Alaska Cruise - Flying out the same Day?

[nunami]

I am going on the Alaska cruise this summer. I am wondering about flying out of Vancouver the same day the ship returns. In order to avoid a red eye I can take a 12:45pm flight. I know Disney recommends flights after 12 noon but I am wondering if anyone has experience flying out the same day and could give me some insight. Thanks!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I am going on the Alaska cruise this summer. I am wondering about flying out of Vancouver the same day the ship returns. In order to avoid a red eye I can take a 12:45pm flight. I know Disney recommends flights after 12 noon but I am wondering if anyone has experience flying out the same day and could give me some insight. Thanks!

Yes no problem at all our flight was earlier than that.

I would say do express disembarkation which is keep your luggage last night and walk off with it.

We were able to walk off at 7.15 am and had booked a shuttle to the sir port we were there at 8.30 am.

Now as we got off we walked past where the luggage would be it was empty nothing there.

What they do is get bags off by your disembarkation tags so you might be green tinker bell or blue Mickey and as the luggage comes off you are called off the space is very small.

You can if you wish to have your luggage taken last night, go to guest services and ask for an early tag off.
but it's a very short walk you really do not need to do it.

Note we found USA border control very bad at Vancouver airport we flew to San Francisco and it took over an hour to get through USA border control allow time for that. Maybe USA citizens might be quicker but we were all in lines and it didn't seem so

 

[nunami]

Thank you for the quick answer. I was actually looking at your blog the other day to look at the navigators for the trip. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Thank you for the quick answer. I was actually looking at your blog the other day to look at the navigators for the trip. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge!

Thank you for those kind words, it's there to help, there is a lot to organize on an Alaska trip and do much that could be missed.

Glad you found it helpful.

Enjoy your trip.



Welcome to Vancouver 001 by Andrew D Porter, on Flickr

 

[Tenkawa]

Unless you have mobility issues, don't blow the $60+ on a cab to the airport.

Get off the cruise ship, go straight and turn left, then into the Waterfront skytrain station (It is just around the corner). The Canada Line rapid transit leaves from here and goes straight to the airport for (depending on time of day) $2.75-$4.00/person.

It is faster than a cab (about 22 minutes to get to the airport vs 30+traffic in a cab) and puts you right at the international terminal.

Here is a map showing the distance for this.
http://goo.gl/maps/JrdTh

The Canada Line was build for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

 

[EeyoreIsMyName]

That was the time our flight was supposed to leave after our Alaskan cruise in 2013. When we arrived at the airport, the flight departure had been moved up 20 minutes. We did arrive with PLENTY of time, however, even with our detour through the "10:30am lottery" (random customs check!). We were Daisy Duck for luggage pick up and one of the first groups to leave the ship. Our luggage was right as we got off the ship and we were in the airport shuttle bus (DCL transfers) shortly after customs.

Here is the link to my cruise report, if you're interested in reading a little more about Alaska:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3150787

 

[nunami]

Unless you have mobility issues, don't blow the $60+ on a cab to the airport.

Get off the cruise ship, go straight and turn left, then into the Waterfront skytrain station (It is just around the corner). The Canada Line rapid transit leaves from here and goes straight to the airport for (depending on time of day) $2.75-$4.00/person.

It is faster than a cab (about 22 minutes to get to the airport vs 30+traffic in a cab) and puts you right at the international terminal.



The Canada Line was build for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

This is a great idea and if we don't have too much luggage I may opt for this! Thanks.

 

[nunami]

That was the time our flight was supposed to leave after our Alaskan cruise in 2013. When we arrived at the airport, the flight departure had been moved up 20 minutes. We did arrive with PLENTY of time, however, even with our detour through the "10:30am lottery" (random customs check!). We were Daisy Duck for luggage pick up and one of the first groups to leave the ship. Our luggage was right as we got off the ship and we were in the airport shuttle bus (DCL transfers) shortly after customs.

Thanks. I am reading through it and it is great. With the information given to me DH and I talked and he wants to be able to take his time getting off the ship so we are going to take a later flight and deal with the red eye.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Should be no problem at all! Our flight was around 11:30am and we initially weren't given the Ariel tags which were the first group called off so I went to Guest Services and asked for them and received them. We still ate breakfast in the MDR, then waited in the atrium until Ariel was called which was about 10 mins later and then took a taxi to the airport. The taxi with tip was $35 and we just preferred this (we also took a taxi when we arrived in Vancouver 2 days prior to the cruise and stayed at the Pan Pacific). There were three of us and 4 suitcases and we did fine in the Prius wagon

Have fun,
Heather

 

[jrabbit]

Our experience with DCL and their transfers a few years ago (well 3 years ago now ) was that we had no problems catching a flight around that time. The DCL bus driver actually told us about the SkyTrain when it passed us on the way to the airport and said that it was faster than the bus. So when we came back up later in the summer for our Alaska cruise, we actually parked our car at the airport (got a REALLY good deal) and took the SkyTrain both ways (with all of our luggage). It was pretty easy and I would consider doing this again if we go.

 

[Rainandlattes]

My family took the last Alaska cruise of 2013 season and we took a taxi . We had a 12:00 flight . It cost $80.00 without tip. I'll take the bus next time.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

My family took the last Alaska cruise of 2013 season and we took a taxi . We had a 12:00 flight . It cost $80.00 without tip. I'll take the bus next time.

Why in the world was it $80? Like I mentioned, we paid $35 with tip and did it twice (going and coming) and during "rush hour". I don't blame you for $80 - yikes!

Heather

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

If you want to avoid humping big bags up and down stairs or escalators to the Canada line, and avoid the crowds on the trains, you can get a shuttle from the cruise terminal to the port, no walking at all for can $15 pp

http://www.vancouvershuttle.ca/cruise-transfers.html