Hi there!
The way you get on the cruise ship when get to Vancouver may be a little different based on which direction you’re coming from when you arrive at the cruise port.
But overall, I will say that I thought the Vancouver embarkation process was easy!
For a cruise from Vancouver, you board the cruise ship in downtown Vancouver at Canada Place.
The Vancouver cruise ship terminal is at Canada Place. (map)
Once you are at Canada Place, there are signs that will tell you which way to go.
And from there, it’s easy!
You will literally just follow the signs!
I saw signs to the cruise check-in from the direction I came from, and I’m just not sure if there might be other entry spots. But I would expect there to be signs no matter which direction you are coming from!
But below will give you an idea of what you can expect on embarkation day at Vancouver cruise port!
👆 A Princess cruise ship at Vancouver cruise port, as seen from the waterfront area of Granville Square. (map) Your cruise ship may be docked on the other side and you may not get a view of the cruise ship from here.
👆 Sailing out of Vancouver, as seen from a cruise ship! You will sail under the Lions Gate Bridge as you leave Vancouver cruise port!
👆 There are signs to get to the Vancouver cruise ship terminal once you are at Canada Place.
👆 Follow the signs to get to the check-in at Vancouver cruise port, along with luggage drop-off.
👆 If you do luggage drop-off, you will want to print your Princess cruise luggage tags before you arrive at the cruise port. The cruise luggage tags are personalized so your luggage will be delivered to your cabin later on that day. You might not get your luggage until later, so be sure to bring a carry-on bag with you for anything you want access to immediately once you get on the cruise ship.
👆 Follow the signs to check-in for your cruise in Vancouver!
I had 2 embarkation days in Vancouver in 2023.
I did a round trip cruise from Vancouver to Alaska on the Sapphire Princess that started at the end of April.
I did a one-way cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage (Whittier) on the Majestic Princess in May.
Both times, I thought the embarkation process in Vancouver was pretty easy!
I did not have anything booked through Princess before the cruise.
I didn’t book my flights through Princess or have any shuttles booked through Princess.
I got to Vancouver a few days before the first cruise to make sure I would make it to Vancouver and be relaxed for the start of the cruise.
For the second cruise, I arrived back in Vancouver by cruise ship, and then stayed for 3 days in Vancouver before the next cruise began.
It’s a good idea to show up to Vancouver at least a day before your cruise begins.
I had 2 nights in Vancouver before my first cruise, just in case!
This way I could arrive in Vancouver and comfortably take it easy before the cruise begins!
When I had my cruises from Vancouver in April and May, it was possible to select a check-in time on the Princess app, so that’s what I did.
I selected a time that was a bit later.
Part of it was because I thought it might be busier earlier on in the day, and part of it was so I could take my time getting to the cruise port.
As of August 2023, you don’t select a check-in time: How to see your boarding time for a Princess cruise.
What is the latest flight you can book to fly into Vancouver airport?
According to Princess:
For voyages that depart from Vancouver, the latest flight arrival is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure.
What you CAN do, and what you SHOULD do are different!
Personally, having a flight arrival into Vancouver airport that is 3 hours prior to when the cruise ship will leave Vancouver seems like an incredibly stressful day!
And not just a stressful day, but a stressful few days before too, as you wonder if you will make it to your cruise ship on time!
Flight delays are not uncommon, and if your flight is scheduled to arrive into Vancouver airport just 3 hours before, and you have even a slight delay, well… you very well might not make it on the cruise ship!
In addition to flight delays, you might end up spending extra time going through immigration in Canada, if you are flying from the US or another foreign country.
You might also be spending extra time waiting for your luggage to arrive at baggage claim.
If you are flying in at the last minute, you might want to do carry-on only so you can get yourself out of the airport more quickly!
So, it really is a very good idea to arrive to Vancouver at least a day before so you can get on the cruise ship feeling relaxed!
You can log into your account at princess.com, and look for “itinerary” to see when your cruise ship will be leaving Vancouver.
It’s actually a good idea to check this itinerary even if you aren’t curious about what time you will be leaving Vancouver, because port times can change and you won’t necessarily be notified about it.
And, this is how you can check your check-in time for your cruise from Vancouver too.
👆 Look for “itinerary” to see if what time your Princess cruise ship will arrive in Vancouver.
👆 Majestic Princess Alaska cruise itinerary starting May 13: The cruise ship was scheduled to depart Vancouver at 4:30pm. Looking up your cruise itinerary is also how you can see if you will need a water shuttle in Skagway. On cruises as of August 2023, there will be a check-in time listed on the first day of your cruise.
Vancouver airport to Vancouver cruise port
By car, it takes around 20 to 30 minutes to get from Vancouver airport to the Vancouver cruise ship terminal.
So as long as there is no traffic, you can expect it to take 30 minutes to get from Vancouver airport to the Vancouver cruise port by uber or taxi.
By public transportation, it takes around 30 minutes to get from Vancouver airport to Vancouver cruise port.
The train station near the cruise port is Waterfront Station.
And then you will want to add in 5 to 10 minutes to walk from the train station to the cruise port.
It’s easy to take the train from the Vancouver airport to the cruise port.
Use google maps to navigate public transportation in Vancouver!
Just click on the public transit icon!
When you are looking at google maps to figure out how to get to the cruise port by public transportation, change the “departure” time to a day of the week and time that you’ll be leaving the airport to get a better idea of what your options are. (map)
Can you walk to the Vancouver cruise port?
Depending on where you’re coming from, it can be reasonable to Canada Place.
The area around the cruise port (aka Canada Place!) is a public area in downtown Vancouver, so yes, you can walk to the Vancouver cruise port!
You can take a bus or train to get near the cruise port, and then walk the rest of the way.
Depending on which stop you get off at, it will probably be around a 10 minute walk.
More for your cruise from Vancouver:
- Sailing under Lions Gate Bridge (be out on the open deck for sailaway!)
- Best Alaska shore excursions
More for your Princess cruise:
- Princess cruise activity schedule (including embarkation day activities)
- Princess cruise dining menu (including embarkation day dinner menu)
- Princess cruise wifi
- TV in the Princess cruise ship cabin
A little bit below about my experience getting on a Princess cruise ship in Vancouver!
🏔
My embarkation day in Vancouver
This will take you through my Vancouver embarkation day that was on May 13, 2023. This was my second embarkation in Vancouver.
So I arrived to Vancouver by cruise ship on the Sapphire Princess, and I had 3 nights in Vancouver before my next cruise on the Majestic Princess started.
I stayed at a hostel in downtown Vancouver in the neighborhood of Gastown.
The hostel was called the Samesun Vancouver.
It was perfect for what I needed… which was a place to sleep close enough to the Vancouver cruise port!
On the morning that my cruise started, it was an easy bus ride through Vancouver from the hostel to the cruise port.
Google maps makes navigating public transportation in Vancouver super easy! Just select the public transit option.
I used a compass card to pay for my bus fare.
I bought a public transportation compass card at the Vancouver airport before I took the train from the airport to downtown Vancouver. There is a ticket machine at the train station.
I got off the bus near Waterfront Station, which is a train station near the Vancouver cruise port.
👆 Directly up the street is a glimpse of a cruise ship!
👆 Waterfront Station is a train station near Vancouver cruise port. You can take the skytrain from Vancouver airport to Waterfront Station. From here, it’s about a 10 minute walk to the cruise port aka Canada Place.
👆 After getting off the bus, instead of walking directly to the cruise port, I walked to a cruise ship lookout spot. Not all cruise ships will be docked here, but both of my Princess cruise ships were docked on this side of the cruise port. (map)
👆 Princess cruise ship at the Vancouver cruise port!
👆 Walking away from the cruise ship lookout, towards the PWC building and the Vancouver cruise port.
👆 Continuing to walk towards Canada Place, past the PWC building.
👆 Approaching Canada Place, there’s another cruise ship lookout spot!
👆 There is a bike sharing station near the Vancouver cruise port.
👆 Princess cruise ship docked at Canada Place!
👆 Continuing the walk to Canada Place to check-in for the cruise.
👆 There is a walkway to check-in for the cruise directly to the left of this parking entrance.
👆 Follow the signs!
👆 Follow the signs!
👆 2:06pm: Vancouver cruise port check-in entry! Note the time! I will continue to list the time at various spots below so you can see how long the whole check-in process took me. Your experience may vary! This can depend on how many people are checking in at the same time as you, and how many cruise ships are in port on the day of your embarkation, among other things. Also, I skipped the luggage drop-off, as I carried all my luggage on my own, but you can also follow the signs and/or ask the many cruise port staff people who are around to direct you to where you need to go.
👆 On my Vancouver cruise embarkation day, there were 2 ships in port: a Holland America cruise ship and a Princess cruise ship.
👆 Check-in for the Majestic Princess cruise ship!
👆 2:09pm: Check-in area where you hopefully will not be standing in line for a long time! This is the area that can go faster if you already had your Princess medallion sent to you, which I understand is only available to people living in the US. If you did not request the medallion to be sent to you, then you will stand in line to receive the medallion. If you already have your medallion, you go to a separate, usually shorter, line. I did not get a medallion sent to me before, so I picked it up at the cruise port. I did not think it was a long wait. But, this is an area that could take awhile.
👆 2:12pm: I arrived at the counter to receive my medallion.
👆 I received notes on things to do upon boarding the cruise ship on embarkation day. This included dining options (main dining room and buffet), welcome presentation, and the mandatory safety things you need to do.
- Allegro dining room (12pm to 1:30pm)
- World Fresh Marketplace – the buffet! (all day until 10:30pm)
- Burger and Lobster Grill (11am to 10pm)
👆 You also need to go to your muster station at some point before sailaway, so do this sooner rather than later. A muster station is where you go in the case of a ship-wide emergency. If you don’t receive this at the check-in counter, there will be many other ways to figure out where your muster station is located once you get on the cruise ship.
👆 2:15pm: I left the counter where I received the medallion.
👆 2:16pm: You walk outside to continue for more of the process to board the cruise ship. There will be signs. Just follow the signs! (And probably fellow cruise ship passengers.)
👆 2:17pm: Next you will go through customs and immigration. This includes for the US.
👆 2:18pm: Customs and immigration. This is a part that could take awhile. It took me 20 minutes.
👆 2:38pm: After customs and immigration, finally getting closer to boarding the cruise ship!
👆 2:39pm: Walking outside to board the cruise ship!
👆 2:40pm: On the ramp to board the cruise ship on embarkation day in Vancouver!
👆 2:42pm: Finally on the cruise ship for a cruise from Vancouver!!!
Before you get on the cruise ship (so like, now, if you have received your cabin number), it’s helpful to know which part of the cruise ship you are on (front/foward, middle, back/aft) and what deck, so you will immediately have an idea of what to look for.
You can google for your cruise ship name and “deck plan” so you can take a look at a map to see where exactly your cabin is located.
👆 2:45pm: The elevators were PACKED! I started walking up the stairs in hopes that the higher decks may have less people. I don’t remember exactly anymore if I got on an elevator at a higher deck or just walked all the way up to my cabin. I was on deck 15.
👆 At the elevators are reminders to do the mandatory safety essentials.
👆 2:51pm: I made it to my deck and there was luggage that had been delivered to cabins.
👆 2:51pm: I made it to my cabin! I had an inside cabin.
👆 Inside cabin on a Princess cruise ship. On the desk, there will be information about your cruise, including a Princess cruise activity schedule for day 1! If you booked shore excursions through Princess, you will also find shore excursion tickets on the desk.
👆 See more of a sample Princess cruise activity schedule.
👆 When you turn on the TV in the cabin, you will see instructions for completing the safety briefing on your own. Your muster station check-in location that you need to go to on the first day of the cruise will be listed as well.
👆 You can complete the safety briefing on your TV. You will watch a short program. I believe you can also complete the safety briefing on the Princess app.
👆 If you forget your muster station at any time during the cruise, you can find the location on the back of your cabin door.
👆 Look for the life jackets in your cabin too! It might be in an obvious place, or you might have to look for it, like by opening up a mirror closet door.
👆 There is no requirement to try on your life jacket, but I recommend you do so! If you don’t have enough life jackets in your cabin, then you can ask your stateroom attendant (aka housekeeping person) for more.
👆 At some point before the cruise ship sails away from Vancouver cruise port, you need to check in at your muster station location. The location will be listed on your stateroom TV. I had to go to Princess Live. Look for the big green banner with your muster station letter on it.
At any time once you get on the cruise ship, you can go get food.
On Princess cruise ships, you can go to the buffet that is on the lido deck at the back of the cruise ship, or at least one main dining room will be open.
You can find the hours of food spots around the ship on the back of the daily activity schedule that will be on your desk when you arrive to your cabin.
👆 Embarkation day hours will be listed on the back of the daily activity schedule on Princess cruise ships. Hours on your cruise ship will vary, so check the back of the activity schedule when you get on the cruise ship!
👆 Your embarkation day hours will vary! See more sample hours for other days of the cruise: Princess cruise activity schedule
👆 Be out on the open deck sailing away from Vancouver!
More for your Alaska cruise from Vancouver
HAPPY EMBARKATION DAY AT VANCOUVER CRUISE PORT!
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