Arriving day of cruise in Vancouver

[eetonaee]

I spent today at Vancouver airport (YVR), meeting students arriving from Asia. 
Our desk was next to that of the company that coordinates prearranged baggage and passenger transfers to the pier. 
As someone who has taken over 20 cruises I was surprised to see how many people were arriving after 12 noon for sailings that were leaving just a few hours later.

 

The transportation staff, who are not directly employed by any of the cruise ship companies, worked non stop to get the passengers loaded on buses and luggage on trucks to the pier.

 

At about 3:30 pm, a group of 20 people, including families came to the desk asking where to board their transfer to the pier for their Princess sailing. 

They were told immediately that they were too late as boarding closes at 3:45. Apparently they took connecting flights to Vancouver and both were delayed. 
There was nothing that could be done for them at the airport but they started calling the ship, Princess etc.

 

From what I could tell, they would have to fly, bus or drive to Seattle (140 miles), where they could take a flight to Ketchikan to meet their ship.

Unless  they had insurance they would be responsible for all expenses.

 

If you are sailing from Vancouver please note - even if your flight is on time, US travellers could be at Customs and baggage claim for an hour as there are lots of flights arriving at the same time from Asia and Europe.

The drive from YVR to the pier could be 45 to 60 minutes depending on the time of day. 
 

Prearranging a transfer to the ship does not mean that the ship will wait for latecomers. That might work for ship tours at the various stops but not for departure. 
 

You should avoid flying to Vancouver on the same day as your ship departs. If you must make sure you have travel insurance. 

 

 

[dawnvip]

Sage advice for almost every single departure port available! We usually fly in a few days ahead of sailing just for the peace of mind. My very first cruise, DH and I planned to arrive 1 day prior to cruise, but the flight delays and unexpected re-routing meant we arrived only hours before boarding began! So tiring and stressful!

 

My favorite cruise was Alaska last summer, because we departed and arrived in Vancouver (where we live) so no flights required! Now I search for re-positioning cruises that leave from Vancouver 😁 

[david,Mississauga]

From what I have read on Cruise Critic,  the US border control requires a final manifest a certain time - over an hour -  before the ship departs. So the final boarding time cannot be bent by the cruise line. I have seen this in New York when several people, delayed by bad weather, arrived after the final time. The Queen Mary 2 was delayed departing, waiting for tug boats because of the weather,  but the people were not allowed to board.

 

Last month we flew from Toronto to Vancouver on the first Air Canada flight of the day. That flight was four hours late and after we finally retrieved our baggage and waited in a long taxi queue we got to the Pan Pacific Hotel (at Canada Place) about an hour before final boarding for the two ships that day. We were a day early for ours but I thought how nerve-wracking this would be if we had decided to fly on the sailing day.

[GTJ]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:33 PM, eetonaee said:

I spent today at Vancouver airport (YVR), meeting students arriving from Asia. * * * At about 3:30 pm, a group of 20 people, including families came to the desk asking where to board their transfer to the pier for their Princess sailing. They were told immediately that they were too late as boarding closes at 3:45. Apparently they took connecting flights to Vancouver and both were delayed. There was nothing that could be done for them at the airport but they started calling the ship, Princess etc. From what I could tell, they would have to fly, bus or drive to Seattle (140 miles), where they could take a flight to Ketchikan to meet their ship.

It depends. If this was a one-way sailing from Vancouver to Seward or Whittier, then they would be out of luck. It would be unlawful for them to board a foreign flag vessel in Ketchikan, an American, and sail to either Seward or Whittier, other American ports. On the other hand, if this were a closed loop sailing from Vancouver, then they could lawfully board in Ketchikan, provided that their destination was Vancouver.