward so people will be disembarking in Vancouver.

[tanyaewa]

My home port is Vancouver and we will arriving back on the 13th on the Emerald. I am surprised at the 13500 number quoted above by OP

I will report back how it was....

 

Canada place was purpose built for cruise traffic. Ballantine pier was the previous docking area prior to that. Both have to go under the Lions Gate bridge

 

Delta has no rapid transit to get to airport or city so it’s a LONG way off

[martincath]

where do you get that numbers?

 

May 13 Emerald Princess & ms Westerdam

 

May 12 Star Princess , ms Nieuw Amsterdam & ms Noordam

Likely from local press; or from a combo of the official timetable of the port & then checking how many pax each vessel holds. Wherever your info is from, it's extremely inaccurate as it misses TWO ships on May 13th (Radiance and Silver Explorer)!

 

The official port schedule is the only one that is 100% correct - and is always available in it's most up-to-date version on this page. In prior years several 'amalgamated timetable' sites have consistently missed ships or even entire fleets (cruisett somehow decided no HAL ships were visiting Vancouver at all a couple of seasons ago!) so it's always best to get the info from Port of Vancouver - this is the data the longshoremen use, so if it's wrong there won't be anyone to load and unload!

 

As to the whole 'new pier or not' I think it's only a matter of time before another pier for bigger ships is built - Robert's Bank has already been floated as a location (pardon the pun). But unless a time comes when all cruise ships are too big for Canada Place/Lion's Gate Bridge there will definitely be a role for CP - it's a landmark building that's had way too much investment to get rid of or convert to non-cruise use. Look how long the downtown pier at Hamilton, Bermuda has remained operating, despite most ships using King's Wharf and only a handful of smaller ships actually docking there - at the very least all the super-luxury ships will likely keep using Canada Place, even if all the Joe Q Public fleets end up so big they have to go elsewhere!!!

[SoCalTraveler]

We will be in Vancouver on May 13 and will report.

[kruisey]

where do you get that numbers?

 

May 13 Emerald Princess & ms Westerdam

 

May 12 Star Princess , ms Nieuw Amsterdam & ms Noordam

From the article in Vancouver Sun the local newspaper.

[AE_Collector]

The numbers represent both disembarking and embarking passengers so a 3000 passenger ship like Emerald Princess is 6000 passengers. There may be additional passenger numbers included for some crew as well.

 

Now isn’t this just perfect, larger cruise ships will wind up in South Van or Richmond instread of being dropped right downtown so that they can watch the oil tankers go by! Get the tankers (hot local debate) out of Burrard Inlet to Richmond or Roberts Bank and I’ll support the pipeline.