Flight is leaving very late out of Vancouver...what should I do until then?

[PittsburghNative]

I have a little dilemma. My flight home is leaving at 11pm the day I get off my cruise. There are earlier options, but it would make my airline ticket $$$$$. I know cruises have excursions for the last day to explore the city and they will store your luggage. Is there a better alternative?

[CruiserBruce]

Perhaps some research on the Canada (Pacific) board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/23-canada-alaskapacific-coastal/

 

would be more appropriate.

[PittsburghNative]

36 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Perhaps some research on the Canada (Pacific) board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/23-canada-alaskapacific-coastal/

 

would be more appropriate.

 

That would be better....thanks for the link!

[jakers]

Remember that flying out of Canada into the United States is an international flight. The three hour rule applies. You will have to wait in two our three, possibly long lines to get to the boarding area. The first line, after you drop off your luggage is for them to check your passport and boarding pass. The second line is to go through security, and the third line is for US Customs. It is at least 30 minutes to get from the dock to the airport. Plan your time accordingly.

[PittsburghNative]

5 hours ago, jakers said:

Remember that flying out of Canada into the United States is an international flight. The three hour rule applies. You will have to wait in two our three, possibly long lines to get to the boarding area. The first line, after you drop off your luggage is for them to check your passport and boarding pass. The second line is to go through security, and the third line is for US Customs. It is at least 30 minutes to get from the dock to the airport. Plan your time accordingly.

 

Oh I know we’ll need to arrive at the airport several hours beforehand. I did google “post cruise tours” and found several companies that will hold your luggage, provide a tour that is 2-8 hours long, and transfer you to the airport.

[footballmom]

On 1/12/2019 at 12:41 PM, PittsburghNative said:

I have a little dilemma. My flight home is leaving at 11pm the day I get off my cruise. There are earlier options, but it would make my airline ticket $$$$$. I know cruises have excursions for the last day to explore the city and they will store your luggage. Is there a better alternative?

 

May I ask what airline you are flying? I need to book my airfare from/to Pittsburgh. Thanks!

[rkacruiser]

After your sightseeing, if your airline has a Club Lounge at the airport, buying a day pass will give you entrance to much more comfortable seating than in the terminal with enough food and beverages that you might be able to have "dinner" within the Lounge without having to buy expensive airport food.

[PittsburghNative]

1 hour ago, footballmom said:

 

May I ask what airline you are flying? I need to book my airfare from/to Pittsburgh. Thanks!

I live in Miami now, so I won’t be flying from PIT. I did score an AMAZING deal. $300 RT and all taxes included! I’m flying United to Vancouver, and flying home on WestJet. I am coming into Vancouver 2 days prior to the sailing.

[PittsburghNative]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

After your sightseeing, if your airline has a Club Lounge at the airport, buying a day pass will give you entrance to much more comfortable seating than in the terminal with enough food and beverages that you might be able to have "dinner" within the Lounge without having to buy expensive airport food.

 

Unfortunately I don’t belong to an airline club. I’m going to take advantage of a post cruise tour and spend 5-7 hours sightseeing. 

[footballmom]

Ok—thanks! Wow! That is a great deal!

[rkacruiser]

2 minutes ago, PittsburghNative said:

 

Unfortunately I don’t belong to an airline club. I’m going to take advantage of a post cruise tour and spend 5-7 hours sightseeing. 

 

You do not have to belong to an airline club.  If you are flying on an airline that has a club lounge at that airport--not all do--you can buy a day pass to use the club.

[cltcruzer]

I had the same situation as you - I believe my flight was scheduled to leave Vancouver at 11:55PM. When I got off the cruise ship, we went straight to CDS Baggage Services in Canada Place (right where you leave the ship) http://www.cdsbaggage.ca  It cost us $50 total for them to hold our 5 bags all day AND transport them to their kiosk in the Vancouver Airport. GREAT deal. 

 

If your flight is late, you probably won't go through customs in Vancouver. I believe it closes at 8PM. Instead, you go through customs when you land in the United States - for us, the layover (on our way to Raleigh NC) was in Chicago. We had a really short layover and were worried we'd miss our connection, but customs went really fast and we made it in time.... unfortunately, our luggage that had just been inspected at customs, did not make the connection. I'd suggest a layover of more than an hour, probably 2 to be safe, so you and your luggage has time to make it to your connection. 

 

As for activities during your day in Vancouver: 

Our first stop was the Capilano Suspension Bridge. There is a free shuttle bus right at the Vancouver cruise terminal. It was beautiful weather and we spent about 2 and a half hours exploring all the different things there. 

 

Next we took the free shuttle back downtown, then took a cab to Stanley Park (cheaper than getting a cab from Capilano to Stanley Park). Stanley Park was beautiful and most people say you could easily spend an entire day (or more) just exploring that area. We walked around for an hour or so, then went to the Vancouver Aquarium, which was great. 

 

After Stanley Park, we went back downtown for two stops before we headed to the airport: first was Vancouver Lookout (amazing view of the city, but kind of overpriced in my opinion), and FlyOver Canada (only a 10-15 minute "ride", but really cool and kind of acted as a recap of everything we'd seen during our entire trip). 

 

We'd never been to Vancouver and wanted to squeeze a lot in to one day. Some would prefer to spend the entire day at Stanley Park or another specific area (definitely can see why - it was beautiful and a huge park), but I was glad we got to explore several parts of the city. 

Edited February 12, 2019 by cltcruzer

[Invero]

On 2/12/2019 at 11:13 AM, cltcruzer said:

If your flight is late, you probably won't go through customs in Vancouver. I believe it closes at 8PM. Instead, you go through customs when you land in the United States - for us, the layover (on our way to Raleigh NC) was in Chicago. We had a really short layover and were worried we'd miss our connection, but customs went really fast and we made it in time.... unfortunately, our luggage that had just been inspected at customs, did not make the connection. I'd suggest a layover of more than an hour, probably 2 to be safe, so you and your luggage has time to make it to your connection. 

 

Sorry for digging up a month-old post, but I wanted to say Thank You for that information. I would never have even thought that Customs would close that early, and that I'd be going through customs on my layover. I will definitely be keeping an eye on layover length when I book my flight. 

[Hammer61]

We are in a similar situation, our flights back to Sydney are very late so have booked a tour through this firm.

 

 https://vancouvertours.com/pre-post-cruise-tours/ 

 

They will pick you up from Canada place Cruise terminal and also take your luggage, then drop you at the airport after the tour has finished, the tour we are doing "Vancouver Delights" is 7 hours from 10am, so no rush getting off the ship and they told us the airport drop of time was around 6pm, by the time we get checked in and through immigration, we will still have few hours to kill but i have access to the Premium lounge and can take a guest for a $27 fee, if you dont have access, you can always book online for $35 each, think that gives you 2 or 3 hours, heres a link.

 

https://www.loungebuddy.com.au/

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by Hammer61

[PittsburghNative]

2 hours ago, Hammer61 said:

We are in a similar situation, our flights back to Sydney are very late so have booked a tour through this firm.

 

 https://vancouvertours.com/pre-post-cruise-tours/ 

 

They will pick you up from Canada place Cruise terminal and also take your luggage, then drop you at the airport after the tour has finished, the tour we are doing "Vancouver Delights" is 7 hours from 10am, so no rush getting off the ship and they told us the airport drop of time was around 6pm, by the time we get checked in and through immigration, we will still have few hours to kill but i have access to the Premium lounge and can take a guest for a $27 fee, if you dont have access, you can always book online for $35 each, think that gives you 2 or 3 hours, heres a link.

 

https://www.loungebuddy.com.au/

 

 

That’s the same company and tour we are doing!

[murfie]

There is so much to do in Vancouver that it depends on your interests.  As mentioned, Stanley Park is worth a visit if you like ocean and forest.  They also have the Aquarium there.  If you like art, look up what is showing at the Vancouver Art Gallery.  Hopefully some of their Emily Carr collection will be on display.  She travelled up the coast painting the totems and forest.  If you like bird watching there is Boundary Bay Bird Sanctuary or Reifel Bird Sanctuary.  Granville Island is fun for shopping, food and art.  I am not that impressed with the Capalino Suspension Bridge but lots of people really like it.  VanDusen Botanical Gardens is lovely.   

[RMurp007]

We have booked this tour as well for June 30 as our flight does not leave until 11:19 pm.  Love the fact that they will pick us up at the cruise terminal, bring our luggage along and then drop us off at the airport.