There were a lot of happy people today in Vancouver, as it was a sunny day and thus far they have not had many of them. We docked at our usual spot on the West side of Canada place with the nose to open waters. I personally prefer to dock with the nose towards the city as it is a more natural approach but doing this way works out better with the passenger and provision flow in the terminal. For me it is just unnatural to dock with the stern towards danger (the end of the pier) when the other way is possible.
Holland America has been docking at Canada Place since it was built in 1986 for the Vancouver Expo. As a matter of fact the Noordam (III) was the first ship to officially inaugurate the pier and the Rotterdam (V) was the official Expo ship. For a whole season we sailed around with the number 86 between the smoke stacks. Before Canada place existed we docked at Ballantyne further to the East which was basically nothing more than a cargo shed. With the arrival of Canada Place, Vancouver received its own dedicated cruise terminal.
The Rotterdam (V) docked at brand new Canada place 4/5 West in mid summer,if you click on the photo you can see the number 86 between the smoke stacks. Own photo
With the success of the cruise business in general and the Alaska cruises in particular, it took only a few years before the terminal could not handle the traffic anymore. The dock was too short for the mega liners that were coming up to Alaska and also it needed to handle more ships. So an extension was built. Before the extension was there, it could dock 2 ships of 200+ meters and a small one on the North side. Now by extending the East side in a straight line, room was created to dock one very large cruise ship and by angling the west side, there was room to dock a second medium sized liner. The only issue that could not be solved was the amount of space available in the receiving area on the lower level where the buses and the taxi’s come in. When three ships are docked at the same time, it can be a little hectic there.
The extension as built in 2002, photo of unknown origin. Docked are a Princess ship (Grand Princess class) a Royal Caribbean ship (Most likely the Brilliance of the Seas) and a Hal ship (either the Volendam or the Zaandam)
Docking the ship alongside Canada place, especially when docking starboard side alongside, which means swinging around off the berth, can be an interesting happening. The peak tide flows with 3 to 4 knots under the bridge, up and down Burrard Inlet which forms the harbor basin of Vancouver. As Canada Place is located in a curve of this inlet, the current moves through there as well. The problem is, you never know how much there will be and which way it is going, as it flows, coils and curls in various ways through the little bay that is bordered by Stanley park to the West and Canada Place to the East.
Thus the message is be careful and keep the margins wide, so that the ship is not suddenly set onto the shore or onto the dock. I have now docked there five times with a strong maximum ebb tide flowing under the bridge and each time the current off the dock was different. The first time the ship was set onto the Southern shore, the second time in the direction of Stanley Park and this morning, we were suddenly set with a 1.5 knots drift towards the dock itself. Therefore I swing the ship around at a considerable distance from the dock until it is lined up properly and then slowly come astern and closer by using the thrusters and the propellers. Instead of a docking maneuver of 5 minutes, when docking nose in, this whole operation takes about 20 minutes, with swinging around and slowly backing towards the dock.
The only issue with Canada Place is the gangways. They only go up and down to compensate for the tide. The docking bridge does not go sideways and that means that I have to dock the Veendam exactly on the inch so that the ships break door lines up exactly with the entrance of the shore gangway. It is something that I have never understood. These gangways are a beautiful piece of engineering with all the bells and whistles that you can think off and then I have to dock a 720 foot ship on the inch to make it work……. because it can go only up and down………….
Tomorrow is a sea day again, and it looks that we take the nice weather with us.
June 28, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Captain:
I am not sure why a ship today has to dock “on the inch” as when this terminal was built the idea was the movable gangways could be moved up and down the dock to accommodate the ship docking. Each of the glass doors that one can see can be unlocked and slid open when the gangway is moved thus allowing access to the terminal.
As I live just outside of Vancouver and I have spent many a morning watching cruise ships come and dock at Canada Place. During this time I have watched these gangways be moved up and down the dock and lowered and raised to accommodate the different sizes of ships. Not sure why the change.
I have to admit lately I have not seen them move, but surely they must. There different size of ships that dock at Canada Place all the time and they all don’t have their doors in exactly the same location as the Veendam such as Sapphire and Diamond Princess.
Yesterday I dropped down to Canada place with my kids as we were in Vancouver for an event and decided to see the ship they will boarding in 2 weeks. I also wanted to look at the gangways because of you talking about this in the past. Want to compare the location yesterday to another ship.
Either someone is on a power trip to see if you can really do it or the gangways are set in place prior to your arrival to help the longshoremen get ready with the cranes etc to unload and load the ship.
Phil
June 29, 2008 at 7:00 am
Phil,
I think the Captain is referring to lining the ship up along the dock so the doors are precisely in line with the width of the gangways after they’ve been adjusted for the height of the ship. If they only move up/down to adjust for the tide, but have no side-to-side compensation, it would require a precision docking to get the doors lined up with the gangways.
I hope to visit Vancouver on a cruise next summer – it looks stunning!
Shawn
June 29, 2008 at 7:32 am
Captain,
We disembarked in Vancouver after 14 days on your beautiful ship. Thank you for a wonderful cruise. I was impressed with your crew as they definitely went above and beyond their normal duties during those 14 days.
Jerrell
June 29, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Canada Place, which includes the Pan Pacific Hotel and the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre, was indeed built in ~1985 for Expo ’86. The original pier, which still remains in service today, was built in 1913 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was used as a bulk cargo pier for many decades, handling mainly forest products I expect. By the early 1980’s the pier had fallen into a state of disrepair. When the Canada Place project was conceived a decision was made to restore and preserve the original Pier B-C. Extensive repairs were made to repair deterioration and to extend the service life of the original pier. The original superstructure consisting of cargo sheds, etc were demolished. Then the new hotel and convention centre were built on top of the original pier. The foundations of the new structures consist of new steel pipe piles driven to bedrock through openings made in the original pier, so the new strutures are supported independently, despite being right on top of the original pier.
The site immediately to the west, where the new convention centre is currently under construction, was the site of the CPR Ferry dock, which was used I believe until the BC Ferry system was established in 1960. This new convention centre, when completed, will be used as the international media centre for the 2010 Winter Olympics.