8 tips you need to know before cruising out of Vancouver 

I love leaving from Vancouver. Such beautiful scenery. Here’s what we have done to avoid over crowding . We normally cruise with Celebrity.I book first time slot to arrive at check in and have completed on line check in . We show up at 10 am and breeze through check in , security and customs . It’s important to get first boarding times and fully check in on line . We where on the ship enjoying lattes by 11am . We stay at Pan Pacific hotel which is above cruise terminal . They offer luggage check in and show up in morning to take your bags . I have noticed later afternoon boarding avoids the big rush.

Flew to Vancouver as part of crew many times.we went to a restaurant called the flying beaver. Ate and watched the seaplanes take off. Planes were at small airport across the street. When leaving, the railroad ties went across the street to stop traffic.seaplane crossed the street,went down the ramp into the water, and the flying beaver seaplane took off! Very cool!!

I have cruised out of Vancouver many times and have never had the problems you mentioned. I will admit the biggest problem I have had is the lines waiting to leave the ships. I hope to cruise out of Vancouver many more times.

I've also had some of my worst embarkation experiences at the Vancouver cruise terminal.

Thanks this is helpful ❤

I’m glad you showed Skytrain/Canada Line as a great option to travel between the airport and cruise terminal. Vancouver is our home port, and we parked at the YVR value lot and took Skytrain in. So glad we did - we heard stories about the terrible traffic and saw the Uber/taxi lines afterward. Also glad you mentioned the long processing time. It seems some people haven’t had that issue but they may have sailed with fewer ships in port. All passengers from all ships in port get in the same line together to go through security and customs. It might also be a thing that it’s worse early in the season with inexperienced staff.

Sorry you had such a disappointing experience at the port of Vancouver. My wife and I went on an Alaska cruise from that port August 2023, and it was one of the easiest ports I’ve ever embarked from. I truly believe that one of our advantages was the fact that our cruise left on Wednesday instead of over a weekend. We stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel, which is right there at the port and literally walked down and was on our ship within an hour.

Have cruised out of Vancouver several times, have seen all levels of lines. Worst line wrapped outside around the pier. Best was a couple weeks ago when we went pretty much straight through. Coming from Seattle, we always take Amtrak to Vancouver, then the Sky Train to the pier. Very easy.

Sorry about your horrible boarding at Canada Place. The last time we were there, we were waiting to go through security to board a HAL ship. My husband, when he saw the crowd waiting togo through, informed me that it would take us at least 3 hours to get through the process. We were in our cabin about 20 minutes later!

We took a HAL cruise out of Vancouver at around the same as this video. There were three ships in port that day. I can confirm the chaos. Vancouver is going to the dogs.

I am grateful for the head’s up from this video. We sailed out of Vancouver on August 5 and the lines were long, but nothing like you described in this video. I think part of it was that the dock workers’ strike was over. Also, since I watched your video, I was able to let the people know that this was nothing compared to a few months ago 😅 which then lessened the complaining considerably!!

We recently cruised out of vancouver and it could not have been more smooth. For us the worst part of the cruise began after we boarded the Crown princess. Out of 16 cruises, it was the worst. From the food to cold showers, lack of any decent entertainment, avoid that ship.

Sorry you had 2 of very few unpleasant embarkations. I live here. I have done 6 cruises from here. Super fast and easy, except for one in 2014 when the American Border Agency was having a rotating strike.

Good info. It's funny because i had zero delays on HAL from Vancouver. Everyone has different experiences on different days in similar places. Random mysteries of life.

🚢My friend, I just found your channel today and thank you for doing such a great job explaining the port of Vancouver, Canada! Here’s a little tip for you… I have done five cruises to Alaska and I find it much easier to sail out of Seattle, Washington!🤔It’s a breeze and extremely fast getting onto the ship!🤗

Thanks for the video! My wife and I cruised out of Vancouver on the Grand Princess on May 6th and the experience was a NIGHTMARE. We had traveled with maximum carry-on size backpacks (our normal mode for travel) but missed the place where the porters were, so we had to wear/lug those through the 2 1/2 hour cluster to get thru security and passport control. The only other time we had been thru the Vancouver terminal was at the end of a cruise, which was easy. After that fiasco, when we got home I ordered TravelPro spinner suitcases for my wife and I and will likely use those for any future cruises instead of backpacks. We'll still likely use the backpacks when traveling to and thru Europe, because that's just much easier there (we've been doing that for a couple of decades.). We're both inclined to just avoid Vancouver as a departure port in favor of Seattle in the future.

Sunday is the worst day, we get up to 16,000 passengers coming/going, most Sundays throughout the season. Grayline's baggage storage is not near the entrance to the terminal to my recollection, it's near the end. If you exit the terminal and decide to check your bag with them for the day, it's a long trek back.There are several independent baggage storage companies in the area that are substantially cheaper, also the Pan Pacific hotel will take bags and is more accessible to the city, and cheaper. If you're keen on shopping, MacArthur Glen mall (two stops from the airport) offers free baggage storage, and transit to/from the airport is less than 5 minutes.

Our experience at the Vancouver port was incredibly frustrating as well. The ramp you showed at the beginning into the check in area is very narrow and travelers that had just disembarked their ship were trying to come up with all their luggage while we were trying to go down. Once we got into the check in area there were no signs to designate where to queue. We were directed to one by a worker only to find out it dead-ended because the stanchions/belts were set up to be a closed maze. The next worker yelled at us (by then we had formed a group of confused travelers) that we were in the taxi line. We were still standing in the exact same line we started in. Meanwhile two workers argued with each other loudly about how each was setting up the lines incorrectly. The line then went downstairs (via elevator, so another choke point) to drop checked luggage, then back upstairs 3 (4?) flights, again via elevator unless you were hearty enough to climb with your carry-on, which was so much quicker. Then into the cruise line’s security check-in, then through customs, and finally into groups to board the ship, which moved from one holding area to another and then onto the ship. It took about 2.5 hours in total. Once we were able to drop our luggage, the process felt smooth, and understandably necessary, even though it was still long. But from the moment we arrived at the port and walked down that single lane ramp into chaos, fighting the crowd that was trying to catch a taxi out, downstairs, upstairs, small elevators trying to shuffle thousands of passengers not so efficiently - it felt as though they had no idea so many people would be trying to pass through on that day. However, once we were on the deck of the ship with drinks in our hands, we had a good laugh about it.

As a Greater Vancouverite, I would skip Capilano Suspension Bridge if I was in a time crunch on a weekday (yes, even 3 hours). Having to cross any of our many bottlenecks aka our bridges (in this case, the Lion's Gate Bridge) once is bad enough but twice within 3 hours? Good Luck! DT Van should be enough to fill at least 2 hours.

We never had any problems with Holland America........very swift and smooth

Three cruise ships 7500 passengers three security areas to be passed thru, and only three security lines per area. Couldn't even get a wheelchair for a disabled person. This was back in May

Thanks for the tips! Once you’re in the long line can you still leave to use the restroom? Or you’re stuck in line? As we have a few seniors in our family traveling with us. Thank you

I sailed out last year and it was a breeze.. got to the port just after 11am.. dropped off our bags.. took some photos and then waked in to check in.. after checking.. security was very quick.. and in the waiting area we waited 10 min before our boarding group was called. So maybe Disney just does it better and Princess is just terrible. Lots of seating in waiting area.. Also Disney mails your luggage tags to you.. in most counties a few weeks before. So what i got from this video is avoid Princess cruise lines.. had some friends on Holland and they said it was quick.. that was in June. And were doing Disney again in Sept this year.. lets see how it is.

Love the video Vancouver port is very busy place to embark from I live in Winnipeg,Mb 🇨🇦 and we're considering flying to an American port and embark from there instead can you suggest any ports that would be a close alternative I have no issues flying to them than to Vancouver which I would of had to do anyway.

Canada Place is beautiful but a failure as a cruise port. A glorious mess. Hard to believe you are directed to go outside and then back inside snaking through the building. The entrance and exit to the cruise port part of the building are through the garage area. Insane! Skylink is fantastic.

The takeaway: Sail out of Seattle.

It is the US customs that causes the problem. 3 ships with 3,000 each have to go through one customs agent area with maybe 15 agents

You are right. Avoid embarcation in Vancouver.

What is yellow sand? In Vancouver port. it looks like some kind of soil factory.

It is US Customs so of course there is no priority for top tier cabins or guests. The cruise line has no control over this

What makes it longer in Vancouver is to go through US customs and immigration. The first stop after Vancouver is US territory.

It is a total nightmare. They need a new and better designed terminal on the ocean (other side of bridge) if they want to stay on the Alaska agendas or Seattle will take it away.

I strongly disagree with paying to store your luggage at the cruise terminal. Take your luggage to the airport by taxi (not Uber because it takes much longer than the streamlined taxi lanes) and rent a car at the airport for the day. Store your luggage in the trunk or with a cargo cover. Drive back to the airport curbside when done and drop off your luggage. Return the rental car and then walk back to the airport terminal. Much easier especially with a limited time window of an evening flight. Skytrain often doesn't make sense since two people is already CAD 24 and a taxi is CAD 35 flat rate from YVR but could be 40 or 45 on disembark because it's metered going back. I think taxi + rental car on disembark for an evening flight is a much better idea if time is more important than a little bit of money.

why so many chinese?

Flew to Vancouver as part of crew many times.we went to a restaurant called the flying beaver. Ate and watched the seaplanes take off. Planes were at small airport across the street. When leaving, the railroad ties went across the street to stop traffic.seaplane crossed the street,went down the ramp into the water, and the flying beaver seaplane took off! Very cool!!