Planning Your Travels:

Current Conditions provides a forecast of deck space available based on the number of vehicles booked in advance and the number of drive-up vehicles in the terminal.

Some sailings may show as “Full”, but may have space available for additional vehicles depending on how many customers do not show up for their booking, the size of vehicles that arrive, and the ability of our deck crew to fit more vehicles. If you plan to travel in a vehicle without a booking, you may experience sailing waits.

Here is what you should know:

How do we calculate Estimated Deck Space Available?

Estimated Deck Space Available is the approximate percentage of vehicle deck space that remains available for sale on a particular sailing. It is calculated after counting the number of reservations booked in advance and the number of drive-up customers already checked in at the terminal. This percentage changes as more vehicles are processed through the ticket booth.

Around 10–20% of customers do not check-in for their bookings. After the booking check-in window closes, which is around 30* minutes before departure, we free up these spaces for drive-up customers.
*Some exceptions apply, find and review the check-in and cut-off times at your departure terminal.

Sailing Waits – What can I expect?

With the Spirit of Vancouver Island currently undergoing repairs due to a crack in the aft ballast tank, sailings on our Swartz Bay (Victoria) – Tsawwassen (Vancouver) route are expected to be busy, with limited drive-up space available. Customers travelling without a confirmed booking are encouraged to consider travelling as a foot passenger or travel on our Horseshoe Bay (Vancouver) – Departure Bay (Nanaimo) route where more space is available. You can read more about how we allocate space on board here. 

During the repair period, the Coastal Inspiration and Spirit of British Columbia will continue to provide service on this route. The Spirit of Vancouver Island is expected to return to service on Thursday, October 19. 

With less vehicle capacity on this route per day, and reservations sold out for some sailings, it can appear at times as though we are full for the rest of the day. The number of non-reserved customers that we can load differs from sailing to sailing, as the ships and vehicles we load are different sizes.

While the Spirit of Vancouver Island is out of service, customers arriving at the Tsawwassen or Swartz Bay terminals without an advance booking could expect a 1-3 sailing wait.

Why do the cameras show an empty lot, but Estimated Deck Space Available indicates the sailing is full?

Estimated Deck Space Available includes advanced vehicle bookings. In most cases, these customers can check-in up to 30 minutes* before their sailing. If customers have a booking but haven’t yet arrived, the terminal lot may appear empty. There can be high volumes of reserved customers that will arrive between 60-30 minutes prior to the scheduled sailing.
*Some exceptions apply, find and review the check-in and cut-off times at your departure terminal.