Several BC ferries between the mainland and Vancouver Island are already full on Monday afternoon after bad weather delayed the start of a busy day traveling across the province.
For passengers without a reservation, the next available voyages between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and the Bay of Departure in Nanaimo, British Columbia, are only late in the afternoon. The same goes for the Tsawwassen-Duke Point route, according to the corporation.
By mid-morning, voyages from the Southern Gulf Islands to Tsawwassen were fully booked for the rest of the day.
“If you’re traveling without a reservation, we recommend booking in advance for a trip on Tuesday,” BC Ferries tweeted to travelers leaving the South Bay Islands.
The two-way voyage between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay was canceled this morning due to strong winds in the Georgia Strait.
Winds across the strait are expected to reach 70 km / h on Monday, with gusts up to 90 km / h. An Environment Canada consultant said the weather was expected to ease by noon.
The ferry, which runs between the Gulf Southern Islands and Tsawwassen, was also short of Monday’s schedule, but not due to time: the ship was delayed due to a mechanical problem with one of its watertight doors.
BC Ferries officials have warned passengers to prepare for a busy day on Monday as the first long weekend without public health restrictions approaches.
The Vancouver International Airport and RCMP advice was similar, asking passengers to prepare for potentially long queues at the airport and at Canadian-US border crossings.
Sunwing Airlines passengers are blocked
A separate number of passengers trying to return home with Sunwing Airlines were delayed due to a system outage on Monday. The problem affected check-in, boarding and delayed more than 40 flights for more than 12 hours.
Travelers were stranded at Puerto Vallarta airport in Mexico on Monday after Sunwing Airlines encountered a serious network problem. (Submitted by Alice Kelly)
The Toronto-based carrier said in an email that the problem stemmed from its reservation system provider, which also serves other airlines by snatching traffic.
“People are trying to find the best in it, I guess … but it’s incredibly frustrating to end a holiday this way,” said Alice Kelly, who was due to fly home to Vancouver from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Sunday.
By Monday morning, Kelly’s flight had been delayed for more than 18 hours. She said she paid for her own hotel stay on Sunday night with “very little communication” from Sunwing.
Canada eased its restrictions on re-entry in a pandemic on April 1, meaning that fully vaccinated passengers no longer need to take a negative PCR test for COVID-19 before entering the country by land, air or sea.
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