Port of Vancouver

[VibeGuy]

This is an opportunity to think big.

 

Transform the cruise check in and boarding experience from the ground up.

 

Move the ships themselves out to Roberts Bank/Deltaport/Richmond. Decentralise the check-in.

 

Imagine, if you will, check-in and immigration/customs facilities at Canada Place - downtown, capable of handling about 6000 guests/day without descending into chaos. Maybe another one just like it that uses the Transborder Terminal security and customs/immigration facilities at YVR. Let’s say that one could scale to 12000. Think something like the in-town check-in desks for the Hong Kong airport.

 

 

Now, add a rail spur to the pier. Whomp on some carriages like the HKG Airport Express - comfy seating, cruise line employees/contractors to answer questions, baggage cars, etc. These trains would operate as extensions of the “sterile area” post-immigration/CBP and bypass other stops. They would deliver checked-in passengers from these remote check-in points directly to the pier to proceed onto the gangway.

 

Designed right, this process could be world-class. Arrive at YVR, have cruise cards while your baggage is scanned for CBP and then proceed like it’s any other transborder flight, except you’re headed to a secure train platform. Same at Canada Place - leave your hotel, check in on the Cruise Level, follow the moving sidewalk with your hand baggage to board the Sky Train.

 

It’s going to take 25-40 minutes nonstop. Present an interpretive programme, let the cruiselines market onboard services, have free WiFi and charging ports. Make it a relaxing buffer between check-in and getting on board.

 

Vancouver has already done the hard parts - YVR has automated baggage handling for this, the train system infrastructure is all there. Pick a pier site, build a spur, order some railcars. Change the paradigm. Learn from the Disney Transportation System and world-class port authorities. A system like this lets you take advantage of your downtown hotel stock, the specialised areas of Canada Place, the much larger CBP and CBSA capabilities at YVR, and makes the boarding process uniquely special while keeping hundreds of buses and thousands of taxis per cruise day out of Canada Place.

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Have sailed out of Vancouver many times only once was Is it a ugly day to board however the ship was late docking so not much you can do on that. Vancouver is still on my top 3 ports

[SoCalTraveler]

Here is my report on disembarking on Emerald Princess. Arrived May 13, as one of 4 ships that day. Our meet-up time for independent departure but with Princess handling bags was 8:20 a.m.

 

Left Cabin D733 at 8:15 a.m. Walked downstairs.

Arrived Explorer Lounge at 8:20 a.m.

Left Explorer Lounge at 8:22 a.m.

Stopped to scan out.

Slowed to pick up bags which were visible at a distance.

Arrived at the street in front of Canada Place at 8:38 a.m.

 

Can't do better.

[Buckeye10640]

I have read that there is always a long line to get a cab after disembarking. We are staying in Vancouver for a few days post cruise and need to get to the Hampton Inn on Robson. Whats the most efficient option? As we will probably do the HOHO trolley anyway considering the Princess 'excursion' which includes hotel drop off, HOHO ticket, and transfers to airport on Skytrain. Anyone used this option?

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

[martincath]

^Unless Princess have slashed their prices, don't book the HOHO through them. It's (all CAD) $56 for the full double-loop tour for 24hrs, and $4.10 or less for SkyTrain when booked independently. Cab fare to the Hampton will be under $10 for as many folks as fit in the cab. Usually they include the 'transfer bags to YVR' service' too which is $40 for 4 bags.

 

Since you're doing a hotel afterward, the bag transfer is no use - so the actually-useful parts should cost you no more than US$50pp or else Princess are laughing all the way to the bank... if you can roll your luggage that far, just walk to the Hampton if the cab queue is long. It's bang on a mile, with a minimal up & down hill, less than 20mins even dragging suitcases. Or head upstairs to the Pan Pacific and get a cab there - or cross the street to the Fairmont Waterfront and grab a cab there - or walk two blocks down the street to the Fairmont Pacific Rim... there are plenty of very close options other than just waiting downstairs!

[jsglow]

Here is my report on disembarking on Emerald Princess. Arrived May 13, as one of 4 ships that day. Our meet-up time for independent departure but with Princess handling bags was 8:20 a.m.

 

Left Cabin D733 at 8:15 a.m. Walked downstairs.

Arrived Explorer Lounge at 8:20 a.m.

Left Explorer Lounge at 8:22 a.m.

Stopped to scan out.

Slowed to pick up bags which were visible at a distance.

Arrived at the street in front of Canada Place at 8:38 a.m.

 

Can't do better.

 

SoCal, might you expand on that a little? 'Meet-up time for independent?' So you were assigned an 'arrive at the lounge time' by Princess based on your flight time? Sorry, PCL newbie here and I want to understand process a little better. DW are fully prepared to self disembark if that's what we need to do to stay on schedule. Noon flight at YVR. We'll cab or subway, whichever is most efficient that morning.

[Cruise Junky]

They'll never stop coming into Canada Place. Eventually a second dock will be built probably around Roberts Bank to accommodate some of the much larger ships that can't fit under the Lions Gate Bridge. There are usually two weekends a year that are chaos because of all the repos coming in and out, the rest of the year is fine. Nothing to worry about.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Cruise Junky

[Cruise Raider]

We sailed out of Canada place last May and it was a nightmare. It was reported that some people waited in lines for up to 6 hours. Part of the problem was that the facilities were not well equipped to handle the volume of passengers of the 3 cruiseships that were in port at the time. The larger part of problem is that the number of US immigration agents was sorely insufficient for that volume of passengers. There was also a smaller issue, may seem insignificant but definitely a contributing factor, that the staff working the terminal all seemed to be new on the job and nobody seemed to know where the passengers should go. It was early in the Alaska season, so I give them a pass on this. I bet they learned some valuable lessons from that embarkation day.

[Buckeye10640]

^Unless Princess have slashed their prices, don't book the HOHO through them. It's (all CAD) $56 for the full double-loop tour for 24hrs, and $4.10 or less for SkyTrain when booked independently. Cab fare to the Hampton will be under $10 for as many folks as fit in the cab. Usually they include the 'transfer bags to YVR' service' too which is $40 for 4 bags.

 

Since you're doing a hotel afterward, the bag transfer is no use - so the actually-useful parts should cost you no more than US$50pp or else Princess are laughing all the way to the bank... if you can roll your luggage that far, just walk to the Hampton if the cab queue is long. It's bang on a mile, with a minimal up & down hill, less than 20mins even dragging suitcases. Or head upstairs to the Pan Pacific and get a cab there - or cross the street to the Fairmont Waterfront and grab a cab there - or walk two blocks down the street to the Fairmont Pacific Rim... there are plenty of very close options other than just waiting downstairs!

thanks martincath. sounds like we just need to collect our bags and find a cab at a nearby hotel. i have no problem with walking the mile but depending on how many bags we take and other stuff we end up collecting during the prior 12 days it might be a bit cumbersome!

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

[SoCalTraveler]

thanks martincath. sounds like we just need to collect our bags and find a cab at a nearby hotel. i have no problem with walking the mile but depending on how many bags we take and other stuff we end up collecting during the prior 12 days it might be a bit cumbersome!

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

 

I've walked from Canada Place to the Georgian Court, which is literally next door to the Hampton Inn. (I did laundry at the Hampton Inn.) Anyone in reasonably good shape can make that walk. BUT NOT WITH LUGGAGE. Get a cab. No UBER or Lyft in Vancouver.

[SoCalTraveler]

SoCal, might you expand on that a little? 'Meet-up time for independent?' So you were assigned an 'arrive at the lounge time' by Princess based on your flight time? Sorry, PCL newbie here and I want to understand process a little better. DW are fully prepared to self disembark if that's what we need to do to stay on schedule. Noon flight at YVR. We'll cab or subway, whichever is most efficient that morning.

 

 

We were going east, and our travel agent had arranged a Vancouver city tour meeting at Canada Place. (The meeting place was changed that morning to a block away. Not a problem.) We had independent departure, and we were in group 1.

[SoCalTraveler]

We sailed out of Canada Place to Alaska previously. It was the first port in which we could use Global Entry to skip a line, and boarded quickly. Americans without Global Entry waited a considerable amount of time. Foreigners (i.e., Canadians) waited even longer.

[Potstech]

This is an opportunity to think big.

 

Transform the cruise check in and boarding experience from the ground up.

 

Move the ships themselves out to Roberts Bank/Deltaport/Richmond. Decentralise the check-in.

 

Imagine, if you will, check-in and immigration/customs facilities at Canada Place - downtown, capable of handling about 6000 guests/day without descending into chaos. Maybe another one just like it that uses the Transborder Terminal security and customs/immigration facilities at YVR. Let’s say that one could scale to 12000. Think something like the in-town check-in desks for the Hong Kong airport.

 

 

Now, add a rail spur to the pier. Whomp on some carriages like the HKG Airport Express - comfy seating, cruise line employees/contractors to answer questions, baggage cars, etc. These trains would operate as extensions of the “sterile area” post-immigration/CBP and bypass other stops. They would deliver checked-in passengers from these remote check-in points directly to the pier to proceed onto the gangway.

 

Designed right, this process could be world-class. Arrive at YVR, have cruise cards while your baggage is scanned for CBP and then proceed like it’s any other transborder flight, except you’re headed to a secure train platform. Same at Canada Place - leave your hotel, check in on the Cruise Level, follow the moving sidewalk with your hand baggage to board the Sky Train.

 

It’s going to take 25-40 minutes nonstop. Present an interpretive programme, let the cruiselines market onboard services, have free WiFi and charging ports. Make it a relaxing buffer between check-in and getting on board.

 

Vancouver has already done the hard parts - YVR has automated baggage handling for this, the train system infrastructure is all there. Pick a pier site, build a spur, order some railcars. Change the paradigm. Learn from the Disney Transportation System and world-class port authorities. A system like this lets you take advantage of your downtown hotel stock, the specialised areas of Canada Place, the much larger CBP and CBSA capabilities at YVR, and makes the boarding process uniquely special while keeping hundreds of buses and thousands of taxis per cruise day out of Canada Place.

 

How long to do? How much will this plan cost? Who will pay for it? What happens to the merchants that lose business near Canada Place and Gastown. Sounds good i a few paragraphs but when it comes down to details it ain't gonna happen in the next two decades.

[tanyaewa]

We just arrived in Vancouver on Sunday after a 4 night Coastal from LA.

 

We literally walked off, through the terminal, grabbed our suitcases and were up the escalator to the street.

No customs, no delay

 

We stayed on board until 10:15

[abbydancer2003]

We sailed out of Canada place last May and it was a nightmare. It was reported that some people waited in lines for up to 6 hours. Part of the problem was that the facilities were not well equipped to handle the volume of passengers of the 3 cruiseships that were in port at the time. The larger part of problem is that the number of US immigration agents was sorely insufficient for that volume of passengers. There was also a smaller issue, may seem insignificant but definitely a contributing factor, that the staff working the terminal all seemed to be new on the job and nobody seemed to know where the passengers should go. It was early in the Alaska season, so I give them a pass on this. I bet they learned some valuable lessons from that embarkation day.

 

Probably not, as in May 2016 we sailed out of Canada Place. We arrived by noon, and it took almost 2 hours, the ship sailed 4 hours late because by all aboard there were several hundred people who hadn't finished with Customs. There were 2 ships in port that day. I think it was, as you mentioned, new staff.

 

Also contributing was that our cruises had several large groups from Asia and they all had to be fingerprinted, etc at the customs station. So while it took us about 30 seconds (scan passport - have a nice trip), it took several minutes for each person in those groups.

 

So, appears they learned (or applied) nothing from the 2016 experience.

[lx200gps]

We were also on the Emerald arriving 13 May as a few of the other posters. We did a 7:55AM walkoff carrying our bags, and had an 11:30 flight to catch. The RCCL ship had arrived ahead of us, and the HAL ship was arriving after us. We walked straight to the taxi stand, no interaction with Customs or Immigration, and waited less than two minutes for a taxi. As we were driving out of Canada Place we drove past a VERY long line of waiting taxis lined up on nearby streets. We were at YVR by 8:30AM

 

I guess it pays to do an early walk-off if you are capable. Vancouver was the best disembarkation we have ever done, never even saw an escalator.. Sure beats the pandemonium at Port Everglades.