Fight to Vancouver Day of Cruise??

[msjazzymiss]

 I’m cruising out of Vancouver the  RCCL Ovation of the Seas on September 20th.   When I originally made my flight reservations I booked my flight for the day of the cruise. The flight arrives in Vancouver at approximately 11:30 AM. Not being familiar with customs in Canada, any idea how long will it take to clear customs & How long to travel to the port & what is the best mode to get there?  

 

any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Earl Rosebery]

This very subject was covered on June 3

 

If your plane is on time there is no problem. You will clear customs, grab a taxi and be at the port by 1:30 at the very latest.  Whether your plane is on time or not depends primarily on where you have a stop and the weather. Thunderstorms are unpredictable.  Seattle would be a good place for a stopover.

[martincath]

Like Earl says - if it all goes well, then you'll be fine (and taxi or SkyTrain or limo doesn't really matter - they're all about <40mins to get to the pier with cost the main differential). If anything goes wrong though, if you booked the flight yourself you are up the proverbial creek made of brown stuff with your paddle floating away from you - if it's a one-way cruise you cannot fly ahead to join at any other port as that breaks PVSA rules. Vancouver RT you can in theory join at any US port, as a cruise from the US to Canada is fine by rules of both countries, but you'd still be on the hook for all the costs of getting to Juneau/Ketchikan/Skagway etc., which would not be cheap for a walk-up ticket!

 

Even if Vancouver were not the most awesome city in North America and thuis really silly to cruise from without some pre- or post-cruise time spent, I'd still suggest rebooking for the day before when you're flying trans-continental to a cruise - even if your home airport, and YVR, and even any stop-on-the-way transfer airport are all hunky-dory weather-wise, the plane may becoming in from somewhere else with weather issues before your first flight leg...

[Langley Cruisers]

Probably not what you want to hear but is there any way you can change your flight to the day before? I'd even settle for a red-eye with an early morning arrival at this point. 😏 Are you flying from Orlando? We were trying to fly home once and our flight was delayed for 4 hours due to thunderstorms in the area.  Obviously, with a delay like that for you, you'll miss the ship.

 

In my opinion, it's just too close for comfort.

Edited June 23, 2019 by Langley Cruisers

[msjazzymiss]

Thank you, I’m beginning to feel I should have booked my flight for the day before sailing.  I’ve been planning this cruise since last year and I would hate to miss the ship.  I’m going to look into changing my flight.

[LoriPhil]

Even if you incur a change fee, it's buying you a much less stressful departure than risking a day-of flight.

[Langley Cruisers]

4 hours ago, msjazzymiss said:

Thank you, I’m beginning to feel I should have booked my flight for the day before sailing.  I’ve been planning this cruise since last year and I would hate to miss the ship.  I’m going to look into changing my flight.

 

Please come back and let us know what happens. I am always interested in the outcome when someone posts a thread like this. All the best. 😊

[cruiseryyc]

I live an hour flight away from Vancouver, plus don't have to worry about going through Customs and if I were to be taking a cruise out of there - I would fly in the day before.

[msjazzymiss]

Thanks to everyone for your words of wisdom.  You spoke & I listened,  booked flight leaving the day before.  This is my dream cruise and I decided it was worth the extra money to book a earlier flight.  Used frequent flyer miles which brought the price down & used my Marriott points to book a hotel. 

 

thank you all!

[Langley Cruisers]

^ Excellent news! Now you can relax and have a wonderful cruise! 🚢