Disembarkation in Vancouver from Celebrity cruise and flights from Vancouver Airport

[georges2run]

My cruise is arriving to Vancouver cruise terminal at 7 am from a southbound Alaska cruise and I am wondering about the best time to catch a flight back home to Florida. Looks like i have an option at 12 pm and another one at 5 pm. Anyone had a recent experience with the disembarkation process and a similar situation ? Thank you (George) 

[cruiseryyc]

Noon would be the absolute earliest I would book a flight and that might be pushing it.  It really depends on how many ships are docking at the same time and how many thousands of other cruisers are trying to get to the airport and on flights.  You go through US Border Services in the Vancouver airport which adds time to the process; this means you should be getting to the airport by 9:00 a.m.

 

For ease of mind, I would take the 5:00 p.m. one and then book a tour of Vancouver that would drop you at the airport at 2:00.

[Ashland]

You should have no trouble booking the noon flight. More than likely you'll be able to disembark as early as approx 8 am. Our last four cruises into Vancouver and we've never had trouble making our noon flight.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Ashland

[cruiseryyc]

You might also want to post this on the Alaska forum

[mom says]

If you want that noon flight, you may want to self disembark, meaning you carry off your own luggage as soon as the gangway opens. As noted, you need to arrive at YVR by 0900, and will need to preclear both US immigration and security before going to your gate.

[SCX22]

It all depends on how efficient CBP and the stevedores are at the Canada Place disembarkation morning.  You'll be able to catch a noon flight no problem if there are no delays in disembarkation formalities.  The best way to to get to the airport is the Canada Line, if you can handle all your luggage; no traffic and cheap.  Airlines at YVR won't let you check-in until 3 hours before departure for flights to the U.S.

 

In June, I self carried and took the Canada Line to YVR.  I disembarked the ship at 8:15 a.m. and was at the airport by 9:15 a.m.

[3girlsmom]

As long as you do not have any mobility issues a 12:00 flight is fine. We have taken an 11:15 am flight several times and will again in 2 weeks. We do the walk off with our luggage unless we are in a suite and know our luggage will be out there first and we can be escorted off the ship, and we take the SkyTrain. It's never even been close to being a problem getting there 90 minutes or more before flight time. 

A 5:00 pm flight will get you home to Florida so late and it's a long day already.

Good Luck and enjoy your cruise!

[georges2run]

11 hours ago, cruiseryyc said:

Noon would be the absolute earliest I would book a flight and that might be pushing it.  It really depends on how many ships are docking at the same time and how many thousands of other cruisers are trying to get to the airport and on flights.  You go through US Border Services in the Vancouver airport which adds time to the process; this means you should be getting to the airport by 9:00 a.m.

 

For ease of mind, I would take the 5:00 p.m. one and then book a tour of Vancouver that would drop you at the airport at 2:00.

Thank you for the good advice. The 5pm flight would definitely give us plenty of margin and we won’t have to rush and hurry. Much appreciated 

[georges2run]

4 hours ago, SCX22 said:

It all depends on how efficient CBP and the stevedores are at the Canada Place disembarkation morning.  You'll be able to catch a noon flight no problem if there are no delays in disembarkation formalities.  The best way to to get to the airport is the Canada Line, if you can handle all your luggage; no traffic and cheap.  Airlines at YVR won't let you check-in until 3 hours before departure for flights to the U.S.

 

In June, I self carried and took the Canada Line to YVR.  I disembarked the ship at 8:15 a.m. and was at the airport by 9:15 a.m.

Thanks for sharing your experience. My big concern has been in all the logistics involved in arrival + number of ships at port + disembarkation+ processing. Seems like a noon  flight is an option.

[georges2run]

1 hour ago, 3girlsmom said:

As long as you do not have any mobility issues a 12:00 flight is fine. We have taken an 11:15 am flight several times and will again in 2 weeks. We do the walk off with our luggage unless we are in a suite and know our luggage will be out there first and we can be escorted off the ship, and we take the SkyTrain. It's never even been close to being a problem getting there 90 minutes or more before flight time. 

A 5:00 pm flight will get you home to Florida so late and it's a long day already.

Good Luck and enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for sharing your previous experience. Looks like the noon flight is a good option that will get us home the same day versus the 5 pm red eye flight. Greatly appreciated your response 

[Lanz]

We too have an early flight, 11:45,  and are considering walking off with our luggage.  After we leave the ship will there be stairs to navigate with our luggage before customs?  Unfortunately that will be a deal breaker😩. Thanks so much

[3girlsmom]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:28 PM, Lanz said:

We too have an early flight, 11:45,  and are considering walking off with our luggage.  After we leave the ship will there be stairs to navigate with our luggage before customs?  Unfortunately that will be a deal breaker😩. Thanks so much

No stairs just escalators. I'm not sure how long elevator lines may be if you don't want to wrangle items on escalators.  We have never found the procedure physically challenging of doing walk off, taking the SkyTrain and getting to our gate. For reference fitness-wise, we are in our early 60's, zero gym time ; )  but we do walk a lot.

My husband just reminded me that when we disembarked in May we got to YVR so early we had time to interview to renew our TSA Global Entry. We had appointments at LAX months and months in the future so we were very pleased to get it done at the airport! 

Edited July 29, 2023 by 3girlsmom
typo

[Lanz]

Thank you, we’re going to try🤞🥰