Earliest flight after debarkation - Vancouver

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Long time no post!
If I have an international flight booked for 3:25pm, do we think that I should make this? My gut says yes, but having not been on DCL (as a guest!) or been to Vancouver I have no idea if this is achievable.
Thank you!
(also any pointers towards non-DCL excursions would also be appreciated)

 

[Marc D]

Perfectly fine for Vancouver. The earliest you should book there is 12:30, but we were checked in at the airport after getting off last year around 10 AM, and that was after taking our sweet time getting off the ship. We used the Skytrain to get from the station next to the port to the airport without any glitch. We were surrounded by cruisers.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Perfectly fine for Vancouver. The earliest you should book there is 12:30, but we were checked in at the airport after getting off last year around 10 AM, and that was after taking our sweet time getting off the ship. We used the Skytrain to get from the station next tot the port to the airport without any glitch. We were surrounded by cruisers.

That's great to know, thank you!

 

[anricat]

The page with DCL's recommended times for latest arrival on Embarkation Day and earliest departure on Debarkation Day is really hard to find, but if anyone stumbles on this thread and wants to find it, it's here: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/ground-transportation/

The way I always find it now is to Google "DCL ground transportation" and it pops right up first but "ground transportation" is definitely not intuitive.

 

[bcwife76]

I live in the Vancouver area so yes 3:25pm flight is perfectly fine. You'll probably be sitting in the airport for a few hours in that case, but there are lots of restaurants and it's a pretty airport to look around

 

[Rex1993]

If you've never been to Vancouver I would suggest staying over for a few days if you can. I personally think Vancouver, BC is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There's a lot you can see and do in two nights just taking public transportation. Just make sure you don't end up in the other Vancouver...

 

[soniam]

Just so you know, some of the airlines, United for instance, will NOT allow you to enter the customs area/gates/check-in more than 3 hours before your flight. I don't know if it's always enforced or if all airlines do it. However, when we flew back from our June cruise, our flight wasn't until 3pm Vancouver time. We ended up getting to the airport pretty early, since they want you off the ship by 9am. We had to sit around in the terminal for a while waiting until 3 hours before. Others that were on our cruise had the same experience, but some did not.

EDIT: Fixed a typo.

 

[Flossbolna]

will now allow you to enter the customs area/gates more than 3 hours before your flight.

I think you might have a typo. It sounds like you meant to say NOT instead of NOW in this sentence. Normally wouldn’t call out any typos (I make far too many myself), but it kind of totally changes the meaning of what you are trying to say here….

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Just so you know, some of the airlines, United for instance, will now allow you to enter the customs area/gates more than 3 hours before your flight. I don't know if it's always enforced or if all airlines do it. However, when we flew back from our June cruise, our flight wasn't until 3pm Vancouver time. We ended up getting to the airport pretty early, since they want you off the ship by 9am. We had to sit around in the terminal for a while waiting until 3 hours before. Others that were on our cruise had the same experience, but some did not.

did they allow you to drop off your luggage or were you stuck with it until the 3h before?

 

[soniam]

did they allow you to drop off your luggage or were you stuck with it until the 3h before?

Still had the luggage. The wait was to even check-in for the flight.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Ok, thank you guys! I've booked that flight!

 

[jujubiee4]

Perfectly fine for Vancouver. The earliest you should book there is 12:30, but we were checked in at the airport after getting off last year around 10 AM, and that was after taking our sweet time getting off the ship. We used the Skytrain to get from the station next to the port to the airport without any glitch. We were surrounded by cruisers.

Our flight leaves at 12:15. At the time of booking I really thought that was a great time so we
didn't have to sit at the airport for hours. Now Im wondering. We plan to get a taxi. Should
we keep our luggage and do the express off?

 

[xuxa777]

Our flight leaves at 12:15. At the time of booking I really thought that was a great time so we
didn't have to sit at the airport for hours. Now Im wondering. We plan to get a taxi. Should
we keep our luggage and do the express off?

Taxi is fine, but Skytrain might be faster and depending on number of people might even be cheaper.

 

[xuxa777]

Our flight leaves at 12:15. At the time of booking I really thought that was a great time so we
didn't have to sit at the airport for hours. Now Im wondering. We plan to get a taxi. Should
we keep our luggage and do the express off?

Taxi is fine, but Skytrain might be faster and depending on number of people might even be cheaper. I would say either way 12:15 is a perfect time.

 

[otten]

Our flight leaves at 12:15. At the time of booking I really thought that was a great time so we
didn't have to sit at the airport for hours. Now Im wondering. We plan to get a taxi. Should
we keep our luggage and do the express off?

Skytrain is likely going to be faster than a taxi. Are you flying back to the US and do you have nexus or global entry? Nexus makes a huge difference in both security and customs at YVR.

YVR is generally a pretty well managed airport and I find that unless there is something major going on, the lines move pretty smoothly.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Still had the luggage. The wait was to even check-in for the flight.

If they re gonna do that at all airport they better add waiting rooms before check in hahaha… what a mess

 

[soniam]

If they re gonna do that at all airport they better add waiting rooms before check in hahaha… what a mess

There were areas to wait and apparently a food court. There weren’t many chairs where we waited. We didn’t want to take up room in the food area, since we had had a big breakfast on the ship and were not going to eat. There was really plenty of room outside the secure area. This was also probably just in the international terminal, since we were flying back to the US.

 

[jujubiee4]

Skytrain is likely going to be faster than a taxi. Are you flying back to the US and do you have nexus or global entry? Nexus makes a huge difference in both security and customs at YVR.

YVR is generally a pretty well managed airport and I find that unless there is something major going on, the lines move pretty smoothly.

We just got back in June from a different cruise and usually when we disembark we go straight to
hotel. Not doing that this cruise. I didn't even see the skytrain around. Is it walkable? Will be with
family members and not everyone has global entry/nexus. Thx!

 

[soniam]

It’s about a block or two from Canada Place. We went in June. We have Global Entry, but the other line wasn’t long at all.

 

[otten]

We just got back in June from a different cruise and usually when we disembark we go straight to
hotel. Not doing that this cruise. I didn't even see the skytrain around. Is it walkable? Will be with
family members and not everyone has global entry/nexus. Thx!

It's very walkable. There's an entrance just outside Canada Place (just an escalator at that one though). The main entrance is about a 5 minute walk. It really is very easy.

12:15 should be fine. The normal security line can get busy but it's usually nothing compared to most major US airports.