YVR to Canada Place: Vancouver airport to the cruise terminal

Vancouver International Airport, YVR, is one train ride from the Canada Place cruise terminal. TransLink's Canada Line, a SkyTrain line, runs from YVR-Airport station to Waterfront station downtown with no change of train, and the Port of Vancouver says the terminal is next to Waterfront station. A taxi, Uber or Lyft takes you and your bags into the terminal's own drop-off level instead.

Prices on this page are in Canadian dollars, written C$, and each one carries the day we checked it. This site is independent. It is not the Port of Vancouver, Canada Place, YVR, TransLink or a cruise line.

Option	Cost when we checked, 4 November 2026	Time to Canada Place	Best for
Canada Line SkyTrain to Waterfront	C$11.60 adult tap fare weekdays before 6:30 p.m., C$10.00 evenings, weekends and holidays. Children 12 and under free	27 minutes on the train, which runs every 6 to 15 minutes	One or two people with bags they can wheel
Taxi	C$46 zone fare from YVR, tip not included	About 30 minutes, depending on traffic	Families, heavy luggage, early or late flights
Uber or Lyft	Quoted in the app, varies by time and demand	About 30 minutes, depending on traffic	App users who want a door-to-door price up front
Princess or Holland America transfer	Not shown on the lines' Vancouver pages	Arranged by the line on sailing day	Passengers of those lines who want it arranged
Rental car	Set by the rental company	About 30 minutes, then parking	Trips with touring before or after the cruise

Train times and fares are TransLink's, the taxi fare is from YVR's zone map, and the road time is Holland America's estimate for the 13 km, or 9 miles, between the airport and the pier. The sections below give the detail and the source for each.

How do you get from YVR to Canada Place by SkyTrain?

Take the Canada Line from YVR-Airport station to Waterfront, the end of the line. YVR says the station is between the International and Domestic terminals, signposted Canada Line, with elevators from both the arrivals and departures levels. On a flight from the United States you first clear Canadian customs and collect your bags, and YVR suggests allowing about 30 to 45 minutes for that when someone is meeting you.

On TransLink's timetable effective 7 September 2026, the first train leaves YVR-Airport for Waterfront at 5:09 a.m. and the last at 12:54 a.m., every day. Its station-to-station table puts the ride at 27 minutes. TransLink's visitor page rounds that to about 25 minutes, and YVR says under 30.

When we read TransLink's SkyTrain page on 4 November 2026, trains from YVR-Airport to Waterfront ran every 6 minutes at peak hours, every 8 minutes at midday and every 10 minutes early in the morning. In the evening it was every 12 minutes, late at night every 15, and on weekends and holidays every 8 to 15 minutes. TransLink calls these estimates that can change.

At Waterfront you are next to the terminal. TransLink puts the Canada Line platforms on West Cordova Street between Granville and Seymour, with a Canada Line entrance on Granville just south of Hastings. Inside Canada Place, bag drop opens between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. on sailing day, according to the port's passenger page, so arriving much earlier only means waiting with your cases.

TransLink's safety page asks riders with luggage to take the elevator rather than the escalator. We found no TransLink limit on suitcases.

How much is the Canada Line from YVR to the Vancouver cruise terminal?

C$11.60 for an adult paying by tap on a weekday before 6:30 p.m., and C$10.00 after 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays, when we checked TransLink's fare pages on 4 November 2026. Both totals include the C$6.50 YVR Airport AddFare, which TransLink adds to trips that start at YVR-Airport, Sea Island Centre or Templeton stations.

The difference comes from fare zones. YVR is in zone 2 and Waterfront in zone 1 on TransLink's zone map, so a weekday daytime trip is a 2-zone fare. TransLink makes every trip after 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, and every trip on weekends and statutory holidays, a 1-zone fare.

When you ride from YVR	Adult tap or Compass Ticket	Compass Card stored value
Weekdays before 6:30 p.m.	C$5.10 + C$6.50 = C$11.60	C$4.20 + C$6.50 = C$10.70
Weekday evenings, weekends, holidays	C$3.50 + C$6.50 = C$10.00	C$2.85 + C$6.50 = C$9.35

Fares from TransLink's pricing and AddFare pages, read 4 November 2026.

For a single adult ticket you can skip the machine and tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Interac debit card, or a phone wallet, at the fare gate. A reloadable Compass Card has a C$6 refundable deposit, TransLink's visitor page says, which only pays off if you will ride several times. YVR says children 12 and under ride the Canada Line free with a fare-paying customer, up to four children each.

YVR's own Canada Line page still gave the AddFare as C$5 when we read it on 4 November 2026. TransLink, which charges and collects it, gave C$6.50 the same day on its fare pages and on its September 2026 timetable, so plan on C$6.50.

How much is a taxi from Vancouver airport to Canada Place?

C$46, on YVR's map of taxi zone fares, which puts Canada Place and downtown in one zone. YVR says that flat fare includes a C$4 passenger load charge added to every zone fare from the airport, and that tips are not included. The Passenger Transportation Board's Rule 9, which sets the rates and was updated on 30 August 2026, lists the same zone at C$42 with GST, or C$46 with the C$4 charge.

Taxis load at two stands, on International Arrivals Level 2 and Domestic Arrivals Level 2, first come, first served. Drivers may not pick up anywhere else. YVR says there is no charge for luggage, though if your bags will not fit you may need a second or bigger car. Taxis take cash, credit and debit cards.

At Canada Place, drivers use the vehicle ramp at the foot of Howe Street, where a port traffic attendant directs them to a drop-off lane. You then take your bags to the spot marked for your ship. The port asks you to keep passports and medication with you, not in checked bags.

Can you take Uber or Lyft from YVR to the Canada Place cruise terminal?

Yes. YVR names Lyft and Uber as its authorized ride app services, with pick-up areas on International Arrivals Level 2, Domestic Arrivals Level 2 and at the South Terminal, marked with a ride app symbol. Drivers wait in a lot a short distance away, so YVR asks you to collect your bags before you request the ride.

YVR publishes no price. It says fares vary by provider, time of day and location, and the app shows an estimate once you enter Canada Place as the destination.

Ride app cars drop off on level P2 of the Canada Place cruise terminal parkade. The port says they can enter by the main parkade entrance off Canada Place Way, the east entrance off Waterfront Road or the Cordova Street tunnel, and must never drop passengers on Canada Place Way, Howe Street or Cordova Street.

Is there a shuttle or cruise line transfer from YVR to Canada Place?

Not a public shuttle. Princess and Holland America, which run 223 and 180 of the sailings on our schedule, both sell transfers from the airport to the ship. Neither showed a price on the pages we read on 4 November 2026.

• Princess. Its Vancouver page offers an airplane-to-ship transfer even if you did not book your flight through Princess, with a uniformed representative meeting you after you collect your bags. Its pre-cruise FAQ says your flight details must be given in advance and fit its flight guidelines for the port. See Princess cruises from Vancouver.
• Holland America. Its FAQ says transfers between the airport and the pier in Vancouver run on turnaround day only, for passengers on its Flight Ease air and for those who booked their own flights. Independent flyers must give their flight details at least 14 days before sailing through online check-in. Holland America prefers bookings 14 days ahead, takes them up to 3 days before by phone, and does not refund unused transfers. See Holland America cruises from Vancouver.

For any other line, look for transfers on its own site. YVR says cruise representatives are among the services in the International Arrivals greeting area.

Westcoast Sightseeing, which the port lists at the terminal's ground transportation desk, is no help on the way in. Its FAQ says it does not pick up at Vancouver airport. YVR's courtesy shuttles go to airport-area hotels, car parks and rental lots, not downtown. If you are staying near the airport the night before, the hotels guide compares those hotels with downtown ones.

Should you rent a car at YVR for a Vancouver cruise?

Only if you will drive somewhere before or after the cruise. Avis, Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty pick up and return on the ground floor of YVR's parkade, and Europcar, Routes, SIXT and West Coast Car Rental run shuttles from the curb to off-airport lots.

A rental driven to the ship either sits in the Canada Place cruise parkade, run by Indigo, while you sail, or goes back to the rental company first. The port also lists Ascent Car Rental and Tours on the ground level of the Canada Place terminal. The parking guide covers the parkade and its height limits.

How do you get from Canada Place to YVR after a Vancouver cruise?

By taxi at a C$42 flat fare, by SkyTrain from Waterfront, or by a car you booked. If your cruise ends in Vancouver, the port says you fill in a declaration card, the E311, and clear Canadian customs with the Canada Border Services Agency after you collect your bags in the terminal.

• Taxi. The port's flat fare from the cruise terminal to YVR was C$42 when we read its page on 4 November 2026. The Passenger Transportation Board's Rule 9 sets it at C$42 with GST, on posted cruise ship days. Holland America warns that the wait for a taxi can be up to 1.5 hours when several ships are in port.
• Uber or Lyft. Not from the terminal itself. The port says ride app drivers may not pick up at Canada Place, and you meet them at the City of Vancouver's ride-hailing zones at street level.
• Canada Line from Waterfront. There is no AddFare on trips to the airport, TransLink says. When we checked on 4 November 2026, an adult tap fare was C$5.10 on weekdays before 6:30 p.m. and C$3.50 evenings, weekends and holidays. Board a train signed for YVR-Airport, because trains from Waterfront alternate at Bridgeport between YVR and Richmond-Brighouse. The first train to the airport leaves Waterfront at 4:48 a.m. and the ride takes 27 minutes.
• Booked transfer or limousine. Holland America sells ship-to-airport transfers on disembarkation day. For a limousine from the port's approved list, the port says passengers check in with a traffic attendant at Door D after disembarkation to have the car dispatched to the terminal.
• A tour on the way. Westcoast Sightseeing sells a post-cruise city tour that ends at YVR between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., for flights at 6:30 p.m. or later. It was from $152 on its page on 4 November 2026, which does not say which currency. The port says the same company stores bags for the day at Canada Place, for cruise passengers only and not overnight.

How early should you fly into Vancouver for a cruise, and how late can you fly home?

Princess strongly recommends flying in at least one day before your cruise, to allow for delays and weather. Its flight guidelines for Vancouver, which flights must meet for its airport transfers, set the latest flight arrival at 3 hours before the ship leaves and the earliest flight home at 4 hours 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hotels guide covers where to spend the night before.

Going home to the United States, give yourself time at the airport too. YVR asks passengers to arrive at least three hours before U.S. and international flights, and two hours before flights within Canada. YVR is a U.S. preclearance location, so after the security checkpoint for the E gates you clear U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Vancouver, before you board, instead of on landing.

The cruise documents guide covers the passport you need for that flight and for the cruise. The Canada Place terminal guide covers check-in and boarding, and if you are flying into Seattle instead, see Seattle to Vancouver for a cruise.